Nebraska is finally firing on all cylinders as they take control of their destiny in the Big Ten. While both Nebraska and Michigan are 3-1 in the division, Nebraska holds the ever important tie breaker after their 23-9 victory in their Saturday night game.
All the No. 22 ranked Wolverines could do was sit stunned and watch as Nebraska took advantage of their complete lack of offense. Quarterback Denard Robinson was only able to put up a combined 101 yards in the first half before landing awkwardly on his right elbow.
With Robinson out the rest of the game, the Wolverines struggled to move the ball in the second half gaining a season low 52 yards. Robinson accounts for almost the entire Michigan offense which spells trouble for the final stretch of the season if his injury doesn’t fully recover soon.
On the other side of the field Nebraska was playing solid team football. The defense played tough and held their opponent to only 188 yards the entire game and had two key interceptions off of backup quarterback Bellomy, both of which resulted in points for Nebraska.
Ameer Abdullah who is filling in for Rex Burkhead had his fourth 100 yard game as he went 101 yards on 24 attempts with a late 12 yard touchdown to seal the game. Martinez went 14 for 24 and passed for 166 yards with 1 interception.
Even with the win, the Huskers shows that they still have room for improvement. The defense which played great most the game was error prone in the second half as they gave up 104 yards in penalties and missed easy tackles. One of Brendan Gibbons three field goals was set up by a 58 yard drive that consisted of 45 yards in penalties. Gibbons, who scored all of Michigan’s points, went 3 for 3 and nailed his first 50+ yard field goal of the season.
The results of this game has put Nebraska back onto the BCS rankings at #20 as Michigan tumbles out of the top 25. Michigan hopes to have Robinson back by Saturday against Minnesota but will be prepping backup quarterbacks Bellomy and Gardner with some snaps during the week just in case.