ThotDoc's Brain Droppings on the Michigan Game

McCarthy maneuvers Michigan in manhandling of Huskers whose solitary solace was to save the shutout streak

Kenny Larabee, KLIN

On the last day of September, it was the hottest gametime temperature in Memorial Stadium since 1985, and the #2 ranked Michigan Wolverines never cooled off dominating the Nebraska Cornhuskers 45-7. It was the Huskers 23rd straight loss to a Top 25 team since 2016 and the 14th straight loss against a top-5 ranked opponent. It also extended the Husker losing streak to Michigan to four games. It’s been a decade since Nebraska last beat a Michigan squad (17-13 in Ann Arbor in 2013).

Michigan dominated from their first possession driving 75 yards in 9 plays to score on a 29-yard pass that Roman Wilson pinned against the back of Isaac Gifford’s helmet. After Nebraska’s first pass was deflected and caught by a 339-pound defensive lineman, Michigan drove 29 yards in just 3 plays to lead 14-0. Michigan continued by scoring on two of their next three first half drives to total 28 points, while Nebraska’s five drives went interception, turnover on downs, punt, punt and halftime.

Michigan went on to score on three of their first four second half drives and punted just once in the entire contest. The Wolverines dominated time of possession 38-22 minutes and ran off 74 plays to just 46 by the Huskers. They were also very disciplined in that they were called for zero penalties while the Huskers committed 4 for 30 yards including two false starts in the red zone in drives that then resulted in no points. The Wolverines recorded four sacks, three pass breakups, two forced fumbles and an interception. Michigan has outscored opponents 100-13 in the first half and still has not yielded a third quarter point. It was complete domination.

Late in the fourth quarter, the only drama remaining was whether the Huskers would be shut out for the first time in 344 games. Nebraska hasn’t notched a 0 since the debacle in the desert, a 19-0 loss against Arizona State in 1996. Even more amazing, they have not been shutout at home since a 12-0 loss to Kansas State in 1968. Cue Joshua Fleeks who with 4:17 remaining ripped off a 74-yard touchdown run. It was the longest rush of Fleeks’ career, bettering a 17-yard run against Oklahoma State in 2018 when Fleeks was at Baylor. Entering today’s game, Fleeks had 29 career carries for 88 yards and two touchdowns. The fleet-footed Fleeks, who reported overweight to training camp in August, outran all Michigan defenders to the goal line to mark a marginal moral victory on a day in which the Huskers were mightily manhandled.

The Blackshirts played without Luke Reimer (who reportedly was hospitalized Saturday morning with a staph infection) and Cam Lenhardt (who is still recovering from a high ankle sprain). Then, on the second play of the game safety DeShon Singleton went out with a knee injury. Not that the outcome would have been dramatically different, but those are three of the best playmakers on the Husker defense and their loss hurt not only this game, but in every game they miss going forward.

After not allowing more than 58 rushing yards or 2.2 yards per carry in their first four games, Michigan eclipsed that mark with 67 rushing yards on 10 carries in its opening two drives. They finished with 249 rushing yards on 5.0 yards per carry and three rushing touchdowns. Nebraska only allowed one carry of 20 yards or more in its opening four games, and Michigan had two such carries that went for touchdowns in the first quarter. It seemed as if Michigan HC Jim Harbaugh wanted to make a point against the previously #2 ranked rush defense as Michigan’s rush total was its season high.

Even though it was a very rough outing for the defense, they were led by linebacker Nick Henrich, who had nine tackles in the game to increase his career total to 182. He is the 54th Husker with at least 175 career tackles. Isaac Gifford, Omar Brown and Javin Wright all had 7 stops each with Brown sharing the team’s only tackle for loss (-2 yds) with Ty Robinson. After leading the nation in sacks the first two weeks of the season, the defense recorded no sacks for the second week in a row. The defense was beaten on and driven backwards throughout and has just six days to recover before playing another physical team next Friday in Illinois.

Offensively,  Nebraska was held to 179 total yards through three quarters before the reserves played the fourth quarter for Michigan. The Cornhuskers were just 3 of 10 on third down and 1 for 3 on fourth down. The Wolverines stuffed what had been the No. 6 rushing attack in the county, holding Nebraska to 39 rushing yards on 19 carries before emptying the bench. Nebraska finished with 106 rushing yards on 21 carries, but 74 of them came on the Fleeks run with just over four minutes to go in the game. Anthony Grant was held to 16 yards on 6 carries and Emmett Johnson managed 9 yards on his 2 carries. Heinrich Haarberg led the offense with 9 carries but five of those were sacks where he lost 31 yards after gaining 29 yards on his other four carries.

Haarberg went 14 for 25 for a career high 199 yards passing with his first career interception on a batted ball. It was his best day throwing even though his sidearm delivery led to multiple deflected passes. His throwing motion is not likely to change, but he seems like he is continuing to gain confidence in leading the Huskers. Given that the team has had just two turnovers in his three starts, it may be difficult to start Jeff Sims over him at Illinois, although I do expect Sims will get some playing time Friday.

Billy Kemp (4 catches for 61 yards) led all receivers and gained 38 of those yards after the catch. His 34-yard reception in the first quarter was the longest reception of his college career. Marcus Washington had a 56-yard reception on a deep square in on the first play of the second half, marking his longest reception as a Husker, but he also had two drops. Tight end Thomas Fidone added two grabs for 31 yards on his only two targets, and he has to be targeted more often for the offense to click. Emmett Johnson had two catches for 20 yards and had 18 yards after catch. Heinrich Haarberg preserved his throwing average by catching his own batted pass for a 2-yard completion.

Special teams probably hurt more than helped as place kicker Tristan Alvano missed a 40-yard field goal against the wind, marking his third miss in four attempts. Cue Tommy Bleekrode. Alvano is struggling between the ears and Rhule has been more than patient with the freshman. Alvano did manage a touchback on his only kickoff. Brian Buschini averaged 45.7 yards on 3 punts with a long of 50 yards. He also made a hard tackle on a punt returner who picked up a bobbled 40-yard punt and returned it 30 yards. Tommi Hill returned two kickoffs for 42 yards and is just looking for a seam and an opportunity. I wasn’t sure why we tried an onside kick down 38 points with 4 minutes to go unless we just really need the practice. I guess it’s better than doing it when we have the lead.

It was no surprise that Nebraska lost today to Michigan. But most of us were looking for a more competitive game. The game revealed how far the Huskers must go to be relevant again. The talent disparity was striking on both sides of the ball. Michigan is disciplined and methodical. Nebraska is sloppy and sporadic. Can the Huskers heal up over the next 6 days and be ready to beat Illinois in Champaign? The Illini were throttled by Purdue today 44-19 and are also 2-3 on the season. The next four games against Illinois, Northwestern, Purdue and Michigan State will likely determine whether the Huskers are bowl-bound. They will probably need to win at least three, if not four of those games to have a realistic chance and that makes the Illini contest as close to a must win game as we have going forward. Let’s see if the Huskers are up to the challenge. Go Big Red!!