Ahead by a Century

Donovan McCulley already knew.  (Rachel Leggett)

"First thing, we'd climb a tree

And maybe then we'd talk

Or sit silently

And listen to our thoughts

With illusions of someday

Cast in a golden light

No dress rehearsal

This is our life."

--"Ahead by a Century" by The Tragically Hip, the lead single from their 1996 album Trouble at the Henhouse

The only road game I was terrified of, on paper, before the season began, was Nebraska.  I had already chalked up Oklahoma to a loss early in the season, on the road, with a freshman quarterback; you just hope for the best, and maybe you get a pleasant surprise, but I wasn't pinning my hopes on that.  USC is a challenge, and Michigan State is always feisty; I take nothing for granted.  However, Nebraska felt like they had a confluence of things, coupled with the second game of the Sherrone suspension, that made this feel like it could be a very silly game that ended in a loss.

And that's where the hornet stung me (That's where the hornet stung me)

And I had a feverish dream (I had a feverish dream)

With revenge and doubt

Tonight, we smoke them out

OK, so the good news is that it was pretty silly, but it didn't end in a loss, no matter how hard Michigan tried to make it one.  And they really did.  So instead of a recap, drive by drive, let's break this down in a "good idea"/"bad idea" style:

Good idea:

• Cole Sullivan gets a one-handed pick, and one play later, Bryce Underwood cashes it in for a 37-yard designed run touchdown. 

Bad idea:

• A coverage bust on Tampa 2 leads to Nebraska's first touchdown.

Good idea:

• A long, largely untouched touchdown run of 75 yards by Justice Haynes stakes Michigan to an early lead. 

Bad idea:

• Someone on the Michigan sideline doesn't understand that with all three timeouts left, even though you're getting the ball back, call a timeout to prevent Nebraska from setting up a free shot at a Hail Mary, which they then cashed in to make it a tied game headed into halftime.

Good idea:

• ZVADA's glorious return turns a potentially disappointing second drive in the second half into points with an absolute bomb from 56 yards out that would have been good from 60+. 

Bad idea:

• Big Ten refs decide that no one ever holds Michigan's terrifying pass rush.

Good idea:

• A second long, largely untouched touchdown run of 54 yards by Jordan Marshall pushes Michigan's lead back out to 10 points. 

Bad idea:

• After forcing a 4th and 17, Brandyn Hillman draws an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for making the catch signal at the Nebraska bench, thus "taunting," and Nebraska marches down the field for a field goal to bring it back within 7.

Good idea:

• Michigan remembers how to boa constrictor teams like the Harbaugh era, turning in a 16-play, 77-yard drive that nearly saw Bryce run in another, but instead saw another Zvada field goal to go up 30-20.

Bad idea:

• Michigan plays bend don't break defense, nearly getting off the field, but giving up a pass interference (probably a good one, honestly), and nearly getting Hillman suspended for Wisconsin with a targeting call that could have gone either way, and eventually seeing Nebraska score a TD to bring it back within 3.

Good idea:

• Kendrick Bell shows that good hands run in the family, high points the Nebraska onside kick, gets down, and Michigan can kneel it out in victory formation and win their sixth straight Big Ten opener and survive the Sherrone suspension with a 2-0 record, and a 3-1 overall record heading into a bye week before homecoming with Wisconsin.

They don't ask how; they just ask how many, and Michigan is a team that really needs to clean up the details.  However, for this game, they had the talent to overcome some foolish decisions and mind-boggling mind slips to win a Big Ten road game.  

Tales from the Spreadsheet

• 30-27 IS (somehow) a Scorigami!  (We didn't believe it either.)
  
• 87,278 were in attendance for the game, which is a standard issue Nebraska game at Memorial Stadium.
• Win 1,015
  
  
• Michigan moves to 9-4-1 all-time against the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
  
• Michigan moves to 4-3-1 all-time on September 20 (There's a 1980 Notre Dame loss in there, the 2003 Oregon game, and the 2014 Utah game as the Hoke era collapse began in earnest)
  
  
• Michigan improves to 11-1-0 when scoring exactly 30 points (lone loss 1988 Miami).
• Michigan moves to 7-15-0 all-time when allowing 27 points to the opposition.
• Michigan has won 51 games all-time by precisely 3 points, the most recent example being a 13-10 victory over #2 Ohio State in Columbus in 2024, which you may have heard about.