Michigan football doesn't care whether you think it's good. It just wins.

LINCOLN, Neb. — The goalposts, when it comes to Michigan football's critics, move almost as much Nebraska's defensive line did Saturday.

Consider this: Over their first three games, the Wolverines allowed seven points or fewer despite pulling their starters by the fourth quarter. A weak nonconference slate, they said. Wait till Big Ten play, they said.

And so Rutgers came to Ann Arbor.

The Scarlet Knights appear improved, they now sit at 4-1 after a win over FCS-level Wagner but, still ... Rutgers. So when Michigan rushed and passed for more than 200 yards each against a top-10 defense? It wasn't enough. Do it on the road, they said.

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And so Michigan went to Lincoln.

The Wolverines' first-team offense scored touchdowns on all but one possession. Their first-team defense allowed Nebraska to cross midfield just once. If not for a busted assignment by a third-string defender with 4:17 to play, Jim Harbaugh's group would've become the first team to shutout the Cornhuskers since Arizona State in 1996.

Instead, the Wolverines had to settle for a 45-7 thrashing; a surprise to no one in their locker room.

“Exactly what I thought it was going to be," Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy said, rubbing it in to the quickly emptied Nebraska student section. "It was nice looking over to 'The Boneyard' and seeing three-quarters of it gone by halftime."

Such a blowout, of course, raised the question: Was Nebraska's top-ranked run defense, despite facing an occasionally challenged Michigan run game, simply not good? Despite the statistical bona fides, the Cornhuskers certainly didn't look good.

Then again ... Is Boston College good? Four of the 2-3 Eagles' five games have been decided by three points or less, including a three-point win over still-winless Virginia. FLorida State, ranked No. 2, beat them by just two. a Is Auburn good? The Tigers nearly lost to Cal on the road and were smashed by Texas A&M by 17 points a week ago. Well on Saturday, they played No. 1 Georgia nearly even, falling by seven points after a late Bulldogs rally. Is Georgia good? (OK, yes, yes it is.) But the still-unbeaten Bulldogs have already trailed at halftime twice this season: Saturday, and two weeks ago against three-loss South Carolina.

The Wolverines, other than perhaps a close first-half score against Bowling Green that belied a dominating defensive performance, haven't had any such scares.

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Their coach certainly sounds pleased.

“The effort is so good right now, that you can’t ask for much more than that as a coach," Harbaugh said. "Then you get greedy and start asking for really good execution. ... Not perfect, today even, but just getting closer and closer to that. That’s good as we’ve played."

It started from the opening drive. Michigan used 11 plays — seven runs and four passes — to go 75 yards, capped by McCarthy finding Roman Wilson for a 29-yard touchdown strike.

McCarthy originally looked for Cornelius Johnson on a double-move on the right side, but the defender kept his eye discipline and didn't bite. No matter. U-M's signal-caller came back across the formation and threw the ball a beat late, as he admitted. He also noted he got some help on the Wolverines' most acrobatic catch of the season.

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"That's just God right there," he said. "And Roman Wilson."

The two connected later on a 16-yard touchdown with 23 seconds left in the first half, putting U-M up by 28 points. Wilson, who entered the season with eight receiving touchdowns, he now leads the country and has already matched that total through five weeks; he ended his day with four catches for 58 yards and the pair of scores.

McCarthy finished the day 12-for-16 for 156 yards.

Between the touchdown throws, the Wolverines ran two in as well. The first came when Kalel Mullings bulldozed his way through a host of arm tackles on a 20-yard run, bouncing a third-and-1 run back through the "C" gap for a score.

"He can write the book on what a big back is supposed to be doing," Harbaugh grinned. "Saw it coming the last few weeks and now it's here. So that bodes well for us."

The next came from McCarthy himself, who ran in untouched from 21 yards out midway through the second quarter. Those two runs alone accounted for 41 yards, or nearly what the Cornhuskers were allowing per game — 46.5 yards — through four weeks of play.

That's 186 yards in the four games combined, or what U-M's previously 49th-ranked rushing offense surpassed in the middle of the third quarter, By the time is was all said and done, the Wolverines finished with 51 rushes for a season-high 249 yards and three touchdowns, controlling possession for more than 38 minutes.

All according to plan.

"I could definitely see why people were concerned about it, but the guys in the building, we weren't concerned at all," offensive lineman Trevor Keegan said. "I mean we had one fall camp as a line together, it's going to take a few games for us to jell. But we're really starting to click and I think we're there right now."

The unit that clicked from the jump? The defense, which allowed seven points on Saturday only to see its average increase. Don't feel too bad, though: Michigan remains No. 1 in the nation in scoring defense at six points allowed per game.

The Wolverines were up to their usual ways again Saturday, shutting down Nebraska's previously sixth-ranked run game (234.8 yards per game). The Cornhuskers finished with 106 yards on the ground, but only 39 of those, on 16 carries (for an average of 2.4 yards per rush), came in the first three quarters.

That was thanks, in large part to U-M's defensive front — from Josaiah Stewart, a Coastal Carolina transfer who set a personal high at Michigan with five tackles and two sacks, to Derrick Moore, who had a sack and forced a fumble, to Kenneth Grant, who had an interception — controlling the line of scrimmage.

Harbaugh called his team's effort on Saturday: "A-plus." No wonder, as coordinator Jesse Minter's group tallied five pass breakups, four sacks, four quarterback hurries, a pair of forced fumbles and an interception.

The Wolverines have been No. 2 in both the media and the coaches polls all season, but Georgia's continued struggles raise the possibility of a shakeup at the top. After Saturday's win Michigan players were asked how they feel about potentially being No. 1.

"Don't matter," Keegan said. "We're going to keep doing us, keep doing our thing. That's the only thing we care about."

Perhaps when they steamroll Minnesota in a night game on national TV, the goalposts will finally stop moving. Not that the Wolverines will care — it will just be on to the next.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football just keeps rolling, regardless of who it's playing