Inside Slant

The Sports Xchange

September 18, 2018 at 11:17 pm.

Wolverines open Big Ten play against struggling Huskers

Its nonconference schedule in the rearview mirror, No. 19 Michigan now has its sights set on being able to compete for a spot in the Big Ten championship game.

That won’t get determined this week, but the league opener Saturday against Nebraska will certainly play into the Wolverines’ chances.

Nebraska comes to Michigan Stadium with an 0-2 record, having lost home games to Colorado and Troy by five points apiece. The Cornhuskers have struggled so far under first-year head coach Scott Frost, whom Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh has high praise for.

“I have a lot of respect for Scott, have a lot of mutual friends through our Stanford connection,” Harbaugh said, referring to when he was coaching the Cardinal and Frost was offensive coordinator at Oregon. “Really impressed with what he’s done as a coach.”

Frost led UCF to an unbeaten record — and an unofficial national championship, in the school’s eyes — last season before taking over his alma mater. Harbaugh said he’s already seen a lot of Frost’s influence on Nebraska’s play and expects that to only increase.

“I’ve seen a really good, physical team,” he said. “A lot of team speed. A lot of athleticism. Right now, going through all their schemes, they have a lot already put in. You see what they did at UCF as well, you expect that to be indoctrinated into the Nebraska schemes. There’s a lot to work on.”

Michigan sits at 2-1 after beating SMU 45-20 in Week 3, getting notable contributions from its offense, defense and special teams. The only notable shortcoming was when it came to penalties, with the Wolverines flagged 13 times for 137 yards.

That was the highest total for both categories since a 27-20 win at Indiana last October in which Michigan was penalized 16 times for 141 yards.

Harbaugh said he reviewed all the penalties and, while he’s “not keeping score,” he’s hoping to get clarification on a few calls including a targeting call on linebacker Khaleke Hudson during the third quarter that will cause him to miss the first half against Nebraska.

Michigan has won its last three Big Ten openers and 11 of the last 12. The only loss was in 2014 when the Wolverines fell 30-14 at home to Minnesota.