Blue By Ninety - Blue By the Numbers: 1-0 in B1G play, return to form for JJ

Episode Date: September 27, 2023

Tanner and Brian break down Michigan's 31-7 victory over Rutgers as the Wolverines move to 4-0 and pick up their first Big Ten win.

All right, and welcome to episode four of Blue by the Numbers. I'm Tanner Wooten, joined by my co-host Brian Bouton. Brian, how are you? I'm doing good. 4-0 feels good. Yeah, 4-0, man. Kind of hard to believe we're a third of the way through the regular season. Kind of sad. And this doesn't affect you as much, but Michigan only has three more home games, man.

Going a bit of a road run here. And, you know, we've already been through more than half of the way through tailgating season, which for me living in Ann Arbor is a big-time thing. We were out at the Chrysler Center parking lot on Saturday, had some beers, had some North Peak Hale IPA, obviously the Blue by 90 beer, which we still need to get you to try somehow. I don't think you're supposed to ship beer unless you've got a license. That may be thrown down a little bit. Yeah, I don't know if we can use the USPS for that one,

but I need to figure out a way to let you get the game day ale in your hands down there in Florida. But, yeah, it was a great day on Saturday. We'll have some then. Absolutely. We got a ton. We actually skipped our pickup this weekend because we, Justin

and I were just like, we have way too much beer. Just way too much and we were giving it away. We have beer coming out of our ears at this rate in the season. Beautiful day on Saturday. I got a little tan.

I got a little burnt. I got a ring tan line for my wedding ring. Yeah, you can see it in person. I don't know if you can see it on the pod, but I also have an Apple Watch tan line. Like, that sun was coming out, man. It was warm, but a beautiful day for football. Not very many clouds in the sky.

It wasn't windy at all. And Michigan gets to win 31-7 over Rutgers. Yeah, they look dominant. I mean, I i think uh you know the score is not necessarily indicative of a dominant performance but they had seven drives they hunted once and had zero turnovers i mean i don't know what else you would expect or hope for um yeah and i mean you look at the you look at the drives um and yeah the first drive, JJ had a couple misfires, a little inaccurate on an out route, and then they kind of bring out some trickery, which I love.

I don't know. I can see both arguments to where it's like you don't want to pull that out against somebody like Rutgers, but side note, I think Rutgers is pretty damn solid. Like you think of Rutgers, I don't think this is the team that you necessarily think of. Like they are built from within. They've got a really good defensive line. Aaron Lewis, we kind of talked about a little bit last week, I think, maybe looking ahead.

And he was all over the field. I heard his name called a ton in the big house, former Wolverine for a short period of time. But I think when you look at the way this game flowed, Michigan gets a touchdown on their second drive, pulls out some trickery, right? And so I guess my point that I got away from is you can put it on film and you want to be able to kind of have those surprises come out in the big games, but at the same time you put that on film,

now teams have to account for that. They have to spend time in those meetings looking at those things. But they pull out the, what, double reverse flea flicker that gets Colson Loveland 30-some-odd yards. What else did they have? They had – maybe it wasn't a trick, but Donovan Edwards just somehow peels out untouched out of the backfield for a 33-yard reception. So I feel like they kind of opened up the playbook a little bit

in this one when they needed to. And I thought the second drive was awesome yeah I think that you know speaking of putting stuff on tape I think the best thing they put on tape for the rest of the season's opponents was you know there were so many times in short yardage situations where we just say we're going to bully you we're just going to run Blake we're up the middle where uh JJ kept it and ran it outside yeah every time he made that decision, it was eight yards, nine yards, 11 yards. It worked. And now every time we get in those situations, I think last year we were 100 for 100 just running up the middle.

You know, however many times we were in that situation, we were just like, we're bigger than you, we're stronger than you, and here we come. Try to stop us. You know, them putting that on tape makes teams prepare for something different. And his decision making in those situations were all very, very good. So that's your tape analogy there. I think putting that on tape is a good thing. No, absolutely. And I think when you look at some of the big plays from last year

in those big games, you know, I think about the two long touchdowns that Michigan had against Penn State. They're down at half, right, by one. And they come out, the first two drives, they hit big runs to Blake and Donovan. And the reason is, is if you watch the linebackers, they're so focused on JJ because he had been pulling in that game. And that just, that little moment of hesitation allows for those big chunk runs. And so I think now with that on film, and it's always like, it's almost like a game of

chicken with the opponents on the schedule of like is michigan gonna pull out the jj run this week are we the guy are we the ones are we worthy right and so it was jj pulling and and he had what 51 rushing yards he also took off on a pass that he got a first down run i think of 11 12 yards he also made it a point of emphasis to get to the sideline uh which i think he was able to do every single time he got pushed right right before going out on the white part of the field on one of those runs down in the red zone. But yeah, I mean, you look at the, like you said, seven drives, they punt on the first one, go three and out. But beyond that, they go touchdown, miss field goal, which the worst delay of game call like I've ever seen. It was so bad. I mean, I'm a Lions fan. and I just remember the Ravens snapping that ball like three seconds after the clock hit zero and no call. And I know it's

college versus NFL, but I don't know where the delay of game came in. They push it back five, Turner misses the field goal. But other than that, very efficient, very dominant on offense, and a very clean day compared to bowling green last week where they had the four turnovers three on offense one on special teams this week it was very clean very efficient and um you know like you said you're not going to look at that score and be blown away but i think if you actually watch the game instead of just watching the box score you see that michigan was very dominant over a team that i think could probably win six or seven games this year absolutely i think the last three drives speak to your point more than anything else. Their last

three drives, 14 plays, seven minutes, 53 seconds, field goal, nine plays, five minutes, three seconds, touchdown. They get the ball with seven minutes left in the game, run 10 straight plays, burn out the clock and the game victory formation. You know, that's pretty dominant. You know, they could have decided to go crazy and, you know, try it some big plays, burn out the clock, and the game victory formation. That's pretty dominant. They could have decided to go crazy and try to hit some big plays, but those plays mainly were run plays. All three of those drives were mostly run plays, except for on third down where they threw a couple times. But the score could have gotten much bigger had they wanted to.

I think they just exerted their will and played very well. I thought it was their best game of the year. I did too, especially because there was a lot of going into the game. So my prediction was 38-10. I wasn't that far off. That's pretty good. Yeah, I mean, maybe this is last year and the clock stops at the first downs. Maybe they get there.

I don't know. But I know a lot of people that were very nervous. Like after the Bowling Green, they're like, hey, Rutgers, this isn't your dad's Rutgers team, right? It was like kind of the sentiment. And for them to go in and just kind of very ho-hum, dominate one of the better, I think one of the better defenses in the conference. I know I read somewhere that there's thoughts inside the building at Michigan that that may be the third best defense they see this year behind – at least in the conference behind Penn State and Ohio State. And that last drive, like you said, everyone knew the run was coming.

I mean, they bring in Kalel Mullings, and I don't know how many yards he ended up with, but he had to end up with 30 or 40. I mean, he was just moving the pile. I was watching – I sat in the end zone. Yeah. I mean, he was just moving the pile. I was watching. I sat in the end zone. Yeah, I sat in the end zone as that drive was going away from our side of the stadium. And, man, I was watching, and he hit every single hole that he needed to. He was very decisive in his cuts.

He looks really, really good and might be emerging as that third back for Michigan that gives another short yardage option behind Blake. We know what Donovan is. We know his skill set. He's not necessarily the guy to go get you two yards in a fourth and two, but I think Kalel Mullings could be. So I came away, you know, left the stadium feeling pretty good. A little sunburned, like I said, but feeling pretty good about where things stand with Michigan. You know, I think we talked about this. Michigan does not need to put up style points. That's not their MO. It never really has been. They're pretty content with, you know, working on things that they need to work on in each game and, you know, getting out

of there with a win and, you know, getting out of there without any injuries. And that's kind of what happened on Saturday, which is huge. Yeah. The only blemish was the missed field goal. And I have an embarrassing admission to make. i watched that replay far too many times trying to see what happened uh like the the kennedy assassination or something but you know what it looked like to me is he slept his plant foot slipped and he missed it his motion looked totally different than every other kick he made that game so you know we'll chalk it up to that and you know the delay a game penalty but other than that pretty clean game yeah yeah i mean you know i thought uh we'll talk about defense i guess we talked about the offensive side of the ball there um you know

i think you saw some rust from rod moore i watched that play like you uh like you did the field goal a few times and i don't know he just didn't have the right angle coming up on that touchdown and what that was probably a fourth or a third of rutgers total yardage in that game off one play that was kind of a busted play. You know, credit to them for making it happen. You know, the slot receiver gets downfield. And that came right to our end zone as well. So I'm just sitting there like, awesome.

This is exactly how I wanted this game to start. But after that, they settled in. You know, that quarterback, Wimstead, different guy than last year. Because we watched him last year against his defense. man, he threw three, three bad interceptions. I mean, they were not, not great decisions for the most part from him. And I thought he played a very clean game. I thought they, I thought they did a good job of getting him out in space with the read option stuff. But there was never really a moment outside that first play that I thought, you know, anything changed my mind on this Michigan defense.

And that's without Mason Graham. And they were still pretty dominant. You know, and then obviously Mikey has the big pick six, which still have no idea how that play – like I could watch the replay and I'm like, where did the ball – did it tip? Did he strip it? Did he catch it? Like I still don't really know.

And I like turned around to celebrate. This is great. So that one came towards us as well and i don't normally sit in the end zones but i was not going to pay 120 bucks to watch rutgers so i was like i'll just sit in the end zone but i turned around to high five the guys behind me because it was fourth and two i was like awesome nice stop love it great great recognition and then i turned around and this this is running nuts kenneth kenneth grant is running step for step stride for stride with mike samuels, by the way, pretty much.

Blows up the quarterback. I'm like, please don't get a blindside block. But he comes down. I looked at the replay. I'm like, I still don't understand how that was a pick six. Like, just a great play from number zero. It was crazy because when I watched it, I thought the same thing. When they were running the field, I thought it was one of those times where,

you know, he didn't really catch it and they're going to whistle it back or they're going to view it and the thing hit the ground 16 times but when you watch the replay he just caught the ball and there was just such a mesh of people there that you just didn't see it in the color of the jerseys it was just kind of confusing but he just caught it cleanly and then just kind of gathered himself because when he caught it he bumped into uh one of the another michigan player he did that for a second yeah and then he took off, and I think everyone was a little bit confused, including Rutgers, and that was awesome because, as you know, Mikey's my favorite player. I love seeing that.

I was so excited. Yeah, he's up there for me too just like all the time, like in my lifetime of guys that I've watched. I mean, thinking back to his touchdown against Notre Dame was awesome as a true freshman, right? Like that's how long he's been a part of the program and just how many times he's made big plays in big games. Yeah, he's up there.

And if they do what we think they can do this year, he might solidify himself as like my favorite player of all time. Like two-time captain, great kid, selfless, you know, just – He goes back to the team, represents the school really well. Yeah, he just really embodies what's been so awesome about these last couple of Michigan teams and hopefully this one as well. Just a selfless guy who's a leader and willing to put it on the line and do whatever it takes to win.

And I think he's going to have a long, long career in the NFL. But, you know, some people aren't used to the Michigan defense scoring. So that was nice to see Mikey get the defense on the board. That's their first touchdown, I believe, this season. So hopefully more to come. But, yeah, you know, Rod Moore comes back. After that first, you know, I think both him and Mikey had a – they both slipped on that play, I think.

Mikey slipped on the cut. Yeah. He was in the hash, and he came out and faked the dig, came in, and Mikey just bit a little bit and slipped, and then Rod Moore just took a bad angle, and it was over. It should have been like a 9, 10, 11-yard play at most. Yeah. And, you know, there was just kind of a comedy of errors on Michigan's part,

and he was gone. Yeah. Yeah, so outside of that and some just really nice throws from Wimpset, I mean, you know, I thought the back end held up pretty well. I thought the D-line was, again, just dominant. Without Mason Graham, I mean, I think Mason Graham's one of the best players on this team and one of the best players in this conference and maybe the country for some of the things that we've seen him do.

And so, you know, it'll be great whenever they can get him back, hopefully healthy here in a couple weeks. But to do that without him, you know, Menon guy had been averaging, I think, 100 – you know, 120, 125 yards a game. I mean – He was a leading rusher in the Big Ten coming in, wasn't he? Yeah, he had 500-some yards. So, again, I just thought the defense played really, really well.

You know, 70 yards come on one play. Otherwise, they were locked down. I mean, Rutgers – you know, Rutgers had moved the ball a little bit. I think the only time they really got deep into Michigan territory was their last drive where they turned it over on downs when Michigan was probably content with just giving up short stuff underneath. So, yeah, overall, pretty clean game. You know, special teams-wise, Doman has a leg, by the way.

I mean – You don't get to see it very much, thankfully. I know, but you still see it on the kickoffs. I mean, it's pretty impressive. And his one punt was a bomb, I think. How about that Rutgers punt? It was like 78 yards or something. It was incredible.

Yes. Yeah, that was like, oh, nice. Going to start at the five-yard line. But, you know, they score. So it works out. But, yeah, overall, clean day. You know, nothing too out of the ordinary for the Michigan Rutgers series since Jim Harbaugh has taken over.

I think, what, he's 9-8 or 8-0, 9-0. He's never lost to Rutgers. Right. So good stuff out of Michigan on Saturday. But kind of want to break down some of these grades, man. We were talking about a pre-show, some stuff, again, I disagree with, some stuff that probably is pretty on the ball i don't have the ability i guess i do but i like to do other things in my downtime um then watch individual players on five times and have to do that you know for every play so um you know starting off jj he's the only

quarterback that played he played all the way through the end of the game which i thought was 31-7 i assumed that somebody was going to come in. I thought I saw Tuttle getting ready, and nope, they brought JJ out, and so he played the whole game. 75.8 grade. Can't really disagree. I mean, I don't think there were – I think the second throw I think maybe was the only one that I thought was a little risky,

but the back shoulder throw to Samaj Morgan, which I can't wait to talk about him. He's going to be a player. But that was an NFL-level throw. To read that, put it where his receiver can get it, on top of the interference to still make that completion for a touchdown. That was a great throw. The throw to Colson Loveland was very nice up the seam. Got it there before the safety could hit Loveland.

Put it right where he could go up and get it and land safely. The one to Roman, where Roman was in motion on that crosser. Like, there's some big-time throws. And I thought he kind of got back to his first two games. He wasn't forcing anything. He took what the defense gave him and was very clean overall. He started 0 of 2 and then finished 15 of 19 after that. So, I thought a really

good day from number nine, getting back to where we thought he would be. And I'm excited to see him continue to progress. I mean, you know, at the end of the day, he's still only a true junior, so he's got a lot of room to grow. But I thought it was really, you know, mostly clean performance on Saturday. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you know, that first drive, he did come out looking a little shaky and it was like, oh boy, you know, he's still feeling that and then outside that for you know the offense defense both you know the the big touchdown uh by rutgers and then we settled down after that same thing for jj he came out a little shaky and then they came out in the next drive that you talked about earlier with the you know the play calling on that first touchdown drive was amazing but i thought jj was great he's the highest graded

quarterback in the big 10 across any metric you look at. He's the fifth highest graded quarterback among power five quarterbacks in the country, according to PFF. So he's still, you know, despite that really bad game last week, looking really good. You know, I think the things that stood out to me for this game were one,

you know, the bounce back, he had a rough game. He knew he had a rough game. Everyone had a rough game. He came out, played great to the play. you mentioned to morgan that play was so awesome he threw that ball morgan was on the 11 yard line when he released that ball and he had just started his break towards you know that side engine wasn't really a cut he's kind of kind of rolled it to that corner he threw that ball at the 11 he caught that ball two yards in the end zone so i mean that's something they must have practiced a bunch and the trust to having a true freshman there was awesome

because, I mean, he turned and it was right there, had him right between the numbers. That was beautiful. And then as we talked about earlier, I thought the runs – he had runs of 22 yards, 16 yards, 9 yards, 8 yards, and then that 5-yard runner up the middle on the – Yep, stretched the ball out. Stretched the ball.

It was a little risky, but, you know know i just think that he made really good decisions and like we said other than that first first uh drive you know look great my concern about the quarterback position is i'll talk about till the season's over is what's behind him so i mean you know you you mentioned that he ran out of bounds i want to see that like there's no reason for him to take an unnecessary hit none and i know the hockey player and him and the him wanting to be a tough guy you know fine but don't do it here you know i mean yeah we need you 50 we need you for 15 games this year so uh i very happy with what we saw from jj yeah and i i think um one of the more impressive throws that i thought i don't know i would love to get your thoughts on this but it was when he felt pressure and somebody grabbed i don't know if I would love to get your thoughts on this, but it was when he felt pressure and somebody grabbed,

I don't know if they grabbed his shoulder, but they had a hand on him and he steps up and he flings it to the, to the left, short pylon in the end zone. And Roman just can't find it, but he put it right where Roman could have just had an easy touchdown. I thought that was an extremely impressive play. I don't remember the exact drive that that was in, if they scored on that drive or not.

But I loved his ability. You know, he looked and he saw that there's nobody, there's no safety loved his ability. You know, he looked and he saw that there's nobody, there's no safety over the top. I mean, he throws it to the pylon. There's only one guy who can get it and that's his guy. I thought that was pretty impressive. You know, one, you know, you avoid the sack, but two, you know, you at least give your guy a chance. And I don't know, Roman wasn't looking and he just couldn't find it. But I thought that was a pretty impressive play too. It's not going to show up on the stat sheet, but I think continues to show his maturity and development as a junior now.

Absolutely. And it shows that that game last week was a total anomaly. Like what we saw Saturday is what we saw the first three weeks of the season or first couple of games. And so I feel great about JJ again. Well, I'll tell you what I really feel great about is when I'm watching Blake Corum and I'm like, oh, yeah, that's Blake. That's Blake Corum right there. He's back. You know, he's not going to grade out as high as his overall season last year, but not many people are.

He comes with a 74. But I really liked what I saw from Blake on Saturday. And I think as they continue to run more of their power run offense, I think you're going to continue to see them get more comfortable. And we'll talk about the O-line here coming up. But from Blake's perspective, you know, that jump cutting ability seems to be 100% back. He looks just as he's like he has the same amount of bursts as he did last year. Like I don't see any lingering effects from the surgery in the offseason. Like, he – you know, look, he didn't go for 243 like he did against Maryland in the first Big Ten game last year, same game as 2022.

But, man, I thought he was pretty damn impressive and, you know, just continues to be an awesome running back that I'm very lucky to have been able to watch in person however many times now because the kid's just a stud. A stud. I think, you know, we've seen a level of maturity here like everything you said yes like i feel like he looks like the blake of old but i feel like there's a level of maturity with this game this year he doesn't seem like he's trying to prove anything he's not trying to jump over somebody or put his head down and run over somebody he's getting the yards that are there

running very hard very very decisive, has all the wiggle. I just think he looks great. He's leading the nation in scoring. He just needs another two more rushing touchdowns, moving to second place all time. That'll be awesome. That's coming. I thought he looked great.

He's, like you said, very lucky. Donovan Edwards, I think he had a little bit better game than he had the week bit better game than, uh, he had the week before and past block, but he, you know, still missed a couple that cost us. Uh, I looked from the first, the first four games last year, Donovan Edwards had 202 yards rushing and receiving this year through four games, 209. So, you know, to everyone out there, that's kind of upset myself included about his production

and what we're seeing out there, stats don't tell us all the story. And in this case, I think they definitely don't tell the story, but from a statistical perspective, he's actually a little bit ahead of where he was last year. So I feel like he's not as decisive. I feel like he's not running quite as hard. I don't know what, what it, but, you know, I like to think that it's coming, and he's still a weapon in the pass game, and he's such a diverse athlete. But, you know, we just haven't seen it yet. Yeah, I don't know what's going on with him because there were a couple times. There was one time where he, like, he ran outside of the kickout block.

It was like, what are you –'m not i'm not a running back but i know like if i see my guy's jersey i should go inside of him and then there was a time i think he cut in on what was like a down block it was like just he's not reading the field well i don't know what it is i've never played like i've never played running back uh you know i'm 65 265 270 like i'm i was never running back size so i don't know what all goes into it but i can just just from outside observance um it just seems like the vision's not there i don't know because i thought i mean you know obviously but like last year like i thought he took the jump and i was like whoa this is a first round because i thought he would be a first-round pick coming into this season.

I still think he can get to that, but I don't know. It may be more on the strength of his receiving, which is what I always thought, but it may be even more now. Because he was really solid in the pass game. They had a – outside of the big one that they got to him where nobody decided to cover him. On a play action, he kind of came out. It was similar to the MSU game last year where they did a play action, he kind of came out. It was similar to the MSU game last

year where they did a play action and he caught the ball. I think he got a first down on this one. So he's obviously going to be involved in the passing game, but as a runner, he's just not there. And I don't know what it is. He's just not reading his blocks, his visions. I don't know. It just seems like he's just regressed a lot, which is unfortunate. But I mean, if there's anybody that can teach vision and help coach vision, I think it's Mike Hart. So, you know, and he didn't, I mean, he didn't have a big time performance last year until Penn State, which was what they, I think that was the sixth game of the year, maybe. I don't know. Yeah, it was, it was in October though.ober though so you know maybe it's still coming i mean i'd like

to think it is because him as you know his his version of uh play last year on this year's team just makes it a completely different offense and just opens everything up so i don't know what it is i'm hoping it's still coming man because i i love donovan i love his energy i love everything that he's about when he plays football i mean he's just a tough, tough kid and awesome in the past game. So it'd be great. I will say though, side note, watching that Notre Dame Ohio State game, what Notre Dame did with the two backs to the side of the quarterback. I'd love to see Michigan do that with him and Blake. I think there's opportunity and they've done a really good job of getting them both on the field and doing different, unique and creative things. So I'm excited to see how that evolves. And I, you know,

even if Donovan doesn't get it going for whatever reason, as a pure running back, like he has so much value as a decoy, as a guy out of the backfield, or even if you motion him out into the slot, like he's such a good route runner. Even if you put a nickel corner on him, like he's still going to win a lot of those matchups. So he's going to still have a really good year in the pass game. If he can figure it out as kind of that – be able to play as that second true running back, that opens so much up for Michigan this year.

So it just – I'd love to see that happen. He did have a nice eight- or nine-yard run. I don't know what it is though, man. It seems like he's either trying to bounce it or he just – when he needs to bounce it, he does it. And when he shouldn't bounce it, he does. It's just – I don't know. It's either trying to bounce it or he just when he needs to bounce it he doesn't when he when he shouldn't bounce it he does like it's just i don't know it's just interesting to watch him this year yeah the situations you talked about where he kind of made the wrong read it's impossible to disagree with that my thing in those situations are you

made your decision put your foot in the ground and go you know last year he would he was ran aggressively like he's not an overpowering guy per se but he would you know he put his head down and try to run you over he doesn't see me doing that like if you're gonna make the cut to the outside like you refer to put your leg in the ground let's see you go turbo you know he kind of played the same speed i'm with you i i gotta hope that he uh gets it together you know i'd love to see is a situation where they give him a couple drives back-to-back where he can get some flow of the game. Situationally, when you watch the games back, he just hasn't been – I'm not making excuses for the guy. I am not making excuses for him.

But he just situationally has not had the best situations where he's running to places where it could be big gains, but something happens, something breaks down. And so he just needs to be put in the right situation. I think if you gave him a couple of drives and let him get into the flow of the game, you know, maybe we'll see that this week. But that's what I'm hoping for. But like you mentioned, Phil Mullings looks great.

You know, this time, you know, last year when Blake went down and C.J. Stokes was dinged up and we knew he was going to get carries, I was scared to death. I'm like, what is this guy going to give us? And I'm not scared to death at all. I'm excited. And Benjamin Hall will be back and Stokes will be back and some of the young guys will be back. I feel pretty good about some of my big concerns behind J.J.

While we don't have another Blake Corham on our roster, we haven't had for several years, we do have a lot of talented guys back there. I feel decent about that position. This offense is going to go as far as a few guys take it, and Blake's one of them. I think Donovan is very impactful, but if he doesn't figure it out in the true running back situations, he's still going to bring a ton of value as a receiver and as a guy. But if he doesn't – again, if he doesn't figure it out in the true running back situations, he's still going to bring a ton of value as a receiver and as a guy.

Which I'm – hey, if that's his floor, then so be it. But we just – we know what that ceiling is, man. Because that – when he hits – when he hits that top gear, it's – I mean, we saw it, you know, multiple times last year. I mean, he had big runs in each of their last three games. I mean, he had the two big ones against Ohio State. He had a big six-yarder against Purdue. He had a big one to start the game against TCU. If he finds the hole and he gets up to speed, man, it's good luck.

It's coming. So it's that dynamic, those explosive plays that he provides. Because Blake was that guy in 21, but since Blake has added the weight necessary to be that weed bell cow running back. He still can bust it for 50 yards, but he's not the guy that's going to be the home run threat every play. Now he's going to get you 10 to 15 to 20 most of the time on those bigger runs of his. But I think Donovan is that guy that takes this offense to a different level,

which is I think why you and I and every Michigan fan just wants to see him get it together, man. Cause it just, that offense just, it's got everybody salivating, how good it can be. So, but talking about the receiving game, man, because it just – that offense just – it's got everybody salivating at how good it can be. Yep. But talking about the receiving game, man, I thought we talked about Samaj. He was the highest graded receiver, highest graded guy on offense overall. Plays three snaps, gets, what, two catches?

They ran a tunnel screen to him, which when's the last time Michigan ran a screen like the Colorado State game last year to to Roman like those would be nice give uh give JJ some easy throws and you know pad the stats a little bit but um you know he gets seven eight yards and then obviously the touchdown so really impressive uh day from the from the freshman um really like what I what I've seen I always thought he was a little bit better than a you know he was a higher three star but I thought he was a little bit better than a – you know, he was a higher three-star, but I thought he was a four-star talent. I mean, he just – you see him – he just glides with the football. He's just a smooth athlete. And I'm excited to see him continue to get some reps.

Roman, second highest graded guy, had a nice day. No touchdowns, but – Still leads the nation in receiving touchdowns. Yeah, I mean, I thought he was kind of the – you know, one of the safety blankets for JJ. He had some nice catches. He had one that was on a crucial third down where he was in motion and came across on the crossing route,

and then he had the one over the middle as well that JJ found him. That was a really nice throwing catch. So, yeah, not a lot from CJ this game. But, again, seven drives. It's a game where they get the tight ends involved a little bit more. Donovan Edwards has some catches out of the backfield. It's just, you know, with these new rules, man, there's only so many possessions.

There's only so many snaps and only so many footballs to go around. Yeah, what did I say last week? We need production from the slot. And then Samaj comes in and gives us just what we asked for. So that was great. You know, it's two weeks in a row where we only had two wide receivers catch passes, though. You know, like you mentioned, we had running backs.

We had tight ends. I mean, the passing game was efficient, but we still aren't getting a ton of production from a lot of different guys. But I'm not going to complain. We got production from a different person from the slot, which is what I was asking for. I thought they were great. You mentioned Roman Wilson.

They found something with these crossing routes this year. I think it's the threat of Donovan Edwards, the threat of our tight ends. You know, you got to pick your poison. It seems like a lot of big plays are coming from those crossing routes. And, you know, the more our – and we're going to talk about it in a minute, but the more our offensive line can hold up and let those plays develop the more they're going to be there um and so that's that you know that's one of the concerns early on about the offensive line we'll get to but uh yeah uh passing game looked pretty darn solid all around yeah and colson

loveland comes over the 68.5 grade which you know not terrible not great but i mean some of the plays that he made and you know i uh bl Blake's last touchdown, he had a great down block that opened that space up for him to go and fight for that extra yardage to get in the end zone. Like, again, I'm not sitting here watching every single play five times, but I just – I don't know. I thought Colson Loveland looked like an all Big Ten, all American level player on Saturday.

I mean, that catch alone up the seam should have been worth at least 20 extra points. Right. I mean, that catch alone up the seam should have been worth at least 20 extra points. I mean, he's looking pretty good, and he was the benefactor of the double reverse flea flicker. Try to say that five times fast. And I thought he probably could have scored there if he cut to the left, but hey, let Blake take care of it, punch it in. I mean, and Barner I, looked pretty good as well.

He has some tough catches. Yeah, it's nice to see him start to get involved. I think he's a really good blocker as well. He's a good football player. If we didn't have Loveland, he would get more opportunities. He's a really good football player. That flea flicker for Loveland, though, if you watch that, he sold that so well.

So the reverse comes back and he's sitting there in his block he doesn't leave his blocking position until the ball's back in jj's hand so i mean he sells that you know so many guys get so excited for the opportunity they know what's coming they leave early and tip it off he does not get out of his blocking stance until j the ball's in jj's hand and then when he did, he was wide open. I mean, there was no one within 15 yards of him. It was such a good play design. You know, we just had the pass to Donovan, so he was drawing attention out there. And so to have him come back against the grain, I love the creativity. I love it. I love, I mean, Colson Loveland's a stud. I mean, he makes one or two plays, not occasionally, every game that are just impressive. I mean,

does the guy have a drop in his career? I mean, it doesn't seem like it. The guy catches everything and, you know, knock on whatever you knock on for luck or whatever, but he has been really, really good in that tight end room. I mean, if there's a room you feel confident about on this football team, there's a few, but this is definitely one of them. Yeah, yeah, I thought it was a really good day from the tight ends.

PFF did not think it was a very good day from the offensive line, though. You know, highest graded guy comes in at 68.8, which is Carson Barnhart. Again, I didn't watch, you know, five replays of every snap. But, you know, there were some issues. I mean, JJ got sacked twice. So, you know, there were some issues. But I thought they were overall moving a little bit better than they had been as far as in the run game. I thought Hinton,

Hinton and Barnhart both got beat on one of the sacks that JJ took, and they still were able to make the field goal, which on a third down, you don't want to take that type of sack, but JJ really had no time to even comprehend what had happened. Again, I mean, there, you know, I don't understand what the rotation is at this point. I think that's probably my biggest question mark about this team at the moment is who's the left tackle, who's the right tackle? Because Henderson plays 30 snaps, Hinton plays 32. It's like they're platooning these guys and then you know barn how comfortable can carson

barnhart get i mean we watched penne sewell on sunday the probably the best right tackle in the nfl did not have a great day at left tackle with taylor decker out for the detroit lions so like i love carson barnhart but i mean if penne sewell can't do that how do you expect a guy to keep going back and forth right from right to left like you got to let them find some rhythm rhythm too you know talking about donovan it's the same kind Like you've got to let them find some rhythm too. Talking about Donovan, it's the same kind of thing. You need to let them get some run. I want to see what Darius Henderson get an opportunity to play consistently

for however many drives straight to really get into a flow of a game and see if – I just am not sure what the thought process is here, just going back and forth, back and forth. Yeah, I know it's a real concern i think that you know when you watch both the guys hinton and henderson neither of them have been great like as henderson would have been better sure marginally but they neither one have been great what i'm hoping to see is what you alluded to is consistency let's this week let's give henderson the start and let him play for the first 10 series you know

I mean this last game we only had seven series so but you know what I mean like the first five six series and have some continuity there and let's see if he can gel because in his limited action getting comfortable and you know so much that line play is trusting the guy next to you and you know anticipating what he's going to do and know it or knowing what he's going to do and then you know knowing whether you're going to pick up a block or stay with your guy and, you know, without that continuity, without that consistency, we don't know. And so let's see what it looks like for five, six consecutive series. That's what I'm hoping because it's not what we've grown.

We've been spoiled by, it's not what we've come to expect from that position. And, you know, neither guy has looked great. I think the guards have been really solid as usual. You know, what's funny is for two straight years, we talked about the PFF grades. Keegan has been, from a PFF standpoint, not a really low graded guy, but not graded nearly as high as the other guys in the unit. And this season, I mean, you know, I watch every game a couple of times. He seems solid. Like he's, it's not his guy that's ever blowing stuff up. It seems like he's picking up the, you know, the extra rusher. I mean,

he seems like he's played great and you know, I don't know what they're evaluating, but you know, I've been real happy with his play. Nugent's been solid. I mean, I don't think he's the greatest center of all time, but he's, he's the number one graded center in the big 10, you know what I mean? That's pretty darn solid. So, you know, I think, you know, when you look at these grades, sometimes you see a 90 and you think that's the expectation.

But I feel like some of these positions might have a cap because we talk not to go back to tight ends, but A.J. Barner is the number two graded PFF tight end in the Big Ten. Drake Nugent, you see his score. His score for the year is higher than the score for the grade. But he's the number one graded center in the Big Ten. So I think there's almost like a cap on what the grades can be. So we need to reset our expectations when we look at these grades,

what we expect them to be. Maybe a really great offensive lineman score is a 74 or something. You know what I mean? Because our guys grade out pretty well across the board when you compare them to other guys in the Big Ten and other guys at Power 5 schools. So whatever that's worth. Yeah, I mean, they've got Zach Zinter eight points higher than Keegan. I thought Keegan had a much cleaner day. I thought Zinter had a couple times where I thought that he missed his assignment. So, I don't know. Again, I thought it was a solid

day for them, but we've been so used and so spoiled by the last couple teams and how good their whole line is. And you just hope that it's part of the process. That's my hope. It's part of the process of getting better week by week. Again, the tackle stuff is really weird. I also think Trent A. Jones has probably been the best tackle when he's played and he gets two snaps. As an extra 6-0 line, I don't know if there's internal stuff with him because I thought last year before the injury he was pretty damn good.

I thought in the limited amount of time that he's played this year, I thought he moves much better in the run game than either guy. So I don't know what's going on at right tackle with him, but it's just really weird um andrew gentry gets his uh gets gets a snap uh which he's a guy i'm very excited about but obviously he's coming back from a mission effort you know two years so i'm gonna take some time for him to kind of get back acclimated to playing football so um yeah i don't know it's interesting to look at some of these grades and just you know it doesn't always match up to what you see, but that's why we do it, right?

Right. So, well, defensively, we already talked about it. Again, Kenneth Grant, 53.5. Like, I don't know. He didn't have any flash plays necessarily on Saturday, but I thought he affected a lot of different run plays from Rutgers. I thought he blew some stuff up, caused their back to kind of have to change direction.

He was very disruptive. Yeah, interesting grade from him. One of the most mind-numbing grades that I've seen. Yeah, maybe it's a typo. I don't know. But, yeah, I thought Kenneth Grant was a great block on the return, by the way. I'm very glad that that was not a blindside block.

But, again, just very excited to continue to see his growth and development. Cause he's such a young guy, but man, he just oozes potential, even with how good he is already. Like the amount of potential there, it's just, it's hard not to get excited about. Cause I think he's going to be a damn good ball player for the next two seasons. So very excited to watch him. The unit played without Mason Graham and we both agree that he's just a beast in the, you know, as good as Chris Jenkins is. to watch him. The unit played without Mason Graham, and we both agree that he's just a beast

and as good as Chris Jenkins is, and he's really, really good. Mason Graham's just a special kind of kid. I think the best thing you can say about this unit is we only played four guys in the position. They all played about the same. Kenneth Grant got the most snaps, but you couldn't really tell if the guys weren't wearing jersey numbers and you just watched regardless of which two were in which combination of two the level of play was consistent they were disruptive they were stout against the run uh you know the very few miscues and so the depth there and the you know the depth and the overall tail I mean Kim Good we talk about him every week he just keeps getting better and better and just shows up more and more and more uh Sean Benny made a couple really nice plays uh he he almost had one huge play but Wimpser gave it kept it instead of the given uh you know as an option play and it looked like it

was running back and Benny was going to blow that up Macari Page had one like that too uh but yeah I thought the defensive interior guys looked really really good yeah you know Jenkins Gray's out at an 80 um the edge guys played you know pretty well uh yeah i think probably their best game as a you know from from looking at his entire unit of those four guys um again very similar uh you know similar snap counts uh jalen harrell played the most mcgregor with 26 snaps so the second most snaps, second highest graded edge defender for Michigan on Saturday. Yeah, he looked so much better. I didn't notice him in anything really negative while watching the game,

but I did notice him wreaking some havoc and making some plays, which is nice to see again because we talked about it last week. But there's a guy on this team that you really want to figure it out. He's one of them because his athleticism, you know, he's a great leader. He's been around the program for a while. And he just – the flashes you see are just, like, whoa. Like, it's hard not to compare him to Aiden Hutchinson, and I'm not going to say that he's going to be Hutch,

but, like, blonde hair, same size, same stature, very similar, and the fact that they just have endless motors. Like there's been times where I watched McGregor come down the line and get a tackle for loss, and I see Hutchinson do it against the Falcons yesterday. I'm just like – it's just such similar play styles from, you know, how they look at the game. And you just – you wish that he would get to that point. Maybe he still will, but just a much better game

than the Bowling Green outing that he had. Because it was – last week we were both pretty down, but I think Saturday he flashed and looked pretty good. He had three that I can count, two really close, where you're going at the quarterback and you have that decision to make as a lineman, do I keep going when you know he's passing and get your hands up? He had three times where he put his hand up and he was, you know, wish he wouldn't have clipped his nails this week.

Like he was so close to having tips. It would have been, who knows what happens, but you know, his awareness of situational football was great. Let's face it. In a game versus Rutgers with a running quarterback, your responsibility on the edges is different, right? It's not pin your ears back, go get the quarterback. It's containing the outside, you know, maintaining gap responsibility. So then when he does decide to run, you limit where he can go.

And so, you know, you're not going to see big sacks, big quarterback pressures because the assignments are different. And so I thought that, you know, to your point, I just played really, really good. It's interesting. The snap, they only played four guys here, too, the top four guys, and the snap counts are a little bit deceiving. Harold McGregor and Moore rotated the first three quarters.

Most of Josiah Stewart's snaps came late in the game. He didn't play a whole bunch early, and then he played late. He played late. He looked great, I thought, but it was really a three-man rotation. Those guys played a bunch. You know, Jalen Harrell continues to be really good. He is the highest graded. He's the second highest graded edge in the country, second in the Big Ten.

I mean, second graded edge in the Big Ten. And, you know, when I was looking at PFF grades, you know who's graded right behind him, which was so great to see, is Yabiyoki. I know it's random and a subject, but so nice to see him playing well. Like, he's another guy you root for, right? Absolutely. Root for Biff's program, too.

So it was just neat to see his name there. But, yeah, I think that this unit looks really, really good. You know, everything we've talked about. Not that, you know, we're not going to see a guy with 11, 12 sacks from this unit, I don't think, unless someone gets really hot, like David Ajaba did a few years ago. But solid unit, solid performance, and again, against a running quarterback, you get what you're going to get there. Yeah, and I thought the linebackers kind of transitioning there,

I thought they had a relatively quiet day. I didn't see any egregious issues. But I thought that may be in part to Wimstad's legs as well, making sure that he's not going to get out and hurt you with his legs. And I felt that they were content with just letting Junior and Houseman and Barrett just say, hey, don't let this kid beat you. Just play your zones. Don't get caught out of position.

And I felt that was kind of the result of their very quiet day, but I didn't notice any big errors or anything directly attributed to those guys. I thought they were just, you know, steady. Very steady. Yeah, I mean, very just, you know, steady. Very steady. Yeah, I mean, very steady. You know, two weeks from now, we say kind of quiet, but a good quiet. I think they played really solid.

And as you mentioned, you're playing zone and the whole, you know, pretty much the entire game. They didn't go man at all. They were on zone the whole game. So they're limited, you know, 46 snaps for them to make some really big plays. You know, the fact that Wim said didn't go crazy, their running game didn't go crazy. I thought they played a really solid sound game.

Yeah, I mean, what, they gave up 220, 240 yards, something like that. Seven-yard one play, right? Absolutely, yeah. I'm going to keep beating that drum. So, again, but I like what I see from the linebackers. You know, I think they're going to show up when it matters. And I think Junior Colson is, I think the thing with junior has been you get the big plays,

but then you get a really big mental error. I haven't seen that this year. And obviously, you know, you could talk about the opponents, but I think that is on junior. It's it doesn't matter the opponent. It's just him being in the right place at the right time, knowing his responsibilities, playing his keys and not being out of position. I haven't really seen that for – I mean, if Junior is consistent and is playing within the scheme, like that's a really good thing

and it's going to pay dividends later on in the season because he's a tremendous athlete. He looks like an NFL linebacker. Like I think he's going to play in the NFL for a very long time. So excited to kind of, you know, not have those mental lapses from number 25 that maybe he had his freshman or sophomore year. But, again, another guy, we talk about JJ's youth. I mean, True Junior, you know, hasn't been playing football that long.

No. I mean, when did he move to the U.S.? When he was 14. So, right, like it's one of those things where you just see these guys get better and better, and sometimes you forget how young they are in their football lives and how much room to grow they have. And I think he is one of those guys. So yeah, solid days from the linebackers. And junior doesn't come off the field. I mean, him and him and Mikey and

Josh Wallace on that defense. I mean, those guys have played a ton of snaps and those guys because of injuries, other places, those guys do not come off the field. You know, last of the linebackers is Michael Barrett is, you know, he's a 14th year senior but he uh he's such a sound football player but his physical limitations show up at times you know i mean like he just doesn't have you know he wasn't built to be a linebacker and so he's getting the most out of his talent big fan of his but there's times where

his lack of stature kind of shows up and so it, you know, he's a solid player. But give me back Jimmy Roelder, get Jaden Hood some more snaps, and let's get that unit a little deeper. Absolutely. Yeah, so switching to the secondary, leading the way with – real quick on Mike Barrett, man. He's like Mikey Samuels still for me. I mean, he's just like a program guy that I love.

100%. Just selfless. I mean, how many positions has he played? I mean, I remember he threw the fake punt to Dax Hill. Right. Dax Hill was a freshman. Dax Hill's in his second year in the NFL now. That's how long he's been around.

But he's a guy that's going to play special teams. He's going to play linebacker, play viper. I think maybe he played quarterback in high school. I know that. He's been all over the field, and he's just a guy that doesn't care, just wants to win. And I love those kinds. You have to have those kinds of guys in your programs.

So, Mikey comes in, highest graded guy on the team, 90.8, hell of a game from zero. You know, the pick six, obviously. But, I mean, there were times he made a big stop on a third down where he kept the receiver about three or four yards short of the sticks. He hit him right when the ball came to the receiver and did not let him go, didn't let him move an inch. I mean, I don't think he got any forward progress after that.

So just a great game from zero. You know, you're leader, you're captain of the team, and just having a hell of a senior season. Yeah, I think he's special. You know, the corner, you know, again, back to the running quarterback, I think, you know, you're asking corners. You know, Will Johnson's an amazing man-on-man press corner, and you're asking him to play zone.

So he's not going to show up like he normally does. I thought he had a great game. I thought Josh Wallace, you know, it seemed like all those catches he had, it was he was playing soft zone, and the guy was in front of him and the quarterback made the right read. It wasn't a man to man blown assignment. It was just kind of the scheme. And so I still like him. And I think he did really well look forward to this unit, all being healthy and better. But I thought Will Johnson, I mean,

I tried to watch him very closely and I thought he looked, I mean, they didn't go his way because they know, You know, and he's a physical presence. You almost got that taunting penalty, whatever that was. That was weird. But, you know, he's just a physical presence out there. I mean, he's a big kid. He is. He's 6'2", 200 pounds.

Comes in with a 63.1. But, like, if they're not throwing to you, that should be worth some of the grade, right? Like, give me something. Give me something, right. Because I thought – I i mean like you said you could feel his presence and that's what i wanted to mention 43 snaps from uh will johnson 43 from makari page mikey plays 37 quentin johnson continuing to get more play i thought you

look pretty solid man um for a guy that early in the season i was like i don't know but the last couple weeks is no one nobody plays really good football. Rod Moore plays 24, definitely easing him back in. Looking forward to seeing him this week in Nebraska. Hopefully he's able to come back and be at the top of the leaderboard when it comes to snaps in the secondary because we both love Rod Moore. I mean, one of my favorite players on the team.

Just, again, one of those kids, man. Just works his tail off and comes in as a three-star. Doesn't matter. And is one of the best safeties in the country. So I'm excited to see him get back healthy. And, you know, didn't really – you know, obviously, we talked about the first touchdown from Rutgers, the only touchdown. Don't need to harp on it anymore.

That's the only time I really noticed him, though, like we've talked about with safeties. You know, unless they're making big plays, that could be a good thing. So, you know, a little first-game rust, but I'm sure that'll be shaken off here this week in practice, and I bet he's ready to get back into it against Nebraska. Yeah, get Keon Saab back, too, because he was an emerging player. He was out there for warm-ups, and then they just kind of –

sounds like he was just dinged a little bit, and it was precautionary, and there's nothing to be concerned about there. But he was just looking forward to seeing. I thought Makari played – you know, he started off the season a little slow. I thought he played easily his best game. You know, he played – he showed up. You know, I thought he looked really sharp. So I'm looking forward to seeing Makari, Rod, and Giansav out there together.

That's something to be excited about. Yeah, well, I'm going to be in Lincoln, man. I'm going to be in Lincoln, Nebraska. I lived in Omaha for 10 years. My wife is a Nebraska grad for her undergrad. She's a Cincinnati graduate for her master's degree, so she was very disappointed by the Bearcats performance. We know who has the brains in that family.

Hey, man, she's got two degrees. I got zero. We equal out to one, baby. 1. Hey, man, she's got two degrees. I got zero. We equal out to one, baby. You know, 1.0 per head in this household of college degrees. Hopefully our kids have her smarts and her looks. But, yeah, I'm going to be out there, man. I'm excited for it. I looked at the weather, and I know it can change,

but the high on Saturday in Lincoln, Nebraska is going to be 91 degrees. We may see some cramping. It may be me. You may, you may see me getting stretched out by the trainers, my legs up high, trying to, trying to work.

Yeah, absolutely. So they do. I believe they sell beer in their stadium. So, but yeah, it's going to be a hot one, man.

So, you know, probably a good thing. These guys play it. Cause it was like 85 in Ann be a hot one man so um you know probably a good thing these guys play because it was like 85 in ann arbor on saturday so you know i don't think it'll be too much difference um you and the wife have a bet for the game yes they play each other no she just she wears michigan don't let her fool you she wears michigan to uh to the michigan games the only time she wears nebraska is when nebr Nebraska plays or they're in town. But she will be wearing Nebraska. She told me she's going to wear a 97 National Championship shirt or something. I'm going to wear my

97 Michigan National Championship hat. That's going to get... I know what I'm doing. That's one of those ones where people are going to see me like, that guy knows exactly what he's doing. And I do. I know exactly what I'm doing. I have so many good friends that went to the university of Nebraska and I've had a lot of great times in Lincoln. So I'm excited to get back there, man. But I know you, uh, you got something this weekend too, that does not involve football. Yeah. I'm going to miss my first Michigan game in forever.

I'm playing in a golf tournament out in Denver, so I'll still be streaming. And I'll still be following as much as I can, but, uh, you know, I'll be playing golf in the mountains of Denver. So I'm looking forward to that. That's gonna be really fun. But, uh, what, uh, what courses are you playing? Cause I just played out in Boulder over the summer. We're playing Highland country club and the ranch country club.

They're just outside of Denver. So yeah, we played Boulder, Boulder national, I believe is what it's called. Um, and that's where the CU golf teams play. Absolutely immaculate course with the mountains. It was like a thunderstorm, but it didn't rain. So it was just absolutely gorgeous backdrop. It was like a supercell storm, like rolling through thunder, lightning, but we didn't get caught up in it.

Nobody told us to come in and we just kept playing. But yeah, that's, I'll tell you what though, you know, whatever your drink of choices will catch up with you a little bit quicker in the mountains. Oh, yeah. Elevation. Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. Challenge accepted. We're looking forward to it.

It's going to be fun. But, you know, we'll both be out there. Maybe our flights will pass each other in the air. I will be – I'll be driving, man. Oh, gosh. Because, you know, I have a friend who works – and this is dragging on. But I have a friend who works and when this is dragging on but i have a friend who works in the airline industry and he told me the reason for that is because you know

if everybody's trying to fly from detroit to omaha it's just gonna i mean it's gonna cause it to just skyrocket obviously um but it's funny because you could fly from cleveland you could fly from grand rapids and probably have the same connecting flight in detroit that would be your original flight out to om Omaha for much cheaper, but I ain't doing that. I'm just going to drive. I was like, we'll just drive and we'll take the truck out there.

It's roomy. We got people to stay with. So yeah, we'll be leaving Thursday. And if there are any Michigan fans out there, hit me up. We're going to be having some, some fun tailgating hitting the bars.

I'll tell you this Nebraska. The coolest thing about going to a game in Lincoln is that their stadium is downtown and all their bars are right there. like with michigan it's not you got to walk a little bit to get to the big house because it's out on the you know it's a little bit further away from campus and all the bars nebraska is a great place so it's a great place to catch a game i'm very excited i was there in 21 when uh when adrian martinez so nicely gifted us that win. So, and they're the nicest fans in the world too. Like they, you know, hey, safe travels, great game.

That's how they are. I mean, it's real. Like that's truly how they are. Like it's kind of weird, but they're very nice. I loved what Mikey Sanders said about Nebraska. He said it's the loudest place they play. He said it's louder than Penn State. He said the one thing that's different about Nebraska. He said it's the loudest place they play. He said it's louder than Penn State. He said the one thing that's different about Nebraska than everyone else they play is that the stadium noise doesn't change whether they're up 20 or down 20. They stay at it the

whole game. He said it's a fun atmosphere to be there. He said he's been there when, you know, they've had some close games and they've been there where Michigan's beat them pretty bad. And he said it seems like they never stop. So they have one of the most impressive fan bases in the country. I mean, they've had a rough go at it for the last 15, 20 years, it seems like they never stop. So they have one of the most impressive fan bases in the country. I mean, they've had a rough go at it for the last 15, 20 years, it seems like. And, you know, the fact that their fans are still so faithful and still show up and are so loud and are so eager to cheer for the Cornhuskers is impressive.

It is, man. And, yeah, I was there in 21. That was the loudest environment I've ever been a part of. And, of course, again, I'm 6'5". I'm wearing Mays. I wish I was anywhere else when Cade McNamara threw a pick, and they go up – I think they go up 22-19 going into the fourth quarter, and I'm just like, this is terrible.

I wish I was not here. But the boys end up pulling through, kick the game winning field goal, money moody, and the rest is history that season. So hopefully get another win in Lincoln, win another Big Ten championship here in 23. But, you know, looking forward to some more football this weekend, man. And the Lions coming up, short week, because the Packers. So got a lot of good football this weekend, man.

I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be a fun week. It's going to be kind of a week Big Ten slate, so we can put all our energy towards Michigan this Saturday. Absolutely. Absolutely. All right, Brian, well, thank you. Listeners, thank you guys so much for tuning in, energy towards Michigan this Saturday. Absolutely. Absolutely. All right, Brian. Well, thank you, listeners.

Thank you guys so much for tuning in, and we'll catch you next time. Go Blue! Go Blue!