Every year there is one Michigan Football game that, despite watching the entirety of the game, I have no recollection of anything that happened within a few days of its conclusion. I can confidently say that the game against Nebraska that occurred today will be this year's game. There was never a moment where Nebraska felt like they were in the game, Michigan's offense was a mundane mix of ground-and-pound and out-of-sync passing, and the Wolverine defense overwhelmed Nebraska's subpar quarterbacks. This game included very few notable plays, just a routine hamblasting of a bad team by a good one *yawn*. Thankfully, sleepy is good when you're on the right side of it. 

Nebraska got the ball to open the game and on 3rd & 6 during the first series, they got what would be their longest play of the game, a 30 yard pass from QB Chubba Purdy to WR Marcus Washington in between Michigan's CB DJ Turner and S RJ Moten. That play got the Huskers quickly into Michigan territory, but like nearly every Nebraska drive to follow, it fizzled out in the span of a few plays. A false start on 3rd & 1 backed them up, and Purdy was sacked by Junior Colson to end the drive. 

Michigan got the ball and asserted themselves very quickly. JJ McCarthy hit Ronnie Bell for a 25 yard completion and otherwise the drive was mostly on the ground. Blake Corum rushed it six times, Donovan Edwards carried it three times, and a DPI call on Nebraska got the Wolverines to the goal line, where Corum punched it in from two yards out for his 17th TD on the season. Of note on that drive, Michigan was faced with a 4th & 2 at the Nebraska 31 but a Corum plunge up the gut converted it with little trouble. 

The game then entered a dry period, with five drives between the two teams resulting in a grand total of one first down. Nebraska was unable to make much of anything happen, with one drive sputtering after a false start and another ending when Michael Barrett made a nice tackle on a TE just short of a first down. That part was not surprising, but Michigan's offense entering a rut for a few drives was. Michigan's first drive of this period ran into trouble when Garrett Nelson, the only Nebraska player we starred on the FFFF diagram, toasted RT Karsen Barnhart and sacked McCarthy. A blitz on 3rd & 13 got the job done to finish the drive. 

[Patrick Barron]

The second drive of this period of the game merits more discussion. Looking to jumpstart the passing game, Michigan decided to dial up more vertical passes. On first down, McCarthy looked deep for Andrel Anthony but the ball was overthrown (Anthony had little separation too). On second down, McCarthy again looked deep, this time to Cornelius Johnson. It seemed like the receiver had a play on the ball but couldn't come down with it. On third down, McCarthy targeted Ronnie Bell on a crosser that was dropped. A frustrating sequence for a passing attack that has struggled in recent weeks and hasn't found its groove on the deep ball since the non-conference. 

After Nebraska's third drive during this dry period, the game livened back up. To get out of the offensive rut, Michigan returned to its bread and butter on offense, going back to the ground and building the pass off the run. Corum got Michigan going and McCarthy made an intermediate throw to a wide-open Colston Loveland before a play-action TD to Ronnie Bell, also wide open. 14-0. 

Nebraska's best drive of the game came right after. Chubba Purdy scrambled for a first down and then connected with Alante Brown on 3rd & 6 for another pickup. Michigan's Taylor Upshaw would get flagged for a roughing the passer penalty to get the Huskers deeper into Michigan territory and one more Purdy scramble on 3rd down moved the chains again. On that play, though, Purdy awkwardly slid down before taking contact and would be injured, forcing third string QB Logan Smothers to come in. The drive stalled after that and a 37 yard FG barely made it through the uprights for Nebraska's only points of the game. 

Michigan got the ball with just over 4 minutes remaining in the first half and proceeded to go on a methodical drive, staying mostly on the ground again. Blake Corum and CJ Stokes carried the weight, with Donovan Edwards exiting due to an undisclosed medical reason, but McCarthy did make a good throw to Roman Wilson to convert a 3rd down. Michigan showed no interest in picking up the pace despite the clock ticking down, and Jim Harbaugh opted not to use his timeouts. Michigan picked up a 4th & 1 and then dilly-dallied their way into the red zone but ran out of time to get it into the end zone. A 30 yard Jake Moody field goal made the score 17-3 at halftime. 

[Bryan Fuller]

The second half, as in every Michigan game in B1G play this season, was better than the first half. The Wolverines began to eat much more time of possession than they did in the first half and shortened the number of drives. Indeed, there were just seven full drives in the second half, with an eighth beginning with under a minute to go in the contest. The first two were punts, Michigan's ending when McCarthy sacked himself out of field goal range in Husker territory.

That was frustrating but Michigan would get a TD, TD, and FG on its other three drives of the second half. The second Michigan drive saw Ronnie Bell finally make a play, scooping up a diving catch before it hit the turf, and then McCarthy punched in the TD with a 3 yard QB keeper (with an assist to a thunder-block from Corum on the play). The third Michigan drive was when Michigan began to hand off more to CJ Stokes, as well as Isaiah Gash, marching into Husker territory. On 2nd & 6 from the Nebraska 29, McCarthy hit Ronnie Bell, who rushed, spun around, stayed in bounds, then scampered down the sideline to the end zone. But before he could cross the goal line, he fumbled, the ball rolled into the end zone, a mad scramble ensued, and Andrel Anthony fell onto it just before it touched the backline. TD, 31-3. 

Nebraska's drives in the second half were completely forgettable. The visitors had to scratch and claw to get a first down and in total, finished with 43 yards on 22 plays in the latter 30 minutes of play. It was as painful to watch as it sounds. Michigan's defense was a ton better and Logan Smothers could not get the offense going. Perhaps the most notable event on that side of the ball in the second half was Michigan's Mike Morris getting rolled up on and hobbling off to the medical tent. Wolverines fans have to hope he will be back to full strength soon. 

Michigan's final drive of the game was the one with the backups, Davis Warren replacing McCarthy at QB and plenty of other second-teamers making their way into the game. They gained 43 yards on 9 plays, a nice catch by Loveland and some good hard runs from the likes of Stokes, Gash, and Leon Franklin again put Michigan in Nebraska territory before the drive wrapped up. With under 90 seconds to go in the game, Jake Moody lined up from 43 yard away and split the uprights to make the lead 31, a very important number for the betting folk. Nebraska got the kickoff and ran the clock out, leaving the final score at 34-3. 

This also happened [Patrick Barron]

There's really not all that much to say about this game. It happened, Michigan was a lot better, they covered the spread, the end. Michigan dominated in expected fashion, with 26 first downs to 8 for Nebraska. They outgained their opponents 411-146 overall and on a per-play basis 6.0-3.0. Michigan's passing game was disappointing and that will likely incur most of the discussion, but as anticipated, they blew the Huskers off the ball in the running game. Michigan as a team ran it 49 times for 264 yards (5.4 YPC) with 2 TDs. Game, set, match right there. Corum's 162 yards will help further his Heisman case, while Stokes played quite well in backup RB duty. McCarthy was 8/17 for 128 yards and 1 TD, while Warren was 2/3 for 19 yards. Ronnie Bell was by far the most targeted receiver, with eight targets and four catches on those targets for 71 yards and 1 TD. 

For Nebraska, the numbers are pretty grim. Purdy was 6/11 for 56 yards before exiting while Smothers was 4/8 for 15 yards. Purdy was Nebraska's top rusher with 39 yards, while RB Anthony Grant gained 22 yards on 11 carries (2.0 YPC). Total dominance. Washington's one catch went for 30 yards while the other 9 catches went for 41 yards combined. Ho hum. 

Michigan is now 10-0 for the first time since 2006 and thus the first time in the Jim Harbaugh era. They join Ohio State as the only 10-0 teams in the B1G and one of just four in the country (pending TCU's game tonight). The Wolverines are now barreling towards an all-time matchup in The Game, but there is still one more contest in between, as Michigan must take on Illinois next weekend at the Big House. The Fighting Illini's star has faded after back-to-back losses against MSU and Purdue, now 7-3 on the season. That game time is not yet announced. There is no content after the jump.