** 2021 Opponent Previews : Michigan (Game 7) **

Don’t take too much from Michigan last week. It was 13-10 when Mertz left them game and the backup was not prepared for Michigan to go all out on pressuring a unprepared QB. Also didn’t have Ferguson in the second half either. 
 

Michigan got a large gift wrapped second half to look a lot better than they might otherwise had. I believe they were underdogs before the game started.

 
https://www.huskermax.com/2021-nebraska-michigan-football-stats-matchup/

Screen Shot 2021-10-03 at 5.50.27 PM.png

Interesting comparison between the two teams. Pretty close in a lot of categories with Michigan holding an edge overall it seems.

Some things that stand out.

- Special team huge edge to Mich. Hope NU has that worked out like last   night or else it could be bad.

- Sacks & sacks allowed. Again hopefully our OL plays the rest of the year like last night.

- Turnovers. Have to take care of the ball in a close match up like this.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I decided to poke my head into a Michigan board, to see what they were saying about us. For the most part, they were pretty complimentary, more so than I expected. One quote: "After seeing how Noah Vedral torched us with read option, Adrian Martinez scares the hell out of me."

I do think they're underestimating our defense, though. Several posters said they thought Wisconsin has a better defense than we do, so I decided to look up some stats on that, and the numbers are kinda weird. Wisconsin is sitting at #3 for total defense, but they're clear down at #79 for scoring defense. I'm guessing a lot of that difference is due to Mertz's performance in the last quarter or so against Notre Dame. OTOH, we're kinda the reverse of that: #13 scoring defense, #42 total defense. For their part, Michigan has the #6 scoring defense and #14 total defense.

Just looking at the schedules, I would say that we've definitely played a tougher bunch than Michigan overall. ESPN's FPI reflects that, having us at #14 and Michigan all the way down at #84. Sagarin disagrees, though - he's got us at #56 SOS and Michigan at #21. Maybe his system penalizes us a lot for playing Fordham? :dunno

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Based on everything we have seen thus far, Nebraska is the more battle tested team. They have played one more game and have played better opponents. They do match up pretty well, and their strength goes against our weakness. 

Offensively we are going to present them with more fits than they have seen. Nebraska will negate their pass rush a bit by putting them in conflict most of the game. They will get their plays blitzing but it will bite when they get hit over the top or Adrian breaks one. The option is also going to negate their front quite a bit. I still think they will play pretty good on D and they will have a lot of good moments. Nebraska needs to find victories even in the stalled drives. Eat up clock when you can and find the minutes you can choke down to really limit their scoring opportunities. This inevitably changes the way Michigan will have to call the game and I don't think they want their QB's throwing 30+ against us. 

This needs to be Nebraska's best game defensively for the year. Stop the run and you will like your chances. I want their young, inexperienced QB's throwing in obvious passing downs. When they do score, no big chunk plays. Make them earn it and use up their whole play sheet, while forcing them to eat up a ton of clock. 

I like Michigan's team this year, and I rooted for them this past saturday. However, they will not be the best opponent we play this year and we have played one team that is better and one that could easily beat them. Look for Nebraska to try and build off the run game and see if this O-line can be just competent. If it does that, the game changes dramatically. Michigan will not be able to take as many chances knowing Nebraska can score as opposed to Wisconsin. Then let's see who plays better when uncomfortable. 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Vince R. said:
Based on everything we have seen thus far, Nebraska is the more battle tested team. They have played one more game and have played better opponents. They do match up pretty well, and their strength goes against our weakness. 

Offensively we are going to present them with more fits than they have seen. Nebraska will negate their pass rush a bit by putting them in conflict most of the game. They will get their plays blitzing but it will bite when they get hit over the top or Adrian breaks one. The option is also going to negate their front quite a bit. I still think they will play pretty good on D and they will have a lot of good moments. Nebraska needs to find victories even in the stalled drives. Eat up clock when you can and find the minutes you can choke down to really limit their scoring opportunities. This inevitably changes the way Michigan will have to call the game and I don't think they want their QB's throwing 30+ against us. 

This needs to be Nebraska's best game defensively for the year. Stop the run and you will like your chances. I want their young, inexperienced QB's throwing in obvious passing downs. When they do score, no big chunk plays. Make them earn it and use up their whole play sheet, while forcing them to eat up a ton of clock. 

I like Michigan's team this year, and I rooted for them this past saturday. However, they will not be the best opponent we play this year and we have played one team that is better and one that could easily beat them. Look for Nebraska to try and build off the run game and see if this O-line can be just competent. If it does that, the game changes dramatically. Michigan will not be able to take as many chances knowing Nebraska can score as opposed to Wisconsin. Then let's see who plays better when uncomfortable. 
Click to expand...
My biggest fear in this game is if the O line can protect 2AM.  Their front 7 supposedly is really good.  Our line had a really good game this week.  The big question mark is if that was because Northwestern's front was that bad, or was our O line that good with the changes that were made?

As Frost has preached, we need to stack good games.  This game they need to come out on fire again.  It's at home and at night.  I think that helps us.

The good thing is that I'm waking up on Monday morning, wishing it was Saturday so we can watch them again. That's the kind of energy a game like last Saturday can produce within the fan base and program.  

GBR!!!

 
BigRedBuster said:
My biggest fear in this game is if the O line can protect 2AM.  Their front 7 supposedly is really good.  Our line had a really good game this week.  The big question mark is if that was because Northwestern's front was that bad, or was our O line that good with the changes that were made?

As Frost has preached, we need to stack good games.  This game they need to come out on fire again.  It's at home and at night.  I think that helps us.

The good thing is that I'm waking up on Monday morning, wishing it was Saturday so we can watch them again. That's the kind of energy a game like last Saturday can produce within the fan base and program.  

GBR!!!
Click to expand...
I think we are somewhere in between.  I don't think NW d line is great but they aren't terrible.  What I saw was good communication.  Guys coming off double teams to pick up a solo defender.  Guys getting to the second level and actually blocking someone.  They seemed to be more in sync.  There was a play Teddy got beat inside but NN helped him out and he also got bull rushed pretty badly.  Think Cocoran got beat a few times but those plays resulted in positive plays so nobody mention them.  I expect 2AM to get pressured more next week as Mich will blitz more and have better athletes than NW.  I don't expect it to look like OU or Mich st when he was under pressure every play tho.  

 
MyBloodIsRed16 said:
I think we are somewhere in between.  I don't think NW d line is great but they aren't terrible.  What I saw was good communication.  Guys coming off double teams to pick up a solo defender.  Guys getting to the second level and actually blocking someone.  They seemed to be more in sync.  There was a play Teddy got beat inside but NN helped him out and he also got bull rushed pretty badly.  Think Cocoran got beat a few times but those plays resulted in positive plays so nobody mention them.  I expect 2AM to get pressured more next week as Mich will blitz more and have better athletes than NW.  I don't expect it to look like OU or Mich st when he was under pressure every play tho.  
Click to expand...
An interesting discussion with Brendon Stai on the radio before the game.  He was saying one big issue he has seen on our O line is that they don't stay on the double team blocks long enough before releasing to the next level.  After the game, someone else was mentioning that one big improvement on the O line was that they stayed on their double teams longer.  Obviously, if they are blitzing or stunting, they need to release and pick up the free defender.  But, gotta take care of the first defender first.  

One big improvement over OU and Mich St would be if they protect 2AM when they don't blitz.  If they are just rushing 3 or 4 and not getting to him, I like our chances.  Then, if that forces them to commit more defenders to the pass rush, that leaves our WRs and TEs in more 1 on 1s.  

 
BigRedBuster said:
An interesting discussion with Brendon Stai on the radio before the game.  He was saying one big issue he has seen on our O line is that they don't stay on the double team blocks long enough before releasing to the next level.  After the game, someone else was mentioning that one big improvement on the O line was that they stayed on their double teams longer.  Obviously, if they are blitzing or stunting, they need to release and pick up the free defender.  But, gotta take care of the first defender first.  

One big improvement over OU and Mich St would be if they protect 2AM when they don't blitz.  If they are just rushing 3 or 4 and not getting to him, I like our chances.  Then, if that forces them to commit more defenders to the pass rush, that leaves our WRs and TEs in more 1 on 1s.  
Click to expand...
Yeah I recall a few times in past games there would be a double team and the guy would release and then the guy being doubled then disrupts the play.  I think NW had enough confidence that they were going to get to 2AM with just 4 guys based on every other game this year.  That's why they didn't blitz a ton.  But it also helped that we were running the ball at a good clip.  Adrian wasn't "forced" to throw a ton.  They were able to mix up the play calling quite a bit because everything was working.  

 
Back
Top