Michigan football will travel to Nebraska for the first goad game of the season and here are three keys to a Wolverines win.
Last week, Michigan football won its Big Ten opener over Rutgers, despite a less-than-stellar start. But a 31-0 finish and the defense that went along with that were spectacular.
Michigan also rushed for over 200 yards for the first time in 2023 and did so against by far the best run defense the Wolverines have faced. They also kept a solid running game for Rutgers under 100 total yards, reinforcing that the first three games weren’t a fluke.
Rutgers was down just 17-7 in the third quarter and was in field goal range when Greg Schiano went for it on fourth down and had an interception returned for a touchdown.
The game was competitive and Nebraska won’t be an easy win either. Michigan football is a 17-point favorite. Nebraska is 2-2 but new head coach Matt Rhule has the Blackshirts playing good defense. The offense is also running the ball better than anyone in the Big Ten right now.
Nebraska leads the Big Ten in rushing yards and rushing yards allowed. Turnovers have been an issue in losses but not the past two weeks.
Yet, the Huskers haven’t played a team as talented as Michigan, and here are three keys to a Wolverines win.
Run the ball well
Michigan’s formula isn’t going to drastically change. The Wolverines believe in their offensive line and their running game. J.J. McCarthy has proven he’s an elite college football quarterback this season, but even a good quarterback is worse off without a run game.
Nebraska is tied for 11th in the FBS with 14 sacks total. They are also surrendering less than two years per rushing attempt.
The defensive front is huge behind Ty Robinson and Nash Hutcmacher, plus the linebackers have played really well although Luke Reimer, a starter could be out.
Running the ball will allow Michigan to utilize the play-action passing game, keep McCarthy in favorable situations, and take the crowd out of it.
It’s going to be a physical game and the team that runs the ball better just might win.
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.
Don’t lose the turnover battle
Nebraska has only turned the ball over once in the past two weeks. Yet, the Huskers had seven in the first two games, which were its only games against Power-5 teams (Minnesota and Colorado).
The big difference, outside of the drop in competition and playing at home, is that Nebraska has started taking care of the ball. Heinrich Haarberg has just one turnover in two games, as well as three touchdown passes and two touchdown runs. He hasn’t thrown an interception yet.
Haarberg is also averaging more than 100 yards rushing per game. Michigan probably doesn’t need to win the turnover battle to win the game, but it doens’t want to lose it either.
Haarberg and Nebraska will have a tough time scoring. Michigan is dominant against the run and is also leading college football in scoring defense. But running quarterbacks are always tricky and if the Huskers avoid turnovers, run the ball well and stuff Michigan on the ground, an upset is possible.