Report card from Nebraska's 30-27 loss to Michigan

The Nebraska Cornhuskers (3-1, 0-1) faced the Michigan Wolverines (3-1, 1-0) for their first big test of the 2025 season. In a back-and-forth battle, the Huskers came up short against the Wolverines, falling 30-27.

Early mishaps ultimately came back to haunt Nebraska, as its first three drives resulted in the team missing out on several scoring opportunities. All of this played a part in the Huskers coming up three points short.

But other mistakes on the day also contributed to the close loss across all three phases. The Huskers suffered a death by a thousand cuts. Yet, Nebraska still put up a fight with Michigan, showing there is growth since the 45-7 disaster in 2023. 

At the same time, however, there is much to discuss regarding this loss. Here is Nebraska’s report card from its 30-27 loss to Michigan.

Quarterbacks: B-

Dylan Raiola’s outing against Michigan ended up being a mixed bag. The sophomore quarterback suffered a career-high seven sacks in the loss and threw his first interception of the season. Though not every sack could be pinned on him, there were a few that could’ve been avoided. 

Raiola’s interception also came when he attempted to hit Luke Lindenmeyer, who had a Michigan defender right up on him. The turnover then resulted in Bryce Underwood taking off for an easy touchdown, putting the Huskers in a 10-0 deficit. 

Raiola still tallied over 300 passing yards and three touchdowns while going 30-of-41 against a top-25 Michigan team. He made moves in the pocket, which on a few occasions led to big gains, and showing he still maintained composure following a rough start.

The Wolverines, following the Oklahoma loss, wanted to make sure it wouldn’t be beaten again, so for Raiola still to deliver a strong outing against a tough defense does elevate his grade a little. His play brings much promise for Nebraska’s offense heading into the next two-thirds of the season.

Running Backs: C+

Emmett Johnson started the game with a 14-yard breakout run, before Mekhi Nelson busted out an 11-yard run a few plays later. But afterwards, things grew quiet from the backfield, leading to Johnson finishing with just 65 yards on 19 carries and Nelson earning 19 off three carries. 

Even when the Huskers got near the goal line, the group couldn’t get the few yards needed to score, leading to no rushing touchdowns for the second time this season. While Michigan didn’t make it easy for the running back to gain yardage, some opportunities fell by the wayside. 

Although the Wolverines are one of the most formidable defenses Nebraska will face this season, the backs can only improve from here before November. 

Wide Receivers: B+

Raiola’s 300-yard, three-touchdown outing couldn’t have occurred were it not for his receiving corps. Multiple Huskers got their hands on a pass in the loss, keeping the Wolverines’ secondary on their toes. 

Jacory Barney delivered a viral highlight play by hauling in a 52-yard Hail Mary pass from Raiola at the end of the first half. This summed up his day at receiver, leading Nebraska with six catches for 120 yards and two touchdowns, his first career multi-touchdown game. 

Lindenmeyer earned a career-high seven catches for 60 yards in the loss, continuing his climb as the starting tight end. Heinrich Haarberg, meanwhile, snatched his first career touchdown catch as a tight end and finished the day with three catches for 18 yards.

Dane Key also received three passes for 36 yards, while Nyziah Hunter hauled in two receptions for 34 yards. Quinn Clark and Cortez Mills also had one catch for double-digit yards. 

But the group did face a few hiccups when clashing against Michigan’s secondary, sometimes not being able to create separation. Hunter also got a touchdown catch taken away due to him stepping out of bounds before the catch, resulting in a Nebraska field goal. 

This group is going to be essential heading into the next two months of action, and if they continue to play like they did against Michigan, the Huskers’ offense is heading in the right direction. 

Offensive Line: C

Several of Raiola’s seven sacks could have been avoided by the quarterback; the leaks in the pipeline resulted in a flood of Wolverines throughout the game. Along with the seven sacks, Nebraska suffered nine tackles for loss and found itself unable to move the ball at the line.

Multiple trips into the red zone resulted in no touchdowns due to the Huskers not being able to punch it in on the ground. Even Nebraska’s failed fourth-down conversion on the opening drive came from a failed block. 

But to the group’s credit, Michigan’s defense arrived in Lincoln on a mission following the Oklahoma loss. Plus, even though the Huskers lost a lot of fights in the trenches, they still did enough for Raiola to sling the ball around all game. 

Yet, the line can still do more to make the offense deliver. The road only gets rougher with some of Nebraska’s Big Ten foes, causing disruptions in the trenches. If the pipeline continues to break like this, it will eventually fall apart. 

Defensive Line: C-

The Huskers’ trench warfare earned a wakeup call on both sides. While the offense found times where it couldn’t move the ball, the defense couldn’t stop it.

Michigan’s offensive line practically had no trouble forming holes in the trenches, leading to massive gashes in Nebraska’s defensive front. The Wolverines scored all of their touchdowns on the ground from beyond 35 yards out, leading to nearly 300 yards allowed. 

Though it got into the backfield a few times on the day, with even Elijah Jeudy forcing a fumble, these numbers only emphasize the more problems the line finds itself in after Ty Robinson’s and Nash Hutmacher’s departure. 

Cincinnati showed the weakness, and Michigan took advantage; there’s no other way to put it. Although not every team scheduled for Nebraska relies on the run and is destructive with it, like Michigan, the Huskers need to patch up the line before they become the hotspot for lifting run games out of purgatory. 

Linebackers: C+

While Nebraska’s front line failed to prevent massive gaps from forming, the second level didn’t fare much better when it came to plugging them up. Multiple missed tackles in the gaps, and sometimes no one in sight, led to the Wolverines leaving the Huskers in the dust on the way to the endzone. 

Even when it did prevent massive runs, the second level still couldn’t fully back up the front line from chunk yardage. However, it did break into the backfield numerous times, with Dasan McCullough recording one sack, and the group recording four tackles for loss. 

With the passing defense going strong, the second level needs to continue disrupting the backfield and clean up its act on filling the gaps. If the front line cannot entirely stop the run, then the linebackers must be able to support them. 

Defensive Backs: B

The last line of defense when it comes to the run, the secondary also failed to stop big plays from happening on the ground. But outside of that, the Huskers held Bryce Underwood to 12-of-22 for just 105 passing yards and recovered a fumble in the process. 

Though four separate receivers tallied a catch for 16 plus yards, Nebraska’s secondary allowed no one player to finish with more than 40 yards. Granted, the Wolverines didn’t need to rely on Underwood’s arm to win this game. However, the passing defense didn’t let anything significant happen either, when compared to the run.

This makes the secondary all the more vital, as it now faces a slew of Big Ten opponents that excel at attacking through the air. If the Huskers continue to shut down the pass, then the defense has one less thing to worry about. 

Special Teams: B

Special teams, for the first time this season, faced miscues that contributed to the loss. Kyle Cunanan missed a 44-yard field goal in the first quarter, which came back to haunt the Huskers in the end. 

Barney also hauled in a punt inside the five, pinning the Huskers back, which in turn set Michigan up in a prime spot despite Archie Wilson sending the ball 52 yards down the way. The Wolverines kicked a field goal on their next drive, but only produced 22 total yards leading up to it. 

Of course, compared to last season, these mistakes did not result in massive aches or pains, and the third phase still performed efficiently outside of them. Cunanan finished 2-for-3 on the day to keep Nebraska in the fight, and Barney broke out a 20-yard punt return. Wilson also averaged nearly 50 yards per punt. 

Special teams need to fix these minor issues before they become big; otherwise, more games may be decided by them. 

The Nebraska Cornhuskers (3-1, 0-1) will now enter a bye week to recover. They will retake the field on Saturday, Oct. 4, when they host the Michigan State Spartans at Memorial Stadium. Kickoff time and network are TBD. 

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This article originally appeared on Cornhuskers Wire: Report card from Nebraska's 30-27 loss to Michigan