A hopeful, yet disappointing game
Michigan 13 - Nebraska 17
Okay, after last week's disappointing loss, this game becomes important for both Nebraska and Michigan in the Legends division of the Big Ten. (Nebraska will play State next week, so maybe there's a three-way fight for the division championship.)
The first half, however, was disappointing. We ended up with negative rush yards but managed to keep the score to 10-3 Nebraska. Nebraska's star running back, Abdullah, and a couple of their quarterbacks were bottled up by our defense. In fact, our defense was keeping us in the game. (There would be a fumble recovery near the end of the third quarter that was all due to our defense.)
Michigan was more effective and gained yards when they went to less obvious players: Funchess, Gallon, Green and Kerridge. But, still, negative yards rushing is not where you expect Michigan to be. But, there was plenty to be hopeful about. Unfortunately, our offensive line sucks. Their defense gets to play in our backfield all the time--all season--and Touissant, our best rusher, is completely blocked. Gardner got sacked ***four times, which wasn't as bad as last week, but still bad. But, we had one good series at the beginning of the second half and got a quick 7, tying the score, 10-10.
Now, after the turnover in the third quarter, which was a gift, scoring three more to break the 10-10 tie would have been great but...the field goal went way to the left. Nebraska had a three-and-out, then Michigan had a three-and-out. But, on Michigan's punt, we got another gift. This time a big gift with a big red bow and cherry on top. Nebraska fumbled the catch and Michigan recovered in field goal range. We couldn't turn it into a touchdown but we got three. 13-10 Michigan.
Nebraska got the ball with about 8 minutes left in the quarter and started down the field. Michigan's defense made them work for it and they ended up with a 4th and 2 just outside of field goal range. Nebraska went for it and they pulled a great pass play that brought them to our five yard line. They fought again and managed to pull a short forward pass behind their line of scrimmage to Abdullah and score. 17-13 Nebraska.
Okay, two minutes left, three time outs and Michigan starts on their 25. We get a couple of short passes to Funchess and then one missed pass, down to 1:13 and a time out. It's 3rd and 4 and...Gardner doesn't know enough to throw the ball away. Instead, he ate up ten more seconds and managed to run out of bounds losing a yard. We went for it on 4th and 5 but, again, we couldn't connect.
Nebraska got the ball back, ran a few plays to run out the clock and it was all over.
We've got good backs. Our quarterback is good enough. There just isn't an offensive line. This week there was more to be hopeful about than last week. Last week, Gardner got beat up. This week, Gardner let them beat him up by waiting too long to get rid of the ball.
My Dad was saying that we won't have the Capital One Bowl this year. We'll have the Cabbage and Potato Bowl in Warsaw. Playing the second string Polish national team. Sigh. We'll be a little better than that, but not much. Our hopes for an eight win season are seriously in jeapoardy at this point.
Okay, after last week's disappointing loss, this game becomes important for both Nebraska and Michigan in the Legends division of the Big Ten. (Nebraska will play State next week, so maybe there's a three-way fight for the division championship.)
The first half, however, was disappointing. We ended up with negative rush yards but managed to keep the score to 10-3 Nebraska. Nebraska's star running back, Abdullah, and a couple of their quarterbacks were bottled up by our defense. In fact, our defense was keeping us in the game. (There would be a fumble recovery near the end of the third quarter that was all due to our defense.)
Michigan was more effective and gained yards when they went to less obvious players: Funchess, Gallon, Green and Kerridge. But, still, negative yards rushing is not where you expect Michigan to be. But, there was plenty to be hopeful about. Unfortunately, our offensive line sucks. Their defense gets to play in our backfield all the time--all season--and Touissant, our best rusher, is completely blocked. Gardner got sacked ***four times, which wasn't as bad as last week, but still bad. But, we had one good series at the beginning of the second half and got a quick 7, tying the score, 10-10.
Now, after the turnover in the third quarter, which was a gift, scoring three more to break the 10-10 tie would have been great but...the field goal went way to the left. Nebraska had a three-and-out, then Michigan had a three-and-out. But, on Michigan's punt, we got another gift. This time a big gift with a big red bow and cherry on top. Nebraska fumbled the catch and Michigan recovered in field goal range. We couldn't turn it into a touchdown but we got three. 13-10 Michigan.
Nebraska got the ball with about 8 minutes left in the quarter and started down the field. Michigan's defense made them work for it and they ended up with a 4th and 2 just outside of field goal range. Nebraska went for it and they pulled a great pass play that brought them to our five yard line. They fought again and managed to pull a short forward pass behind their line of scrimmage to Abdullah and score. 17-13 Nebraska.
Okay, two minutes left, three time outs and Michigan starts on their 25. We get a couple of short passes to Funchess and then one missed pass, down to 1:13 and a time out. It's 3rd and 4 and...Gardner doesn't know enough to throw the ball away. Instead, he ate up ten more seconds and managed to run out of bounds losing a yard. We went for it on 4th and 5 but, again, we couldn't connect.
Nebraska got the ball back, ran a few plays to run out the clock and it was all over.
We've got good backs. Our quarterback is good enough. There just isn't an offensive line. This week there was more to be hopeful about than last week. Last week, Gardner got beat up. This week, Gardner let them beat him up by waiting too long to get rid of the ball.
My Dad was saying that we won't have the Capital One Bowl this year. We'll have the Cabbage and Potato Bowl in Warsaw. Playing the second string Polish national team. Sigh. We'll be a little better than that, but not much. Our hopes for an eight win season are seriously in jeapoardy at this point.