Michigan Football: Grading Wolverines win vs Nebraska

Defense: C+

The defense was on point in the first half and didn’t surrender any points but in the second half, Mike Macdonald’s unit gave up big play after big play.

Adrian Martinez caused problems with his ability to run the ball. But Michigan also left some wide receivers open down the field which made for easy completions and big chunks of yardage.

There will need to be some adjustments but Nebraska football definitely schemed itself into some good matchups and some big plays.

Down the stretch, the defense was thinking more than it was playing. On the last two possessions though, Michigan came up with some big plays.

Brad Hawkins forced the fumble — he also pushed Martinez out of bounds short on fourth-and-two in the first half. Both were huge plays. Gemon Green also made a huge tackle on a third down play, which created a fourth-and-long on the deciding play.

Michigan forced two turnovers which is exactly what it needed to win. There were some breakdowns and they need to get fixed but you can’t always be perfect. It was just a bad half.