Tag: Nebraska

Michigan vs. Nebraska Awards

Khaleke Hudson (image via MLive)

Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Christian Turner. Turner (10 carries for 55 yards) made his college debut and looked pretty good doing it. He’s very small right now and needs to keep adding weight to his body in the coming off-season, but he showed some decent quickness and toughness. If Chris Evans needs to miss more time with his hamstring injury, it would be nice to see Turner get some snaps behind Karan Higdon and Tru Wilson.

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Michigan 56, Nebraska 10

This wasn’t deemed a penalty until much deliberation (image via Lincoln Journal Star)

That was unexpected. Nebraska isn’t very good this season, but I still thought Michigan would struggle. I predicted a 24-17 game in which the Wolverines would play down to the level of the Cornhuskers. I was wrong. Michigan’s defense played superb football, and the offensive line was overwhelmed the whole day. It also helped that Nebraska quarterback Adrian Martinez was not up to full speed after getting hurt against Colorado; he wore a knee brace and only seemed to be operating at 75% or so. Michigan’s offense was also clicking at a higher level than they have been, and that’s a credit to them. Nebraska’s defense shouldn’t have been as out of sync as the offense, but a Michigan offense that had been struggling in many ways really took it to them.

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Preview: Michigan vs. Nebraska

RUSH OFFENSE vs. NEBRASKA RUSH DEFENSE

Michigan is #60 in rush offense (188 yards/game) and #37 in yards per carry (5.17). Senior Karan Higdon (228 yards, 6.7 YPC, 2 TD) leads the way, even though he missed last week’s game with a lower-body injury. Junior Chris Evans (172/5.7/2) is second, but he left last week’s game with what looked like a hamstring pull (or maybe just a cramp). Both players are expected to return against Nebraska, but that could come down to a game-time decision. The third guy on the depth chart is junior walk-on Tru Wilson (107/6.3/1), who has done okay but is unremarkable. Up front Michigan has struggled with stacked boxes at times, but on the plus side, right tackle Juwann Bushell-Beatty graded out as Pro Football Focus’s top Big Ten right tackle last week. Nebraska is #20 in rushing defense (93.5 yards allowed/game), holding Colorado to 44 yards on the ground before giving up a modest 143 yards to Troy on 34 attempts. Junior inside linebacker Mohamed Barry (6’1″, 230 lbs.) leads the team with 15 tackles, followed closely by junior linebacker Tyrin Ferguson (6’2″, 230) with 14 and senior Luke Griffin (6’4″, 245) with 14.
Advantage: Nebraska

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School in the News: Nebraska

After going 9-3 this season, Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini was fired. Over his career at Nebraska – his first career head coaching stop – Pelini had a 67-27 record and never had fewer than nine victories and was 4-3 in bowl games. However, his three division conference titles were not followed by conference championships, and he lost at least four games in every season except the current one.

I do not expect the fallout from his firing to affect Michigan very much, since the two schools have not crossed paths very often in the current or upcoming recruiting cycles. Furthermore, nobody who chose Nebraska over Michigan was strongly considering the Wolverines.

2015 commits with Michigan offers: None
Roster players offered by Michigan: WR Kevin Gladney, S Charles Jackson, DE Greg McMullen, LB David Santos, S D.J. Singleton, OG Paul Thurston, DT Vincent Valentine, DT Kevin Williams

Pelini played college football at Ohio State and has spent a lot of time as a defensive coordinator, including at Nebraska, Oklahoma, and LSU. He has also spent some time as a position coach in the NFL. He could go somewhere else and become a head coach (after all, there are lots of teams who would love to win 9 or 10 games a season), or he could return to being a defensive coordinator at the college level.

Highlights: Nebraska 17, Michigan 13