Michigan's B1G Opener
Michigan finished their non-conference schedule 2-1. While they beat up on Western Michigan and SMU, the offense struggled against Notre Dame.
The non-conference season is over and for blue hair Michigan fans, the "real' football season begins with the start of the Big Ten Conference schedule. The Wolverines opened the Big Ten season against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, MI. The narrative heading into the game was Scott Frost's return to The Big House, this time as the head man in Lincoln. The last time Frost faced Michigan as coach of UCF, he commended his team for "outhitting" Michigan despite losing by 35 points. Prior to that, Frost was the quarterback in 1997 when he pleaded with voters to give Nebraska a share of the national championship. The coaches listened and awarded the Cornhuskers a share of the national title. The pandering by Frost never sat well with folks in Ann Arbor. And yet, despite this history between two blue blood programs, the real story was whether or not Nebraska was going to be able to compete for their first win of the 2018 season. They were 0-2 heading into the game against Michigan including a humiliating loss to Troy at home in Lincoln.
It did not take long to realize that Nebraska was going to fall to 0-3. Michigan scored touchdowns on their first 3 drives and the Michigan defense was absolutely punishing. The Cornhuskers had only 26 yards in the first half. Michigan knocked out quarterback Taylor Martinez. And while Nebraska did put together an 80-yard drive for a touchdown to pad their offense stats (132 yards of total offense), they did it in their last drive with Michigan's reserve players in the game.
It was an epic beatdown of a traditional football power. And while the insane calls to fire Scott Frost are premature and ignorant, this is not the start that Nebraska fans expected when the golden child returned to Lincoln. For Michigan fans, the win is encouraging but should be measured. Nebraska is not Penn State, Michigan State, or Ohio State - all of whom Michigan will have to face this year in the daunting Big Ten East.
And just for fun, Wendy's piled on the Nebraska frustrations:
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It did not take long to realize that Nebraska was going to fall to 0-3. Michigan scored touchdowns on their first 3 drives and the Michigan defense was absolutely punishing. The Cornhuskers had only 26 yards in the first half. Michigan knocked out quarterback Taylor Martinez. And while Nebraska did put together an 80-yard drive for a touchdown to pad their offense stats (132 yards of total offense), they did it in their last drive with Michigan's reserve players in the game.
It was an epic beatdown of a traditional football power. And while the insane calls to fire Scott Frost are premature and ignorant, this is not the start that Nebraska fans expected when the golden child returned to Lincoln. For Michigan fans, the win is encouraging but should be measured. Nebraska is not Penn State, Michigan State, or Ohio State - all of whom Michigan will have to face this year in the daunting Big Ten East.
And just for fun, Wendy's piled on the Nebraska frustrations:
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