Biff Poggi’s costly mistake has Michigan fans missing Sherron Moore

Michigan hardly missed Sherrone Moore in Week 3, the first of his self-imposed two-game suspension for NCAA violations, as the Wolverines rolled to a 63-3 win over Central Michigan with former Charlotte head coach Biff Poggi filling in on an interim basis. However, at the end of the first half in Lincoln, Nebraska, in Week 4, Poggi’s glaring mistake gave the Cornhuskers a touchdown. 

Leading 17-10, Michigan seemingly derailed Nebraska’s two-minute drive before the intermission, sacking Dylan Raiola on 1st-and-10 to back up the Huskers to the 35-yard line. Nebraska ran the ball twice to make up most of the sack yardage, but Poggi opted not to call a timeout, allowing Nebraska to run the clock down to one second remaining for 4th-and-11 from its own 48-yard line. 

Had Poggi called a timeout with more time remaining on the clock, Nebraska would have likely punted, fearing turning the ball over in Hail Mary range for Bryce Underwood. With one second left, however, Raiola threw up a prayer of his own and had it answered by Jacory Barney Jr., a 52-yard touchdown with no time remaining to even the score at 17. 

Michigan fans were fired up after Biff Poggi’s blunder

The decision to allow Matt Rhule not to run the clock down didn’t appear to be overly consequential at the time. How many quarterbacks have the arm to get the ball ot the end zone from over 50 yards away, and how often do those quarterbacks convert on Hail Mary attempts? But the chance wasn’t zero, and Poggi could have made it that with a simple timeout, which CBS’s Gary Danielson was emphatic about calling out on the broadcast. 

Sherrone Moore won every game when he filled in for Jim Harbaugh two seasons ago as Harbaugh was suspended by the NCAA to close out the 2023 regular season. But this Michigan team isn’t that Michigan team, and with significantly slimmer margins, in-game management often comes to the forefront. 

Moore has had his critics throughout his first year-plus leading the Wolverines, but this Poggi decision, however, the game plays out in the second half, will have the fanbase excited to get their head coach back on the sidelines. 

Poggi can handle the CMUs of the college football world. Nebraska is proving to be a different story, at least through one half of football.