MnB staff roundtable is the one true national champion

Open floor...no fewer than 99 mentions of Daxton Hill are allowed this week. Regale me with your Scott Frost hatred, your hopes and dreams for averaging more than three yards a carry. And go!

DAN P: This one is going to be a challenge here for the Wolverines. If Nebraska’s QB Adrian Martinez plays after he was injured against Colorado, this will be a much closer game than people expect. Nebraska will be trying to prove themselves after starting 0-2.

Daxton Hill’s addition to Ann Arbor is HUGE for the Wolverines. I predict that at least one of the other 5-stars on our radar will commit to the Wolverines as well. The #GoonSquad19 is bringing in more and more recruits, hopefully they still aren’t done.

JARED S: I was a lot more concerned with the Nebraska game until I heard both Higdon and Evans will be available. I still think they will try and stack the box and make Patterson beat them with his arm, but in the words of Shannon Sharpe, “That ain’t no problem”. Patterson is probably going to see his attempts per game continue to rise as his comfort within the system grows and Pep and Harbaugh realize that running Chris Evans through the A or B gap in a power scheme is about as effective as an Urban Meyer apology.

I watched about an hour and a half of Dax Hill highlights last night and I am already more excited about his addition to our secondary than I ever was about Jabrill Peppers. He is more of a true safety in line with a Minkah Fitzpatrick or LaRon Landry; except I do not think either of those guys ran a 4.3 40 yard dash. Michigan is bringing in a monster class next year, especially on the defensive side of the ball. One more stud commit (Zach Harrison?) and this could be a top 5 class.

SAM D: We know Adrian Martinez is practicing in full pads, and also that Karan Higdon and Chris Evans are healthy. This bolsters both Michigan and Nebraska’s ability to run the ball. With Michigan’s recent struggles against mobile quarterbacks, a fully healthy Martinez could give the defense fits.

Also, Nebraska has a much-improved defense. They rank No. 20 in rush defense with just 93 a game, and have sacked the quarterback 10 times in just two games. Michigan’s offensive line has a lot to prove after the debacle in South Bend, and performing against the Blackshirts would go a long way towards changing the narrative.

Overall, this might be the game Patterson gets fully unleashed. Since Michigan will probably need to score, and with Nebraska’s strong front seven, expect a ton of quick passes and screens to spread them out. Once they stop being aggressive, Michigan can try to bomb over the top with Collins and/or Peoples-Jones. Success there opens things up everywhere else.

Regarding Daxton Hill...yay. I have nothing else to add. He’s good.

Dan A: I’m with Sam that Nebraska’s record and their raw numbers don’t particularly match up. Something has to give and Michigan needs to be ready for a test. I don’t think Martinez will be 100% if he plays and Don Brown’s defense has brutalized mobile quarterbacks whose lines don’t protect them properly. After the disappointing second half last week, I expect the defense to come out with a purpose against the Huskers.

Even though the two backs are apparently available this week, I’d do almost anything for a 30-throw effort from Patterson in a big win. We’re screaming into the abyss at this point but “RUNNING THE BALL 40 TIMES AGAINST OVERMATCHED OPPONENTS DOES NOTHING TO PREPARE MICHIGAN FOR MSU, OSU, PSU, AND WISCONSIN.”

Kevin: While Scott Frost may be a good football coach, he was one lucky play from becoming just another Nebraska quarterback. That’s right, one improbable, ridiculous play that has lived on in the empty husk of what used to be the Nebraska-Colorado rivalry. I do not want to lose to Scott Frost.

We’ll never know whether Frost could’ve beaten Michigan as a player because the system wasn’t set up to give us the matchup college football deserved that year. In a way Michigan and Nebraska are linked because their chaos birthed the horrid terror known as the BCS.

Thanks?

Anyway, Michigan will be ready...I don’t even care about running the ball after three weeks because it’s a fool’s errand until the offensive line proves it can block. Throw it 50 times and shut down Nebraska’s erratic offense.

#onetruenationalchamp

Michigan kind of lucked out with how their conference schedule is arranged this year, they get some winnable cross-divisional games to keep improving, and did anyone else see the stat that pointed out that the number of B1G teams who lost last week has literally never happened in that quantity before? Bonkers.

The Huskers and Wolverines take the field at noon Saturday on FS1. Follow @maizenbrew for updates before, during, and after. As always, leave a comment if there’s something on your mind or you’d like us to mention. Onward...