3 keys to victory for Michigan football vs. Nebraska

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Michigan Wolverines receiver Semaj Morgan (82) celebrates his touchdown with quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) and running back Donovan Edwards (7) against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights during the second quarter Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023, at Michigan Stadium. /

Start fast

It’s easy to forget about now but after Rutgers scored a touchdown and Michigan football had to punt, Rutgers could have taken a two-score lead about halfway through the first quarter last week.

Michigan doesn’t want to happen on Saturday. Obviously, you have to play for 60 minutes, so a bad start doesn’t doom you. But it would give Nebraska a lot of momentum and that’s not something you want to do on the road.

Last year, Michigan scored on the first drive of the game against Iowa. It still ended up being a tight game, but the Wolverines led by two 2-3 scores most of the day.

The opening drive touchdown was a huge part of that. It would be great to see something like that on Saturday. McCarthy said he loved making road stadiums quiet — and an early TD does the trick.

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