For Nebraska, Beating Michigan Would Mean the World

For three weeks, Nebraska and its fans have waited patiently for this Saturday.

Michigan.

Mighty Michigan.

Maybe not too mighty this season — we’ll see — but the Wolverines’ legacy is intact and they are less than two years away from winning the national championship. Beating Michigan (2-1) always is a big deal, but especially for Nebraska and especially this season. Nebraska has lost four consecutive games to the Wolverines and got crushed in three of them.

Sure, the Huskers’ three victories this season — two by crazy blowouts — were sweet and necessary. With last season’s 7-6 record giving the Huskers their first winning record since 2016, Nebraska desperately needed a good start in 2025. The Huskers didn’t want to take a step back after taking a nice, albeit small, step forward in 2024.

Cincinnati was supposed to be close and it was, a terrific, nail-biting way to start the season.

Now, it’s Michigan week for the 3-0 Huskers.

For Nebraska, this is the game of the season, beyond its Big Ten opener. No one knows what’s going to happen the rest of the way, but for now, this game has that old-timey feel of having more meaning than simply one win or one loss on the season ledger.

What will victory mean?

What will defeating Michigan mean to the Huskers?

How about?

1. Respectability in the Big Ten and around the nation
2. Unknown amounts of intangibles that could have meaning throughout the season
3. Everything

Let’s examine each

1. Every college team wants respectability. The Huskers are a national brand, even if it hasn’t felt that way recently. Everyone knows the Nebraska football program. With three national championships in the 1990s — not that long ago, really — Nebraska is a premier program known and respected around the country. The fear factor might be gone, but the respect remains. Fans from coast-to-coast know that college football is straightaway better when Nebraska is not just a factor but a force. Beat Michigan, and becoming that factor is feasible and believable. Beat one of the sport’s true powerhouses and brands, and just wait and see what it does for the Huskers’ psyche.

Nebraska sophomore quarterback Dylan Raiola could help lead the Huskers' revival. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

2. Intangibles are difficult to quantify. When you have it, you know it, without being able to stick a uniform on it.

The internet machine provided a handy definition of intangible: Adjective. Unable to be touched or grasped; not having physical presence.

Intangibles might mean players lift heavier weights with more reps and ferocity. Maybe they study film longer and with more concentration. Maybe they just *believe* in themselves more than previous seasons. That’s what players on 4-0 teams do, right?

Maybe players step into leadership roles. Maybe the entire team attitude improves. That’s what players on 4-0 teams do, right? Maybe players make smarter plays. Players on 4-0 teams aren’t smarter than players on 3-1 teams, but they might play like it. Maybe something clicked in a film session that didn’t before. Or on the practice field.

Maybe 4-0 teams get more breaks, more good bounces, a good call or two. Maybe they make that extra, unexpected play. Players on 4-0 teams might hustle more, and one of those hustle plays might help decide a game.

3. Everything is, well, everything. Beat Michigan and the Huskers have instant respectability — at least until the next game in the unfeeling, bottom-line business of college football.

“Everything” is like momentum. Once momentum starts rolling, stand aside. Opponents can’t stop momentum, they can only hope to ride it out and reverse it.

Everyone has witnessed momentum and its awesome power. Superhuman feats can and have occurred when one team is feeling it and showing it on the field. No one can explain it, really, but these momentum shifts are real.

Get a team on a roll, and who knows what can happen?

Let’s kick it off

So, there you have it, Huskers. No added pressure or anything. You’re playing in your Game of the Year, with enormous stakes and deep ramifications.

Nebraska linebacker/defensive end Mike Rucker was a freshman on the 1995 national championship team. — Nebraska outside linebacker/defensive end Mike Rucker was a redshirt freshman on the 1995 national championship team. | RVR Photos-Imagn Images

Coach Matt Rhule said the 1995 national championship team will be at the game. For every player who ever wore the Nebraska uniform, their hopes are riding hard with the current team.

“First of all, just an honor to have the ’95 team there,” Rhule said at his Monday news conference. “It was really a great experience last year [vs.] Colorado to have the ’94 team. So, look forward to having the ’95 team there and we’ll certainly do our best to play football that they can be proud of.”

Nebraska vs. Michigan is just a football game, the former players tell themselves. But they know it’s much, much more. The current Huskers know it, too.

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