Review Michigan at Nebraska 2021
I had forgotten how this game played out last year so I rewatched and now realize Michigan played poorly in this game.
Key Play summary:
First Nebraska play- screen with no one covering running back & 3 blockers- gains 45 yards
4th and 6 Fade that isn't covered and M Safety (Hawkins too slow to break up) gain 24 yards
4th & 2 from the 3, Martinez run to the boundary side- stopped for no gains by Hawkins who had to shed a block to make the play
M takes over on downs, punts after gaining 25 yards in 2 series
Nebraska ball- Martinez intercepted by Hill with a pbu that he catches while on the ground
Michigan stopped after 3 runs between the tackles- 35 yard field goal is good
Nebraska goes 3 and out
Michigan gets ball on their own 10, advances to the 46 on several runs and short passes.
Cade throws a bomb to Sanristil that is caught on the Nebraska 8 yd line- Catch is identical to the one that Anthony did not catch last Saturday against Rutgers.
Cade stumbles on 3rd down causing his knee to hit so he's down at the 4 yard line- FG good
Nebraska stopped after gaining 30 yards-
Corum long run, then Haskins scores from the 5, TD Michigan 13-0 Michigan
Nebraska ball, 3 and 10- Martinez breaks contain and runs for 18 yards M rushe 4 with Colson as spy- Colson flat footed and Martinez runs past him.
Play action pass from M 46- no one covers the TE and its caught at the 32 and their TE runs 32 yards for Nebraska TD M 13 N 7
Cade throws 40 yd pass to Baldwin to the N 5, Haskins scores TD on next play Michigan goes for 2 with a fade to Cornelius Johnson- off his fingertips- would have been circus catch M 19 - N 7
Martinez throws Wheel route with no one covering the running back- Ross can't catch him- TD Nebraska M 19 N14
Cade throws interception on first M series, returned to Michigan 15
Nebraska wide receiver wide open for a moon screen pass- TD Nebraska Nebraska converts 2 point attempt with Martinez run to the boundary- M 19 N 22
Corum scores from the 29 on a run outside the tackles that he's not touched on- M 26 N 22
N- 28 yrd reception on scrmble drill, 20 yard run between the tackles, Martinez scores rushing TD running between the tackles and is untouched M 26 N 29
M Ball- Haskins runs for 40 yards & Hurdles a Fool! M stopped & kicks field goal M 29 N 29
Hawkins strips the ball on the 38 and returns to
Michigan ultra safe playcalling - kicks field goal M 32 N 29 1:28 left
Michigan stops Nebraska after Nebraska hits a 25 yard pass to the 50.
Key takeaways:
- Need TDs not FGs
- Cover TE and RB out of the backfield
- Keep contain on running quarterbacks
- Cade was accurate but his short passes have less zip so they are easier to defend
- Baldwin had a strong game
- U of M looks greatly improved this year compared to this game- with the exception that Michigan's receivers played better in the Nebraska game than they have most of 2022. Sanristil and Baldwin were key players in this game.
November 11th, 2022 at 3:04 PM ^
Let's Remember Some Games (TM)
November 11th, 2022 at 3:46 PM ^
Sadly, I had not forgotten this one. Even in a good seasons, there are games that make one occasionally scream in agony on the sofa. This was one of them.
November 12th, 2022 at 5:38 AM ^
I do remember this game but in a more positive way. I have the video clip of Hutchinson celebrating with Harbaugh after the game, yelling 'Let's go!!' after the final whistle. Last year had many highs for sure, this was one of those that tested the team and forged them into a better team.
Go Blue!
November 11th, 2022 at 3:47 PM ^
i don't want to be reminded of the bad things. i prefer to think of 49-27 or 29-7. in light of that i present
Better Review Michigan at Nebraska 2021
we won
the end
November 11th, 2022 at 3:52 PM ^
""Michigan at Nebraska 2021...we won"
Then Scott Frost fired.
The end.
November 11th, 2022 at 3:57 PM ^
OP, did you pay $7.99 for that username or get the $5 MGoBlog discount?
November 11th, 2022 at 5:53 PM ^
I’d totally pay MGoBlog $8 for a blue wheel with a maize check in it by my username.
totally wouldnt use my dead mothers account to keep posting on MGoBlog if this account got sent to Bolivia
November 11th, 2022 at 4:07 PM ^
Keys takeaways
- Martinez is gone
- Frost is gone
- Their offense is atrocious and their starting QB on said offense is out
- Their defense is atrocious and their best two defenders on said defense are out due to injury and DUI
- Their linebackers could arguably be replaced with wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube men and no one would notice.
- 78-0 Michigan.
November 11th, 2022 at 4:57 PM ^
Plus - they don't have Blake Corum
November 11th, 2022 at 4:11 PM ^
this one was right after Wisconsin and I thought more entertaining. After hearing the crowd at the beginning I kinda felt like it would be a weird dogfight....and it certainly was.
November 11th, 2022 at 5:15 PM ^
There were circumstances tied to this game that made it closer than it should have been that go beyond Michigan playing less than desirable.
Nebraska had declared THIS game beforehand as the big moment where the ship would finally be righted. They pulled out everything for this one, including making it a night game and honoring Tom Osborne at halftime. They were extremely emotionally up for this one saying what great practices they had all week and how confident they were, yadda, yadda, yadda. We knew going in that they were going to play better than they should have because of this.
The B1G officiating was crap as usual. Can't remember if John O'Neil did this game or not but it was bad. With Michigan up 13-0, Nebraska scores a long touchdown out of an illegal formation. Harbaugh was losing his mind about it on the sideline but the refs were too stupid to notice or didn't care. Later when Cade threw an interception, Nebraska was clearly off-sides, which was obvious in real time and had me SCREAMING at my TV for the flag. No flag was thrown and Nebraska ended up scoring on the very next play when it should have been Michigan's ball. That's two touchdowns for the Huskers that came out of incompetent officiating. Take away those 14 points, and the script for the rest of that game goes very differently.
Thankfully, the good guys won. I'd compare this game, somewhat, to the 2015 road game at Minnesota. We were catching an opponent at their peak emotional high - Jerry Kill was forced into retirement because of his health and the players wanted to send him out with a win...naturally Michigan was their next opponent. If we played this game a week later (and the refs knew what they were doing), I don't think it would have been as close as it ended up being.
November 11th, 2022 at 5:46 PM ^
Yeah, when I saw the OP title, I thought to myself: "Please, not another review." Right after the two missed reviews, there were something like seven overturns in a row. The officials had a horrible night.
November 11th, 2022 at 7:52 PM ^
Nope can't blame this one on John O'Neil.
November 11th, 2022 at 5:20 PM ^
I was in their stadium for that game. The 4th quarter was unbelievably loud and tense, but Michigan was calm and just went about the business of closing the game out. For my buddy and me, it was a long second half.
November 11th, 2022 at 8:14 PM ^
We were there as well. I told my son, we never win games like this. Start of something special
November 12th, 2022 at 8:56 AM ^
Were the Nebraska fans courteous and friendly on the way out of the stadium? We must have been stopped 6 times on the way back to our tailgate by Nebby fans who wanted to thank us for being there and tell us what a good game it was. After the way they lost, their behavior was exemplar.
November 11th, 2022 at 6:46 PM ^
I do remember that Nebraska made three big plays with an illegal formation, a hold, and a timely play call. No way were they going to score on their last drive before the fumble. Technically, they could have scored because they had the ball but regression to the mean indicated they be Nebraska the rest of the game. Yes, a tense game but let's not pretend that Nebraska was actually playing great football.
November 11th, 2022 at 7:06 PM ^
This game had me pumped at the time - Nebraska's season hadn't become a meme just yet, and we just pulled off two road wins against what we thoguht were two pretty good teams in the West before the bye week. We obliterated Wisconsin and then won in Lincoln at night. We looked like we had no shot against Ohio State, but at that point we were just happy M looked like a functional, top 15 football team. A return to the Harbaugh 10 win season was fine. Wasn't until the PSU game that I was sure this was a season to remember. And then we beat Ohio. That made everything the close calls in the rearview mirror look more perplexing and scarier. That made us a top 4 team. But at Nebraska, I was jsut enjoying the ride.
November 11th, 2022 at 7:30 PM ^
Yup, I agree. And it makes you appreciate this season so much more when games have never been in doubt late. Hope things keep rolling this way.
November 11th, 2022 at 9:56 PM ^
You mention that nobody seriously thought we had a chance to beat Ohio State then. Oddly, Nebraska played Ohio State close, too. While it ended up being their biggest loss of the year (by 9 points, 26-17), they were within six points for most of the fourth quarter.
They also missed two field goals, which might have put all their losses within one score (i.e., 8 points).