Instant Recap: Michigan Wolverines Football 56, Nebraska 10
Michigan dominated Nebraska in every facet this afternoon, coming away with a 56-10 win.
Here's how it unfolded:
First Half
The rout was on almost immediately this afternoon.
Nebraska freshman quarterback Adrian Martinez was picked off by Michigan junior safety Josh Metellus on the Cornhuskers' opening possession, and sophomore fullback Ben Mason took advantage of the turnover by punching it in from a yard out to put U-M up 7-0.
The Wolverines showed no signs of slowing down on their next drive, when senior running back Karan Higdon ripped off a 44-yard score to put his team up 14-0.
A Cornhusker three-and-out was followed by Mason's second touchdown of the day with 7:22 left in the first quarter (this one from four yards out), and the rout was officially on. Redshirt sophomore kicker Quinn Nordin missed the extra point, though, making the score 20-0 — that was where things stood at the end of the first quarter.
Nordin got the action started in the second quarter as well with a 50-yard field goal, increasing the advantage to 23-0.
Junior quarterback Shea Patterson decided to join the fun when he tossed a five-yard strike to redshirt junior tight end Zach Gentry with 8:20 left in the half, giving U-M a 30-0 edge.
Mason completed the trifecta with his third score of the day from a yard out to give the Wolverines a 37-0 lead with 5:25 to go in the half.
An interesting play occurred on Nebraska's next drive when Martinez threw a pass, had it tipped back to himself, and then swatted it forward at his own goal line. The play resulted in a safety, putting Michigan up 39-0 with 4:03 to go before the break.
Second Half
The scoring slowed down mightily in the second half, but the Wolverines still had plenty of highlight plays.
Both clubs traded punts to begin the third quarter, before sophomore wideout Donovan Peoples-Jones ran a punt back 60 yards for a score with 9:01 to go in the third, putting U-M up 46-0.
The punt return for a score was the second of his career — he also took one to the house last year on Sept. 16 against Air Force.
The Wolverines lost the shutout when Nebraska kicked a 35-yard field goal with 5:23 left in the frame, trimming U-M's edge to 46-3.
Michigan finally took Patterson out of the game and inserted redshirt freshman Dylan McCaffrey with 5:09 left in the third. Nordin converted his second field goal of the day with 58 seconds left in the frame, making it 49-3.
The fourth quarter mainly consisted of punting.
One of the highlights of the frame occurred less than a minute into it, though, when McCaffrey tossed a beautiful 56-yard touchdown pass to freshman wideout Ronnie Bell, increasing the blowout to 56-3.
The score was not only the first of Bell's career, but also his initial reception.
One of the few bright spots for Nebraska occurred with 9:17 left in the game, when redshirt sophomore quarterback Brandon Peters was picked off in the Cornhusker end zone.
Nebraska started its drive at its own 25-yard line, and junior viper Khaleke Hudson was ejected for targeting for a second straight week with just 6:18 left in the game.
The Big Red scored their first touchdown of the day on a three-yard run with just 4:14 to go, cutting Michigan's advantage to 56-10.
U-M took a knee on its final plays of the game, ending the contest at 56-10.
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