Previewing Michigan vs. Nebraska With A Cornhusker Insider

TheWolverine.com caught up with Sean Callahan of HuskerOnline.com to preview the Nebraska Cornhuskers game against the Michigan Wolverines Saturday night in Lincoln (7:30 p.m. ET on ABC).

Callahan broke down the strengths and weaknesses of Nebraska's team on both sides of the ball, provided his final score prediction and more.

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• Junior QB Adrian Martinez — The three-time Maxwell Award watch list member (2019, 2020, 2021) has completed 100 of 150 passes (66.7 percent) for 1,463 yards and six touchdowns, while also adding 80 rushes for 412 yards and nine scores.

• Redshirt freshman RB Rahmir Johnson — He's racked up 231 yards and two touchdowns on 55 carries, with six receptions for 64 yards and three kick returns for 38 yards.

• Junior WR Omar Manning — The junior college transfer has 12 receptions for 176 yards (third on the team) and one touchdown on the season, primarily lining up out wide.

• Freshman WR Zavier Betts — He is second on the team with 13 catches for 187 yards, and has one rush for 83 yards and a score. He lines up on the perimeter, opposite of Manning.

• Senior WR Samori Toure — The slot receiver and Montana transfer leads the team with 23 grabs for 483 yards and three touchdowns. His 21-yards-per-reception average ranks 10th in the country. Toure was named a 2019 FCS first-team All-American while with the Grizzlies, and set the school's single-season receiving yards record with 1,495 in 2019.

• Junior TE Austin Allen — The Mackey Award watch list member has registered 17 catches for 163 yards. His 83.1 overall PFF grade ranks second on the offense, with his 77.7 run-blocking rating topping the team.

• Freshman LT Teddy Prochazka — The first-year player made his first career start last week against Northwestern, after playing off the bench in three games before that. His 72.6 overall PFF grade is ninth on the unit and his above-average 71.1 run-blocking rating is first among offensive line starters.

• Sophomore LG Nouredin Nouili — He has played in every game this year, but made his first career start against Northwestern last week. His 72.4 overall PFF mark slots 11th on the offense, while his 81.9 pass-blocking grade leads the group.

• Sophomore C Cam Jurgens — The Rimington Trophy watch list member has opened 25 career contests. His 69.3 PFF grade checks in seventh on the offense, while his 70.7 run-blocking mark ranks second among offensive line starters.

• Junior RG Matt Sichterman — The first-year starter has started all six tilts this season, posting a 58.6 overall PFF grade that ranks 34th on the offense and fourth out of the five line starters.

• Freshman RT Turner Corcoran — He started three games at left tackle, before moving to right tackle for the team's most recent contest against Northwestern. His 37.1 overall PFF rating slots last on the offense, with a 13.7 pass-blocking mark that ranks second to last.

• Junior NT Damion Daniels — He's posted 17 tackles, with two for loss, and two pass breakups. He's totaled six pressures, according to PFF.

• Redshirt freshman DE Ty Robinson — He has compiled 14 stops, including two tackles for loss, while notching 10 pressures as a pass rusher.

• Senior DE Ben Stille — The 2020 honorable mention All-Big Ten standout has accumulated 19 tackles, 2.5 stops for loss, one pass breakup and four quarterback hurries. His 75.7 PFF pass-rushing rating is third on the defense.

• Sophomore OLB Garrett Nelson — He has recorded 25 tackles, a team-high eight tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks, while posting a 79.4 overall PFF grade (third on defense), 73.3 run-blocking mark (third on unit), team-leading 86.1 tackling rating and team-high 79.2 pass-rushing mark.

• Senior OLB JoJo Domann — The reigning Co-Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week posted nine tackles, three stops for loss, two sacks and a pair of forced fumbles in the team's win over Northwestern. For the year, he's posted 37 tackles (ninth in the Big Ten), with seven behind the line of scrimmage, two sacks, one interception, one pass breakup and one quarterback hurry. He is second on the defense in the following PFF categories: overall grade (80.5), run defense (78.9), pass rush (77.3) and coverage (78.3).

• Sophomore ILB Luke Reimer — His 51 tackles top the team and rank second in the Big Ten. He's registered 2.5 stops for loss, a half-sack, three pass breakups, two quarterback hurries, one interception and one forced fumble. His 79.2 PFF coverage rating leads the squad.

• Redshirt freshman LB Nick Henrich — He's recorded 43 tackles (seventh in Big Ten and second on team), 1.5 tackles for loss, a half-sack and three quarterback hurries. His 54.7 overall PFF grade ranks 40th on the defense.

• Junior CB Cam Taylor-Britt — The 2020 second-team All-Big Ten selection has notched 15 tackles, with one for loss and three pass breakups. His 65.4 PFF coverage grade is tied for ninth on the squad. He's allowed 17 receptions for 179 yards on 29 targets.

• Sophomore CB Quinton Newsome — He's registered 28 tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack and one pass breakup, while posting a below-average 55.6 PFF coverage rating and yielding 20 receptions for 205 yards and one touchdown on 31 targets.

• Senior S Deontai Williams — The 2020 honorable mention All-Big Ten pick has totaled 31 tackles, two stops for loss, two interceptions and two pass breakups, while registering a 78.0 PFF coverage rating that ranks third on the team. He's given up nine receptions for 117 yards on 17 targets.

• Senior S Marquel Dismuke — Another 2020 honorable mention All-Big Ten recipient, he has posted 18 tackles and one interception. He has yielded nine catches for 152 yards on 13 targets.

Nebraska does a lot of different things on offense, from spreading it out and throwing down field, running quick-game passes, the triple option and more. Callahan lauded the unit's ability to find success in so many different areas of the game, which has kept opponents on their toes.

"The biggest strength would be their versatility," Callahan said. "They have explosive playmakers at really every position and have produced as many big plays as any offense in the country. There have been four runs of 64 yards or longer from three different players, along with [senior wide receiver] Samori Toure leading the nation with three 60-plus-yard receptions. Martinez can also extend plays and create down the field."

The Huskers rank 11th nationally in total offense (502 yards per game) and 50th in scoring (32.3 points per outing).

Nebraska has mixed and matched a bit on the offensive line, with changes in the lineup throughout the course of the season. The group has allowed 18 sacks on the season and posted a 30.3 PFF pass-blocking rating, both of which rank 121st in the nation. However, Frost and Co. might have found the right combination last week.

"The weakness of the offense has been their offensive tackle play," Callahan explained. "Against Michigan State, a defensive end was credited with 14 quarterback pressures alone on PFF. That led to [head coach] Scott Frost shaking up his line and former Rivals100 true freshman Teddy Prochazka was inserted in at left tackle and [sophomore] Nouredin Nouili came into left guard.

"Former [freshman] starting left tackle Turner Corcoran moved to right tackle — he too was a former Rivals100 recruit, but was coming off injury in August. Former Rivals250 tackle Bryce Benhart was benched last week and the line played by far their best game against Northwestern, allowing only three quarterback hurries the entire game on [junior signal-caller] Adrian Martinez."

Nebraska's defense has gone up against some of the sport's best rushing attacks and performed admirably in those matchups. The Huskers are allowing 122.2 yards per game on the ground on average, and gave up a combined 108 rushing yards in their last two contests (at Michigan State, versus Northwestern). They have not allowed more than 194 rushing yards in any game.

"The strength of this defense is their overall physicality up front and their veteran leadership," Callahan said. "Teams that have tried to run straight at them have had zero success the last two games.

"Oklahoma hurt them with some shiftier Big 12-style backs in space, but they absolutely shut down [junior running back] Kenneth Walker [III] of Michigan State and Northwestern’s running attack the last two weeks."

"Their weakness I would say is they have had some games where they have missed tackles, particularly versus Illinois and Oklahoma," Callahan said.

Nebraska's 70.1 PFF tackling rating ranks 42nd in the country.

Callahan also pointed to a thin secondary that hasn't been able to rotate much this season, with all four of the starting defensive backs ranking in the top seven on the squad in snaps (including each of the top three).

"They don’t have much depth in the secondary and when they sub in some spots there appears to be a drop off," Callahan noted. "Michigan State got them on that when they put back-up [redshirt freshman] safety Myles Farmer in for a play and the Spartans went right after him with a flea-flicker play that scored a first-half touchdown."

"This is a really tough game to predict because of the way Nebraska played last week at home and how good they looked," Callahan said. "It was the best they have looked under Scott Frost, and Memorial Stadium created the best home field advantage we have seen in quite some time.

"The other thing I’ll say is Michigan has not seen a quarterback anywhere close to Adrian Martinez. [Senior] Noah Vedral at Rutgers left Nebraska because he was Martinez’s back-up. [Northern Illinois redshirt junior] Rocky Lombardi left MSU because he was [redshirt sophomore] Payton Thorne’s back-up. [Sophomore] Graham Mertz is really struggling for Wisconsin and the Badgers have their worst running game we’ve seen in years.

"Martinez is going to give the Wolverines enough problems for Scott Frost to get his biggest win to date as a Husker head coach. The line is only three right now, so it’s hard to call this a major upset, even though Michigan is ranked inside the top 10. That’s how deceiving Nebraska and their record is right now. I’ll say the Huskers in a very close one."

Prediction: Nebraska 27, Michigan 24

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