Michigan 34, Nebraska 3, Post Game Discussion.

[Jeff Buchanan]

QB Casey Thompson was "day to day" before the Minnesota game and then did not play due to "arm injury." Nebraska needs Thompson to be at all competitive at Michigan. I'll let Wiz add to Neb's overall team strengths and weaknesses. I've not caught enough of Neb's games to comment.

M has a running game but QB issues too and there may be OL absentees (LT Keegan?, RG Zinter?). But this is the time of year when the "twos and threes" need to step in and step up. M's had good depth on the OL with everyone but the C taking turns at G or T. I don't know what to say about M's run game. It's good but how much more pounding can Corum take. He's getting 25-30+ carries ever game - it has to be taking a toll and slowing him down a bit. Edwards has been a nice addition and Stokes is in the wings so, decent depth there too.

I can see why Harbaugh was hedging on his starting QB to start the season. McCarthy has upside that has yet to be reached and he and the passing game have plateaued of late - some of this due to his receivers not helping their QB out a lot. The passing game, OTH, is more than serviceable, IMO ..... not everyone agrees with that but I don't think JH is going to replace him as the starter or in game. It would be nice to see Macnamara get back in the game. If anything, he was steady when healthy but there's no question even with McCarthy's limits to his accuracy, touch and long ball, he's a force multiplier to the offense and his presence makes the run game better.

[Hannibal]

*sigh*

Yay — a 3:30 game

I expect a repeat of the past few games — domination at the LOS, an annoyingly close game, and then pulling away late.

34-13 UM

[Jeff Buchanan]

...........

I expect a repeat of the past few games — domination at the LOS, an annoyingly close game, and then pulling away late.

34-13 UM

This has become commonplace. I can't put my finger on why this is so and have read zero analysis of this. The reviews say just this and then stop there failing to give insight or even a guess as to why this happens.

I find it odd that first drives, plainly scripted to match whatever game planning and scouting revealed about the opponent, look fantastic. After that the rest of the first half has been less than dominant if not, in fact, terrible examples of a football team good enough to make the CFP. The offense is the worst culprit. The defense takes a few plays by the opponent to get on track but, for the most part, seems sound ..... the Rutgers 1st half was a glaring exception to that. mgo recap thought it was due to Schiano doing bat shit crazy stuff that, for Rutgers, was completely off trends. I still haven't watched the first half. I'll get to that.

I'll offer a guess.The seeming lack of an offensive rhythm, after splendid first possessions, is that once the three headed offensive play calling starts getting freelanced, there are serious built in inefficiencies that I don't think Harbaugh anticipated (at least from the outside looking in) when he first installed his offensive play calling system. It's clunky if the intermittent nature of first half sustained drives are a measure of that. He's got a stubborn streak and if he sees a problem, which he may not, he's not likely to make changes mid-stream.

In the category of "not seeing the problem," He may be perfectly fine with the opponent's defense mucking up a drive or execution errors on the part of M that kill a drive recognizing these are a part of football. We already know that JH isn't about drilling less capable opponents by being offensively aggressive early relying on his D to quickly put the ball back in McCarthy's hands to start a fresh set of downs that will more than likely be 75-25 run pass balanced. JH, to a lot of us, is overly patient being happy with just sitting on the opponent in a low risk taking sort of way. We, OTH, want the dagger as early and as often as is possible. You've seen Kirby Smart's UGA - very aggressive play calling and a lot of points scored early which puts an opponent at a distinct disadvantage in their approach to the game. I want that for M. There are a lot of reasons why that's not happened and won't happen the rest of this season.

[THE_WIZARD_]

HARBAUGH!!!!!!! 56 unl 6

It's going to be a Maize.Blue.Wave.Bloodbath.

Book it.

UNL is weak on both lines and CT to Palmer is our only weapons...well Grant at RB1 is solid but with no lines...gonna be fugly.

[WM Wolverine]

Nebraska's best win so far is uhm, Indiana or Rutgers? So they've beaten nobody, plus M is at home. Haven't seen much of Nebraska except to their embarrassing loss to Northwestern in week 1. Shouldn't be close, uhm, I'll go M 38 - N 3.

[iam416]

If Casey Thompson is still out then this is a 40 point game, easy. Their QB alternatives are worse than Rutgers.

[lineygoblue]

I'm hoping for a comfortable win from start to finish. Martinez made it a good game last year, but I don't see anyone that can create the problems that he did.

I'm also hoping to see McNamara back in uniform. Even if he doesn't play, I'd like to see him on the sideline ready to go.

[Hannibal]

UM's favored by 29 in this one.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Lay the points and cash that shit in.

Book it.

[Tom W]

Hey Wiz- Will you be coming up to witness in person?

[Hannibal]

Lay the points and cash that shit in.

Book it.

We'd have to bring our A game for two halves, something that we have yet to do this year.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Until we have some clarity on why every conference game this season has started out with one or two stunningly efficient drives that burn clock/shorten the game, by the time the opponent gets a shot on offense, has completed their first or second possession, the offense is off-script, freelancing and seems to stall out. I'd like some insight on that apparent phenomena.

[Hannibal]

Michigan this year in B1G play.

Minutes 1-5: Excellent

Minutes 6-30: Poop

Minutes 31-60: Excellent.

The past four games we have outscored our opponents 53-48 in the first half and then 103-3 in the second half. We've also put points on the board on every opening possession in B1G play.

[Jeff Buchanan]

We know this, we've watched it, we've fuck-hollered at the TV or from the stands at the coaches. The unanswered question is why are minutes 6-30 poop?

[Hannibal]

Some of it has just been coincidence it seems like. Blocked punt, long pass plays or runs that only occur once a game. They have just all showed up in the first half.

Poor prep but with good adjustments could also be a reason. We have looked really unprepared in the first halves of some games. Indiana especially.