Blue By Ninety - Blue By The Numbers: Major concerns moving forward after disappointing loss to Texas?
Episode Date: September 10, 2024Brian and Tanner talk Michigan's blowout loss to Texas and what needs to happen for Michigan to get back on track. ...
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All right, welcome back to Blue by the Numbers.
I'm joined by my friend Brian.
Brian, I wanted to see if we could maybe switch up the podcast format today
and let's just become the podcast that talks about the Detroit Lions
and Northern Illinois football.
I think that might be more fun than what we're about to do.
I could be talking to that.
That's a little more enjoyable than what we're faced with this week.
Absolutely, man. How are you doing?
I'm doing really good.
Good, man. I'm good, you know i'm doing really good good man i'm i'm good you know um
saturday was really fun i'm really glad the day just for some reason ended at like 1205 p.m you
know the tailgate was great uh we met some of the guys from bustle with the boys taylor will
won will compton that was cool and then yeah i don't remember anything that that actually happened
after like noon i wish you just claimed you were blacked out yeah no man uh you know for those of the for
those of the listeners that uh also listen to the podcast with justin and i just and i were at the
game um it was cool like it was really loud that's the one thing i will say like we brought the energy
in the first quarter even when it was like you know 14-3 like hey it's you know it's it's still
a football game and it just got out of hand quick, man. Like, it just snowballed.
And so typically what we kind of do,
and this is the first time we're doing this show after a loss,
which is a pretty sick brag, by the way, Brian,
with those that are watching on YouTube with Brian with his national champions wallpaper on his TV behind him.
This is the first time we're doing this after a loss.
I kind of feel like maybe this is like a little too meta of like getting
into our podcast, but it was just really easy to go through and be like, oh, yeah, this guy was good.
That guy was good.
So I kind of want to get your thoughts.
And I really kind of want you to speak a little bit more here because I've given my thoughts a lot on our podcast.
But what did you just watch in the game?
And what were you feeling watching Michigan just skip boat race? And, you know, I mean, Sark let off the gas, by the way,
like guy could have put up 50 if he wanted maybe more on a defense is
supposed to be better than last year's,
which is kind of comical looking back at those comments on people.
But what were your thoughts on the game? Where did you,
where did you see it go wrong? And we'll just love that.
You kind of dig into it a little bit.
Yeah. I think that it was, it was was frustrating i think we didn't come out uh you know normally we come out we have
so much enthusiasm and it seemed like we came out a little bit flat and it seems like dex is just a
much better football team than us you know i haven't felt that way in a long time and you know
my concern is how much better they were.
And are they either going to win the national title this year?
And that's just an indication that we've played a much better football team than us.
And the gap was pretty wide.
Or are we just not that great this year?
You know what I mean?
And that was what I was frustrated with.
I made peace pretty early on that we were going to lose that game.
As upsetting and as frustrating as it was,
it was just obvious to me that Sark came with an amazing game plan.
They were executing. Michigan was not.
And so I sort of made peace with that.
And then where the frustration builded and mounted throughout the game was me
thinking about, you know, USC in a couple of weeks and Oregon and Washington
and Ohio state down the road is,
you know, is the gap between us and Texas representative of how good they are or how much
room we have to improve? And so I haven't answered that question yet. And I don't think we will till
we play USC in a couple of weeks. But it was really frustrating and depressing.
Like you said, we haven't done this together after a loss.
And, you know, you get spoiled watching a really good football team.
And you were at the game.
I wasn't.
And so I had the pleasure of seeing some of the social media reaction of,
you know, fire everybody and bench everybody and, you know,
bring in every freshman that hasn't, you know,
that's been on campus for four minutes instead of the guy that's been there
for three, four years moments from our fan base. And I, you know, I tend,
I started looking long-term really quick, you know? And so, you know,
it's a big improvement week this week and next. And so
there's a lot of problems, a lot of holes.
Yeah, I mean, that's – I'm very glad that I did not have much cell service.
You can kind of get cell service.
I went to the bathroom.
I typically – the last time I went to the bathroom, which wasn't that long ago,
but the last time I went to the bathroom at the big house,
I missed the first drive of the second half of Ohio State.
Oh, wow.
And so I was like, I'm not going to do that again.
Well, you know, you're down 24-3 or whatever it was.
I'm like, I'm going to go take a piss.
Apologies for my iPhone going off in the background.
That's why I work far.
I can't reach it.
But I went out there and I did get some service in the concourse.
And I just was like, why did I pull out my phone here?
Like, it just was a nightmare. I've got people chirping me from fan bases here's teams have a middle
bowl game in eight years and i'm just like brother just leave me alone but yeah i mean i was with you
it just it's tough because it's hard to know like when you come out i mean again that place was rocking we were
loud i mean how many there was two false starts on the first drive um and so you know the teammate
come up flat sorry the teammate yeah i'm up flat but the fan base the the game on tv it looked like
the crowd was electric to start well that's my thing like not even just from an x's and o's or
a football performance like it just seemed like it was almost like going through the motions and
for,
for a team that prided itself on going on the road and we're a steal your
juice.
We're going to,
we're going to dance a jump around.
We're going to,
we're going to whatever tradition you got,
we're going to get involved in it and we're going to make our,
we're going to bring our own juice.
Right?
Like as cliche as that saying is in football,
you've got it.
You're at the big house.
I mean,
I do.
It is. It was as loud as I've got it you're at the big house i mean it i do it is it was as loud as i've
heard it non-ohio state and i've been to dozens of games at this point and i mean it just was
really disappointing to just kind of see like it was it just was like no fire there's no mikey
samuelsson getting guys huddled up on the sideline. You look at the sideline, it's just dead.
It's like, what are we doing?
You got number three Texas coming to town.
You got Michael Phelps, maybe the greatest athlete of all time on the sideline.
You've got Charles Wilson, Desmond Howard here for Fox and ESPN.
You've got Matthew McConaughey on the sideline.
What more do you need to get fired up and to play
and it's just like they just were flat and you know I thought there was a lot of just from a
defensive standpoint a lot of misassignments um it's a lot of plays where guys were very
uncharacteristic you know the stars on this defense just did not make plays and got fooled and a lot
of that is credit to Steve Sarkeesian and Quinn Ewers.
Quinn Ewers, my goodness.
I mean, you know, he doesn't throw, like, the prettiest ball.
Like, Arch Manning throws a prettier ball.
Like, Arch Manning, you see him throw, you're like, wow.
But Quinn Ewers, when it mattered, was dropping them in the bucket.
Can I tell you that three-ball stat is one of the most useless stats ever,
but yes.
Right?
Like, I mean, Peyton Manning threw a duck, right?
So it's one of those things that was really just disappointing to watch.
I mean, I don't know what their total – I don't have a pull-up in front of me.
I don't know what their final third down conversion rate was for Texas,
but it felt like they were like 15 of 15 at one point.
I mean, anytime they needed it, they got it.
Anytime they needed a yard, they got it on the ground.
Anytime it was third and long, you know,
Quinn Ewers was finding somebody open.
They were like eight for 10 at one point for a third down.
I think they ended up 10 for 16, but they were eight for 10.
I mean, it was just – that was the big difference in the game early on.
Yeah, because Michigan couldn't convert third downs, right?
Yep.
So Michigan settles for field goals, long field i guess you can settle for field goals long field goals
um but they settle for field goals they settle for a field goal down 24 to 3 which we talked
about this pre-show just now like i hate that like it feels like you're turtling you know and
and i really just i don't like that i also will say it again that's the second time i've said it
on a recorded podcast i hate letting the clock run out in the third quarter when you have the opportunity to run a
play yes you were down 31 to 6 yes you were going to lose the game but i don't like the message that
that sends that you know what we're just going to pack it in here boys because like what's the point
you know um i've always hated waving the white flag in games like this well if you leave you're going to leave your starters in, right, you don't leave the white flag.
Like, it's one thing if you've gone to the second, third team, and then that makes sense.
Like, hey, we're just trying to get them to some reps, but don't want to expose them to something horrific.
No, you've left your starters in the game.
If you're going to leave the starters in the game, that's saying that you're at least going to try to be competitive and try to come back to this thing.
And so to let that clock wear off, I was with you. I think think that might be one of the one or two times we texted during the game
like come on man what are they what are we doing here yeah i i was not pleased at that moment um
i also i'm just reiterating what i said on the on the other podcast we did so i apologize but i just
i think it needs to be said i don't like when you show no fight all day,
then you want to get into a trash-talking match in a scrum after the play.
That's maybe one of my least favorite things in football.
You know, because football is about energy.
It's about passion.
It's about bringing, you know, just your own flavor to the game
and all those sorts of things, and that's great.
But if you're not doing it between the whistles,
then I don't want to see it, right?
Like it's one thing if this is, you know it's 17 10 or whatever like it's a battle
dude you're getting smoked and then now you now you want to show some fight after the whistle
i just i don't like that um so yeah like outside of just the the game itself there were a lot of
things that i was like i this just does not – this is not a Michigan team that I recognize.
And, you know, it's something I haven't seen from a Michigan team in a long time.
Like it reminds me of – oh, gosh.
Was it Michael Shaw that like pushed – look at assistant something at Ohio State
like before the game.
It's just like fake tough guy stuff.
Yeah, right. Fake tough guy stuff yeah right fake tough guys the
worst i hate that and it's like crazy to me because you have now look there's a lot of guys on this
team that have really kind of cemented their legacy they're gonna they're gonna leave here
as at least two times two-time big 10 champions um two and oh three to go three and oh against
ohio state or whatever two and one three, whatever that game turns out to be, national champs, right?
But those younger guys have an opportunity to make their legacy even stronger
and not be known as the guys, well, they were on the team with Blake and JJ
and Roman and Zinter and Keegan.
So it's like, what do you want your legacy to be here?
You know?
So it's a proven week.
Right at practice at Shebecker Hall, you know?
Today is Monday.
The next four or five days are crucial for this season.
How are you going to respond to getting punched in the mouth
and made fun of on national TV and all the memes
and all the junk that people want to say?
Take that personal.
I hope they do.
And like, hey, this isn't the football team that we're going to be yeah i think uh perspective wise it was one game right like uh don't disagree with a single
thing that you just said but it was one game an awful horrific game where we looked completely
outmatched completely outclassed completely out. I mean, three things that we just haven't said in a bit.
But it is one game, and it's really two games
because the first game we saw a lot of the same errors,
just had a lesser opponent.
But it's just not in my DNA to be uber negative
and say the house is on fire
and we need to just let it burn to the ground, anything like that.
I mean, it's one win in, you know, 29 straight wins we've got to experience.
Right, 100%.
So it's like very frustrating.
There's no way to get around that.
But like I said at the Open, we have two weeks to get ready for a USC, right?
And so the real test for us, and, you know, hopefully we're on here saying,
you know, it was an anomaly that we played so poorly and came out so flat
and we're so clearly outclassed last Saturday.
You know, do I have a lot of confidence that's going to happen?
To be honest, I don't.
You know, I want to be –
It's hard to know. Yeah, it's hard to know. It's hard to know. It's hard to know. It's hard to know. It's hard to know. It's hard to know. It's hard to know. It's hard to know. It's hard to know. be honest i don't you know you know i want to be i want to be hard to know yeah it's hard to use staff right right you know so you know it's it's we're in a precarious
spot you know and i think uh you know we've been pounding our chest for two and a half years i will
continue to do that by the way i will still whatever january date yep is an ass i will Whatever January date Is the National League, I will continue And even beyond then
You don't have a Natty
Since 23, don't talk to me
I will still continue to beat that drum
Because that's what you play this sport for
That's what you root for your teams for
Is to go do that
And sometimes you have a mass exodus
And these things happen
Now, that's not to say that this
team doesn't have a lot of talent because they do and we heard all off season about how this defense
might be better right and you know we had and this is not their fault at all and i love these guys
that we had on i mean we had guys from all the different insider sites right that this is what
they're hearing this is what's coming from inside schembechler hall and so it's like what kind of
pride do you have what kind of pride do you have what
kind of fight do you have in you right because hey guess what you got Arkansas State coming on
on Saturday not a great team I think they just I think they were getting beat by Tulsa
uh pretty pretty badly maybe it was Troy I don't know I'm not looking at in front of me
but the one thing I will say Brian and I don't want to I don't want to bring the vibes down
even further but Sacramento State almost put up 500 yards on Fresno State on Saturday.
So it's like got a lot to work on, got a lot to get done this week,
win the game next week, continue to improve.
And even if you lose to USC,
that's one conference loss potentially if they do, right?
You still have,
that's the thing about this game is it's a non-conference game and it would have been huge for playoff implications if they were able to not
come out and look like that but you still have everything in front of you right so that's where
i say how are you going to be remembered right like you're going to be the team that hey we got
punched in the mouth and we're gonna we're gonna run the table i don't know if they i mean they
gotta figure a lot of things out they're going to get
right in a lot of different areas but that's got to be the mentality like okay hey we took a we
took a big shot from texas that's a great team we're going to move forward we're going to learn
from the film we're going to burn it and we're going to keep it moving so that's what i'm curious
to see how they come out against arkansas state i want to see them come out with their hair on fire
i want to see them look like i want the effort from every guy on this team,
however many, 115-plus, that Aiden Hutchinson plays with
on a regular basis for the Detroit Lions.
I need that level of hustle and just getting after it and try hard.
Try hard is not cool unless you're kicking somebody's ass.
That's where I'm at with it.
Like, I just want to see this team just come out and just be pissed off
and just play with aggression.
And, like, Arkansas State's a perfect get-right game.
But they got to put the work in.
And I know they will.
I know they are.
And these guys work their ass off, man.
Like, I don't want this to come off as me, you know,
questioning the work ethic of anybody in that building.
Dude, I didn't play Division I football. You know? I had right i had like d2 offers and i decided not to play college football
because i didn't want to put in that amount of work so i'm not gonna sit here and be like
oh these no these guys bust their tails and that's why i want you know i'm a michigan fan
but like i know how hard they work like i want it for them and i want to see them have that work
pay off yeah uh yeah and it's worth remembering week's worth remembering week two or week three of last year,
Texas humbled Alabama and made Alabama look pretty pedestrian,
and Alabama went on to make the playoff last year.
So, you know, I think there's things to feel good about.
I mean, the team still has multiple first round picks on the roster
100 you know what i mean uh it's just to me it's fundamentals like i you know i've watched the game
twice now i always do always watch it and they're just not fundamentally sound i mean it was it was
amazing on the defensive side of the ball how well Texas executed.
I mean, there were so many plays where, you know,
you can get frustrated where Michigan was at.
But they had like a wall of blockers.
I mean, Sark's a great play caller.
And when you execute it well, it's tough to beat.
But the tackling, it just seems like there's a lapse
in some really basic fundamentals that, you know,
it seems like Brady Hoke's teams didn't have those issues.
They had other issues. Rich Rodriguez had some fundamental issues issues and i don't really want to ever compare it but
there were just so many things with gap scheme responsibility tackling just awareness you know
um that was really frustrating and i was like who am i watching right now and so uh you know it's
not the guys like if sometimes you have a lot of guys you had mentioned earlier.
You have a bunch of people leave.
You have a mass excess.
They have the guys, you know.
It's just the coaches putting the right scheme together,
putting the best – put them in the best positions to take advantage of that talent, you know.
There were far too many plays where Mason Graham was playing on the edge,
trying to put pressure on the edge.
I know he's quick for a tackle,
but I'd much rather see one of our edge guys coming on the edge. I know he's quick for a tackle,
but I'd much rather see one of our edge guys coming off the edge.
I know you're trying to confuse them and give them different looks,
but give the guy a rest.
Give the guy a blow because we're not playing nearly the rotation of defensive tackles and defensive ends that we've played the last couple of
years.
And I'd much rather see roll someone in in that look and give him a couple
minutes to take a breather there's just a lot of things that they need to clean up and like you
said it's a really important week this week and uh you know attitude's a big thing uh focus and
working on the fundamentals fundamentals are a frustrate straight what frustrate me the most
yeah a lot of missed tackles a lot of assignments um yeah just sloppy football
sloppy football from a team that was just so good at the little things right like that's and that's
what separates good good teams to great teams is that they're really great at the very small things
that you don't think about like there's this clip out there things you take for granted you know
right right i'll bring this up again because i talked about it with justin but there's this clip out there things you take for granted you know right right i'll bring
this up again because i talked about it with justin but there's this clip of paid meaning
talking about like the different ways and techniques to to run a play action and how
important that is or even just a handoff so they're similar and it's like a guy like that
who won multiple evps two super bowls hall of fame or one of the best to ever do it like
even he was in his like 10th
year talking about this stuff right and it's like you've got to hone in on this on the small things
and i wonder brian i want to pose this question to you do you think sometimes when an nfl guy's
coming into college program that he kind of forgets that these are still college kids and
they're not as refined as national football league players are because i've wondered that myself and like what that difference is in coming from a league where
all i mean it's the time is the best football players in the world uh you know in america
versus you come to college and michigan's got guys that will play in the nfl for a very long
time and eventually be all pros right but you kind of forget that this is a sophomore.
This guy's 19.
That's a really good question, one that I haven't really thought about.
It's very fair.
I think that could be an issue.
I think, you know, sometimes, you know, you meet someone that's really smart
or really well-versed on a topic, and they try, you know,
they're trying to convince you of something or
win a debate they try to use that advanced knowledge to win the debate instead of just
being rational and being practical and how they explain something to get you to convince you to
feel some way and i feel like that could be part of the problem with wink is he's got this advanced
level nfl level of understanding of scheme and maybe you know it might just be a case where he
sees it as like hey i have the scheme that they're not running in college and so i'm going to use it it's going
to work because it works nfl and no one else is doing it at the college level and it may just be
the reason no one's using it at a college level because the scheme and it might be a reason that
you alluded to and that is that maybe player the players that at the college level aren't able to
execute it the way NFL players do.
I don't know what the answer is there, but I do feel like there's a disconnect there.
And he may be the architect of the defense that Minter and McDonald ran, but it's not at this point.
It's one of the two games not nearly as effective.
I mean, it looks night and day difference in terms of scheme, in terms of where we are, in terms of putting pressure on the quarterback,
in terms of coverage.
You know, it looks a whole lot different and not in a good way.
So, yeah.
No, and I think, you know,
the thing that I would give some grace to the defense is, is that the offense was just not helping them in any way, shape, or form.
Last year, Michigan was able to go on long drives.
When they got into third and long, J.J. McCarthy was able to bail them in any way, shape, or form. Last year, Michigan was able to go on long drives. When they got into third and long,
J.J. McCarthy was able to bail them out with some ridiculous throw
to Colston or to A.J. Barnett or Roman or C.J.,
and this year they just have not been able to sustain drives
and keep guys fresh.
I mean, and the turnovers as well obviously do not help.
You know, you have the fumble right before half where
you know colson probably picks up that first down you're at least at the you know able to run out
the clock get to halftime hey you know what we're down 14 we get the ball at half right and instead
it's 24 to 3 in this for like six seconds left such a huge moment that was you know such because
it felt like hey maybe we got something going here you know they had the drive where they you know where they did the flea flicker donovan did some
misdirection they seemed to have some creativity going and then they have the drive and like you
said colson gets the first down there and you know maybe we're on to something and that was just such
a huge momentum swing there particularly like it felt so deflating that it was loveland that did
that you know i mean like a guy that we're counting to be our best player like a mistake's a mistake a turnover's a turnover but when it's one of your
best guys and you're already down and you're struggling what's one of your best guys it feels
like you know that old saying a quicksand like you know no matter what we do we can't get out
even our best players are making these mistakes it's like what's going on you know that was a
moment of the game right through my hands I'm like if even Colson Loveland's messing up, you know.
Yeah, they just took the air out of the stadium, right?
Because, I mean, who knows?
I mean, the offense, you know, we'll talk about that a little bit.
We're not going to go super long on this pod.
But, you know, you're down, you know, you're down 17-3 at that point.
You're driving.
I think I can't remember if they had a first down at that point or not.
But they were clear.
If you would have got that first down, you've been close to the midfield logo.
I,
I,
I have not watched it.
I'll be honest.
I have not subjected myself to that.
Brian,
you're a bigger man than me.
I was tough enough to watch the Fresno state cut up at times.
And I just,
you know,
I just wanted to watch red zone yesterday to be completely honest with you.
So I probably will watch it at some point,
but
38 yard line just okay
i think the first down was a few yards beyond that but he had running room and it's just you
know it's unfortunate because colson's the guy that's honestly been carrying the offense right
like i mean he's making plays left and right and it's just you know it's just an unforced error and
all you can do is just pat him on the helmet and you know just just lift him up right like that's that's the kind of thing where when your stars make mistakes like that and it's
uncharacteristic it's very easy to be like that it's okay like everybody everybody messes up and
has those moments um so it i i wanted to talk about this in the time of possession it's kind
of funny as i'm looking on espn here just to look at the stats, like how kind of close things were.
You know, they outgained Michigan by 103 yards.
They have six more first downs.
They hold the ball for about two minutes and 40 seconds longer
in time of possession.
But then the massive three turnovers just stared you right in the face.
But in the first half, Texas – so Texas goes –
I don't know the exact amount of yards and plays they went when they had the
touchdown was called back and they missed the field goal but that was a long drive then michigan
goes three and out and then texas goes six plays 56 yards three minutes six seconds uh off the
clock michigan goes back on a nine play 55 yard drive where they get a field goal uh and then
texas goes 12 plays 76 yards 453 um and then they go and i think
michigan would have had a very short drive and then they go 10 plays 29ers for 410 um and then
michigan fumbles and they go six plays for each yard so there's quite a few that last one's not
as long because they were in hurry up trying to get in before the end of half but that's a lot
of time i think it was two to one in the first half. It was like 20 minutes to 10 minutes.
It was brutal.
It was.
Yeah.
Some of those, you know, were the box score lies.
You know, we brought it back.
You know, you said two things.
One, that Sark definitely took his foot off the gas.
100%.
Thank you, Sark.
Appreciate you.
Yeah, that was classy.
And, you know, we got some things going late because they were in pre-vat,
kind of wet vanilla just to try to salvage, not giving us anything big, deep.
So it really shifted the stats to be more in our favor when in reality it wasn't that close.
And, you know, to your point, their drives were just, man, they looked really good.
I mean, you know, I will say, you know, the one benefit of doing this on Monday as opposed to Saturday right after the game or even Sunday midday is you get time to take a breath and calm down.
And, you know, I keep telling myself it was one game and that Texas team, you know, and then we're going to learn how much of that was a result of Michigan's play.
But that Texas team is about as complete as I've seen.
I mean, you know, they were just dominant.
And the play calling, I mean, I just feel like, and Quinn Ewers, you know, for the life of me, you know, that's about it.
We've played some great quarterbacks.
You know, last year we played Pennix.
We played Milrow.
We played, you know, that could be the extent of a really good quarterback.
Last year, but the year before, we played Stroud.
We played some good quarterbacks.
That's as good a quarterback play as I've seen someone play
against the Wolverines in a while.
Yeah.
Stetson Bennett was pretty surgical in that playoff game two years ago.
Duggan.
Yeah.
Duggan was good.
That was more – Duggan was good on big plays and with his feet like i just from
purdue yeah uh o'connell he had some he's still at the raiders he started some games uh in the
nfl so they played a lot of talented quarterbacks um over the last few years during this this run
they've had um but yeah i mean i i would i would tend to agree um yeah i mean he was he was very
good he was he was clutch like big
time throws in the moments that texas really needed it um because again third down was the
key difference in this game because if michigan is able to get some stops just get your guys a
break right like let the defense get a rest and they just weren't able to get off the field and
then you're you know you see mason graham kenneth grant having to tap out because they both play almost 60 snaps right so it's it's one of those things that you
know it's kind of a double-edged sword like you know you're tired and you can't get off the field
it's like it's tough um so wanted to just quickly talk about the offense um so i've got some
complaints um and not even from a they didn't score many points or have
cool plays or anything like that my biggest complaint is in a team in a year where your team
you're really kind of struggling to find your identity and what you want to do and where your
playmakers are where your touchdowns are going to come from where your big plays are going to come
from your explosives i think you need to just get the best skill position guys on the field and one of those guys is max bredesen who had 13
snaps yeah i think that is malpractice that's just unacceptable to me he's your captain he is a guy
that yes you're down but they don't move fast anyways even when they throw the ball they're
not like they're getting up to the line it's like why not you know let max get in there and run the ball
the other complaint i have um is the amount of rushes in this game uh donovan was over five
yards a clip i mean he wasn't perfect but he almost busted one by the way if he if he gets
that hurdle and breaks that tap, that's a touchdown.
He did miss a massive hole on the cutback lane.
Shout out to Jay Du.
We always tell you, go follow John.
He's the best.
That's where I did get my breakdown.
I did watch his clips. And, you know, he played at Michigan
and knows a hell of a lot more about football than I do
from a technical perspective.
So he does a great job of just breaking everything down.
Claude Mullings has six carries.
Ben Hall has three.
I mean,
Ben Hall has
14 snaps. Claude Mullings has
13 snaps.
I just
really can't wrap my
head around, and I feel like we've
been drawn for the last 17 games.
Now, granted, they won a national championship,
so it didn't really matter, right?
But why is there not an attempt to throw the football to Donovan Edwards?
Why is there not an attempt to get him in a mismatch
where he would be your best receiver, by the way?
Like, even if you just lined him up out wide,
he'd be your best receiver, in my opinion.
Because he's a great runner he's got great hands um i just i just don't understand
right even if you put a quarter on him i'd still like hey i'll i'll take that
you know um i i guess i just don't really understand the thought process of just not
throwing the ball to him um how many times you watch the lions come
up bring this up because ben johnson's one of the best at his job and what he does getting guys the
ball in space there was never anything creatively to get donovan the ball in a swing pass or on a
on a screen or something some sort of misdirection a counter anything and it feels like they're just treating
him like hey Blake Corum was able to run between the tackles and do this why can't Donovan Edwards
and it's just like just very just a lack of creativity uh of getting the best players in
your offense the ball like Colson Loveland's gonna get the ball because Davis Warren doesn't really
have any Russell throw the ball because nobody's open so you know you know is going to get the ball because Davis Warren doesn't really have any Russell throw the ball. Cause nobody's open. So, you know,
you know, he's going to get the ball, but like,
I just don't understand why there's not more of a concerted effort to like,
Hey, let's throw it to seven and just let him make a play.
Yeah. It's frustrating. You know,
as we're sitting there talking about the rushing attempts and lack thereof
and the lack of activity of Madison Davis Warren throw through 33 passes in
that game.
We actually 7% by the way.
I know he had the picks, but.
We can talk about Davis Warren and his performance in one minute,
but my point's not really about him.
Last year we had a first-round pick at quarterback.
I think it's without question the best quarterback in school history.
How many games last year do you think he threw for 33 passes
i think it was just 15 games right was it just good for you but think about that we had a we
had a first round pick uh program bus qb and we asked davis warren his second career start and
really is you know third or fourth uh game where you got to see any action to throw more passes than JJ through all of last season.
So that tells you a lot. Like, you know, it just seems like this team, you know, we opened,
we talked about identity. This team is struggling to find its identity and get back to who it is.
And I watched Sharone's press conference today, and he talked about that you know he was in his own way uh you know he
talked about how frustrating it was for him to look back at on the game and look at what you and
i are looking at what we're breaking down and seeing that and saying gosh how'd we let that
happen and they just can't let that happen again you know and one of the foundations bedrocks of
this program success the last couple of years has been complementary football.
You know, people would talk about, well, you ran it so much.
You know, one thing that made our defense so dominant is they had a lot of rest.
You know, but when you come and ask a first-time starter to throw 33 times and, you know, you're not moving the ball effectively,
you put a lot of pressure on your defense, a defense, by the way, that you're not rotating players nearly as much as we have historically.
I mean, Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant played a ton of snaps.
Our linebackers, we played three linebackers yesterday or Saturday, rather.
You know, they're not rotating guys.
So if you're going to, you know, these quick drives that you alluded to throughout the game, if you're going to do that, that's not complimentary football.
You're putting your defense in a really tough spot.
So, you know, they just got to get back to Michigan football.
It sounds so cliche, but it's so true.
Yeah, I mean, and when – so it's tough because it's like, yeah,
I know that Michigan's down a bunch of points,
so you're trying to throw the ball to get big plays.
But the thing is, is they don't even take shots.
Davis Warren was 4-5 on passes um 20 or more yards in the air
i believe now i don't know i'll be honest i don't know how many of those gave a garbage time i mean
this didn't like it's just it was the way that the game developed was just so hard to believe
that like my brain is kind of having trouble like remembering it and in chronological order. But, like, one of the picks was just all five guys ran the same distance hitch.
It's like a five-yard hitch.
Everybody's on a five-yard hitch.
Like, I don't understand why there's no attempt to just, like, just run mesh.
Like I said this yesterday, like, just have Samaj and Tyler Morris just,
like, run mesh and just see this yesterday like just have samaj and tyler morris just like run mesh
and just see if somebody gets opening and if it's if it's man coverage great because samaj is fast
enough to try to pull away and if it's zone have those guys trying to sit down and see if davis
can find it and then dude hell i would take a morion walker he got one step i'll just send him
on a go route just see what happens like just throw it down there yeah you know and i know
these guys see him in practice every week and every day and and and i get that but it's like just have some sort of like
some sort of deep threat right to not be able to just condense the field to 10 yards and everybody's
in the box so um yeah i don't know man it's uh it was not fun um gotta get right game though right
like this is what this is the best medicine medicine for Michigan is to go out and dominate
in a team that they should dominate, right?
Keep it simple.
Get back to the basics.
Let's see – just see yourself have some success.
Like basketball, see a shot go through the net.
That's all I'm asking for.
We need to build up confidence too.
I always love in these games, and we've had the pleasure and the luxury these last few years
because when we play opponents like this to play the entire roster,
you know, the quote from P.J. Flacker who played Minnesota
when he said it was the best team he's ever played against
and that we played 100 and some guys that game.
I don't know if this is the game for that.
Like you want to get some guys some rest,
but you need to build up some confidence in these guys.
And it's still a team with a new coaching staff that's trying to learn,
you know, figure each other out in whatever scheme we're running.
So I feel like this is one where, you know,
let's put the pedal down and keep it on the floor.
You know, let's do it.
And I don't think that'll happen.
I think he'll rotate players and we'll win the game 45-13 or something.
But I'd love to see a dominant performance.
And we got to get some things right.
Like, they got to figure out the right tackles position.
I mean, that's just terrible.
Tough on the kid, man.
Tough on the kid.
I mean, he's not ready.
But he's not doing his job, you know.
I think the linebackers, I feel like one of the things I was most excited
about this team going into the year was linebackers.
I felt like Housman got his body right.
Everything we heard is that he was playing great.
Barnham is just a physical specimen.
But when you watch, those guys are out of position so much.
And you take for granted, you know, Michael Barrett, Junior Coulson,
whatever you want to say.
I mean, Junior Coulson was obviously one of the highest drafted linebackers in last
year's draft but um man they they were just in the hole cleaning things up rod moore you know
that back center of the defense is another area where we're just the gap you know uh responsibility
rod would help a lot of issues. Yeah so I did see one
scheme where they had Mason Graham the most frustrating play for me didn't resolve the
really big play or anything like that but it just the shades of any Michigan fan will get what I'm
saying is there was a formation in the early in the third quarter with Mason Graham on the edge
and Quentin Johnson came down into like a
you know blitz linebacker position but it was like that's not something I want to see
you know they were trying to confuse the front and they dropped uh I think Cameron Brandt was
in there at the time and they dropped him a little bit but it was just it was like that was a Don
Brown type look and I was like I don't want to see that again you know what I mean like don't
get too cute I'd rather just have a four-man stunt and just drop seven in the coverage if that's what you
want to do right like just try to get some sort of confusion mess with their with their mind calls
and see if you can do something that way versus like hey here's a six foot 210 pound safety in
the box like unless it's your real peppers i'm good yeah you know yeah there was a lot of weird things just from
yes a schematic standpoint that were just kind of hard to fathom so um let's let's do this let's do
this uh we're gonna talk about the numbers brian what's that we haven't talked to any numbers
numbers schmumbers i mean ike iwano was the highest rated player if anyone was curious so
yeah that tells you much yeah shot at ike a pike played well go blue like um yeah i think we would be remiss if we didn't spend any time talking
about it and then we can get out of here and hope for a great week and a fun conversation a week
from now but uh davis warren like all the fans he he's not jj m. McCarthy, right? I mean, clearly. But he's the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7th highest graded quarterback in the Big Ten.
You know what I mean?
And like you said, good percentage.
He looked good.
Had some moments where he didn't look so great.
But when you're not blocking and you can't have a run game to make a –
you know, complimentary football.
When we're not running the ball effectively,
the score didn't allow him to take advantage of misdirection.
I'd like to see him do a lot more play action.
J.J. was outstanding at play action.
But you won't count me among the herd that thinks that he's the problem.
I'd love to have J.J.
I'd love to have a top-ten quarterback.
But among the guys we have, it's not Alex Orji.
And people that want Jack Tunnell jack tunnel jack tunnel could be great but i feel like there's so much things to
clean up with his team why bring another variable into the conversation the mix for all these guys
get used to to use his rotation his cadence everything he likes to do like we just davis
weren't like it or not until we see something tragic or horrible
he's the guy and so rally behind him embrace it you know michigan fans that just are calling for
freshmen that have been on campus that is not going to be the guy this year i wish guys people
will get used to that he's our guy like it or not um and just uh embrace the fact that they need to
call better plays and scheme better, block better,
and everyone needs to do their job a little bit better,
and Davis Warren will look better.
No, absolutely.
And we texted about this,
but to the people that are saying that Davis Warren is the worst quarterback
in Michigan history, I was there in 2008.
I was there in 2012 when Denard Robinson gets hurt in Lincoln, Nebraska.
I was there in 2017. So I was there in 2012 when denard robinson gets hurt in lincoln nebraska i was there in 2017
so i was there in 2020 so let's he's not even in my top five most concerning things about this
team right now no i don't know where i if i don't i'm not gonna make a list i'm not
nope i'm not into that you know there's some folks that like that kind of stuff i'm not into
that brian but if i had to make a list he's not even anywhere close to the top five.
Because, again, like anybody watch the Panthers?
This poor kid Bryce Young.
I'm not saying that offensive line for Michigan is as bad as the Panthers
offensive line is in the NFL.
But, man, it's really hard to play a quarterback when you're getting just
rushed and you can't settle in.
And I thought Davis Warren, in the moments that he had to scramble
and get outside the pocket on end with this, I thought he was really good.
I thought he made some plays when he needed to.
And I think he got better.
He threw – yeah, he had a pick that was batted up,
and then he threw a bad pick because, you know, Colson Lovell wasn't looking.
They weren't on the same page.
That kind of stuff happens.
So I just don't think it's fair to sit here and criticize this kid.
He's a walk-on.
I mean, he was thrust into the position,
and he's doing as well as you could reasonably hope.
That's it, right?
Like to anyone that would watch this and say, oh,
you guys are just being homers.
And no, we're not being homers.
We're being pragmatic and realistic.
We are fully acknowledging that he's not J.J. McCarthy.
He's not a guy that's going to be first, second, third team, all Big Ten.
But we fully kind of are embracing that he's the JJ McCarthy. He's not a guy that's going to be first, second, third team, all big time. But we fully kind of are briefed that he's the best option we have on the roster for this team this year.
And so it just,
the fact that you and I kind of both are on the same page with this one,
it gets frustrating to hear the calls from people that, you know,
everyone's entitled to their own opinion, I guess, but you know,
that saying he's our issue and that, you know, bring in whomever, you know, everyone's entitled to their own opinion, I guess, but you know, that, that, that saying he's our issue and that, you know,
bring in whomever, you know,
cause I don't want to disparage any of the guys behind him, but I,
I I'm at peace with, he's our best guy. I wish we had, you know,
I wish we had a guy that's going to be future first round pick.
Davis Warren is not going to be that Davis while I'm not being an NFL
quarterback. But I think he's played well.
And there's no reason to think a guy that has
this little experience playing the position you know and has been out of the out of playing for
so long that he won't get better and so you know keep giving him the reps have confidence that
they'll get you know their timing better and you know let's hope they get better quick in two weeks
because i you know a loss at home to usc would tough. Absolutely, and USC just was
dominant. Utah State
48-0. It sounds like
DeAnton Lynn has that defense.
Lincoln Riley might have a defense. That's a scary
thought. Don't have Caleb Williams,
but Miller Moss looks pretty damn good.
Pretty clutch. That's going to be a
big game, man. Arkansas State
this Saturday, we will be doing
our tailgate. Justin will not be there. He's got a wedding to officiate. Sounds like a great time Saturday We will be doing our tailgate Justin will not be there
He's got a wedding to officiate
Sounds like a great time
I will be there
My wife's going to kill me
But that's okay because we're going to have the tailgate anyways
I'll be there in the morning
So come out to the Chrysler lot
We'll have some Truly, some Suncruiser
Some North Peak, all the goodies
It'll probably be a more condensed
Lighter I guess, tailgate.
I'm just one guy, Brian.
I'm just a guy with a truck.
Heavy lines to the ground.
Yes, we will set up and have our tailgate
and hopefully have a good day in Michigan football.
But thank you, everyone, for listening.
You can follow us on Twitter, at BlueBandID.
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We appreciate you. Go Blue.
Go Blue.