We sit down with Jed & Matt Eckert to discuss how a ragtag band of Colorado teenagers took down the Soviet invasion and- BOOM! Red Dawn reference!! JK, let’s talk football.

Has it really been five freakin’ years since we played Michigan?

Yes. Yes, it has.

It’s quirks like this and the fact the Huskers Big 10 East rotation revolves between brutal (play Ohio St., Michigan, Michigan St. and Penn St. in the same season) and blech (“No one wants my Rutgers/Indiana/Maryland tickets”) that make wonder if pulling the names out of damn hat would give the appearence of more logic.

Whatever the reason, our two iconic programs finally meet again and now with their alumnus/native son and dream hires at their respective helms. The Big House will be packed with Michigan faithful and Husker road trippers who will make the stadium a little more red than expected as always.

Josh LaFond of Maize n’ Brew graciously agreed to answer a few of our questions this week. He doesn’t think Harbaugh is in any danger currently (neither do I), says that Michiganders still hold grudges against Scott Frost AND his momma and is expecting a tight one this Saturday.

Thanks for your time, Josh!

1) Let’s start with the hot seat question because no one ever asks that. If Harbaugh’s lack of success against Ohio St & Michigan St continues, but the Wolverines keep winning 9+ games per season on average, is he actually going anywhere? Like Frost for us, he was the dream hire - where would you go from there?

That’s such a tough question, Andy. I think the fans that say they would rather go 2-10 with wins over MSU and OSU than go 10-2 with losses to those schools are crazy. But if Michigan isn’t contending for the division and winning it, then I think that’s more of a factor than beating rivals if we’re being honest.

I don’t know at all. He’s plan A-Z and has been since Lloyd walked out the door and the Rich Rod experiment begun to fail, in my opinion. I’m a believer and I think he gets this thing where it needs to go sooner than later. If he can’t though, and to answer your question…David Shaw would be intriguing but god, it makes me sick thinking Jim isn’t the guy.

2) Shea Patterson, like Jake Rudock before him, is putting up better numbers than anyone Harbaugh has recruited to Ann Arbor. Will one of his own recruits ever win the job and perform successfully or will he always be chasing the next Russell Wilson?

Well, Alabama seems to do halfway decent with transfer QBs and most colleges do to case in point LSU with Joe Burrow this year, but I get what you’re saying.

Keep in mind he nearly landed Josh Rosen in his first year in a recruitment that went down to the wire and in a class that he had about two months to recruit from his hire date to signing day.

Shea Patterson is a guy who reached out to Michigan rather than the other way around, and when one of the nations best QBs comes knocking, you don’t really say no. They’ve got the deepest QB room in years and a ton of potential at the position, and I am of the mind that (RS FR.) Dylan McCaffrey — former Stanford star, Christian McCaffrey’s little brother — is a tremendous talent as is true freshman Joe Milton who has a cannon of an arm and is standing at 6’5 and 240 lbs already.

3) After Michigan defeated Central Florida 52-14 two years ago, Frost miffed some Michigan fans with his comments that the Knights “outhit” the Wolverines. This week, it’s been nothing but compliments for Harbaugh and Michigan, but are the “outhit” comments making it to any bulletin and/or message boards?

It’s no secret that Scott Frost and his mother, Carol aren’t well liked in Ann Arbor and it’s been that way for some time. It goes back to when she wrote “Wolverwhine” fans a letter defending her son and signing it “Carol Frost 1968 Olympian Mexico City”.

The reason I reference that letter is because well, it’s making a come back on forums, and message boards and has the maize and blue faithful riled up again — just like it did for the UCF game when Scott was the head man there just a couple seasons back. But as far as bulletin board material goes for the team — not the fans — I don’t think there’s much going around. Michigan knows it’s arguably Nebraska’s biggest game of the year and they have a lot to prove. I don’t think they need more motivation than that.

4) Michigan was held to 307 yards and 17 points by Notre Dame before unloading on Western Michigan and SMU in the next two games. Which offense will Nebraska see on Saturday morning?

Probably somewhere in the middle. Nebraska has a solid D-line and I think it’ll cause problems for Michigan’s offensive tackles, especially early on in the game. I don’t think they’ll put 40+ up on the Huskers, but if I was a betting man, I’d say it’s be closer to that number than 17.

5) The Huskers have been shooting themselves in the foot with turnovers and their true freshman starter is coming off an injury and about to make his second career start in the Big House. Is the Wolverines defense smelling blood in the water?

I think (defensive coordinator) Don Brown will have some special stuff dialed up, and will look to get Martinez rattled early.

The defense as a whole has a lot to prove. They were expected by the masses to be a top 5 defense and although they’re definitely very good, they’re not that level of elite this year and that’s in large part due to self inflicted stuff that is minor enough, it can be cleaned up. I would expect them to come in pissed off after giving up 20 to a poor SMU team last week in a sloppy effort.

6) Prediction time -do the Huskers finally put it together and pull the huge road upset or does the Scott Frost era start off 0-3?

I think it’ll be close. Nebraska scares me, man. I like Adrian Martinez A LOT. I think Scott Frost is a heckuva coach and he will have these guys dialed all the way up.

It’ll be close — unsettling type of close for the first half. In the 3rd QT I think the talent difference will begin to show itself especially when comparing the two defenses. I’m very, very high on Nebraska and Scott Frost and think they’ll get this thing rolling sooner rather than later.

While this won’t be a statement win for the Huskers, it’ll put the conference and the nation on watch with a close and valiant effort.

Michigan 31
Nebraska 21