Blue By Ninety - Blue By The Numbers: Impressive Response From Michigan Football

Episode Date: October 22, 2025

Brian and Tanner recap Michigan's impressive response to its worst loss of the year.

All right, welcome back to Blue by the Numbers, presented by Feldman Chevrolet of Highland. Middle of the week here, Brian, and Michigan's coming off a kind of resounding win over Washington. Vibes are better, much better, and it was an impressive bounceback. I mean, I was pretty negative. You were trying to be even keeled. You know, but kudos to the staff, the players, everyone associated with the program to come back. And again, I mean, that's a pretty good Washington team. and they basically did the exact same thing

than Ohio State did to them. Yeah, they looked, I mean, that game could have been so much worse. I mean, we'll get into it. But, I mean, a couple of, you know, not taking advantage of things deep in their end zone, missing a, you know, not converting on fourth down, missing the field goal,

a couple other missed opportunities. That could have been a lot worse. Yeah, it was one of those games where similar to Wisconsin, right, when you look at the drive charts, Michigan move the ball pretty easily all day outside of a couple of drives. And what is it with? the first drive is there something you know two weeks in a row three and out obviously turned it

around this week a lot better than they did against USC but it's just I don't I mean Bryce misses on the first play you know and then you go three and out I don't know what's going on with that scripted drive well and two weeks in a row where they come out throwing you know what I mean it's like you know it's funny is if it works right you're everyone's like hey they didn't just run in first now run run fast you know but when it doesn't work it's like you know remember who we are like stay ahead of the chains stay you know stay on schedule and um you know that's not a recipe for a young quarterback to have success so i would bet a fair amount of money they come out running in east lansing it will be interesting their defense is not very good um and i think

especially against the pass so we're going to see how they how they try to counteract michigan uh who's been pretty balanced for most of the year but i thought i think everyone's kind of said this but i thought this was Bryce Underwood's best game. Easily. You know, the Wisconsin game was really good. I think this was a step above. Just some of the throws he made. And when I...

Precisely. Yes. And to that point, when I'm in the stadium, you know, when you're on TV, you may not see some of this. I may cut the replays or show whatever shots at the stadium. But when you're at the stadium, you can just watch.

He just looks so in command of the huddle, of the situation. Like, it's hard to believe that this is his seventh game. in college, but he's just more, to your point, more decisive, not only in the decision-making during plays, but he just is, he's much quicker, getting guys moved around, letting them know what the play is or the formation is when they're trying to go tempo.

And it's just really impressive to see from an 18-year-old quarterback. I mean, we keep talking about his age, but literally, you know, two months ago, he was 17. Like, this kid is just different. And no doubt. And I think, you know, I thought Chip Lindsay called a heck of a game. I thought, you know, anyone that's watched our shows this year, I've been every week been saying, we need to get the tight ends more involved. We need the tight ends more involved. So no one was more

pleased to see the tight ends get involved this week. You know, shout out to Chip Lindsay because we've had so many moving parts on offense, who's reliable at the skill positions, who's healthy, you know, to kind of put a game plan together that can work with all the different moving parts there. You know, shout out to him. And I think the growing process isn't just a, Bryce Underwood growing process. It's a Chip Lindsay growing process and the two of them and finding what works with all these new pieces kind of process. And I like what I was seeing last week. You know what I mean? They looked really good. And I thought it was one of the more dynamic play calls. We'll get into it later. But the touchdown of Zach Marshall is one of the

cooler designed plays. I've seen Michigan run in the last few years. That was such a smart design. If he doesn't hit Marshall, he's got, I don't remember if it was Jasper Parker, I think it was or Jordan Marshall in the flat either one of those was pick your poison they emptied out that zone and the safety lineback whoever was left there had to pick their poison and he'd had either one for a touchdown so it was a really good play design so I like how that's growing you know what I mean and I want to see progression like I you know I think the fear with a young quarterback really with any team but particularly with a young young quarterback with a first year OC in the program is you know that fallback that slippage of where you kind of take a step back and I think

we're all hoping and seeing that, you know, it moving on an upward trajectory, but that's, you know, that's going to be there until they can string together a few games and look good. Yeah, well, the tight ends, you know, eight catches combined 110 yards. Those are your third and fourth tight ends. I mean, Zach Marshall, early in the season, you kind of see him get some run and you're just not seeing it. And then he has an explosive day, you know, in particular, he had five for 72 in a touchdown.

And blocks his ass off. I mean, he's, he tried so hard all the time. I don't know what his ceiling is, right, compared to some of these other guys, but you just love the motor, you love the effort. I mean, he had a heck of a performance, right? Like, he was one of the best players on the field on Saturday. Yeah, he made some nice plays. And the thing about Zach Marshall that I've noticed since he was a freshman,

I've been to a lot of games over the last, you know, handful of years, at the big house, on the road, at Lucas Oil, wherever, been to a playoff game. But when I see Zach Marshall, even as a true freshman on that 2023 team, that's loaded with leaders and, you know, upperclassmen. And this is obviously a little bit different because you're not coming over and pumping up the sideline when you're playing the game because you're focusing on some other things. But, like, he was just always so engaged. He's, you know, he's hyping up the crowd.

And I know that's a small thing, but he's just a kid who seems like certainly could have gone to the portal, right? Didn't play his first two years behind Marlon Klein, Hogan Hansen. Brady Priestcorn came in as a very highly touted kid in 2024, who's still, I think, probably working through some injury stuff after last year. So he easily could have transferred, but he stuck around. He seems like just a Michigan kind of guy. I think you've seen a lot of that on this roster.

And the portal is going to get everybody. But I think one thing I'll credit Sharon on in that aspect is just there hasn't been, there's been more guys that I've noticed that have stuck around. And that builds culture and that helps kind of keep it where it was. And I know we questioned that a little bit, or at least I did last week. But credit to Sharon just kind of on a grander scale of last. week like you know i thought the the work shirt was a little corny and it probably was but you know what it sent a message to his team and they fed off of that and i don't know if they showed

it on the on the tv copy brian but sharon was fired up man i mean oh yeah i saw a couple but even even in moments during the game like he is i mean i was in section 16 which is the southwest corner of the stadium so i'm i'm still on the TV broadcast side, but I'm a little angled, and I actually love the view. But, man, he was down to, like, the 20-yard line of where I was said. Like, just, like, on a big third down. And obviously, he's an offensive guy, so he doesn't need to be as involved in the defensive side of things.

So he's getting a stadium fired up. And just kind of love that bounce back and, you know, the emotion. And following a game where they looked really flat. And we, I said it, I'm sure other people said it, but a game where you probably needed to bring your own energy, they did exactly that. They were fired up from the get-go. and it took a little bit. The Big House was a little sleepy, as I predicted.

Key third down in the game. Don't remember when, Brian, but there's people behind me. I'm, like, standing up and they're on their phones. And I'm like, dude, you have enough time to check your phone in the hour plus of commercial breaks. Let's, you know, let's make some noise here. So, but it did get, you know, it did get a little louder. And, yeah, I thought, again, the team, I think the crowd fed off the team's energy. So I just think it was really great to see them.

kind of bounce back. And just back to the field stuff, man, Bryce made some throws again. He made some big time plays. And I just like, I was so impressed again, just the total package. I mean, to come in as a true freshman and really earn the respect to your team and take command of the huddle is difficult. But man, just, you know, we talked to Chad Henney. I didn't talk to jet any but i was i was producing the podcast that he joins with uh with chris warmly and jordan's track and um kind of you know he talked about his experience coming in starting as a true freshman you know really just a guy that's willing to compete and uh just wants to win and i think bryce has that same those same kind of attributes and i think that definitely helps when you're a younger guy you know

you're the face of the program right now i mean it's just so efficient 21 of 27 and we know three drops we'll talk about some of the drops and uh you know you had the tip ball one tip ball i mean 21 and 27, I mean, that's, that's NFL level, you know, and he threw for, you know, eight and a half yards a clip. That's not great, but it's, you know, nothing to shake you stick at. You know what I mean? And so, and I thought the couple times he decided to run, he was decisive. You know, the one at the goal line that cost us points at the end, you know, it wasn't the best decision. I don't know if that was a mix-up and a mishandled ball or something, but I think Jordan Marshall makes it, you know, second one instead of second eight.

Well, and then on the second day, well, I think it was on the first time because then on the second down, Marshall does go back and get to the line of scrimmage. Right. It's not five yards. Yeah. But yeah, he just, Bryce looked really, really good. I mean, again, like I was saying a little bit earlier, is you hope that trajectory keeps going up because the needles pointed way up.

He looks so good, so complies, so decisive, accurate. I mean, all the things you wouldn't describe a quarterback with. and again he always looks composed he never looks rattled he never looks you know never looks like we have alignment issues it never looks like we have problems getting up the ball and getting a playoff like all those things matter and uh you know he's been you know everything that we hope for uh you know if the team was a little better he'd be getting more national praise but uh you know he keeps getting better and i really hope that we all these next he's you know the schedule sets up in theory for him to really kind of hone in things

and have some monster performances and get some guys some rest these next few weeks you know other plays out that way and the team keeps ascending and improving that's that's we all hope for but yeah he's been fantastic so far yeah it's and it's going to be interesting because on the road i mean it's not like he's been horrible but there have been struggles definitely um just the if you look at the road splits versus the home splits i mean it's been but they're toughest games have been on the road that's right against Oklahoma against USC. So, and, you know, the USC game, this game was really an inverse of that because Michigan

had the ball for 38 minutes. They really dominated the time of possession. And to your point about one thing I wanted to say on his yards per attempt, like, I think in the context of what this offense is right now, it's actually pretty good, right? Like, you want to be at like 10 yards in attempt. That's a pretty good level. I think JJ was maybe at 11. But in terms of what they're asking him to do, they're not really taking any deep shots.

They're not going down the field. and I actually think that's going to be a good thing for his development because he's defenses in college specifically and wink finally came around on this again for like the third time we've gone back and forth between 50% blitz and now just kind of sitting back but in college you kind of just you really want to make a college quarterback beat you down the field consistently multiple times game right like you got to force him into mistakes that's what Michigan did this game and imamon williams through three picks so him you know learning to be able to go down the field and have to put together, you know, 8, 10, 12 play drives to

score. I think it's going to be good for his development because hopefully his sophomore junior year, there are the big play threats in the receiver room that you are able to kind of open it up, take some shots that'll open everything else. So, but yeah, I thought Bryce was great. Jordan Marshall again, not really a breakout game from Jordan Marshall because we've seen it as the feature back in the bowl game, but, you know, he was, dude, like, how many times did he go down to the first tackle. I don't know if there's a stat. Not often. But yeah, not often. Yeah, so

25 for a buck 33 and a touchdown. I think, was his longest the touchdown run? I mean, that's a really, really consistent day. His longest run of the day was 14 yards. That was the touchdown. Yeah. Which, to your point about Chip Lindsay, they've done on that, so on that,

I want to go back to that touchdown to Zach Marshall, they had run the end around little flip behind Bryce like three times and got in Washington. And so when they showed that again the entire defense flows left and Zach Marshall's wide open you've seen chip kind of play off of things so Jordan Marshall's touchdown is a trap and so it's just wide open and you love to see that from Chip Lindsay I think things you didn't see last year they're actually playing off of the things they do well and then get the defense in conflict and

that's how you create bust and that's how you get easy touchdowns so but yeah long of 14 25 carries for 133 yards 5.3 in attempt that's a pretty efficient day. And I feel like he's the type of runner that needs volume. You know what I'm saying? Like I feel like they are so different because, you know, Justice Haynes has all these, you know, he's got 275-yard touchdowns, a couple 50-yard touchdowns. He's the explosive guy, but seems like Marshall, like when he plays small amounts of, get small amount of snaps and attempts, you know, he doesn't make the impact because he's kind of a plotter and he's, you know, which is what Michigan has had success is the style of running back that Michigan has had.

he reminds you of. I said, I think he reminds me at Debian Smith. I think, I don't think, I don't think, I don't think, I think they're very similar in terms of their output, not necessarily their exact running styles. I think he's got an extra gear compared to Deveon. Like, it's not a hand's level. Yeah, no. It's like 23 quorum. Maybe it's, it's probably, I don't think Blake was as fast, uh, later in his career. No, he definitely was. I'm just saying, I don't think Jordan Marshall is as good as Blake was that year, but I mean, yeah, I mean, yeah. You see the leg drive, though. You see the two-yard rush turn into six or seven. I mean, multiple times he just drove the pile. He had a play where it wasn't as maybe difficult as some of the ones we've seen Blake do, but he gets turned around and he keeps pushing backwards and gets the first down on a third and two. There's aspects of Coram's game.

And I think I've read that, I've thought that watching his high school film that was very Coram-esque. Now, he's not Blake Corum. Blake Corum is arguably the greatest running back in the history of Michigan football. but there are some components to his game and just kind of eking out difficult yardage to set you up on, you know, second and four instead of second and seven. Like, that's a big difference, especially with a freshman quarterback. So his, you know, being able to come in and take kind of the load that he did on Saturday

was really impressive with Haynes out. And I think that shows a lot, too, because Haynes was, you know, he went through warmups. He was dressed, but I think they felt comfortable enough. And they've seen enough from Jordan Marshall. We know what he can do. He's still going to continue to get better. But I thought it was a great day from him. And, man, he got a lot of extra.

I don't know if there's any PFF advanced stats of like, I don't know what his yards after contact was, but it's got to be high. No, yeah, he was great. You know, just think of that game where, I mean, he was great. And I wouldn't want to take him out of the game plan per se. But, you know, imagine a few explosives from Justice Haynes in that game plan. I mean, you know, and so if he's truly, I mean, he's obviously hurt,

not truly, but I hope it's not a Will Johnson situation. I've heard see people speculate where he was like a game time decision and just never played again. I hope it's not that. I don't think it's that. But I hope they get him healthy because he's just such an explosive difference maker. You give him, you know, just a little bit of a crease, and he's gone. So, you know, the combination of those two is really good.

And I said last week when we were doing this, I said, you know, I don't see Bryson Kuzdaal out there getting those second string steps if this happens. I want to see Jasper Parker, and the little bit we got from him, six carries, he looked solid. I mean, he was in, you know, he got those carries late in games that everyone on the field knows they're running, turning out the clock, so you're not looking to get big explosives there. I think he did get an earful, the one opportunity he had on third, you know, the drive that

where they were at the end of the game, you know, he runs the sideline and runs out of bounds and head ball coach gave him a whole lot of grief. Like, hey, buddy, you're not in there to run out of bounds. You know what I mean? One, from a clock management. at standpoint. Plus, it's third down. You put your head down and try to get every inch to get there. Because if he gets a little closer, maybe they go for it. I mean, they probably don't go for it just because of like sort of the ethics of coaches, you know,

that late in a game and a game that's already over. But, you know, he's, he looks good. I like what we see having him. Well, you know, just looking ahead, I don't know if you saw Savian Heider's stats. Oh, God. Six touchdowns like almost 300 yards. So a man amongst boys out there. And Virginia is pretty good football. I don't know much about his school's classification, but Future is very bright at the running back room. And even going back to Jordan Marshall, like, you know, I don't know, I mean, Nebraska's rush defense is not very good.

But we did see some, you know, a little bit of explosive from him in that game. So he's got that in him, right? But he's first and foremost, a contact runner and going to pick up tough yardage. So early in the game, Evan DeLink goes down, who's been your starting to tackle all season and you hate to see it. But it seems like reports are kind of indicating that he might actually be, okay to come back later in the season. It may not be as bad as feared,

which would have been an ACL or something similar. But Blake Frazier came in. Now, everyone keeps talking about no allowed pass rushes. He got bulled over on Bryce's Bramble, but I thought he held his own. And he's another, like, man, this offensive line room, like, I think Sharon has especially done a great job of rebuilding this room back up.

Because, like, look at the guys they had to throw out there last year. It wasn't great. And look at the young guys this year. I mean, you got Sprague at right tackle. You got Gornera. Now you got Frasier, and even Link was a third-year guy. So you've got three redshirt freshmen with Crippin and Al-Hadi. I thought this was a stereotypical boa constrictor game like Joel Klatt likes to kind of compare Michigan to,

and they just leaned on them and leaned on them and it finally kind of the damn broke and were able to get some runs late in the game. and then they were just able to put it away. Like it reminds me, it really reminded me, and same with the Wisconsin game, but it reminded me of the 2023 Rutgers game where Michigan, I think, had like an eight-minute drive to end the game,

up 3,1-7. So, you know, Michigan at that point, you know, it was a little bit better in terms of finishing drives with J.J. McCarthy at quarterback, but just similar where they kind of leaned on them. I thought the offensive line did a great job. You know, when Bryce did have pressure,

he's starting to feel a little bit better. He can get out and move and look to run or throw. But I thought the old line held up great, even with the injury. Yeah, I thought that, I mean, well said. Like, I think there's so much youth on that offensive line. And, you know, I look at finishing out this year as strong as we can. But, you know, the people that, the negative Nellie's out there, the offensive line is all, I mean, we have Crippin and Al Hadi, but, you know, so many young guys.

And then we have the two five stars that are kind of waiting their wings, really good recruiting class coming in. like there's a lot of youth there and then these young receivers i mean you know andrew marsh is just dynamic i mean i want to catch and just he just seems really reliable uh and a big play guy and the more that they get comfortable there i mean that just adds an element to this defense or in this offense rather uh that is really exciting yeah yeah i think i think yeah you mean we're not even seeing babelola and and i think there's probably a lot of people who thought he might have he might have been the starter just flat out it's what's the starter

He was, I mean, he was, he was the starter. He was battling. He hadn't won the job, but he was battling. I think he would have been the starter at this point, at least. You have Ty Haywood. You have Strayhorn, who's going to be a center. And Gornera is going to be the center of the future. So Strayhorn, as he develops, might be able to play corn.

Or the Boreenara, Ed Card, you know? Yeah, absolutely, depending on what happens, you know, next year. But to your point, this team, it's very young. Defensively, it's a little bit more veteran, and they're going to lose some guys. But, like, when you look at the offensive line, This is where you set yourself up because you have, I mean, you have a redshirt sophomore and Evan Link who I think if they have the tackles can play guard and be a mauler. Like what's the one thing Evan Link is like a, like not just above average, but really good

at is the run game. I think he could be a guard. Potentially, he's a little taller, but, you know, could maybe, I think his pad level when he's run blocking is really, really good. You know, let's talk about that for one second, because I hear so many people say that. And, like, to me, you know, help me understand this better because to me, when I hear that, I think it's just because there are a bunch of big guys moving from guard to tackle and vice versa. It's not always the easiest thing.

No, it's not. I'm not pushing back. I'm sure asking the question is how does a guy that's played tackle pretty much his whole career at Michigan move to guard and people think, you know, you just said it, think, like, oh, yeah, he'd be a great guard. Why is that? So I think, well, you may not be able to pull him. him as much, right? But I think if you, I think the idea is that you want someone who, and the pass pro has been awful this year, but it's not like he's an elite pass pro guy. I think if you

had, you know, if you had Babelola and Sprague there, I think Link might be one of your best guys to get on the field just because I think he excels more in the run game. But yeah, to your point, I mean, you know, part of the athleticism is not just pass walking, but also being able to pull and they like to pull their guards a lot. So I just, you know, there's, you got to think there's a way to get them on the field and get your best five out there, you know, whether that's next year or whatever. I mean, you know, Keegan and Zintra were both monsters, like in terms of size. Those guys were both built like tackles.

But they're also super athletic. Right, right. But I'm just saying, like, the note, you know, it used to be your, your tackles were your six three, six four, and up guys, and your guards were the six foot, six one guy. We're more athletic and nimble. Now, you know, Zinter, you know, Kegu weren't big guys. And I think you're seeing a shift to that as these kids are more and more athletic. but I just, it's an interesting notion to me that you can just slide him over.

Yeah, I mean, it's not as easy as college football 26 makes it out to be on the video game. But I do think that there's something too like, you know, your guards don't have to be as good at pass pro because they're protected on both sides, right? And so that's kind of the one negative with Evan Link, especially last year. It's gotten better this year, but I think that was upside as a past pro, I mean, future first round pick all written all over him, right? so he comes back healthy like i mean you know link could again and links to 30er guys so offensive linemen so my point is there's just so much potential with his offensive line and then you have you know maybe out of you know coming out of the season you're like all right we got you know three or four guys slot it in and maybe we want to go get one of the portal

we can spend a little bit more right now center i think's going to be locked up unless they go find a o lu or a new gent that's laying out there in the portal um going into 2026 but then you just have a little bit more flexibility with how you decide to spend. So I think offensive line is the one position group where you can't just go full portal, but you can plug a guy in, you know. So I just think they're setting themselves up for a lot of success moving forward just because of how they've recruited and developed that position over the last, you know, year and a half since Sharon took over. Well, and the fact that I think, you know, they went to the portal and got Brady Norton and

Lawrence Hatter. Yeah. Veteran guys have played a lot of snaps. I think it says a lot. you know, on both sides. I think there's a lot about the development of the young guys because I think as a program builder, you'd much rather have these freshman and sophomore eligibility guys playing

than, you know, I think Norton is only as juniors. He had two years. He has two years, but still the idea of these higher ceiling guys coming in and winning the job speak, you know. Well, you still got a phobia, right? Like, you've got a lot of guys now. We'll see what happens after the season. But, yeah, Future is bright at that position.

We kind of touched on the side ends. we've talked a little bit about Andrew Marsh. He had another great game. Donovan McColley played well. I mean, just, I think Bryce completed a pass to seven different players. I think six players had at least two or more exceptions, and a few guys had at least three or more. So Marshall and Marsh had five catches apiece,

so they were spreading the wealth a little bit. And yeah, man, I thought it was a good game from them. There was a couple drops, the obvious one. do we do we it's so frustrating because you know uh in that situation i screamed so lot when he dropped that pass fourth down was right you know such a good play when he works though he just seems like a perfect guy for chip lindsay's offense like he had some really nice plays that people you know when you're frustrated with a guy you're like i didn't see that that didn't happen but he had some really nice plays where he thought he made a couple guys miss

got a first down later in the game and third quarter it's but like man, we need, you know, for a young court, for anybody, that, you know, put the label of work with the young quarterback, you need to be reliable. You're a power five wide receiver in a school like Michigan. You can't be dropping passes routinely. But I do lie. I think, I can see why the staff sticks them. He's so, he is dynamic. You can't take that way. You can see it. He does have a different element. And we have all these big bodies. We march is a good size. McColley's really good. That guy's so reliable. I mean, he's. so solid. You know, he looked really good on the reverse. Like, he's dynamic and

versatile. You know, Cheney Goodwin hasn't turned out to be what we wanted. Jamar Browder is getting some looks about really getting in there. I think we're going to see with Tonnelli being so, such, so sure-handed. I mean, he looks like a, they said a he didn't have a job. He did, but he also made a really nice catch. Yes, he did. And so very good throw. You know, I mean, just we have those big bodies out there. I think we can do some really great things, particularly in the scheme that Chip's calling. He's calling these quick hitters. And so, you know, you have these big six, four, six five guys running down the seam. That's a pretty good recipe. Yeah. And those are some, those aren't easy throws. And I mean, I know the one to

Tenelli, he got, he got away from his body a little bit and had to go up and get it. But, you know, to your point, you are on scholarship and you are paid money through NIL to catch the ball. That's what, I mean, I heard it again. Again, I was at the game, but I heard it again. talking about how hard Bryce throws the ball. I didn't think the one to Samadge was throwing that hard at all. And then I saw some catch from Zach Marshall where Bryce fired that thing in there. But you want your quarterback to get the ball out. Arm strength is a plus.

You go to the NFL. Yes, they can layer the ball. And Bryce has shown that he can layer the ball as well. But it feels like the announcers are just like, oh, he's just throwing it 100 miles an hour. I don't see that because you know how hard he can rip that ball. Oh, yeah. So, I mean, you've seen some of the throws where he has to kind of,

where he gets outside the pocket a little bit and he's got to just fire. it from his arm like no no real rotation because he's on the run you see how hard he can throw that he's not putting everything on it um and you go to the NFL guess what if in those situations when you need to get the ball out and you're in tight windows that thing is fired in there oh yeah like you watch any any good NFL quarterback they're not like they're firing that sucker in there you know it's funny you you see his receivers because he does throw some in there so fast and these guys catch it you can tell they're used to work on because he just throws missiles that we haven't seen from many quarterbacks. And these guys, most of the guys make these catches

and you think, man, that was a good catch just by how the velocity of the ball coming at him. So it was, it's, it's, I mean, I'm just, like I said, yeah, the arm talent, going back to Bryce, I think the arm talent is something I'm going to see in Michigan. We can get away from, I'll talk about other positions. We just want to go back to Bryce, which is like, well, you know, he's kind of the, he's the first part of the offense, right? Like, he is what makes it all go. And the kid is tough, too. I don't know if we talked about it. When he rolled his ankle up at USC. I'm panicking, like, here we go. And I don't think you noticed that he was banged up. I mean, the kid is a gamer. Just, again, so impressive. So all around pretty good day from the

offense. That's that fourth quarter especially. I think it was 1-10 to negative 8 in yarders like 1330 on the time of possession for Michigan. They just did whatever they wanted in the second half especially. Once the interception from Cole Sullivan happened, and we'll talk about the defense now, but that was when the floodgates opened a little bit. I mean, it was, you know, they outscored him 17, nothing from that point on, but certainly could have been a lot worse. Michigan had a great four-minute drive at the end of the game to run out the clock when you know they're running.

So really impressive all around from Chip Lindsay, his staff, and the players. I think, you know, before we go to the defense, I think one person that deserves a huge shout out. I haven't heard his name much this whole season by anybody anywhere about Steve Kasula or tight-ins coach. I mean, we've had so many injuries at that position, so many different we've played different tight ends and they've all looked really solid and so you know sometimes your benefit you have colson level on your on your squad you think i'm a good tight ends

coach you know yeah we have a variety different guys that all kind of mean all the guys are pretty big and athletic but you know making it work with all these different guys jalen hoffman you know he's starting to play more uh you know he's he's kind of big number 42 is take on the max rule when you watch them out there he's making a difference he's hitting people like you know we've all love max but that guy's he makes plays he's he gets out to that second level and just never stops is that commercial they showed a couple of those clips of him blocking 15 yards down the field i mean you know they're not just making an impact in the passing game they're making a big impact in the running game too so shout out to coach casula he's doing a really good job

recruiting really well yes we are lucky to have him you think there's any tight ends out there that decommitted from michigan last year and decided to go to a program that no longer has a head coach that are regretting that decision particularly the inches we had that would have got a lot of Maybe their dad was meddling a little bit. Yeah, but Kassula's done a great job on the trail, you know, because a lot of it, tight ends coach, you're, you know, you're working on blocking. As a tight end, you're kind of split between, you know, working with the tight ends coach in the offensive line, but then, you know, running routes with the receivers coach.

So shout out to Ron Bellamy. I know Michigan fans have been extremely harsh, but I think he's recruited really well the last couple of years. And now you're going to see how good of a recruiter he can be. because it's like, hey, we are doing what we said we're going to do. So in the portal, I think they're probably done in high school recruiting for this class. But in the portal, I think that's going to make his pitch a little bit easier. Like, hey, we got this kid Bryce Underwood, if you've heard of him.

And he can throw the football and you just catch the ball and make plays. So it would be interesting. But yeah, shout out to Ron Bellamy. I know Eric Soup Campbell as well is on the staff and helping with the receivers. So just the development from Marsh from week one where he's not looking for a ball on a play designed for him to now making these one-handed catches and, you know, he's getting upfield after catching the ball, even if he's, you know, if the screen or whatever, like he's just looks more comfortable and does become, you know,

I think him and McColley are 1A-1B at this point from, I mean, I think McColley's probably better contest a catch guy, but Marsh has really proven himself as a guy that can be a go-to receiver. I completely agree. I think they're, the more comfort they get, I think they're one-on-one B. I agree. You know, much like, you know, the team we're facing this week and Michigan State, you know, as much as fans like Nick Marsh, he's dynamic and he's a really good player.

Is that Omari Callie? Am I saying that? I think I'm saying that right in Marry Kelly. He gets just as many looks. He's a really good receiver. I mean, they got a one-two punch there that, you know, if you look at reps and targets, they're kind of one and one B. So I think that's similar. Yeah. Yeah. So defensively, uh, pretty dominant. I mean, I was a little, and I, you know, it's funny, I was a little annoyed at the end of half because that's the fourth time this season. and they've given up a touchdown with under one minute to go in the half. Happening against Oklahoma, Nebraska, with no time left, against USC and now Washington. But to their credit, to Wink's credit, they were dominant in the second half.

I mean, I think they had like 80-some yards in the second half. They had negative eight yards. It was the most dominant site, like lopsided box score you could imagine the second half. Yeah, it was like 22, 23 Michigan, right? Like that's what it looked like. Guys are making plays all over the place. Derek Moore. Again, though, man, I think they had 56 offensive snaps. He played 32. That's a better ratio than the USC game. But man, I'd like to get him out there for six to eight more snaps.

He just is, I mean, I'm trying to think of who, he's having a Josiah Stewart year, I guess. He was the highest, he was, excuse me, sorry, he was the highest graded PFF player on defense in the country this week he had a great great game he was all over the place yeah the snap ratio we've talked about that a little bit i think if you watch the tape you know again those last two drives we went youth so it was all dominic marshall was all mate dominic nichols Nate marshall on the back end i mean some of those plays it was jordan young dots and jacob odin it was like we just went everybody young and you're like man you're kind of rolling the dice there but well up 24 what was it 20 it was It's 24-7 at that point, I'm totally fine with that, right?

Like, get them out of the game, get Bryce out, get everybody out at that point, right? You're up that much. Make them drive 75 yards in four minutes and try to burn some clock off. I mean, if you went 2414, then who cares? So I'm definitely on board with it there. But, yeah, I mean, in these crucial moments, like, I want Derek Moore, J. Sean Barham, T.J. Guy. Like, I want them on the field. But I will say, Cam Brand, I thought flashed.

Should have had a sack. Don't try to throw a mobile quarterback to the ground That's never really going to end up well for you But I thought that was one of his better games In addition, you know, bar in him is like an enigma He, you know, when you watch it closely, He was a step away at least four times And probably five or six, but like, you know,

this close to just crushing Williams. And so, you know, I think he's going to get a couple hits on Childs this week that are going to be severe. But at the same time, he, his gap responsibility in the run game, like, he just, you know, it's like, and it seemed like he cleaned that up in the second half. I mean, the whole defense seemed to clean up, whether it was scheme or just gap responsibility, I don't know what it was. He was much tighter in the second half, but in that first half and the last few games, I mean, these outside runs that when you rewatch, it's like, come on, dude. Like, you know, part of that, part of the responsibility of being out there on the edge is getting the

quarterback, but also not letting guys get outside you and letting, you know, flowing things back to the defense. And so he gets so consumed with getting after the quarterback that I think he loses, I don't think. It's obvious by watching that he gets, you know, kind of discombobulated and not out of place out there. But if he cleans that up, you know, I think this defense is the ceiling just continues strong eyes. But yeah, Derek Moore was played his best game as a Wolverine, I thought. Yeah, he was, he was dominant, you know, that's a, I mean, trying to block him with a tight end um i think i think and i and it sounds like that tight end's okay that got hurt early in the game that that wasn't like moving that was a really scary that was scary quitting more i think he's

and and so they i did look it up and and you know i was checking i'm like is he okay and it's got you know he's got feeling move all the extremities so wishing for speedy recovery there i don't know what happened on that plant but i i was um when i was looking at some of the washington stuff he's typically the guy that would be in there at tight end because he's a bigger body that would try to block a defensive end. I don't know how much of a difference it would have made, but I could tell you the tight end they had out there, trying to block Derek Moore on a fourth and three

with the game on the line is absolutely. If I was a Washington fan, I would be beside myself. Some of those schemes that we would be losing our mind about, right? Yeah, it's one thing to chip a tight end. We see that a lot to Aidan Hutchison in the NFL, but to just go straight up one-on-one. And he just blows by him, gets the force fumble. Two-sack day for him with a force fumble.

Yeah, very, very dominant from Dimo, which is great to see. We know he's one of the leaders, captain on the team. So I was really impressed with Derek Moore and, you know, kind of what you expected when he came into Michigan. He's had a lot of flashes, a lot of great plays, been a part of a lot of great teams made in big moments, has made plays. But, you know, really now as a senior kind of coming out. And again, it's similar to Josiah Stewart last year, similar to, you know, not the same player, but like Mike Morris had a really good year as a senior, like guys that waited their time and played a lot. But now we're kind of the main star on the

defensive line he's he's really making it worthwhile so um great to see from him about the defensive line again i just you know i would be curious to know like what percentage of washington's yardage came on like a couple plays right they had that deep shot that the that zeke berry got turned around on mason curtis is trailing and it gets completed um that led to the misfield goal i believe on that drive. They had after Derek Moore's first deck, they threw like a, it was a just, I don't know if you can, I mean, it was just a great throw from DeMond Williams right before their touchdown. Yeah, I mean, it was, it was a truly dominant performance. And I think just goes to show where Michigan fans get frustrated about the defenses, because if you just play base

defense and blitz, he blitz 20% of the time this game. And look what happened. You know who I thought had a really good game. It doesn't show up in the box score. It doesn't show up with a PFF grade. But if you watch, I've watched the cutups twice now after the game. And almost every big play that we made on defense, you know, who's right there was Enau, at a, like, in terms of, you know, I wouldn't pretend to know what the responsibilities of everyone along the front are. But it seemed like, you know, whatever it was, he was doing things to free up the guys to make plays. And so, you know, when they watched the tape as a unit, I'm sure the guys that made the highlight real all went over and patted him on the back and said, thanks for your help, buddy. Because he was,

he just kind of ate up space and he was, he was around a lot of the big plays that defense made. So good for him because a highly recruited guy that's taking a little bit longer to get on the field, taking a little bit longer to make an impact. So you can't help but root for those guys, because some of those guys just transfer and go somewhere else. He's kind of stuck it out, and he's in year three. And I thought, you know, he had a really, really nice game. You know, the whole front had a nice push. I mean, Jonah Coleman was, what, the number two or three leading rusher in the Big Ten. And, you know, he was had a relatively quiet day. You know, he made more impact on those little screen and slip out passes than he did in the

actual run game. What did he have? He had 50 yards rushing. 16 carries, 50 yards, 3.1 yards of carry. I mean, and the one touchdown they scored, I'm sorry, but was aided by T.J. Metcalf got turned around. I mean, he was going to catch him, the defender grabbed him by the shoulder pads, turned him around like 270. And they didn't call it. It's like, oh, my gosh. Well, the play before jayshon got held uh oh my gosh going to the pylon right right so i mean no whatever i mean i'm not a conspiracy theorist but man it's a little lopsided these days i wonder if there's some from an organization that doesn't like michigan right now uh was it park or fleming or one of those stats guys that are on twitter that put on just you know as a dad a guy i love it showed a graph it was a bar

left to right of uh penalty yards and teams helped the penalties hurts and michigan was as far I think there was one other team as far to the right, which is not where you want to be of in this graph of any team in the country. It is weird, right? Like a team with a pretty good pass rush, right? Some good pass rushers. You don't get many holds. The first hold of the season called against Michigan's opponents came against USC.

We're like halfway through the year. Like it just is a little weird, man. I don't know. Like against Nebraska, you have seven sacks. There's not one hold. I mean, that's a good barometer. Like, you're getting after the quarterback. You're bringing that, yeah.

You think an offensive lineman is going to just not try to hold and get away with it? Like, you know, so. I don't know if they did. It's an interesting talking point. But, you know what? Another guy that I thought had a good game. Jimmy Rolder? Not the guy thought you were going to say, but he didn't have another game.

Well, just you talked about guys who could have left. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Right. Same with Ike. You know, I mean, he only has 10 snaps. but like you just look all over this and yeah there's some guys they brought in um you know some transfers they brought in but there's so many guys that have been here for so long guys that have

been on the 23 national championship team and and and just you know seeing them get to play and play at a high level i thought i thought jimmy had a great bounce back after the USC game was and that might have been scheme stuff right as hard as we've been on wink that may not have been jimmy roller's fault because he played well this game um ernest houseman had a really good game he made some big time individual plays that that tackle for loss on that option play that DeMont Williams had pulled. I mean, that was, that was open. Like, they had one defender to the left side, and there was a receiver out there, and he makes a great play. I think he tackled it by his shirt.

You were at the game, so you didn't see this, and I don't know if anyone listening caught this, but Gus Johnson was on the call, and he called him a couple of times, Ernie Hausman. I follow, read all kinds of stuff about this program. I've never heard anyone that he'd call him Ernie, and Gus referred to it like it was his name a couple times, and I thought, or wasn't Gus, who was like, who was the role? Yeah, it was Gus called him Ernie Hausman a couple of times. Maybe maybe that's what his name is home. I don't know.

Maybe him and Gus are really tight. Hey, Gus is a Detroit guy, you know, he's a Michigan guy, even though people think he hates Michigan. He does not guys. He probably overcorrects. His dog's name is Bo after Bo shun him back on. Yeah, he does not hate Michigan. I don't know how people, I mean, I know, I will say, just on an off subject here, last year, the Ohio State game, when he lost his voice on.

on Jack Sawyer's interception. One, it was annoying because it happened against my team, and I was like, that should have been a touchdown. I had no problem with that. He was, I love it. But it was just so over the top. I was like, all right, Gus, that's a bit much. Like, losing your voice. But I love Gus Johnson and

all the things he brings to a broadcast. I haven't got to, I haven't listened to him this year. We have any road games that he's been on. I've been every home game this year. So, but yeah, Cole Solvin, by the way. I mean,

he leads the conference interceptions. I mean, he's just a big play waiting to happen. He has so much range. I mean, you know, he's playing behind two very veteran guys and still making a huge impact. I mean, he played half the snaps that Rolder and Housman made, and you think about

impact. And we've already said that Housman and Rolder played new games. But he's using of impact playing half the amount of snaps that those two guys played. I mean, he just shows up and that's been the case all season. I mean, it seems like we have a Cole Sullivan highlight. was he at four interceptions this year he's got a few couple stack yeah um is it three yeah okay he just makes big place you know and uh i mean he's got star written all over him you know i said

i said it last week he's i think he needs to put on about 15 pounds to really be a every downline backer but uh and he still you know some of the run fits he sometimes gets the wrong spots but just a big play guy i mean that's have we heard anything about houseman is his injury because you know he missed the last part of that game of the injury. It looked kind of near. No, I think I saw that it wasn't that serious. I don't really. Does that mean not serious?

He's back in a couple weeks, or he's going to play? I was happy to see him standing on the sidelines. Like so many times, you know, because it looked like initially, like, oh, boy, he's done for the season. I'm like, he's done for the season. It looked bad. Yeah, I do not know. I probably saw, maybe it was on two, four, six. that he's going to be okay, but I don't want to speak out of turns.

I don't know exactly where I read it. I don't want to give out premium information on our podcast, obviously. But I'm hoping he's going to be okay. I mean, he walked off. He was just kind of more pissed, I think, than anything. And, you know, he's going to want to play in this game Saturday. So, but, yeah, I mean, secondary, I thought, you know, it's interesting to look at the grading because, you know,

I thought, I mean, Jeyer had the drop pick, but, like, I don't, I know. I know you know he wanted that one back. He was pissed himself, but that would have been a touchdown. But I don't remember him ever really getting targeted at all. And Zeke Berry also had some really great PbUs, and they both come into 65 now. That's above average for PFF. So it's not a bad grading by any stretch. But I thought they played really well. You know what's interesting, though, and I'll let you talk about the cornerbacks if you want, but just looking at safety, I didn't realize Jaden Mangum played 43 snaps. He's played a bunch of. last week he played it is almost 69 like had a good grading from pf i don't remember him and that's

for a safety i'm cool with not remembering safeties yeah right for sure yeah i did not see him out there that much yeah i was so surprised that he was you know played more snaps than most of the guys in the team like he was he played a bunch and like you said i did not see him out there a few more than a few times i have to imagine you know they're going to give him a lot of opportunity this week against his old squad. But yeah, I think the secondary is improving, right? And, you know, they're getting the young guys out there. Shamar Earls and Jaden Sanders both play. That's the future at the position for us. And they both were out there playing a bunch of snaps and looking good. Elijah Dotson is a dynamic athlete, Jordan Young. You know, some of the young guys are getting out there.

Jacob Oden gets the luckiest interception in the history of Michigan football. Good for him. But it was like. That was when I knew it was time to go. I've seen all that I was going to see that day, Brian. I saw that and I said, you know what? I'm going to get on out of here because there was about three minutes left and it was about to start raining. I was like, you know, that's my cue. But that was maybe the funniest thing because it was the same exact, like it was the same exact scenario as the completion they had in the first quarter. And what's Desmond?

What's that? That's up Boston. Yeah. I thought it might have been the other. guy. Did they have a receiver named Desmond Roebuck? Is that a real name? Okay, I think it was him. I don't know who caught the one, but this one, it was the same thing. Like the secondary got lost, the ball kind of just dropped down. And in the first quarter, they made the play, this time just goes right through his hands and Gigabode and just got the, you know,

go play the lottery, buddy. Yeah, yeah, it was great. You know, it was interesting as we played the game against the dime, you know, one of the better offenses in the big 10 without either starting safety. You know, neither one of the guys were on the injury report. Rod Moore and Brandon Hillman, our two starting safeties, none of the injury report, neither dressed. So, you know, there's some, a lot of speculation about why that might be out there, but, you know, hopefully that's all resolved and we get those guys back because they're both. Well, was it precautionary for a guy like Rod Moore to play against Michigan State one last time, right?

Like something, you know, because the way the schedule sets up, you know, Michigan State this Saturday, you got Purdue at home, which is a night game, and then you go into a by week, And then you play a Northwestern team who is surprisingly five and two. They're scrappy. I mean, I can't take off a lot of them, but they're scrappy. Well, and David Braun, when he took over, they had a really scrappy year. And then last year was rough. But they're kind of back on track of being that scrappy Northwestern we know.

And, you know, I wouldn't say love because they've gotten Michigan a couple times, you know, in the late 90s. But, you know, back to a team that can be competitive at least with kind of the midpack of the Big Ten. And then you, so that's at Rigley, which. will be there. We'll be doing some stuff. We'll be talking about that leading into it. Very excited. You know, Brian, this will be my second time at Wrigley. Never seen a baseball game there. I've seen a concert. I've been a Michigan game. Never will have seen a baseball game yet. I've got to make a, priority. But they go to Maryland's. So, you know, you have two games.

Yeah, two of the best freshman quarterbacks in Maryland. Yeah. Yeah, two of the best freshman quarterbacks in the country. So, you know, you wish you could have got, wish you could get that USC one back. Still frustrating. But you're talking about going into the Ohio State game nine and two in the 12-team playoff era. Now when Michigan, Michigan multiple times has gone in, you know, during the Jim Harbor era, had went in either 10-1 or 9-and-2 into that game. And now you still have a chance if you can get through these next four,

stay healthy, continue to improve, continue to grow, get more snaps for the younger guys. They're going to be more prepared because they're going to have a full season under their belt come November 29th, right? Bryce Sar was essentially a sophomore at that point with in terms of games played. So you go into that game, we'll see what happens. But I think this thing kind of works out. And, you know, obviously these guys all want to play

against Michigan State. But, you know, you get to the buy week, get some guys healthy, get through the Purdue game. Purdue's probably the worst team of the Big Ten. I don't think that's really because the other teams. It's pretty bad Wisconsin. Yeah, yeah. Penn State. Penn State's down there now.

They just, it probably been a little unlucky. I mean, you know, they've obviously fired their coach, but they've lost games by, like, combined, like. They went out to meet with what, they lose by Ford at Oregon. Well, it was at home, but they, yeah, they lost overtime. So, yeah, man, it's, you know, they're a little unlucky. But either way, this sets up really nicely for Michigan. And we're going to see, man, it's going to be a fun one Saturday.

And, you know. Another night game. Another, yeah, that's what? That's the fourth straight night game in the series? We play Purdue. I mean, I mean, this season, I can't remember ever. I've been a long time. This big night games, where they play.

Mexico, Oklahoma, USC, Michigan State, Purdue. Washington was at noon. Washington was a noon. Yeah, that's five, at least right now. I think it's done, though, because after, I don't know when that kicks in, but teams can decline to play at night in November. So, but yeah, man, it's going to be a fun one.

I want to give a big shout out to Feldman Chevrolet of Highland. They had the 2,500 Silverado High Country out of the tailgate. Sticker was 67, but compared to some of the other, you know, the suburban such they bring. I mean, it was pretty nice. It was fully loaded with everything except for leather seats. And it was a beautiful, like, pewter color lifted. I'm okay, Brian. I'm not, you know, interest rates are terrible right now.

I'm not. But go, you know, need a new vehicle. Go to Feldman. I'm sure they can hook it up with the financing. I don't want to speak for them, obviously. And then a big shout out to Woodson Whiskey as well. Get a couple shots skis. Night game coming up now.

Night games are a little bit of a pain in the ass, Brian. But when you do the tailgate, you're not up at 6 in the morning. So you get to sleep in a little bit. You're a little more revitalized. And you get to hang out with your friends for longer before the game. I feel like for me, I feel like I've seen, I think state fans, are the most, you know, what was it, two years ago when Barnett was, you know, the interim so that that game, they were, you know, hopeful because they had a new interim for coach.

I can't remember a time in recent years that Michigan State's been this apathetic. Now, obviously, the fringe that every fan base has has been probably toxic out there. I haven't seen much of it. But, you know, I feel like this could be one of those games where, you know, there's a lot of Michigan fans in that stadium. I mean, there's always going to be because it's, you know, 34 mile per year. It was amazing. Yeah.

So I have to imagine that a lot of Michigan State fans are selling their tickets. So it'll be kind of a pseudo home game. Yeah. I mean, MSU. This always scares me, by the way. Like, we should be. I would pick them winning by, you know, two and a half, three touchdowns. But just history tells me this rivalry stuff, you know, particular the freshman quarterback,

probably knows, you know, his whole, everybody he knows will be at that game. He probably knows half the guys on their sideline. Like, there's just some good things happen, you know. Yeah. game. It's how long time. You know, so we're going to see, but it should be a fun one on Saturday night. I look forward to talking to you next week to recap that game. And got a parting words. No, just excited. Hopefully we're talking about Raising Paul Bunyan and, you know, healthy, really good. You know, what we talked about earlier is Chip Lindsay and Bryce kind of continuing to find their game.

That's what I'm hoping for. But it should be a great weekend fall football in Michigan is all the you could ever ask for absolutely well thank you again to feldman Chevrolet of highland to witson whiskey you got to try the maize and blitz very good uh but for us you can follow us on twitter facebook instagram blue by 90 check us out on blueby 90com and all podcasts are on youtube apple spotify under blue by 90 we appreciate you go blue go blue