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Michigan relies on big runs in Big Ten opener versus Nebraska SAM GIBSON Daily Sports Editor
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INCOLN — For much of the No. 21 Michigan football team’s game against Nebraska, the Wolverines’ offense was ineffective. Michigan lost the time of possession battle, went 4-for-12 on third downs and freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood passed for a meager 105 yards. But for the other couple of plays that combined for roughly one minute of Saturday’s contest, the Wolverines were unstoppable. Buoyed by big plays on both sides of the ball, Michigan (3-1 overall, 1-0 Big Ten) bested Nebraska (3-1, 0-1), 30-27, to kick off conference play with a win. “It’s no secret that we were
1-of-4 on the road last year, and then to lose that away game at Oklahoma,” sophomore linebacker Cole Sullivan said. “So to win this one away just means a lot. … We always talk about being the most connected team and I don’t think there’s any better way to prove that than when you’re on the road.” Neither offense looked connected in the first quarter. After the Cornhuskers missed a 44-yard field goal on their second drive, the Wolverines marched down to positive territory. Then junior wide receiver Semaj Morgan underthrew graduate wide receiver Donaven McCulley on a double pass, junior Justice Haynes rushed for no gain and Underwood just barely overthrew sophomore wide receiver Channing Goodwin in the end zone.
After that misbegotten set of downs, even senior kicker Dominic Zvada’s 46-yard field goal felt like an underachievement. Then came the Wolverines’ first big play. With under a minute left in the first quarter, junior defensive back Jyaire Hill tipped Raiola’s pass, and Sullivan reeled it in with one hand. Seventeen seconds were on the clock when Underwood kept the ball and — with the nearest defender in Omaha — dashed untouched into the end zone to go up, 10-0. “It’s always huge to put ‘em in a good place to score,” graduate linebacker Ernest Hausmann said. “Turnovers are awesome, but especially having it on that short side of the field is even better.”
Almost exactly 15 minutes later, Raiola responded with a big play of his own, dotting his receiver with a 26-yard touchdown on a crucial third down. Michigan didn’t need the two minutes that remained in the half for its next big play. Suddenly — as he has in every other game this season — Haynes found a gap in at the line of scrimmage. Breaking free and leaving several Nebraska defensemen in the dust, Haynes continued his touchdown streak for a 75-yard score. Up 17-10 with the clock ticking down, the Wolverines were poised to finish the second quarter up a score. Several Michigan coaches, assistants and players had already begun their walk across the field and to the locker room — under
the impression that the clock had ran out — when they were corralled back to the sideline for the final play of the second quarter with one second left. As they stood and watched, Raiola rolled out right, set his feet and launched a prayer to the end zone. With zeroes on the clock and Nebraska’s last hope of the half whistling through the air, wide receiver Jacory Barney Jr. leapt up amid a pack of Wolverines and secured the football. The hail mary knotted the score, 17-17, and reinvigorated a weary Nebraska crowd that had just witnessed Haynes’ run. “We felt like they got lucky on one play,” Haynes said. “One play ain’t gonna define us.” One play from the Cornhuskers wasn’t going to define Michigan — several of the Wolverines’ own plays
already had. And after Zvada’s nailed 56-yarder returned the lead to Michigan in the third quarter, the Wolverines had an opportunity to go up two scores. This time, it was sophomore running back Jordan Marshall’s turn. After muscling through several tackles on first down, Marshall darted around Nebraska’s blocks on second down, breaking off for the longest rush of his career to put Michigan up, 27-17. Another Zvada field goal in the fourth meant that Raiola’s late touchdown drive in the third quarter didn’t matter. Neither did the Wolverines’ inefficiency in the air, nor did their several penalties in key moments. When Michigan needed to score on Saturday, it did. All the Wolverines needed were a few big plays.
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INDEX Vol. CXXXVI No. 19 ©2025 The Michigan
NEWS......................2 ARTS.....................4 OPINION................5
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