Michigan football hangs on to beat Nebraska, 30-27: Game recap, box score

LINCOLN, Neb. – The Michigan Wolverines beat Nebraska, 30-27, on Saturday afternoon in their Big Ten opener, moving to 3-1 overall on the season.

The effort was led by a stout Michigan defense, which finished with 7 sacks, while the run game paced the offense with 286 total yards on Saturday.

Here is the blow-by-blow recap of Saturday’s happenings at Memorial Stadium.

First quarter

Michigan won the opening coin toss and deferred, choosing to start on defense. After the touchback, Nebraska would start the game at its 25-yard line. The Cornhuskers worked their way down the field, going 70 yards in 10 plays, but were stuffed on a 4th and 2 from the 6-yard line, turning the ball over on downs. U-M would take over at its 5-yard line with 11:10 remaining. The Wolverines would only net 8 yards on the drive, harmed by a false start penalty on 3rd and 3. After that, the punt by senior Hudson Hollenbeck took a Nebraska bounce near midfield, giving the Cornhuskers the ball at the Michigan 37-yard line with 8:44 remaining.

The Cornhuskers gained 11 yards on 7 plays on their next drive, settling for a 44-yard field goal attempt that was no good. Michigan took back over on offense at the 26-yard line with 5 minutes left in the quarter. U-M went 46 yards on 10 plays, but had three drops — two of which would have been touchdowns — settling for a field goal. Senior Dominic Zvada‘s 46-yard attempt was good, giving the Wolverines a 3-0 lead with 1:38 on the clock. Nebraska started its next drive at its 23-yard line after the kickoff.

Three plays in, Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola threw an interception retrieved by sophomore linebacker Cole Sullivan, giving Michigan the ball at the 37-yard line with 17 seconds to play in the quarter. One play later, Michigan freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood ran 37 yards to the house on a designed run up the middle, extending the lead to 10-0 with 11 seconds left after the Zvada extra point. The quarter would expire with the same score.

Michigan 10, Nebraska 0

Second quarter

The Cornhuskers’ next drive went -9 yards in 3 plays, capped off by a sack by graduate defensive tackle Rayshaun Benny on third down. Nebraska punted down to the U-M 37-yard line with 14:06 remaining in the half. Michigan gained 7 yards on its next drive, but Underwood fumbled near midfield and gave the ball back to Nebraska. They would take over at their 48-yard line with 13:08 on the clock. After a 7-play, 31-yard drive, the Cornhuskers would settle for a 39-yard field goal to get on the board. The score was 10-3 Michigan with 8:58 remaining in the second quarter.

The Wolverines went 4-and-out on their next drive, punting Nebraska down to their 37-yard line. The Huskies put another scoring drive together, going 63 yards in 7 plays and getting a 26-yard pass from Raiola to Jacory Barney. After the extra point, the game was tied 10-10 with 2:01 to go.

On the next play from scrimmage, Michigan junior tailback Justice Haynes ran for a 75-yard touchdown, his sixth score of the season, putting the Wolverines back ahead 17-10 with 1:51 left in the half. It also put him over 100 yards in a game for the fourth-straight week to start his Michigan career. Nebraska got the ball back and drove to the 48-yard line with a timeout to spare and 1 second left. U-M’s sideline did not elect to take any of theirs, leading to a Hail Mary attempt from the Cornhuskers, which was good from 52 yards out from Raiola to Barney, their second scoring connection of the day, as time expired. The game was tied 17-all heading into the locker room.

Michigan 17, Nebraska 17

Third quarter

Michigan got the ball to start the second half on offense after deferring the opening kickoff choice. The drive was short-lived, going 22 yards in 4 plays before a Hollenbeck punt, which went 49 yards and was caught by Barney before being tackled at the Nebraska 3-yard line with 12:34 left in the quarter. The Huskers went three-and-out, then took a delay of game penalty on the punt. Archie Wilson punted out of his own end zone down to the Michigan 40-yard line, where the offense would take over with 10:15 on the clock.

Michigan moved the ball 22 yards on its next drive, but had to settle for a field goal attempt from Zvada from 56 yards out, which was good. The Wolverines took the lead back at 20-17 with 7:43 left in the third quarter. Nebraska went three-and-out on its next possession, punting to Michigan down to the 38-yard line with 6:12 to go. Two plays and 62 rush yards from sophomore running back Jordan Marshall later, the Wolverines got their two-score lead back on a 54-yard touchdown run from the sophomore tailback. After the extra point, U-M led 27-17 with 5:40 to go.

Michigan looked as if it was getting off the field on another three-and-out, but junior defensive back Brandyn Hillman was called for a taunting penalty that gave the Cornhuskers new life as they drove the ball down the field. Nebraska was not able to get into the endzone, but the clock ran out on the quarter with a 38-yard field goal attempt to come after the television break.

Michigan 27, Nebraska 17

Fourth quarter

The field goal was good for the Cornhuskers to start the fourth quarter, narrowing the Michigan lead to 27-20 with 14:56 to play. The Wolverines and Cornhuskers traded three-and-outs on their next two possessions with Nebraska punting down to U-M’s 20-yard line with 12:40 remaining.

Michigan drove down the field to push the lead back to two scores, going 78 yards in 15 plays and capping things off with a 21-yard Zvada field goal. U-M led 30-20 with 4:28 remaining.

Nebraska made it interesting at the end, driving down 75 yards in 10 plays for a touchdown, scored by tight end Heinrich Haarberg on a 3-yard pass from Raiola. Down 30-27 with 1:34 remaining and only two timeouts left, Nebraska had no choice but to attempt an onside kick, which was recovered by Michigan junior wide receiver Kendrick Bell.

Marshall iced the game with a first-down run, sliding down in bounds, and the Wolverines kneeled out the clock. Nebraska has lost 28-straight games against ranked opponents, and Michigan is winners of five in a row versus the Cornhuskers.

Final Michigan at Nebraska box score, stats