Subscribe
Follow Us
The Nebraska football team had a tough start to the year that included a blown fourth-quarter lead to the Minnesota Golden Gophers and a blowout loss to the Colorado Buffaloes. But they did bounce back the next two weeks with wins over Northern Illinois and Louisiana Tech. Yes, it's only Northern Illinois and Louisiana Tech, but wins are wins and positive momentum any way it is achieved is great for any team.
Nebraska was rolling heading into their matchup with the second-ranked Michigan Wolverines and were getting Michigan at home in Lincoln. It was their chance to make a statement. Instead, the only statement made was that Nebraska is still nowhere close to Michigan's weight class. Nebraska football got pummeled 45-7 at home and were victims of Michigan's biggest win on the season. What happened? What went wrong? Who is to blame for this thrashing? Two areas stand out for what went wrong for Nebraska.
2) Nebraska's Offensive Line
It's hard to score when a team's offensive line gets manhandled. That's in large part what happened to Nebraska's offense on Saturday. Michigan racked up four sacks on Saturday and a ton more pressures. Nebraska especially couldn't handle Josaiah Stewart, who earned the Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Week after registering two of Michigan's four sacks.
Five tackles and a pair of sacks earn @josaiah_stewart B1G Co-Defensive Player of the Week honors!#GoBlue pic.twitter.com/GDhGgtrnjI
— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) October 2, 2023
Those pressures were evident on starting quarterback Heinrich Haarberg's interception. Michigan collapsed the pocket and got their hands up as Haarberg geared up to throw. They got a deflection and were able to come away with the ball.
Nebraska's offensive line really got worked by Michigan's front in the run game. On the surface, Nebraska football's numbers running the ball look ok; 21 carries for 106 yards. But 74 of those yards came on one run by running back/wide receiver hybrid Joshua Fleeks while the Huskers were down 45-0.
FLEEKS TO THE HOUSE@HuskerFootball finds its first TD of the game pic.twitter.com/9JUyj41jOR
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 30, 2023
Outside of this run, Nebraska ran for 32 yards on 20 tries. And added only 199 yards through the air with no touchdowns and an interception. That's just not going to cut it under any scenario. And it was in large part because of how overrun Nebraska's offensive line was. To be fair, Michigan's defensive line is going to overwhelm just about every offensive line they go up against. But Nebraska had no chance of defending them.
1) Nebraska's Defensive Line
It wasn't much great for Nebraska football in the trenches on the other side of the ball either. Unlike Michigan, Nebraska could not get much pressure on Michigan's stout offensive line. Michigan quarterback JJ McCarthy was not sacked once on Saturday. In fact, McCarthy had more rushing touchdowns (1) than times he got sacked (0).
"Thank you very much" – J.J. McCarthy 🔥〽️@UMichFootball makes it 21-0 in the first half pic.twitter.com/08vlwaOQHF
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 30, 2023
Michigan's running backs were able to join the fun too. Donovan Edwards did not have his best day, but Blake Corum was his usual solid self, ending the game with 76 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. Kalel Mullings, another running back, was able to chip in too with 43 yards and a touchdown on only five carries. Michigan ended the game rushing for 249 yards and three touchdowns on 51 carries.
That was by far Nebraska's worst showing of the season defending the run. They entered this contest allowing under 50 rushing yards per game. They will be better defending the run against teams less formidable than Michigan, but if they had any chance of winning this game or making it tough on Michigan, they had to defend the run. They didn't. And as a result, they got blasted 45-7. Perhaps Nebraska football can bounce back next week on the road against the Illinois Fighting Illini.
