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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — For the Wolverines in 2021, you pass one test, good — congratulations, you get another.
After Week 0, when Nebraska gave the game away to Illinois, it appeared that Scott Frost’s team hadn’t learned any lessons from previous underachievements. Weeks later, while the Huskers are 3-3, all three losses have been by just one score, and Nebraska just put a hurting on West foe Northwestern.
Michigan has yet to play a prolific offensive team, but it’ll do so on Saturday night in Lincoln. Led by quarterback Adrian Martinez — who averages 243.8 yards through the air and 68.67 yards on the ground every week — the Huskers have the No. 11 offense in the country. They can be slowed — their big outbursts were against Fordham and Northwestern while Oklahoma and Illinois both held them to under 400 yards. Thus far, Oklahoma is the only FBS-level defense they’ve faced in the upper half of college football’s top defenses.
However, Nebraska has a defense of its own. Only one team, the Sooners, have managed more than 400 yards in a game vs. what is currently the nation’s No. 42 defense.
That said, Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh is on high alert for what the Cornhuskers bring to the table.
“I think Nebraska is really impressive,” Harbaugh said. “They’re playing their best football. It was a dominating performance. You look back at their games that they played, they’ve all been close, against outstanding opponents. Oklahoma — gonna be a big challenge. No different really from what we were facing last week. We’re in the same situation, getting ready to play a really hungry team, a team that’s hitting their stride. I was impressed with their game, for sure.”
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Martinez is particularly a big issue for the Wolverines. When Michigan played Rutgers, after Josh Ross went out with injury, quarterback Noah Vedral gave the defense fits with his feet. Martinez will need to use his feet to keep the aggressive Michigan front at bay, because Nebraska has the worst-graded pass blocking offensive line according to PFF with a 30.6 grade. It’s 121st nationally in sacks allowed, allowing three sacks per game.
Still, with the Vedral comparison, Harbaugh notes that Martinez will give the Wolverines much more to deal with.
“Yeah, he’s a heckuva quarterback,” Harbaugh said. “Hate to compare, but it’s that and then some, this quarterback and this offense.”
Michigan and Nebraska are set to kick off at 7:30 p.m. EDT in Lincoln on Saturday night.
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