Preview: Michigan vs. Nebraska

 

RUSH OFFENSE vs. NEBRASKA RUSH DEFENSE
Michigan is #15 in rushing (242.7 yards/game) and yards per carry (6.12). The revelation last week was QB Bryce Underwood's legs when he ran 9 times for 114 yards and 1 touchdown. Running back Justice Haynes has 100+ yards in all three games this season and averages 7.92 yards per attempt so far. Backup RB Jordan Marshall (10 carries, 52 yards, 2 TD last week) had his best game and showed off some nice speed, though one long touchdown run was called back because of a hold. On the offensive line, Michigan will likely be without LG Giovanni El-Hadi but should get RG Brady Norton back from injury. Nebraska is #75 in rushing defense (136 yards allowed/game) and #84 in yards allowed per carry (4.04). Against the lone Power 4 team they played so far, they gave up 30 carries for 202 yards (6.7 yards/carry) to Cincinnati, including 13 carries for 96 yards and 2 touchdowns to QB Brendan Sorsby. Underwood is obviously a better athlete than Sorsby, so has Nebraska figured anything out? Will Michigan let Underwood run that much? It remains to be seen. Nebraska runs a 3-3-5 defense, so the base includes a good number of defensive backs, but their top five tacklers are all defensive backs. Senior safety DeShon Singleton (6'3", 210) and redshirt freshman Rex Guthrie (6'1", 200) lead the team with 12 tackles each. Former top-100 recruit Elijah Jeudy (6'3", 300) starts at nose tackle after coming over from Alabama, and Missouri transfer Williams Nwaneri (6'7", 265) is another former highly recruited player who starts on the defensive line. Michigan should be too big for Nebraska to handle up front, but the 3-3-5 can be tough against gap runs, because sometimes all those linebackers can get run-throughs when linemen pull.
Advantage: Michigan

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PASS OFFENSE vs. NEBRASKA PASS DEFENSE
Michigan is #84 in passing offense (209.3 yards/game), #58 in yards per attempt (7.9), and #89 in passing efficiency. Underwood has completed 57.5% of his passes for 628 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception. He seems to have made a good connection with WR Donaven McCulley and TE Marlin Klein, the latter of whom missed the Oklahoma game and seemed a little limited against Central Michigan with a lower leg injury. Hopefully Klein is back up to speed for this weekend, because he's a mismatch - too fast for linebackers, and too big for safeties. The offensive line is tied for #25 in sacks allowed per game (1.0). Nebraska is tied for #87 in sacks per game (1.67), led by four different players with one sack each: DT Riley Van Poppel (6'5", 295), DT Ashton Murphy (6'5", 275), LB Dasan McCullough (6'5", 235), and LB Marques Watson-Trent (5'11", 235). The strength of the defense is the secondary, where former USC CB Ceyair Wright (6'0", 190) roams. Senior Malcolm Hartzog, Jr. (5'9", 185) has the team's lone interception so far this season, which came against Sorsby and Cincinnati. They haven't been challenged much in the past two games against Akron and Houston Christian, so being ranked as the #1 passing defense (66 yards allowed/game) is a little misleading; for example, Akron is completing 45.8% of their passes for 5.0 yards/attempt and a 92.88 passer rating, all of which would have ranked well below Michigan's terrible passing offense from 2024.
Advantage: Michigan

RUSH DEFENSE vs. NEBRASKA RUSH OFFENSE
Michigan is #25 in rushing defense (89 yards allowed/game) and #18 in yards allowed per carry (2.64). Their linebackers are playing very well, and Michigan has been using four guys at inside linebacker pretty regularly: Ernest Hausmann (20 tackles), Cole Sullivan (13), Jimmy Rolder (16), and Jaishawn Barham (12). Last week Michigan used Barham quite a bit as an edge player, and I would expect to see more of that in the future since Sullivan and Rolder are both good players, and Barham's upside may be higher off the edge. I'm hoping for more from the defensive tackles, who have made a couple splash plays but haven't been as good as I had hoped. Nebraska is #60 in rushing offense (178.7 yards/game) and #44 in yards per carry (5.01). Junior RB Emmett Johnson (5'11", 200) has 52 carries for 326 yards (6.3 yards/carry) and 4 touchdowns, but he had just modest success against Cincinnati (4.3 yards/carry on 25 attempts) and really went off against Akron and Houston Christian (27 carries for 218 yards in those two games). The offensive line is a veteran group, even if one of them is a transfer in RG Rocco Spindler (6'5", 320), and the youngest is 6'6", 305 lb. redshirt sophomore LT Gunnar Gottula, who has been dealing with an injury this fall. Sophomore QB Dylan Raiola (6'3", 230) has 9 carries for 19 yards this fall, so he's not a huge threat but he's somewhat mobile.
Advantage: Michigan

PASS DEFENSE vs. NEBRASKA PASS OFFENSE
Michigan is #43 in passing defense (182.3 yards allowed/game), #25 in yards allowed per attempt (5.4), and #33 in passing efficiency defense. Word has been that captain and former starter Rod Moore will make his debut this weekend after missing all of 2024 and the first three games of 2025, but how rusty will he be after not playing football for a year and a half due to his knee injury and multiple setbacks? Michigan may also be without CB Zeke Berry for a second straight week. With the aforementioned Barham coming off the edge, I think we'll see some good pressure put on Raiola, but he's accurate and can throw from multiple angles, so he can still hurt defenses even if Michigan beats a block or two. Nebraska is #5 nationally in passing offense (366.3 yards/game), #1 in completion percentage (79.3%), #12 in yards per attempt (9.9), and #8 in passing efficiency. As efficient as Raiola has been, his backup QBs are 16/17 for for 270 yards and 1 touchdown. I think that shows how weak the competition has been, though, rather than how awesome Nebraska QBs are. Senior Kentucky transfer WR Dane Key (6'3", 210) was recruited by Michigan out of high school and the transfer portal, and he leads the Cornhuskers with 13 catches for 190 yards and 3 touchdowns. The other starters are sophomore WR/PR Jacory Barney, Jr. (6'0", 170) with 15 catches for 181 yards and 1 score and sophomore Cal transfer Nyziah Hunter (6'1", 205) with 11 catches for 163 yards and 1 score. Nebraska is allowing a respectable 1 sack per game.
Advantage: Nebraska

ROSTER NOTES

• Nebraska players who were offered by Michigan include: DL Elijah Jeudy, WR Dane Key, WR Juju Marks, TE Mac Markway, LB Dasan McCullough, WR Isaiah Mozee, OL Rocco Spindler, DB Ceyair Wright
• Nebraska LB Willis McGahee IV is the son of former Miami and NFL RB Willis McGahee
• Nebraska DT Riley Van Poppel is the son of former MLB pitcher Todd Van Poppel
• Nebraska recruiting and personnel analyst Frank Verducci is the brother of famous Sports Illustrated writer Tom Verducci

LAST TIME THEY PLAYED . . .

• On September 30, 2023, Michigan beat Nebraska by a score of 45-7
• Nebraska QB Heinrich Haarberg (now a tight end) completed 14/25 passes for 199 yards, 0 touchdowns, and 1 interception
• Michigan QB J.J. McCarthy completed 12/16 passes for 156 yards and 2 touchdowns
• Michigan QB Jayden Denegal threw his first and only Michigan touchdown
• Blake Corum, Kalel Mullings, and McCarthy each scored a rushing touchdown
• WR Roman Wilson made 4 catches for 58 yards and 2 touchdowns
• DEs Josaiah Stewart (2), Braiden McGregor (1), and Derrick Moore (1) each recorded at least one sack

PREDICTION

• Nebraska hasn't seen anyone as good as Michigan yet, so this is going to be a new level of test for the Cornhuskers. On the flip side, Michigan played a better team on the road when they went against Oklahoma, and that game was relatively close. Oklahoma's QB and defense were better than Nebraska's, and I don't think the environment will be quite so intimidating at Nebraska in mid-afternoon as it was in Norman at night.
• If Nebraska barely beat Cincinnati (20-17 in week one), do I think Michigan is 4 points better than Cincinnati? Yes. Yes, I do.
• Michigan 27, Nebraska 16