Michigan provided a rude Big Ten intro to the Frost era in 2018. Have the Huskers closed the gap? | Football

“That’s our standard. We’re not going to allow each other to get pushed back,” Rogers said. “If someone does, we correct it right away. I think our leaders, Damion (Daniels), Stille, all those older guys, they’ve really made that standard tight. You can’t slack off any plays. That’s just what we’ve been doing this whole year.”

Stille said Nebraska had big players back in 2018, but there’s more to competing with a top-10 team than just sheer mass.

“I think if I today’s understanding of the scheme and the technique and I was at that level, the size would have been less of an issue. It’s a combination. You can’t just be huge. You have to have great technique. It doesn’t matter how big you are.”

Offensively, Nebraska is going to roll out a true freshman at left tackle and a walk-on at left guard after Teddy Prochazka and Nouredin Nouili, respectively, played well in their starting debuts against Northwestern. They’ll have a freshman at right tackle as well in Turner Corcoran.

Michigan? Well, it will counter with defensive lineman Aidan Hutchinson, who forced a safety as a freshman back in 2018 against the Huskers and has turned himself into a likely first-round draft pick and one of the best defensive players in the country, and an athletic front line.

“We’ve got some studs of our own that I’ll be practicing against,” Prochazka said, listing outside linebackers Garrett Nelson and Damian Jackson. “Those guys are all, in my opinion, some of the best guys I’ve ever played against and so far, I don’t think I’ve played against anybody that’s particularly better than them. I’ll use what I block against them to emulate what he’ll be showing me. He’s a good player and I’ll be ready for it.”