Confusion washed over Tom Osborne Field.
Plenty of Michigan Wolverines jogged toward the locker room for halftime — unaware that Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule had called a timeout with one second remaining.
Facing fourth-and-11 from their own 48-yard line while trailing No. 21 Michigan by seven points, quarterback Dylan Raiola and the Husker offense needed a miracle before the break.
Call it divine intervention. Call it magic. Call it practice paying off. Whatever you call it, Nebraska receiver Jacory Barney Jr. — one of the shortest players on the field — reeled in Raiola’s dime of a throw, despite the five Michigan defensive backs towering over him to tie the game at halftime, 17-17, for Nebraska’s first Hail Mary reception since the Westercatch.
The second half, though? Not as riveting for Nebraska.
The Huskers couldn’t capitalize on the momentum and went three-and-out on three out of their five drives in the game’s final 30 minutes. Meanwhile, Michigan’s offense did just enough through explosive plays to keep the advantage and give Nebraska its first loss of the season, 30-27.
Thoughts from Nebraska’s loss:
WHAT I LOATHED
Explosive scoring plays
All three of Michigan’s touchdowns came off explosive plays on first or second down.
The first one: quarterback Bryce Underwood scampered into the end zone untouched for a 37-yard touchdown to put Michigan up, 10-0, late in the first quarter.
The second one was even worse.
Michigan’s bruising back Justice Haynes is the best running back in the Big Ten for a reason, and he showed that right before halftime — taking advantage of a missed run fit up the middle from Nebraska’s defense and darting into the end zone for a 75-yard rushing touchdown.
Haynes finished the game with 17 carries for 149 yards rushing with one touchdown.
The third one was a kick in the shins for the Blackshirts, too.
With Haynes on the bench, back-up running back Jordan Marshall danced down the field for 54 yards to put Michigan up, 27-17, in the third quarter.
This was one of Nebraska’s picks to click against Michigan: play technically sound and limit the explosive plays. These three plays alone burned Nebraska.
Sacks
Raiola was sacked seven times on Saturday against Michigan.
Are all of those on the offensive line? No. Are all of those on Raiola? No.
“It’s a function of everything,” Rhule said regarding whether it was more on the offensive line or more on Raiola.
Regardless of the reasons why Raiola was sacked, the protection needs to be better and consistent for Nebraska to have a chance in the Big Ten.
When Raiola had time and a clean pocket, the operation was smooth. But losing 49 yards due to sack yardage isn’t what you want.
End of the first quarter
A two-play series near the end of the first quarter spelled disaster for Nebraska.
On first-and-10 from the Nebraska 34-yard line, quarterback Dylan Raiola attempted to find tight end Luke Lindenmeyer on the short side of the field. However, after likely presuming Michigan was lined up in man-to-man coverage, two Michigan defensive backs ended up draping Lindenmeyer in coverage. As Raiola threw the ball toward Lindenmeyer, the ball bounced off Jyaire Hill and landed in Cole Sullivan’s hands. If Hill had reeled it in, it would have been an easy, walk-in pick-6 for the Wolverines.
The next play, Michigan’s offense lined up at the Nebraska 37-yard line. With quarterback Bryce Underwood in the shotgun, Underwood saw Nebraska’s safeties split toward the sidelines and zoomed through the wide B Gap to run into the end zone untouched for the game’s first touchdown.
Late third-down defense
Michigan converted just four of its 12 third downs, but three of those conversions came in the fourth quarter. And all of them came on the same drive.
Third-and-5: Underwood to Semaj Morgan for 6 yards.
Third-and-9: Underwood to Haynes for 16 yards.
Third-and-10: Haynes rushed for 19 yards.
Michigan ultimately made a 21-yard field goal on that drive. If the Blackshirts stop any one of those, you wonder what could have happened.
“You make one of those plays, the game changes,” Rhule said.
Opening drive
Once again, Nebraska’s offense had issues deep inside the red zone. On Nebraska’s opening drive, the Huskers marched down the field with ease — capitalizing with four plays of 10-plus yards before stalling inside the 10-yard line. The Huskers went for it on fourth-and-2 from the 6-yard line, and Raiola’s short pass up the middle to Lindenmeyer was complete, but was roughly a foot short of the line to gain.
Nebraska has struggled this season in the short-yardage game, and that was, once again, evident in the Huskers’ opening drive.
WHAT I WAS LET DOWN BY
First quarter FG miss
Nebraska’s Kyle Cunanan — who had been automatic in Nebraska’s first three games with four field goal makes and 19 extra point makes — missed his 44-yard field goal to the right, and it wasn’t particularly close.
Knowing that Nebraska lost by only three points? This stings.
WHAT I LIKED
Barney
Barney did plenty more on Saturday than just the memorable Hail Mary touchdown — finishing the day with 148 all-purpose yards, including a smooth 20-yard punt return midway through the second quarter. Seven plays after the return, Barney found the end zone for the first time of the afternoon with his 26-yard receiving touchdown.
While his day was remarkable, it wasn’t perfect. Trying to return a punt inside the 4-yard line isn’t advisable — which is something Barney did early in the third quarter. To follow, Nebraska’s offense went three-and-out from deep in its own territory.
WHAT I LOVED
Strip-sack, fumble recovery
What a play early in the second quarter by Elijah Jeudy — swarming Underwood for a sack while he ripped the ball out before the freshman Wolverine hit the turf. DeShon Singleton came up with the fumble recovery to give Nebraska a needed boost while the Huskers trailed by 10 points.
Ultimately, Cunanan made a 39-yard field goal to get Nebraska on the board.
Terence “Bud” Crawford
Nebraska had the pound-for-pound king of boxing lead the Huskers out of the tunnel for the Tunnel Walk on Saturday — a week after he defeated Canelo Álvarez to become the undisputed champion in the super welterweight division.
“I’m disappointed we didn’t get the win for Bud,” Rhule said. “But I thought it meant a lot that he would show up for us. He could be anywhere he wanted to be in the world right now if he wanted to, and he chose to be here with us.”
OTHER NOTABLES
If we’re going to play the “what if” game with Nebraska’s not-touchdown in the fourth quarter when Nyziah Hunter stepped out of bounds or the late third-down defense or the missed field goal from Cunanan or the lack of any points on the opening drive, we can play the “what if” game with Michigan, too.
On Michigan’s second drive — when Dominic Zvada made a 46-yard field goal — the Wolverines had two would-be touchdowns that weren’t.
There was the double pass from Underwood to Semaj Morgan to Donaven McCulley, but McCulley basically slipped at the goal line despite being wide open. And then Channing Goodwin dropped a pass in the end zone with Andrew Marshall in coverage.
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Amie Just
Husker sports reporter/columnist
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