FootballSaturday, September 21, 2018
6B
Breakdown: Michigan vs. Nebraska
By MAX MARCOVITCH
Daily Sports Editor
Michigan opens up Big Ten
play with a matchup against
Nebraska that seemed far more
intriguing a few weeks ago. The
Cornhuskers (0-2) came from
14 points down in their season
opener
against
Colorado
to
take a 28-20 lead, then handed
the game right back after true
freshman quarterback Adrian
Martinez left the game with a leg
injury.
The
next
week,
without
Martinez, Nebraska fell to Troy
— an embarassing loss on its face,
but a slightly less embarassing
defeat
given
the
Trojans’
understated quality.
Still, the Wolverines (2-1)
come into this game an 18-point
favorite for a reason. Nebraska is
on its first six-game losing streak
since 1957, as the Scott Frost
era has begun with a turbulent
start. For the Cornhuskers, this
game is a chance to right the
ship (coaches have referenced
“Rocky” in the run-up to this
one). For Michigan, it’s the
opening of a Big Ten season filled
with pressure to perform. The
Daily breaks down Saturday’s
matchup:
Michigan’s pass offense vs.
Nebraska’s defense
If Nebraska is going to win,
it seems like two things need to
go right. One of those requires
the Cornhuskers’ defensive line
taking advantage of Michigan’s
inconsistent
pass
protection.
Nebraska has 10 sacks in two
games this season, the second-
highest per-game total of any
team in the country. Though
the Cornhuskers have plenty of
questions, their front seven will
pose a test for a unit that hasn’t
been tested since the debacle at
Notre Dame. If Nebraska can
get
junior
quarterback
Shea
Patterson and co. into obvious
passing downs, there’s reason to
believe they’ll have some success.
Of course, that’s easier said
than done.
Patterson has opened the
season as well as any Michigan
quarterback in quite some time,
completing over 70 percent of
his passes for 589 yards and six
touchdowns. Patterson said this
week he has “never been this
comfortable in a system.” All of
a sudden, external pleas have
come to unleash the offense — to
open up Patterson’s skillset and
allow more than the present 22
pass attempts per game.
Nebraska
isn’t
SMU
or
Western Michigan; this is a
legitimate test to see whether
strides have been made in the
passing game since Sep. 1,
or whether the recent run of
success has been a mirage.
Advantage: Michigan
Michigan’s run offense vs.
Nebraska’s defense
Michigan could have Brett
Favre in his prime at quarterback
and it wouldn’t run a full-on air
raid attack. While the passing
game has been the talk of the
town, the Wolverines — who run
the same percentage of running
plays as they do passing plays —
will continue to rely on balance.
This week, that comes with
the caveat of health. Junior
running backs Karan Higdon
and
Chris
Evans
are
both
recovering from injuries. Both
have practiced this week. When
asked
whether
they
would
play Saturday, Jay Harbaugh
responded
“that’s
what
we
expect.” Against a formidable
Big Ten foe, at a position of
relatively scant depth, that’s
an important development, if it
holds true.
Nebraska
has
allowed
a
respectable 278 yards on the
ground in two weeks. But Troy
and Colorado didn’t possess the
duo that Higdon and Evans can
become when healthy.
Advantage: Michigan
Nebraska’s pass offense vs.
Michigan’s defense
It
looks
like
Nebraska
quarterback Adrian Martinez
will play, as he was upgraded
from
“questionable”
to
“probable” on Thursday.
It may seem inconsequential to
some whether the true freshman
Martinez starts or if the nod goes
to walk-on sophomore Andrew
Bunch.
But in an offense that relies
heavily on its quarterback’s
skillset, Martinez has the tools
to be special. In his start this
year against Colorado, he posted
187 yards and a touchdown
on 15-of-20 pass attempts, in
addition to 15 carries for 117
yards and two touchdowns on
the ground. He was the offense.
And when he left the game with
a leg injury, the Cornhuskers
held a 28-27 lead. He left, they
lost, then lost against the next
week to Troy with Martinez
watching on.
Martinez will give Michigan
a test in discipline similar to
the one it faced against Brandon
Wimbush
in
the
opener.
Wimbush kept the Wolverines’
defense honest with the threat
of quarterback runs and ability
to escape the pocket. On the run,
Wimbush was able to effectively
EVAN AARON/Daily
Junior running back Chris Evans and junior running back Karan Higdon are both expected to play in Michigan’s matchup with Nebraska after sustaining injuries last week.
For in-game updates
Follow @MikeDPersak, @ethanewolfe,
@Max_Marcovitch and
@MWCalcagno on Twitter during
Saturday’s game.