10 things we learned from NU’s loss to Michigan

Here are 10 of our biggest takeaways from Nebraska’s 32-29 loss to No. 9 Michigan on Saturday night…

Nebraska played more than well enough to beat one of the top-10 teams in college football on Saturday night.

In the end, the story ended the same way it has so many times before over the past three and half years.

At times, the Huskers’ offense looked as good as it has yet under head coach Scott Frost, especially considering the level of competition it was up against in No. 9 Michigan’s stout defense.

At times, the Blackshirts made one critical stop after another and even helped flip the game with a key interception. Even the special teams did what they were supposed to do far more often than not.

Yet even with all that, it wasn’t enough when the game was on the line. Nebraska still made the crucial mistake at the worst possible time, and that was enough to erase all of the good it did for nearly four full quarters.

Until the Huskers actually win a game like this, there will always be a cloud of doubt that hovers over this program of when it will ever put everything together and take the next step.

When Adrian Martinez is good, Nebraska’s offense can be as dynamic as any in the Big Ten Conference. His play in the second half on Saturday night was a perfect example.

But the fourth-year junior’s career has been equally defined by turnovers, missed throws, and mental mistakes. His performance against Michigan was no exception.

Martinez threw for 291 yards and a career-high three passing touchdowns while running in the go-ahead score with 7:08 left in the game.

But what everyone will remember about the game was his fumble in the final minutes that set up Michigan’s eventual winning field goal.

Martinez said afterward that he thought his forward progress had been stopped, but Brad Hawkins punched the ball out and the night changed completely.

The loss was hardly all on Martinez’s shoulders, but once again, he found himself in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

More often than not, it’s a bad look and merely sour grapes to blame officiating for the outcome of a game.

However, it’s also fair to say that the performance of the crew that worked the Nebraska-Michigan game was all-around bad.

There was a stretch of one replay after another in the second quarter to correct missed calls on the field, inconsistent rulings on illegal formation penalties, a phantom pass interference call, and a seemingly made-up “joint possession” ruling on a muffed punt.

That’s not even to mention the call – or lack thereof – on Martinez’s fumble, where it appeared to most everyone that his forward progress had been stopped, yet no whistle was blown.

It wasn’t as if the referees were in on some plot to burn Nebraska, either. Michigan was also on the wrong side of some costly missed penalties, including an obvious offside on Austin Allen’s third-quarter touchdown.

Needless to say, the Big Ten office is going to get a long list of complaints and plays to review from both teams on Monday.

There isn’t much of a question of who Nebraska’s top running back is anymore.

For the fourth week in a row, Rahmir Johnson got the lion’s share of the workload at the position against Michigan.

Johnson ended up leading the Huskers in both rushing and receiving in the loss, rushing a team-high 17 times for 67 yards and catching six passes for 105 yards and a touchdown.

The only other back to touch the ball was Jaquez Yant, who got all of four carries for 14 yards. No other running back even played an offensive snap.

Frost said NU stuck with Johnson because he was playing the best and leaned on him exclusively after Yant went the wrong way on a key third-down run that ended up getting stuffed.

The only reason Nebraska still had a chance to rally back in the second half was that its defense kept the game within reach in the first.

But as the game went on and the play count piled up, the Blackshirts struggled to maintain that level of play down the stretch.

After being on the field for 42 snaps in the first half and giving up just 13 points, the defense played another 39 in the second half, with 23 of those being Michigan run plays.

In all, Nebraska’s defense was on the field for 81 snaps against a physical, pro-style Wolverine offense that pounded them for 42 rushes.

Michigan running backs Hassan Haskins (21 carries for 123 yards and two touchdowns) and Blake Corum (13-89-1) ran the ball for a combined 212 yards. Ninety-five of those came on 15 rushes (6.3 ypc) in the fourth quarter.

Just when it looked as if Nebraska had finally found the right combination on the offensive line, an injury could potentially shake that group up once again.

True freshman Teddy Prochazka, who took over as the starting left tackle last week vs. Northwestern, made his second-career start on Saturday night. But that didn’t even last until halftime, as he was injured late in the second quarter.

Prochazka walked off the field under his own power and waved his arms to pump up the crowd as he went to the sideline, but he eventually went to the locker room with trainers before the half ended.

He did not return the rest of the night.

That left Bryce Benhart, who Prochazka replaced in the starting lineup, to take over at right tackle and moved Turner Corcoran back to left tackle.

To the credit of the entire o-line, the unit held its own against a talented and physical Michigan defensive front. The Wolverines only recorded one sack, and no quarterback hurries.

Frost had no update on Prochazka’s status after the game, so that will be something to monitor closely next week.

Michigan has made it a point to take on an attitude of swagger and trash talk this season, which was on full display on Saturday night.

Seemingly every chance the Wolverines got to taunt the crowd or bark at Nebraska, they took advantage. During NU’s new third-quarter “Thunderstruck” routine, UM’s players went out of their way to dance on the field and jump around with the rest of the stadium.

They did the same thing a few weeks ago at Wisconsin during the Badgers’ “Jump Around” tradition.

Corum pretended to eat a corn cob after his fourth-quarter touchdown, and the Michigan benches were full of players jawing at fans behind their sideline.

All of that is something Harbaugh wants his team to embrace based on his comments after the game.

“There’s no doubt (Nebraska fans) wanted to storm the field, tear down the goalposts, carry them,” Harbaugh said. “Not on our watch.”

For a guy who was regarded as arguably Nebraska’s best overall player going into the season, Cam Taylor-Britt struggled for the first part of the year.

Not only was he a mess at punt returner, but the junior cornerback’s coverage also suffered as he seemed to press so hard to make big plays that he let his fundamentals slip at times.

That was not the case at all vs. Michigan, as Taylor-Britt was everything the Huskers needed.

He won two 50/50 deep shots in the first quarter and then broke up a would-be touchdown in the back of the end zone later in the second. He also made a drive-ending tackle on a screen pass on UM’s first drive in the third quarter.

In all, Taylor-Britt was credited with a career-high three pass breakups and 11 tackles.

A former four-star wide receiver recruit out of Iowa City (Iowa) West, Oliver Martin committed to Michigan in 2017.

After redshirting his first year, Martin saw action in 13 games (one start) for the Wolverines in 2018, finishing with 11 catches for 125 yards and a touchdown.

While he transferred to Iowa before finally ending up at Nebraska, Martin still had a reunion with his former team on Saturday night.

The fifth-year junior wide receiver only caught two passes for 39 yards, but both of his grabs converted first downs.

His second reception came on a tipped pass in the fourth quarter that looked like an interception but ended as a 30-yard completion into UM territory. That play sparked the Huskers’ go-ahead touchdown that made it 29-26.

For the second week in a row, the atmosphere in Memorial Stadium was as good as it’s been in a long, long time.

In a nationally-televised game vs. a top-10 opponent, NU’s fan base once again provided an atmosphere unrivaled by any other in the country.

Frost said after the game that he had never had more fun coaching a game in his career. The table was set for Saturday to be an unforgettable night.

While the result ended with a crushing loss, you have to tip your hat to NU fans for giving their team all the energy it could have hoped for and answering the bell one again.