ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Through three weeks, teams have had great success running the football against Nebraska, but not so much passing. The Huskers have allowed 110 yards to Cincinnati, 234 yards to Akron, and 192 yards on the ground to Houston Christian, but they’ve been awfully stingy in the pass game, not yet allowing 100 yards in any game through three weeks.
Of course, Michigan football wants to run the ball, so Nebraska’s weakness defensively is somewhat playing into Michigan’s strength, but even so, sophomore running back Jordan Marshall says that the Wolverines are confident in the team’s ability to pass the ball — even though no one else has managed to do it against the Cornhuskers.
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“I think we’re going to attack them,” Marshall said. “We’re confident in our players here and the receivers, running backs, tight ends that we’re going to go in there, and if they’re the No. 1 run defense, the No. 1 pass defense, it doesn’t really matter to us. We’re just going to go in there and do what Michigan does, and I think we got a good view of that last Saturday of how explosive we can be in all phases.”
What’s more, Marshall feels like Michigan learned some valuable lessons going from the 24-13 loss at Oklahoma to the 63-3 win over Central Michigan. The message in practice from Week 2 to Week 3 was to increase the physicality, execute, and play the brand of football that’s known in Ann Arbor.
Marshall doesn’t really care if the blowout was at the expense of a MAC team in Week 3, it was a confidence builder as to what this Michigan team can be. And with that, the team feels ready to show Nebraska that the Wolverines are still the Wolverines.
“I would say what we learned is we bounced back,” Marshall said. “I would say that’s the biggest thing, is we bounced back, whether it – no matter who we played, we bounced back. And to see Bryce take that on the chin and say, yep, it’s time to go back to work — and we have a lot of older guys, it’s time to go back to work. And that’s what Michigan’s always been about, is putting your head down and going back to work.
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“And I think we learned from that road game is we’re going to play in more environments like that, and we’re going to have to win on the road. So this one is exciting for us, and it’s another challenge that we get to face and another stepping stone. And I think the guys are just embracing it. We get another chance to go on the road and play in a really cool environment, and take it on the chest. And I’m just excited to see what this team does, and we have so many guys that can go make plays for us, and I think we’re in a really good spot right now.”
Michigan and Nebraska are set to kick off at 3:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday at Memorial Stadium with the game set to be broadcast on CBS.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Michigan offense prepares to test Nebraska’s top-ranked pass defense
