Michigan Football revived ‘Boa Constrictor’ in final drive at Nebraska

The Michigan Wolverines used a game-clinching, 16-play drive that covered 77 yards and lasted nearly nine minutes to seal a 30-27 win at Nebraska in the Big Ten opener. It was a methodical, physically-imposing drive, as Michigan channeled the “Boa Constrictor” moniker that the 2023 national championship team was known for.

“That drive was incredible,” Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore said on Monday. “It was like waking up on Christmas morning, seeing all the presents were opened up, then figuring out you have one last present at the end and you’re as happy as can be. Taking eight minutes and 46 seconds with 16 plays — that’s drudgery for the other team. They just had to watch you do it.”

The Wolverines earned the “Boa Constrictor” nickname a couple years ago because of their ability to overwhelm teams with their physicality and toughness, slowly suffocating opponents on a consistent basis. Michigan wore opponents down over the course of the game, and long-sustained drives were key to the game plan.

Initially coined by Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt and later reiterated by Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck, the analogy highlighted how Michigan’s physically-dominant approach — particularly on defense and in the run game — effectively took the life out of their opponents in a similar fashion to a snake suffocating its prey.

Michigan got used to putting together meticulous, time-consuming scoring drives on the way to winning a national championship in 2023. The most memorable instances included an eight-minute, 13-play drive in the second half of a 24-15 win at Penn State, and a pair of seven-minute drives in an unforgettable 30-24 win over Ohio State.

The game-sealing drive against Nebraska this past Saturday was certainly reminiscent of what we saw throughout the 2023 season — the Wolverines converted multiple third downs, dominated the line of scrimmage and eventually put the finishing touches on a win. As the drive continued, it became clear Michigan was the tougher team, and Nebraska couldn’t do anything about it.

“There was a lot of pride in the offensive line to go out there and do that. I loved every moment and every minute of it,” Moore said. “It really proved the connection of our team because I watched the sidelines and watched how the defense was rooting the offense on. It was a great rest for the defense, too, but that’s just a ‘team over me’ mentality.”

Clinging to a 27-20 lead, Michigan got the ball back with 12:29 left in the fourth quarter, and what ensued next was the most impressive drive of the season. The drive started with Justice Haynes rushing for 13 yards, followed by consecutive third-down conversions, as Bryce Underwood connected with Semaj Morgan and Haynes to move the sticks.

It appeared Morgan was going to be stopped just short of the first down marker but he fought off a tackle and forged ahead to keep the drive alive. Just a few players later, Underwood connected with Haynes on a screen pass to convert a 3rd-and-9 and keep the clock ticking. Haynes took care of the next third down on his own, sprinting 19 yards to get in the red zone.

Offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey was in a groove and Nebraska simply couldn’t get a stop as the clock continued to dwindle. Once the Wolverines got into the red zone, Lindsey leaned on his true freshman quarterback’s legs, as Underwood protected the ball and eventually set up a chip-shot field goal to extend the lead to 30-20.

“It was a great job on Chip Lindsey and how he called the drive with smart plays,” Moore said. “There were passes that we could have hit, but if there’s eight minutes and 46 seconds coming off the clock, that’s more important than anything else. We thought about the time, the maturity and the ability to do that, and just to control the clock and understand the game.”

In order for the Wolverines to return to championship contention, it will be important to sustain long drives and eventually break the will of their opponents. We saw just how well that worked from 2021-23, and the game-sealing drive at Nebraska showed that this team has the potential to play with a similar approach.