Michigan Football: 3 things we learned in blow out of Nebraska

Jim Harbaugh didn’t need to open the playbook after all

All week, the talk leading up to the Nebraska game was that with the start of Big Ten play, Harbaugh would put the ball in the hands of Shea Patterson more. The conventional wisdom was that the Wolverines would throw the football more.

Many, myself included, thought Michigan football was running the ball too much early in games and too much overall. Well, against Nebraska, we were all proven wrong by Harbaugh, the backs and the offensive line.

Say what you will about Nebraska, but the Huskers ranked 20th in the FBS against the run coming into the game and were giving up only 2.7 yards per carry. So what did Michigan do? Only run for 285, average 6.2  yards per run and score four rushing touchdowns, three by Ben Mason.

On the first three drives of the game, the Wolverines scored three touchdowns and racked up 174 yards of total offense. And, what makes it even more impressive is that they did it with just four throws in 15 plays.

UM got runs of 46 and 44 yards from Karan Higdon and converted three third downs. Patterson was solid, going 4-of-4 for 43 yards. However, the offense proved it can still win with power football.