The Michigan football team improved to 3-1 on the season on Saturday with a road win against Nebraska. It was the first Big Ten game of the season for both teams, so the Wolverines are off to a good start in conference play. The final score of the game ended up being 30-27, but Michigan easily could've won the game by two scores. The game was tied at halftime after Nebraska scored on a Hail Mary, but Michigan acting head coach Biff Poggi knew that his team was better.
Michigan got out to a 10-0 start, but it should've been 14-0. Wide receiver Semaj Morgan missed a wide open target in the end zone on the first drive of the game, and then Channing Goodwin dropped what should've been a touchdown later on the drive. The Wolverines settled for a field goal.
The Wolverines also should've been up 17-10 at halftime, but a coaching blunder by Biff Poggi cost them seven points. After getting a stop, there were about 20 seconds on the clock, and Poggi didn't use a timeout. Nebraska let the clock run down and called a timeout with one second left. The Cornhuskers attempted a Hail Mary, and it worked to tie the game.
Despite the unfortunate ending to the half, Poggi knew that Michigan was dominating.
“It's 17-17, but physically we are beating the snot out of them,” Poggi told his team at halftime, according to a post from Alejandro Zúñiga.
Michigan got back in front by double digits in the third quarter, but a bad mistake cost them again. After getting a stop on third down deep in Nebraska territory, the Wolverines got called for a taunting penalty. Instead of getting the ball back up by 10, the drive continued, and Nebraska was able to kick a field goal to make it a one-score game again.
The Wolverines ended up going up by 10 again on a field goal with under four minutes to go. It was an impressive drive that chewed up nearly nine minutes. Nebraska scored a late touchdown after to make it 30-27, but the Wolverines got the ball back and ran out the rest of the clock.
The Michigan football team won 30-27, but it very easily could've been a much more comfortable victory. Regardless, it was a huge win.
