Michigan Football went on the road for the first time this season and faced a Nebraska team with another raucous sellout crowd behind them. As it turned out, neither the crowd nor the oppressive heat of Lincoln nor the 3-3-5 defense provided any resistance to the Michigan squad. The Wolverine offense paved a supposedly formidable Husker run defense into dust, JJ McCarthy uncorked missiles on the run, and Roman Wilson provided a highlight reel catch to notch four first half TDs for the visitors in Maize & Blue. Combined with a stout defensive showing, Michigan led 28-0 at halftime and cruised to a 45-7 victory in the second half. 

Michigan took the football first and set the tone on the ground. Against a Nebraska defense that ranked towards the top of college football in rush defense coming in, they were able to rush the ball with ease. Their first carry was JJ McCarthy pulling the ball and rushing for a first down and then converted multiple 3rd/4th & short situations with Blake Corum by smashing right into the face of the Nebraska defense. They'd penetrated deep into Husker territory when McCarthy heaved it for a covered Roman Wilson into the end zone, who went up into the air and secured the catch against the back of the helmet of the DB, hanging on as they went to the ground. 

That circus catch put Michigan up 7-0 and it wasn't long before they led 14-0. On the second play of Nebraska' first drive, Heinrich Haarberg's throw was batted up into the air and snagged by Michigan NT Kenneth Grant. The big man interception set Michigan up for a three-play TD drive, a pair of Blake Corum runs and then a 20 yard scamper into the end zone by Kalel Mullings. Michigan was now up a pair of TDs. 

[Patrick Barron]

Nebraska's only sustained drive of the first half came next. The Huskers got it going on a 10 yard catch by an open TE Thomas Fidone II and followed it up with a key third down conversion by Billy Kemp IV's slant reception for 34 yards. On 3rd & 4 at the Michigan 15, Janiran Bonner rushed for three yards to set up fourth and short. Matt Rhule understood the situation and left his offense on the field rather than settle for (an already) sad field goal. Haarberg kept the ball on 4th down, but a great play by Braiden McGregor blunted all Nebraska OL momentum and Haarberg slammed into the mosh pit short of the sticks. Michigan ball. 

The Wolverines went right back down the field and found the end zone again. JJ McCarthy's bullet to AJ Barner converted the first third down, which was followed a few plays later by a neat shovel pass to Barner. McCarthy then delivered his best throw of the game to that point, a precision strike to Cornelius Johnson for 20 yards and once Michigan got onto the cusp of the red zone, Michigan picked up a five-man pressure, splitting the pocket open and McCarthy ran 21 yards into the end zone for a TD. 21-0 just 3.5 minutes into the second quarter and the game was already devoid of real intrigue about the victor. 

Nebraska went three and out on their next possession, a botched snap by Haarberg setting them backwards and into a predicament they could not recover. Nebraska punted it back to Michigan but the Wolverines were unable to score a fourth straight TD, punting it right back in no time. McCarthy's accuracy was off and a curious play-call by Sherrone Moore, giving the ball to Blake Corum on 3rd & 10, nixed the drive. Michigan punted it back to the Huskers. 

[Patrick Barron]

The Huskers' 4th drive saw them pick up one first down, another slant (Michigan's EDGE drops into the slant patterns were a bit off in the first half) but Josiah Stewart's TFL helped kill the next set of downs. Rhule punted from his own 44 and Tyler Morris nearly fumbled, misjudging the depth of the punt. He was lined up too deep and it hit him, resulting in a live ball. Morris snagged it and took off running, which ironically turned into a spectacular return, all the way to the Nebraska Michigan 45. 

The ensuing Michigan drive was the final real possession of the first half and it was a fourth TD in five drives for the Michigan first team offense. Michigan ran it right down their throat all the way down the field, using the brute strength of the OL and Kalel Mullings to pick up multiple 3rd & shorts. Once in Nebraska territory, McCarthy made the play of the game, evading pressure, rolling to his left, flipping his hips and firing into the end zone to a wide open Roman Wilson. That's an NFL play for ya. 28-0 Michigan at halftime. 

Halftime didn't do anything to change the fortune of the Huskers in this matchup. Their opening drive of the second half demonstrated the reality of this game: Nebraska is both relatively untalented and still riddled with bad, Frost-era habits. On 3rd & 2 they committed a killer false start and then after backing up five yards, gave up a sack to kill the drive.

[Patrick Barron]

Michigan got the football and decided to drive a stake through any notion that Nebraska's run defense is good. There were a few McCarthy throws in between, one to Loveland, one to Darrius Clemons, and one to Wilson, but otherwise Michigan ran it over and over again for 5+ yards per carry. By the time Corum easily plunged into the end zone from 2nd & Goal at the 1, Nebraska's defense had had its dignity crushed to smithereens. Michigan now led 35-0 and JJ McCarthy's day was over. 

From here on out, the intrigue moved to Nebraska's quest to continue their shutout streak, having not been shutout since 1996. They successfully kept the streak alive thanks to a 74 yard TD run by Josh Fleeks with 4:17 to go, a blown play at multiple levels by what was essentially Michigan's third-string defense. Nebraska moved the ball well in this closing period but only got the lone TD, while Michigan added 10 points of their own. Jack Tuttle led a drive enabled by a Nebraska unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, which ended in a 30 yard James Turner FG, and Jayden Denegal led his own drive that found the end zone on a pass to Peyton O'Leary. All these garbage time scores led to the final score of 45-7.

What unfolded today was a matchup of two teams who did not belong on the same field as each other. Michigan did whatever they wanted to on offense, rushing 51 times for 249 yards, including the garbage time period. The OL crushed Nebraska's 3-3-5 into a pulp and the running backs helped grind out extra yards. JJ McCarthy was 12/16 for 156 yards (9.8 Y/A) with 2 TD and no turnovers. Michigan's drive chart with McCarthy in the game was TD, TD, TD, punt, TD, TD. Demolition. 

[Patrick Barron]

Defensively, it was pretty straightforward. Michigan's first team defense was dominant on the ground (again), having no trouble with Nebraska's QB run scheme. The pass defense was culpable for the biggest gains that the first team defense surrendered, but even those were modest. Nebraska's first seven drives went 169 yards over 31 plays and got zero points. Even without Mason Graham, there was little trouble. 

Individually, Blake Corum and Kalel Mullings both added TDs to their resumes, while Roman Wilson picked up two more receiving TDs. Through five games, Wilson now has eight receiving TDs, leading the nation. The record for most receiving TDs in the Jim Harbaugh era is owned by Jehu Chesson (2015) with nine. Wilson is on pace to thoroughly obliterate that mark. On defense, Keon Sabb and Stewart tied for the team lead in tackles, while the biggest individual standout was Grant and his interception. 

For a Michigan team that has had some sleepy games to begin the season, this Nebraska result represents a bounce back to utter dominance. Jim Harbaugh is back on the sideline and the rushing offense is all systems go now. McCarthy has strung two strong weeks together after the poor performance against Bowling Green as well. The defense has not allowed double digit points yet. With Georgia struggling against a lackluster Auburn team, Michigan has as valid of an argument as anyone in America to being the best college football team in the nation. 

They will take their case for #1 on the road again next week in the quest to retain the Little Brown Jug against one-time rival Minnesota. The Golden Gophers knocked off Louisiana-Lafayette today to move to 3-2 on the season, a subpar showing for a team with reasonable expectations. Michigan will be heavily favored in that one, a game taking place at night. The game is schedueld for 7:30 PM EST and is set to be broadcast on NBC. 

[Click the JUMP for the box score]