Close. Better. But not there yet.
Nebraska’s decade-long drought of wins over ranked opposition continued as the Huskers came up just short in a 30-27 loss to No. 21 Michigan Saturday at Memorial Stadium. The loss was the Cornhuskers’ 28th straight against ranked foes, since a 2016 win over Oregon.
Nebraska (3-1) seemed to grab the early momentum. The Huskers whisked down the field on seven plays from their 25 to the Wolverines’ 7. Facing second-and-three at the seven, however, Dylan Raiola threw an incomplete pass, Emmett Johnson gained one yard on a run, setting up fourth-and-two from the six. But instead of kicking a chip shot field goal to take the early lead, coach Matt Rhule opted to attempt the fourth down. Raiola found Lindenmeyer, but the NU tight end was stopped a yard short of the first-down marker, and Nebraska turned the ball over on downs.
Michigan (3-1) went three-and-out on its next drive, and a short punt gave the Huskers the ball at the UM 37. Nebraska gained one first down, but saw its drive stall just outside of the Wolverines’ red zone. A sack of Raiola, one of seven on the day, pushed the ball back to the 26, where Kyle Cunanan came on for a 44-yard field goal. But Cunanan missed wide left, and the game remained scoreless.
Michigan tallied a field goal on its next drive to take a 3-0 lead. Things went from bad to worse on the ensuing drive as Raiola threw his first interception of the year, giving the Wolverines the ball at the NU 37. Bryce Underwood immediately cashed in the interception for a 37-yard touchdown run, and Michigan’s lead became 10.
The Huskers seemed to be sputtering, punting on their next drive. But the Blackshirt came up with a big takeaway on a sack and strip by Elijah Jeudy. DeShon Singleton recovered for Nebraska and the Huskers took over on its 48-yard line. Nebraska was able to convert the takeaway into points, but only a 39-yard Cunanan field goal to cut the deficit to 10-3. The Wolverines punted back to NU and Jacory Barney, Jr., returned it 20 yards to the NU 37. After two first downs, the Huskers faced a third-and-eight at the UM 26. Raiola found Barney down the middle for a touchdown to tie the game at 10.
But the momentum was short lived. After a touchback on the kickoff, Justice Haynes knifed through the middle of the Huskers defense to jaunt 75 yards for the touchdown, giving the Wolverines a 17-10 lead with 1:51 to go until halftime. The Huskers took over at their 25 and gained one first down to their 49. But Raiola was sacked, losing nine. After two Johnson runs negated the sack yardage, Nebraska faced fourth-and-11 at their 48. Raiola dropped back and launched a Hail Mary down the right side of the field. Barney came out of the pack with the ball and an improbable game-tying touchdown heading into halftime.
The teams traded punts to begin the half. On its second drive of the third quarter, Michigan gained one first down, then got a career-long-tying 52-yard field goal from Dominic Zvada to retake the lead, 20-17, midway through the third quarter. Nebraska went three-and-out on the ensuing drive, the Wolverines started their next possession at their 38. Jordan Marshall picked up eight yards on first down, then covered 54 yards on second down to push Michigan’s lead to 10, 27-17, with 5:40 to go in the third quarter.
Nebraska appeared to have gone three-and-out on the ensuing drive, but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Michigan’s Brandyn Hillman kept the drive alive and seemed to get the Huskers untracked. Nebraska marched to the Wolverines’ 20 and appeared to throw a touchdown pass with Raiola finding an open Nyziah Hunter in the back of the end zone. But Hunter was called for illegal touching after stepping out of bounds before coming back in to catch the ball, and the TD was negated. Nebraska instead settled for a Cunanan 38-yard field goal to cut the deficit to seven.
After the teams traded punts, Michigan relied on its dominant ground attack to churn away at the clock and gain yardage. The Wolverines picked up three third downs on the drive before the Huskers finally got off the field on a third-and-goal from the two. Zvada kicked a 21-yard field goal to push Michigan’s lead to 30-20 with 3:54 remaining, but the damage had been done. A 16-play, 77-yard drive burned nearly nine minutes of the clock and made the odds daunting for a Nebraska comeback. The Huskers were able to drive 75 yards for a touchdown, with Raiola hitting Heinrich Haarberg from three yards out, but that only cut the deficit to three with 1:34 to go. Michigan recovered Nebraska’s onside kick and ran out the clock.
Raiola was 30-41 for 308 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Barney had six catches for 120 yards and two touchdowns, but Johnson rushed for just 65 yards on 19 carries. While Underwood, the freshman QB, was just 12-for-22 for 105 yards, he also ran for 61 and a TD. Haynes was as difficult as advertised to control, 17 carries, 149 yards and a touchdown. Michigan outgained Nebraska, 391-351, while rushing for over nine yards a carry, if the Huskers’ one sack for six yards is taken out of the rushing stats. Meanwhile, Raiola was sacked seven times.
Nebraska will have a week off before looking to rebound in the homecoming game Oct. 4 against Michigan State.