Michigan is 5-0 and ranked eighth (!) in the country heading into a game at Nebraska Saturday night in Lincoln, and atmosphere that should prove to be electric.
We said last week the late-arriving crowd at Wisconsin should help U-M ... it wasn't just late. A third of the students never showed up, and per our Doug Karsch on the sidelines, it was never really that intimidating. Communication was good throughout as a result, the Wolverines got an early lead and — minus a bump in the road at the end of the first half — really controlled the game.
Head coach Jim Harbaugh said he could sense going in that his group was confident and ready to meet the challenge. Hats off to his crew for proving it could overcome some adversity.
We've been to Lincoln once, and it was crazy (the 'Russ Bellomy' game after Denard Robinson got hurt. Game over). This, along with Columbus and the Penn State white out, is the best atmosphere in the Big Ten when Michigan comes to town.
We (me) pegged this one as a potential loss heading into the season, and after the opener at Illinois, folks let us (me) know about it. But openers can be deceiving ... as we've seen, even crappy losses to lousy Illini teams. Illinois has gotten better each week, and HuskerOnline's Sean Callahan — a straight shooter in this business — said it all seems to be coming together.
"They looked really good Saturday," he said. "Fast as hell, and Memorial Stadium was as good as it's been in a while."
We reminded him that this Wildcats team would make our @Clayton Sayfie and former Westphalia ping pong tournament runner-up @Austin Fox Fox look like burners.
Regardless, the Cornhuskers outplayed MSU in a road loss, dominating the second half, and if U-M wins Saturday night, they'll have earned it ... and their top 10 ranking.
Yes, it's fair to say the schedule isn't as daunting as it appeared before the season started. Washington (a loser at Oregon State) and Wisconsin (a tire fire offensively) aren't the teams we thought they'd be, but U-M absolutely dismantled both, and they're not 'bad' teams. The Badgers, especially, are really good defensively.
Having watched the 'Huskers the last several weeks, it's clear that defensive front plays with an edge. They flat out owned the Spartans, are having fun together (sound familiar?) and finally seem to be finding their identity under Scott Frost.
They should really be a 5-1 team, but they gave away the games at Illinois and MSU. They also 'roughed Oklahoma up pretty good,' according to Callahan, and dropped three picks that could have changed the game. They had a pick at Illinois called back by a questionable roughing the passer penalty, blew a special teams play (punter kicked to the wrong side of the field where there was no coverage) or would have won in East Lansing ...
In short, they're better than their record.
But they've still got an inconsistent quarterback. As dynamic a runner as Adrian Martinez is, he's still hit and miss when it comes to finding open receivers. That was a problem at Michigan State, where he could have sealed the game with a few decent throws and gave the game away with a pick in overtime.
Still ... he's completing 66.7 percent of his passes this year, has six touchdowns to only two picks and is the first real ground threat at the position Michigan will face this fall. He's averaging 5.2 yards per carry, has scored nine rushing touchdowns and is dangerous — but not unstoppable. The Sooners held him to 34 yards on 17 carries.
Nebraska is consistently "okay" on defense, 42nd or 43rd in just about every category with one exception — scoring defense. They're 13th (15.5 points per game), and U-M is going to have be better in the red zone and short yardage this game.
This is a big one, and it's obviously very winnable. It won't be easy, but get this one, and you're going to add more believers and more confidence to a team that really seems to be enjoying proving people wrong.
We said at the beginning of the year they knew it was key to get to 4-0, get some confidence and ride the momentum. They've got a great opportunity now, and we're excited to see where this goes.
We said last week the late-arriving crowd at Wisconsin should help U-M ... it wasn't just late. A third of the students never showed up, and per our Doug Karsch on the sidelines, it was never really that intimidating. Communication was good throughout as a result, the Wolverines got an early lead and — minus a bump in the road at the end of the first half — really controlled the game.
Head coach Jim Harbaugh said he could sense going in that his group was confident and ready to meet the challenge. Hats off to his crew for proving it could overcome some adversity.
We've been to Lincoln once, and it was crazy (the 'Russ Bellomy' game after Denard Robinson got hurt. Game over). This, along with Columbus and the Penn State white out, is the best atmosphere in the Big Ten when Michigan comes to town.
We (me) pegged this one as a potential loss heading into the season, and after the opener at Illinois, folks let us (me) know about it. But openers can be deceiving ... as we've seen, even crappy losses to lousy Illini teams. Illinois has gotten better each week, and HuskerOnline's Sean Callahan — a straight shooter in this business — said it all seems to be coming together.
"They looked really good Saturday," he said. "Fast as hell, and Memorial Stadium was as good as it's been in a while."
We reminded him that this Wildcats team would make our @Clayton Sayfie and former Westphalia ping pong tournament runner-up @Austin Fox Fox look like burners.
Regardless, the Cornhuskers outplayed MSU in a road loss, dominating the second half, and if U-M wins Saturday night, they'll have earned it ... and their top 10 ranking.
Yes, it's fair to say the schedule isn't as daunting as it appeared before the season started. Washington (a loser at Oregon State) and Wisconsin (a tire fire offensively) aren't the teams we thought they'd be, but U-M absolutely dismantled both, and they're not 'bad' teams. The Badgers, especially, are really good defensively.
Having watched the 'Huskers the last several weeks, it's clear that defensive front plays with an edge. They flat out owned the Spartans, are having fun together (sound familiar?) and finally seem to be finding their identity under Scott Frost.
They should really be a 5-1 team, but they gave away the games at Illinois and MSU. They also 'roughed Oklahoma up pretty good,' according to Callahan, and dropped three picks that could have changed the game. They had a pick at Illinois called back by a questionable roughing the passer penalty, blew a special teams play (punter kicked to the wrong side of the field where there was no coverage) or would have won in East Lansing ...
In short, they're better than their record.
But they've still got an inconsistent quarterback. As dynamic a runner as Adrian Martinez is, he's still hit and miss when it comes to finding open receivers. That was a problem at Michigan State, where he could have sealed the game with a few decent throws and gave the game away with a pick in overtime.
Still ... he's completing 66.7 percent of his passes this year, has six touchdowns to only two picks and is the first real ground threat at the position Michigan will face this fall. He's averaging 5.2 yards per carry, has scored nine rushing touchdowns and is dangerous — but not unstoppable. The Sooners held him to 34 yards on 17 carries.
Nebraska is consistently "okay" on defense, 42nd or 43rd in just about every category with one exception — scoring defense. They're 13th (15.5 points per game), and U-M is going to have be better in the red zone and short yardage this game.
This is a big one, and it's obviously very winnable. It won't be easy, but get this one, and you're going to add more believers and more confidence to a team that really seems to be enjoying proving people wrong.
We said at the beginning of the year they knew it was key to get to 4-0, get some confidence and ride the momentum. They've got a great opportunity now, and we're excited to see where this goes.
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