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Preview: Michigan at Nebraska

RUSH OFFENSE vs. NEBRASKA RUSH DEFENSE
Mighty Michigan is #50 in rushing offense (167.75 yards/game) but tied at #32 in yards per carry (4.97). The numbers aren’t atrocious, but they’re not where we expected them to be, either. With three starters returning up front and a couple solid transfers incoming, we wanted to see more. There has been some shuffling with La’Darius Henderson, Karsen Barnhart, and Myles Hinton going in and out of the lineup at tackle. Blake Corum has 351 yards and 8 touchdowns on 6.05 yards/carry so far, but backup Donovan Edwards is off to a slow start with just 3.3 yards/carry and no touchdowns so far this year. Meanwhile, Nebraska has the #2 rushing defense (46.3 yards allowed/game) and is allowing 1.83 yards/carry, which is also #2. They have adopted a 3-3-5 defense under new head coach Matt Rhule, and that 3-3-5 gave Michigan some issues last year when TCU ran it. Junior safety Isaac Gifford (6’1″, 205 lbs.) leads the team with 23 tackles, followed by senior safety Omar Brown (6’1″, 200) with 22 and junior linebacker John Bullock (6’0″, 220) with 22 also. Those rushing defense numbers are even more impressive when considering that the Cornhuskers are pretty average in tackles for loss (#55 overall), led by junior nose tackle Nash Hutmacher (6’4″, 330) with 3.5 TFLs so far. The Huskers have been consistent this year, not allowing any team to average more than 2.19 yards/carry in any game this year. I think Michigan is going to have some tough sledding on the ground.
Advantage: Nebraska

Hit the jump for more.

Michigan’s 10 Longest Plays vs. Nebraska

Michigan has only played Nebraska nine times throughout history and has a 5-4 record against the Cornhuskers. They first played in 1962, but then did not play again until the Fiesta Bowl at the end of the 1985 season. Nebraska joined the Big Ten in 2011. Jim Harbaugh is 3-0 against the ‘Huskers.

1. Steve Breaston 69-yard kickoff return (2005)
2. Donovan Peoples-Jones 60-yard punt return TD (2018)
3. Dylan McCaffrey 56-yard TD pass to Ronnie Bell (2018)
4. Hassan Haskins 50-yard run (2021)
5. Cade McNamara 48-yard pass to Mike Sainristil (2021)
6. Denard Robinson 46-yard pass to Roy Roundtree (2011)
7. Karan Higdon 46-yard TD run (2018)
8. Karan Higdon 44-yard TD run (2018)
9. Denard Robinson 38-yard TD pass to Martavious Odoms (2011)
10. Cade McNamara 35-yard pass to Daylen Baldwin (2021)

Hit the jump for videos of Peoples-Jones, McCaffrey-to-Bell, and Haskins.

2023 Ex-Wolverine Updates: Week 4

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FORMER PLAYERS

TE Erick All (Iowa): All caught 3 passes for 35 yards in a 31-0 loss to Penn State.

WR Andrel Anthony (Oklahoma): Anthony caught 7 passes for 117 yards in a 20-6 win over Cincinnati. He now has 21 catches for 371 yards and 1 touchdown this year.

Andrel Anthony is good at footballpic.twitter.com/hCHo76mqoB

— RanDynasty (@ran_dynasty) September 23, 2023

QB Alan Bowman (Oklahoma State): Bowman completed 23/48 throws for 278 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions in a 34-27 loss to Iowa State. He also ran 4 times for 5 yards and 1 touchdown.

Alan Bowman with a dime on his 6th drive of the day for a TD.

Almost like a QB settles into a game when you let him play more than 4-5 drives. Weird. #OKState pic.twitter.com/xnbihinjZq

— TJ Eckert (@TJEckertKTUL) September 23, 2023

Hit the jump for more.

Michigan 31, Rutgers 7

Different game, same result. Michigan has started this season with some remarkable consistency, if a lack of explosiveness. The Wolverines beat the Scarlet Knights, a Big Ten team, by a 24-point margin a week after beating BGSU, a MAC team, by 25 points. That came a week after a 28-point win over UNLV, which followed a 27-point victory over ECU. Michigan points, from week one onward: 30, 35, 31, 31. Opponent points: 3, 7, 6, 7. Michigan now leads the country in scoring defense, giving up just 5.8 points per contest. Oklahoma and Ohio State are tied for #2 at 8.5 points allowed per game.

Hit the jump for more.

Michigan 31, Bowling Green 6

That was an ugly 25-point win. Michigan is at a pretty good place in its program where a 25-point win is considered disappointing, but that’s where we are. The point differentials against MAC teams over the years have been pretty sizeable:

• 63-10 over NIU in 2021 (53 points)
• 59-9 over CMU in 2013 (50 points)
• 49-3 over WMU in 2018 (46 points)
• 47-14 over WMU in 2021 (33 points)
• 31-3 over EMU in 2011 (28 points)
• 31-6 over BGSU in 2023 (25 points)
• 34-10 over Miami-OH in 2014 (24 points)
• 34-10 over WMU in 2011 (24 points)
• 28-24 over Akron in 2013 (4 points)

As you can see, Michigan has had some huge wins over MAC teams in the last thirteen seasons. This was one of the least impressive. Michigan was breaking in a new coaching staff after a rebuild in 2011, and Brady Hoke was proving the job was too big for him in 2013 and 2014. The former isn’t the case for this 2023 team, and I think we all know Harbaugh can coach at this level, so the latter doesn’t apply, either. But it was kind of a stinker.

Hit the jump for more.