Blue By Ninety - Battle for the Brown Jug | College Football Craziness…NIL Out of Control?

Episode Date: September 26, 2024

Justin and Tanner talk some of the crazy NIL and portal stories from this week and Michigan vs. Minnesota.

all right welcome back to blue by 90 i'm justin joined by tanner today and it is little brown jug week this is this like i this is i should know this is the brown jug like one of the longest standing oh yeah trophies out there yeah the story behind is the best too i'm sure we all know it but i love talking about it every every time they just stole their they literally just stole their water jug right yeah they stole michigan's water They literally just stole their water jug, right? Yeah, they stole Michigan's water jug. Michigan brought a water jug. They didn't trust the Minnesotans.

Is that their name? Minnesotans. Is that their version of Michiganders? I don't know. But Michigan did not trust them, and then Minnesota took it and was like, hey, you beat us, we'll give it back. And thus started one of the longest-running trophy games, which also is just a much better story than, than the governor just being like,

Hey, play for this. Like, you know, Paul is awesome, but like, come on. Yeah.

It's like, it's, it's very petty of, uh, of both programs dating back to the early 1900s. That's why college football is the best man. There's so many like funny stories like that. They go back a hundred plus years and it's like college football is the best, man. There's so many funny stories like that that go back 100-plus years. And it's like the stupidest thing ever, right,

when it turns into something. I actually got to hold and see the real jug at the Champions Circle trophy walk back at the spring game. I didn't get to hold it, but I saw all the – Michigan had all the trophies at that point. We literally held every one. They might have had the jeweled shalelagh too i don't know i mean we had all of them man it was uh but it's a cool it's a very cool trophy um it's funny because it quite literally is just a joke that is it i love that like back in the 1900s like that was how you carried water

you can't you can't just go get like a massive yeti at dick's sporting goods like you had to like literally that was probably somebody made that from clay it's like hey we need we need to be able to transport our water it's also like it's kind of big but like how many did you get that's what i'm saying like they definitely had to like ration the water for maybe they had multiple and that was just the one that got stolen i don't know who knows yeah that could be that could be um yeah it is pretty funny but michigan travels or sorry minnesota travels to michigan the fifth out of five home games uh so we will be there again with our hail ipa our truly seltzer and sun cruiser, hard tea, hard vodka tea. So we'll be tailgating out there. Come find us.

Come see us at pretzel bell on Friday night as well. We'll be hosting some Michigan football trivia and doing a little live podcast there. But yeah, I, I mean, I would say this is like, you know, we've had our ups and downs obviously with the season this is like, you know, we've had our ups and downs, obviously, with the season so far. But, you know, Fresno State, you know, you have the home opener. Then you have Texas, which was a gigantic game. You know, you lose that one. Come back.

Arkansas State, definitely like a downer game. And then back up to USC, which was a crazy game as well and now you're at Minnesota who's not nearly as good as you know they have is is what what are we what are our thoughts on PJ Flack he gives us props so I think he wants the Michigan jobs just more than anything and he's not gonna get it unless he kind of completely shifts his identity as a coach beyond just being a rah-rah guy, right? Like, you never watch – I mean, the 2019 team with Tanner Morgan, Rashad Bateman, that beat Penn State, that was a really good squad.

They had, like, one good win, though. Let's be real. They had one sick win. It was, like, an awesome win at home, right? And they, like like rushed the field and it's like, but that is quite literally the highlight of PJ Fleck's career. And he almost like, he almost did get like a, not the Michigan job, but just like a big job off of that one win.

Yeah. But I, I mean, I like PJ Fleck. I don't dislike him. I just, I definitely agree with you that, like, I'm not going to – fraud is not really the right answer because nobody's really saying, like, he's not James Franklin fraud-esque, right? But it's just like, all right, you need to like – You're going to have seven and five and maybe have a five and seven year sprinkled in. Yeah.

And, you know, maybe an eight or nine win season. And, you know, if 2019 had the 12-team playoff, they're probably in it. I don't know what the rankings ended up being, but they won 10 games, I believe. maybe an 8 or 9 win season. And, you know, if 2019 had the 12-team playoff, they're probably in it. I don't know what the rankings ended up being, but they won 10 games, I believe. So, you know, I think P.J., I mean, you know, he had a great tenure at Western Michigan. And, you know, Minnesota's not necessarily a super easy place to win. You know, they've had stretches of success, but, you know, the last two decades, they just haven't really been that great.

So, you know, I feel like he's done a good job there. I do wonder if he could be that CEO kind of coach where he hires elite coordinators at a big program. I just don't know. I mean, I don't know if he identifies coaching talent that well either. But again,'s minnesota um they've been a solid program and you know they haven't had a great year so far uh yeah they're 500 right um lost to north carolina who then got absolutely boat raced by james madison i mean james you had do they have 50 and a half 50 burger-burger in the first half at home. Sorry, on the road against North Carolina, like in Chapel Hill.

That was absurd. So that doesn't bode well for Minnesota to say, all right. You know, when you saw that, you're like, okay, they lost to UNC. UNC has been a pretty good program under Mack Brown. You know, you have Drake May. And then you see James Madison, who is a really good program. Let's you you know you have Drake May and then you see what James Madison who is a really good program let's not get that part wrong but you see what they did to UNC and it's like okay that's a bad loss then 17-19 um they beat Rhode Island 48-0 beat Nevada 27-0 and then lose to iowa 14 to 31 so i mean i letting up 31 points to iowa

should be like that should get you kicked out of the conference let's be honest yeah i mean yeah to your point um only putting up 17 against a really bad north carolina defense is pretty shameful and then yeah getting you know i mean it was it was close in the first half i believe it might have been tied and then i would put it on in the second half um my uncle shout out to my uncle uh gave me this stat that if you combine kate mcnamara and alex orgy's passing stats we're not hitting 100 yards so is that real is that yeah because mcnamara had 61 yards and Orgy had 32. Holy shit.

That is unbelievable. Also, not as many yards as Michigan State had in 2018 against Michigan. Just, you know, they had 95 total yards, and those guys combined for 93. So, not great. Not great. But this is a game that you're coming off of a big win, probably an emotional win, right? Because that feels like a bit of a season saving win, right?

It changes the trajectory. It changes the vibes. And so instead of sitting there at two and two and you're like, Oh my gosh, we, you know, we're up 14, nothing, give up a big lead and end up losing at home. You find a way to pull it out. And so it completely changes that, that perception and that vibe in the, in, in sham right now. And so, you know, this is a game where they've got to get back on the saddle and make sure that they do come out and play their game. You know, when it comes to Minnesota, the biggest

concern for me is Darius Taylor. He's a kid that Michigan should have recruited a lot sooner, offered him late, a kid out of Detroit, was a fantastic player last year as a freshman. He's averaging 6.3 yards per carry this year. So I'm not sure, though, if that's going to matter too much when you have. I have a hard, Tanner, I have a really, really hard time figuring out how Minnesota is going to score a single point this year. Absolutely. That's my honest opinion is like with the swagger that Michigan's defense played with last week versus Lincoln Riley. And, you know, Miller boss is really good.

A team that put up crazy points against LSU and was looking like they can throw the ball everywhere. And Michigan just like just made their offensive line look like dog shit. And so with them only putting up 17 against North Carolina, putting up 14 against Iowa, I have a really hard time figuring out how they're going to score points. Yeah, I mean, their quarterback, Max Brosmer, is a transfer from New Hampshire, was a really good player at the FCS level.

He's honestly not been terrible. I mean, he's completing 66% of his passes, starting for 836 yards. But his best game came against Rhode Island. And then he only threw for 59% against Iowa with two picks and two touchdowns at a 5.6 per clip. So that's obviously, look, I mean,

we know what our yards per attempt is right now. It's not great. But when you can lean on the's obviously, look, I mean, we know what our yards per attempt is. Right now it's not great. But when you can lean on the run game, right? Yeah, we get it, Minnesota. But when you can lean on the run game in the way that Michigan can, and to your point, Minnesota is going to have to face a defense that's got, you know, at least two of the best three defensive tackles in the Big Ten.

I mean, you know, Alexander, a guy. I three defensive tackles in the Big Ten. I mean, you know, fair Alexander, a guy. I mean, you look at his recurring rankings. Technically, he's not in the Big Ten anymore because he's in the portal. Well, he's still a role at USC. So, I mean, yeah, I guess, you know. That was the most, like, people just have to stay off social media. I know we're online. We're very online. I'm so online. social media. I know we're online. We're very online.

I'm so online. Way too online. We are online ourselves. But if you haven't seen it, go to our Twitter and look at the tweet that says a three-part story. And Bear Alexander, who is a kid who started at Georgia, I think he think he like committed and decommitted multiple times from different he also played at like three or four different high schools played at three or four different high schools and then uh played so he's a d tackle for usc um you know had a decent game at times for sure but then like also got displaced on the biggest uh play of the game bodied him

bodied him who evan link hasn't really bodied anybody outside of that this year let's be honest and then his dad is on twitter after the game going like you know he's talking shit like he saying that he is better than mason graham and kenneth grant and pointed to to the recruiting rankings which have nothing to do with once once you're playing ball at the college level nobody gives a shit what those guys signed almost three years ago yeah so yeah very very interesting time in college football too with the red shirts and opting out in the middle of the season. And then it was crazy. Well, and then to your point, so then it's, you know,

like 24 hours after he's tweeting all this, all of a sudden Bear Alexander red shirts and enters the portal and is opting out of the season. Are we going to see this more, do you think? Well, the funny thing is that, okay, we'll talk about the unlv qb in a second but like the funny thing about bear bear alexander was like it sounds like that's not even about nil money it's just about like he's just he's just trying to save his season so that he has more eligibility well if you're as good as your dad says then you should be going you shouldn't

need a fifth year you should get fourth year right like mason graham and kg are gone this year i hate to break it to you they're gonna be first rounders and yeah i just the state of college football right now is is insane um i know we're michigan centric podcast but i i really kind of want to talk about this because it's kind of absurd that we you know i don't know if you remember this, Justin, but we saw this and not necessarily to go into the portal or not because of NIL issues, but Houston or Dana Holgerson, who is no longer there. They had a really rough start to a year. And so with the, you know, the four game red shirt rule being implemented in the past few years, they made the decision collectively to have some of their key players opt out

for the rest of the year and come back the next year. That may be even crazier than what we're seeing right now because, look, I don't know any of that stuff with UNLV. I didn't even know. I mean, I know they're in Las Vegas, but I didn't know what kind of NIL game they're playing. But, hey, look, the things that I've seen, and I don't know if it's true, but if I got promised 100 grand for

my job and only got three grand i'd be pissed i'm not working tomorrow i promise you i'm not showing so i definitely agree with that part of like like the people that are like oh he's a quitter blah blah blah like you have to understand this is coming from a guy who's been entrenched in NIL for the last three years is like these guys, this is a business at this point, right? You do a business deal when you transfer, you know, for obviously this guy's agent did not sign a contract, which to me is very dumb of the agent that is on the agent to say, if there's going off verbal that's on him but they

made a you know an they had an agreement right uh to say all right you know we will we will enroll here but we are going to be promised one hundred thousand dollars when that's not held up to me that is on the school slash the collective that's not on the kid and so i i you know part of me is like yeah you wish that you just want a guy that that wants to play football right for sure but that kid is bringing immense value to unlv he deserves they're in the playoff conversation how much money is that worth? Right? Exactly. Yeah. College football is in a weird place right now, man. I saw somebody say we just saw a deal break deal breaker take place in the middle of the season reference to their college video game. But yeah, I don't know, man. Like, you know, and there's been a lot of to bring it back to

Michigan. There's been a lot of fans who've been kind of disappointed. And you know, and there's been a lot of, to bring it back to Michigan, there's been a lot of fans who have been kind of disappointed. And you know this, and I know this, and a lot of folks know this. Michigan is doing what it needs to do, right? And there's been, I feel like it's gotten a lot better. But these are the things you can't have happen, right? So Michigan's way of kind of going about it, I think, is really smart and not just throwing numbers around. And I mean, how many times have we seen rumors and, you know, anonymous sources talk about, oh, this five star went to this school and only got 20 percent of what he was what he was guaranteed.

Right. And so you don't hear that coming out of Michigan. You know, they're going to be straightforward and honest and truthful about what you're going to be able to get. But then also you're going to be able to get more types of endorsement deals, which, you know, Dave Portnoy talks about, you know, going to get a quarterback. Now look, Dave might need a quarterback next year, maybe in 26, but Brady Hart's coming. Brady Hart is that guy. I agree with you. I just think that there are so many student athletes right now that are,

they deserve, they're bringing tons of value. How much money did the national championship bring in for Michigan this past year, right? So J.J. McCarthy and Blake Corham, they deserve that money. But I also totally understand that um i also totally understand that it's like you know it it is not the college football we've known and loved like it's not like play for the love of the game anymore right you know and it is i'll say this like that is what what was so great it about uh that is so great what what was great about, uh, that is so great.

What, what was what the 2023 Michigan team was right. Was because, yeah, it wasn't about NIL for them. Yes. They, they, you know, got money for sure. Right. They were compensated for it, but for the most part, they were playing for each other as a brotherhood. So, um, you don't see that obviously with the Senate and UNlv kid um you've seen some and the running back too the running back

decision he says that's what he says um but then like you also i've seen some tweets from unlv players like for the next guy this next qb up and they're like all in very big support of them too so it's like yeah I I don't know I think to your point like this is where Michigan has been very very different in the NIL era and yes does it mean that you miss out on some five stars uh but are you building a program instead and you're building a culture. I think that's still very important. And, you know, you obviously have to have talent to win, but you have to have a culture and a program to win as well. And so I think it's, you know, you've got to find that balance,

and those teams that do are going to be successful. It seems like Texas, honestly, is doing that right now, where they have a foundation i'm sure that quinn hewers and arch manning are getting played paid plenty um but they still have a pretty good culture it seems like yeah i mean you know and that's a program that i've got a lot of money right just texas in general has a lot of money you think about the the different uh economies down there when it comes to oil and gas and those sorts of things uh in that state and and you know financial services and like texas is just massive right like i don't know where it ranks as far as you know the state of california where if it was his own country and his gdp but i have to think it'd be up there um

so they have a built-in advantage right there's a lot of schools that just have that built-in advantage and let's be honest there's a lot of schools that kind of have that uh they've been doing it for a while they know how to flow the money right this and it became legal it's like oh we could just do it even more and not get in trouble right so there's a lot of schools that have that that kind of that built-in process where they already know how to do something there's a lot of schools that maybe you know look there's probably handshake things going on you know know, for the last hundred plus years, right? I mean, college football, like we've talked about it so many times, college football is just an inherently dirty sport, right?

You don't play by the rules in this game. That part too, sorry to interrupt you, but that part I think kind of drives me nuts and makes me laugh at all at the same time where all these people on Twitter that are like, you know, oh, the NIL has ruined this sport. This is, you know, and it's as if Alabama hasn't been paying players for, you know, literally 40 years, right?

Like in Hellcats. In Hellcats. And like, yeah, like I'm saying Alabama because that's kind of like we all know it, but like the reality is it's most of the country, right? And so it's to your point, it's like once the ruling became legal, it just made it all this come to light. All this could be in the public eye rather than it have to be in a backroom. Did you see, since we're just talking about this,

did you see the clip that Dan dan murphy from espn posted of his interview with charlie baker the president of the ncaa i did not so he was asking him about you know it was actually this summer and he's like this seems relevant that's kind of it's very topical now uh with the news about the the unlv players but dan murphy's question basically was, you know, should there be something, a rule change to put this stuff in writing, right? Because a lot of this stuff is, you know, the money is probably above board, but a lot of this stuff is under the table as far as the deals, but the money has to be because otherwise then you're talking about tax fraud, right? So you can't continue, you know, back in the day,

I'm sure there's still some of that going on, but a lot of this stuff, you have to report it, you know, 1099s get generated for income. And so you have IRS down your throat too but charlie baker was like i think student athletes should should find a school and pick a program and then work out the nil deals later and damn if he's like the reality is that's not what's happening no because these kids are making decisions based on the monetary value from the schools that they're being offered. And so just the, I mean, that's why we're in this spot in the first place. Doesn't matter who the head of that snake is.

They're going to continue to turn a blind eye, whether it's Miles Brand or Charlie Baker, whoever the hell else has been the president of the NCAA. They're going to continue to turn a blind eye and just say, oh, well, we didn't know. We couldn't control it. And it's such a joke because at this point, people already think that it's professional sports, right? So you basically need to turn to a salary cap. And we talked about this, and I've said it.

This is my thought, that there's going to be a number of schools that split off and do their own thing, and then you're going to have the leftovers and maybe some of the G5 schools and maybe some of the lesser power five teams or power four. They're going to play for a division, you know, what FCS type of championship, right? And you're going to have the big boys and it's going to be the NFL format. And there's going to be 32 teams. Like, I don't know if it's exactly going to be like that,

but that's what's going to happen. And those teams are going to have salary caps and they're going to treat it like the NFL because otherwise this isn't sustainable. And you know what I hope, and I think a lot of people are with me on this, is like, if that's going to be Charlie Baker's answer, then I hope the NCAA goes down because of that. They will in the next – by the end of the decade, they will be gone. If he wants to turn the blind eye and say it's not our problem, blah, blah, blah,

and for him to say that is the biggest cop-out ever because he knows exactly what's going on. And he's simply trying to play like he's the innocent guy that does it. He's a politician. And he wasn't prepared for the answer. And that's what happens in those conversations. It's ridiculous. So I'm sick of it.

That was a fun derailment of talking about Michigan, Minnesota. That's okay. But I think it's topical man it's very relevant right now and and like i said last thing i'll say and you know this better than anybody um i think the way michigan has handled its approach towards nil has yes you know look has michigan lost out on some guys because they weren't willing to get into a bidding war absolutely they won a national championship and i think that the way that they've done it and yeah your your top guys are going to get theirs but just making sure that you're not

bringing in kind of those locker room issues um and these guys sitting out i mean could you imagine kenneth grant just be like oh i'm done absolutely not because that's the type of kid he is and i'm not going to crap on anybody that's made that decision but you know you you build up a culture you can wreck it real quick right you could destroy it very very quickly that's made that decision but you know you you build up a culture you can wreck it real quick right you could destroy it very very quickly that's why like again you know i've gone on rants about this uh on this podcast and stuff and to you in private as well but the people that are like oh michigan stinks at nil oh oh they're finally figuring out nil or those like those things they're number one class in march last year i mean i

know they didn't finish number one but like come on like they're getting guys they're getting guys and also but to your point they've won a national title what do you what do you want we you know what what more what more did you need there but um all right another one because we're not content never by the way i find myself like when i'm talking so maybe they do have a point i find myself talking to people when they're asking me about the season so far i'm like i'm feeling pretty good still you know and like maybe i'm resting on my laurels but in game though usc game i'm like i'm the same you know you watch the texas game with me like i'm into it. Is Nebraska complacent with losing to Illinois?

I mean, they've lost four out of five to the Illini. Is Illinois dominating Nebraska? People are talking. By the way, the script Illini, just unbelievably good. You look like Syracuse. Get away from that. Get away from the block eye. What are we doing here? That Illinois logo is very underrated to me. like syracuse like get away from that yeah you know get away from the block eye like what are

we doing here the illinois that illinois logo is very underrated to me and always just reminds me of the 2000s when i first started watching college football go to that permanently bring it back and i know you can't bring back to like the chief illinois logo which is also just a sick logo probably can't bring it back but that that scripted line, that should be – if you want to do different colors, that's cool too. You want to do blue with orange or white with blue or whatever. You want to switch it up, that's cool too, but that logo should be permanent. I agree.

Also, is Nebraska complacent with not winning a one-score game ever or not scoring in overtime? People are wondering. I mean, it's a question I think needs to be asked. Can I just say, though, Raiola is QB 1-27. That kid's ridiculous. He is really good. He's very advanced for his age.

It was Northern Iowa, but I don't care because he looked off the safety for like two seconds and then just sidearm slings it for a touchdown on a post route and it's like he's a little my homie he is a little bit there a little weird on the cosplay stuff but like the game is there it's kind of that all right let's talk about michigan um so i think the biggest thing we already talked about michigan's defense and what you know i i truly believe that that Michigan's defense is going to absolutely dominate this game I have a hard time with seeing how Minnesota is going to move the

ball at all outside of maybe you know maybe a couple trick plays or something like that or you know if you have a blown coverage like he did against USC you know I could see that but just from down to down I have a hard. On the other side of the ball, what do you want to see out of Michigan's offense? Completed passes beyond the line of scrimmage. I want to see a little more creativity. It really is as simple as that, though, is it not? Right, it is.

I think this is definitely a game where you can just lean on your talent and win the game, right? And so that's totally fine if they're going to save some stuff. In the run game, I mean. But in the pass game, I need to see something. I was just going to say, that's exactly what I don't want, though. I don't want Michigan to just say, all right, we're bigger, faster, stronger. We can win this game 24-3 or 24 to seven, you know,

and run it for 250 yards and two clock and get out of there with the W. That is exactly the opposite of what, what I want to see. I want to see, all right, put Alex Orgy in there, drop him back, run some mesh, get Colson Loveland. if he's healthy, get him out there, get Samaj Morgan in space, get Tyler Morris in space, and say, all right, we're going to need to pass the ball to win games down the road, so let's try it now. Let's start getting in the rhythm right now

to make sure that we can do this in the future. No, I'm 100% with you. Definitely need to throw some stuff on tape, when it comes to the to the passing game um and you know we talked about this a little bit too but you can take shots even if they're not completed you can take shots and just make sure that that defense doesn't just keep creeping up and cheat up in the box um and make it more difficult on your run game so um yeah i mean i i don't know like it's kind of tough to tell still i mean i know you know we've seen one game of orgy but he threw it what 12 times um and how many i mean the one i it's so funny because all the usc fans that were

complaining um our boy nico was very heavily involved in that by the way i was disappointed um there was a there was a throw to morris that was just a little bit out of his out of his reach but in that complaining about officiating and michigan fans being like well hold on a second we could point out a bunch of stuff too he was you know morris was held a lot right and it's like that might actually be a nice throw and then the one to klein is just a little bit out of reach um You know, maybe needs to be a little more accurate, but like this stuff comes with game reps, right? So you have this Minnesota game where, you know, look,

it's not Arkansas State, it's not Fresno State, but you're much more talented than them. So I think, hey, look, if we got to use Kalel Mullings in the first quarter, first half to just get out to a, you know, three score lead because he's just Superman and just running over everybody, then we need to really look at getting alex orgy into some sort of rhythm we need to work on pass pro as well right you only throw it 12 times um you maybe drop back 15 times as orgy scrambles however many times against usc it's like your offensive line are also not getting

any game reps in pass pro which they need and I wonder how much that plays into it as well as Orgy's ability to be able to make some throws because, you know, I mean, you could go watch it at Shem and yeah, they're flying around, but when you get into a game, it's completely different and you're going full speed. We said the same exact thing about Davis Warren in week one, right? Where he throws the pick to Fred Moore on that deep ball. And guess what?

That's probably completed in practice because they're not going all full. They go full speed, but like you said, practice speed is just different than game speed. And Fred Moore and all those guys are just going just a tick faster, and you've got to throw it just a little bit farther. And so I totally agree with you that I don't know that Alex Orji doesn't have it completely but we need to go get him reps to see exactly where he needs to throw the ball in a game and

when you're you know you've he's seen the Michigan defense which is really good right so he sees them in practice every day but until you start seeing a team with other colors on the other side of the ball it's just very different and so that's exactly what i want to see uh from orgy is all right let's get him back there to your point we need to get this pass rope going we need to give him time to survey the field dude even on the tyler morris throw even on thelon Klein throw, like I don't think he has tons of time to sit back there and throw it. And so it's a one read throw, right? Whereas like you watched, I mean, Davis Warren, in my opinion, made a lot of progress over even just the three games, you know,

made some dumb decisions, but made some progress in going to a second read. Like that all comes with time. You have to come with, you have to get comfortability back in the pocket and say, all right, you know, the game slows down the more you play it. Right? There's a reason why Pat Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers, you know, they played so many games throughout their career tom brady and all the they're even with guys just coming at them from the edges their eyes downfield the whole time and they can process things a lot quicker because of all those reps and so that's what i want to see out of orgy this week is just like all right process what you're seeing on the field, survey it, look at your first and second read.

If you have to check down, let's check down. That's okay, right? Like you see it in the NFL all the time where a check down goes for eight yards. We can do that, right? And I think, too, you want to know the other thing that I want to see? To your point, I want to see these receivers get open. Like, let's create some separation. Because outside of Tyler Morris on that play where he's definitely getting held

and, you know, Marlins decently open, Samaj was open on the one that we've all seen. Like, there wasn't much separation. So, we need to see that too, right? Well, 100% do. And I'm wondering if Andrew Marsh can suit up for the rest of the season. I don't know how that works if he can graduate early. But, no, I mean, I definitely need to see more out of the receivers, right?

And, you know, Tyler was banged up. He didn't play against Arkansas State. I don't have the snap counts up in front of me. I think he played more on Saturday. But, you know, you want to see these guys get open and make it easier on their quarterback, you know, you want to see these guys get open and make it easier on their quarterback, you know. And to what Jake Butt said earlier in August when we had him on the show talking about and I've never really even thought about this, but it's so simple. It makes so much sense that, hey, you're tight end when they're in line.

They are the closest receiver to you. They're the closest eligible guy you can throw the football to. And so, you know, that's why that that drag out to Marlin. Like, I want to see more of those types of throws because it's easy it's a it's a six yard throw in the air to marlin klein on a you know on a drag route and obviously if colson loveland's healthy let's make sure he's good and not get him hurt because you can win the next two games without him um if he's healthy then you know let's you, I still want to see him lined up at different spots. But, you know, if he's in line, absolutely. I mean, I've talked about this a bunch. I know you've talked about it.

Like, there needs to be more motion with Donovan. There needs to be more motion with Samaj. There should be motion on every single play. Like, when you watch the Lions and Rams game in week one, there was a stat at some point that both teams were over 85% of motion per snap and, or for, for all snaps in the game at that point in like the fourth quarter. Right. And those are two of the better offenses in the NFL and in the NFL,

you see so much motion, right? Because it messes with the defense and Michigan. It feels like they don't really know how to take advantage of that, which is crazy because Roman Wilson made a shit ton of money doing that last year. Yes, we did it. I mean, we've, I feel like we've said this a hundred times now but in the Rose Bowl it was like the perfect example of that right and I'm like I feel like you know we have to get back to that especially just if you look at just Donovan alone like you he should be in motion every single time whether he starts out and comes

back in or starts in and goes out like make sure a you read the defense if they're in man versus zone and b you can take a linebacker either in or out of a play right and so I uh I I just I I really want to see more of that as well um I think to your point like just more creativity um you know i at some point you're not going to be able to run inside zone and the colombo is is going he told me that he was pretty damn sore after saturday uh he said he was at 17 carries which is very funny um bredison told me it was the most stories ever been ever. You should see guys on a field, though. You know?

It's like you should see the other guy. You should see the other guy. One of them transferred already. What? What was that about, bro? Hey, he went up against Bredesen and Mullings one time. I was like, I'm good. The Big Ten is not for me.

It's not for me. I mean, Evan Lake kicked his ass. I was like, I'm good at the big 10 is not for me. It's not. I mean, evidently kicked his ass was like, I'm out of here, brother. So, I mean, I, the other thing that I just want to see is just like, let's, I keep going back to it. Like I was actually talking to Jake button Kalal and said this. I said, listen, coach Harbaugh, it's corny. It's all that.

But better today than you were yesterday. Better tomorrow than you were today. I want to see Michigan continue to build. This is like the last thing that Michigan can do this week is come out and lay an egg. Even if you win the game again 21-7 you cannot do that right for for your momentum for your mental all that you need to go out and play with enthusiasm play with energy play with you know that swagger like that is one thing that I think Michigan needs to do is continue building on what they did on Saturday. Yeah, I'm with you. Got to continue to work on the pass game, obviously.

I mean, that's the biggest concern at this point is the pass game, the pass pro, everything involved with the passing game. So, you know, if they're able to find some sort of semblance, and again, just give me triple digits and I'll be happy. So that's where I'm at with this game. We doing predictions? Yeah, let's do it. All right, I'm going to go 34-3 Michigan. I think they figured some things out offensively,

and I think the defense shines. Wow, wow. I like that a lot. I like that a lot. I like the three. I truly believe that other than – I'm going to go seven for Minnesota because I think it's going to be a garbage time touchdown or something because that happens a lot in college football yeah but I'm gonna I'm gonna bet whatever the over that it's

only Michigan minus nine which seems crazy to me start at 12 and a half too a lot of the big money is on on Minnesota apparently I mean I get it that people think that we can't score, but I just feel like we're going to wear Minnesota down very quickly. So I'm going to go – I'm not sure that they're going to figure it out that much. I'm going to go 28-3, which I still – four touchdowns I don't think we're going to be mad about if they can do that throughout the day, especially if it's early on it and and we're clicking because let's be real like michigan's offense was clicking in that first half right

now you need to put together two good halves let's let's say that too right michigan cannot go out dominate in the first half and then just completely let off the gas in the second half because what happened in the Texas game, what happened even in the Arkansas State game, and then you saw it in the USC game, is teams started loading the box in the second half and they've kind of figured it all out. So that's going to be on Jerome Moore, Kirk Campbell, Grant Newsom as well. But I think that Michigan comes out and plays pretty dang well

against a not-so-great opponent here. And then you go, hopefully, to Seattle and see what happens on the road for the first time. Absolutely. All right, well, thank you to Hale, IPA, and North Peak, Truly, Hart Seltzer, Sun Cruiser, Hard Vodka Tea. We will be at Pretzel Bell on Friday night, so come

hang out with us. Have a good day. I'm excited for that. And then bright and early on Saturday morning. You know, hey, some people are probably taking this game off, I would say. Some fans, they say, you know, we've already done Texas. We've already done usc we need a

breather now we're back at it we're back at it shots keys you want to know what jim harbaugh says i don't know if you've ever noticed the ted stickers on the back of the helmet stickers on the back of their helmets yeah ted stands for their every day there every day they've got something in their locker room that there's a sticker for every day that you practice and it's there every day you need to be there every day we're going to be there on saturday i will be there i will not miss it absolutely all right for us you can follow us at blue by 90 on twitter instagram facebook at blue by 90 podcast on youtube and blue by 90.com we appreciate you go blue go blue