0-28 versus ap-ranked teams dating back to 2016 | nebraska cornhuskers cfb
MEMORIAL STADIUM LINCOLN— The Huskers drop their first game of the year to a testy and sneaky Michigan team. Was it really a shock that Nebraska would lose this game though? Before we dive into the game let's take a quick look at their track record vs AP Ranked teams.
With this loss to Michigan, who is currently still under an Interim Head Coach in Biff Poggi (what a name), this is their 28th consecutive loss to an AP-ranked team. Yes that’s right, it’s been nearly a decade since Nebraska has beaten a ranked team in CFB. Their last ranked win came versus Oregon in 2016. Not to mention, with this loss it drops head coach Matt Rhule’s ranked record to 2-23. Oh and by the way, both those wins came while he was coaching at Temple. He has yet to win a ranked game as the head coach as Nebraska (0-18 versus ranked teams as Nebraska’s head coach).
Biff Poggi - Interim Head Coach at Michigan. Picture from coaching days at Saint Frances*
Nonetheless, Nebraska on paper has seemingly been a “powerhouse” but with these losses, Nebraska is seemingly a fake powerhouse for obvious reasons. Year after year we see them get ranked within the top 25, yet they haven’t beaten a team who is also ranked since nearly a DECADE ago! Something's got to change, whether it is the schedule making, recruiting, or taking it at the head and firing Rhule… who for obvious reasons is not a winner when it matters. He’ll go beat the Akrons’ of the world, but when a challenger is at the table he folds.
Nebraska rarely gets blown out by their ranked opponents, just as we saw this weekend where they were just barely edged out by No. 19 Michigan 30-27. To a certain extent the nearest comparison I can give Nebraska right now is like Lamar Jackson and the Ravens. They molly whop the teams they should beat, but then they face someone of similar strengths and compete but never or rarely come out on top. Who should fans be pointing the finger at? I mean it’s been 9 years since a ranked win!!!!
Now for the game, Michigan ran all over the Huskers in this game. They had 268 yards on the ground, running all over the defense. Justice Haynes led the way with 149 yards on the ground. Capping off his incredible day with a 75 yard touchdown. Michigan’s defense was also critical in stopping the Huskers and Raiola. Raiola was sacked 7 times by Michigan’s defense, a masterclass from the defensive line.
Bryce Underwood, QB for Michigan, only needed to throw for 105 yards in this victory. Averaging 8.7 yards per carry was enough for Poggi and Michigan’s offense to keep the ball on the ground. Raiola threw for a masterclass himself though, totalling 308 yards, 3 touchdowns, and going 30/41. A beautiful statline by Raiola, we can only imagine what he would’ve done and if the outcome would have been different had he not been sacked SEVEN times. Raiola found WR, Jacory Barney Jr., all game. He had 6 REC for 120 yards and 2 touchdowns.
The reason the Huskers lost this game is simply the offensive line. Letting Raiola get sacked SEVEN times is the sole reason they lost. They held a very solid offense to only 30 points, keeping themselves in the game. Given their defense looked like swiss cheese while Justice Haynes was running all over them… But Raiola had such a good game, we can only imagine if he had gotten sacked even 3 less times, what he could’ve done with that yardage and time. It would be a whole new ball game.
“I don’t like where we’re at right now. I feel like someone hit me with a hammer right now”
UP NEXT
Michigan: Saturday (OCT. 4) versus The Wisconsin Badgers at 12:00pm EST at Michigan Stadium.
Nebraska: Saturday (OCT. 4) versus The Michigan State Spartans at 4:00pm EST at Memorial Stadium Lincoln.
Cameron Williams
DiSportsPhotoAgency
Senior Writer
