Blue By Ninety - Blue By the Numbers: Mich-Again... Again

Episode Date: December 16, 2023

Tanner and Brian break down Michigan's third straight B1G championship, talk recruiting and the transfer portal, and give their thoughts on the Rose Bowl matchup with Alabama.

All right, and welcome back to Blue by the Numbers. I'm Tanner Wooten, joined as always by Brian Bouton. Brian, how are you? I'm doing fantastic. Let's get it on. How are you? I'm good. It's December 15th, so we kind of took a week off after Michigan won a third consecutive

Big Ten Championship. Feels great to say that. I was in Indianapolis for that very interesting post game, which I'm sure every other podcast that talks about Michigan football has discussed, but Michigan was 26, nothing 13 and over the second consecutive year. Again, it feels amazing to say that, you know, I grew up through the Rich Rod era and the Brady Hoke era, and it feels really good to be at this level to see Michigan play as well as they have over the last three seasons, but we're not done. We've got at least one more game, hopefully two more as Michigan's

set to play Alabama in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day, which is when the playoff game should be, in my opinion. We got a lot to talk about, man, and just kind of wanted to kick it over to you to get your thoughts on the Iowa game, another Big Ten championship for Michigan, a dominant defensive performance. Offense, you know, had some issues here and there, but also a couple of plays that could have made that look a lot better than it actually ended up being. Yeah, I mean, as you were saying, let three Big Ten championships in a row never get old. Let's not get tired and spoiled of really enjoying where we're at and where the team's at. You know, for the Big Ten championship game, it sure seemed like there was a whole lot more Michigan fans than there were Iowa fans. Did it feel like almost a home game

away from the big house? Yeah, it was pretty loud. Once the game ended and everybody stayed for the trophy handoff and the MVP announcement and all the celebration that goes on it was still pretty full Iowa fans were certainly loud and we had some great folks from Iowa that were at our tailgate really great people I love great fans yeah it's very similar to Nebraska like just really good people really fun to have a beer with and and talk some trash with and uh you know had a lot of fun with them but it was it was a lot of maize and blue in Lucas Oil Stadium a couple weeks ago. So, yeah, I would say it was probably 65-35, give or take, is probably what I would have thrown it at with regards to the split.

But it was loud, man. It was loud in there for Michigan. Yeah, I think, you know, the one bummer, I think, about this run for Michigan is that the Big Ten Championship game three years in a row has seemed like such an anticlimactic event. You know, in each three of the games, there were big favorites. In each three of the games, they won decidedly, never really in question. And as fun as this ride has been, you know, the great memories of this run, you know, other than a few highlighted big plays that were exciting, very few of the memories are going to exist that took place in Indianapolis. You know, you will remember the confetti, will remember Harbaugh getting the trophy and all that kind of stuff.

But like the games themselves have not been that memorable. And so if you had to nitpick and say something that hasn't been ideal, it's that, but you know, were they holding stuff in the bag? Were they holding stuff back? Were they, I think they're still trying to protect JJ a little bit. I'm excited to see what he does after resting up and getting healthy and, you know, for a few weeks, but I think that all contributed to it. But it was, it was, you know, so fun. I was so excited.

I still was on the edge of my seat watching it at home. Excited to see what this team does and how they prepare for the playoffs. Yeah. I mean, the previous two years, Michigan scored 42 and then 43 in 21 and 22. This year, scored 26. But like I alluded to, Colson Loveland makes a catch might have scored on that play where he dropped it over the middle AJ Barner drops a tough catch at the five that would have set them up with first and goal so instead of 26 nothing you make those two plays maybe it's 34 nothing right and it feels a lot better and everyone's not freaking out but I think we're all kind of past that you know just from if it's almost like we're in a time capsule of two weeks ago versus today

where, hey, it was tough sledding on the ground against Iowa, but also when you look at Drake Nugent, was questionable going into the game. He was down on the field for a bit. I don't know if he missed a play. I don't know if there was a timeout that allowed him to get back on the field, but he was obviously banked up. And then it was the first game kind of post that adrenaline boost from the Ohio State game when Zach Zinner goes down, right?

Like score play on the next – score touchdown on the very next play after Zinner goes down. Maybe that's a little bit of a boost for those guys and then you come back down. And, you know, again, we talk about let down after Ohio State. This team didn't really show any signs of that. They struggled offensively, but I don't think it was because they were overlooking Iowa.

So it's going to be interesting to see what they do over the next couple of weeks heading into their matchup in Pasadena with the offensive line Woes. We're kind of far away from where we have been the last two years talking about this offensive line comparatively to this year. I still think it's a unit that can get it done. And I'm really hopeful that with JJ being closer to 100%, you're not going to be 100% at this point in the season, no matter how much time you take off. So he's, you know, everybody's gonna be a little banged up. It's just that time of year in football, but these three, four weeks for these guys to get fresh, I think will be big. And so

hopefully with JJ being more involved in the run game, that's going to open up some lanes for Blake and Donovan and Cole Mullings and some of the other guys. So hopefully some more Samaj Morgan. Speaking of a guy that played really, really big time in the Big Ten Championship, had the 90 some odd punt yard punt return. So, you know, lots to be excited about with this team right now. I just hope that

they can kind of get back to maybe square one a little bit when it comes to the run game and figure some things out here in these, you know, 15 bowl practices that they get. Yeah, I'll save some of my thoughts of the game and the matchup and the perception when we get into the game, because I know we have some other stuff we want to cover before we get there. But, you know, definitely some thoughts on the outside perception and the reality of the situation. Absolutely. So I think the next thing that we'll discuss is it is award season.

And speaking of Zach Zinter, he is a unanimous first team All-American. I believe he is the third unanimous All-American in a row that Michigan's had with Blake Korn last year and Aiden Hutchison in 2021, and the fourth under Jim Harbaugh. So really, really elusive honor, very prestigious honor to have all five publications award that. So the groups that are kind of counted for consensus or unanimous All-American is the Walter Camp Football Foundation, the Football Writers Association of America, the AP, Sporting News, and the American Football Coaches Association.

So Zach Zinner was a first team selection on all five of those. Very well deserved. Congratulations, Zach. That's fantastic. Deserving, great leader, came back. We've talked about that week after week, how he could have easily gone to the NFL last year, came back. We've talked about that week after week, how he could have easily gone to the NFL last year, came back to get his flowers, and he certainly got them. Yeah, so there was actually a couple other players who did not earn consensus, first team or unanimous first team like Zach Zinter did, but Blake Corum was an All-American to four of the five publications. So he was second team, third team, and then first team

to the American Football Coaches Association. So, you know, not what – you know, good season from Blake. He had 24 touchdowns. Hopefully he has a chance to break the Michigan all-time rushing touchdown record here in a few weeks. But, you know, didn't put up the 1,500 like he did last year. Put up 1,000, still a great season for Blake. Just not at that level that he was last year.

Still a stud, as we know. Blake is that guy, and really, really happy to see him continue to get some awards even after not having as good of a season this year as he did last year. Well, the fact that the team never tra not having a as good of a season this year as he did last year well the fact that the team never trailed in the second half of the season didn't help our offensive statistics right like you know you get dog fights you get in games where you're getting your best players touches late in games that just didn't happen you know how many how many carries i wonder this season other than the ohio state penn state game was blake quorum getting carries

in the last 15 20 minutes of a game. You know what I mean? And so that's just, you know, week after week after week, you know, 10, 15, 20 yards over 10, 11 weeks where you're not getting carries. That adds up, you know, and it hurts statistics. And let's face it, these awards are, you know, largely statistically based. So what do we have? Six All-Americans across all the different sites?

Yeah, Chris Jenkins was second and third team across three different voting groups. Mike Sanders was first team for Sporting News. That's the only selection he has. I have a problem with that. Mike Sanders should be an All-American in my opinion as well. The guy made big plays at every moment. He had multiple pick sixes this year. I don't know what else. He forced two fumbles

in the Big Ten Championship. He made big plays against Ohio State again. That guy should at least garner some third or second team, if not first team selections. More of them for sure. Yeah, kind of a miss from some of those publications. I feel like these awards are kind of like 70% decided before a minute of football is played. You have your preseason teams. I can't tell you how many times, even Michigan's sake,

all due respect to Chris Jenkins, but he was a preseason All-American, and he's an amazing football player, a great leader, had a really good season. But I don't know that I would necessarily put him above some of his other defensive linemates. that's not to take any way for Chris Jenkins, but I feel like the fact that he was a, he had preseason recognition, uh, you know, just kind of, those are kind of cast and, you know, not firm stone, but some like semi soft stone or whatever. And, you know, a guy like Mike Sammerstow who no one was really talking about outside of Ann Arbor

snuck up on people and, you know, you know, possibly if like Mike Samuels, though, who no one was really talking about outside of Ann Arbor, snuck up on people. And, you know, possibly if he had some of those really big games, like he had the back half of the season on the front half of the season and started getting that notoriety. You know, you say the same about Will Johnson. You know, the fact that he missed the first few weeks of season when he had opportunity. You know, those are weeks where you have opportunities to kind of make some really big splashy plays and get the SportsCenter highlights. You know, the fact that he was a slow burn, I mean, those two guys, I mean, Will Johnson is as good a corner as we've had in a really, really long time on the nation's best defense.

And he got some recognition and he missed time, so that makes sense. But I just think so many of these awards are not based in reality. No, no, no, they're not. And it's a lot of times popularity contest but when our guys win them then we're stoked and when they don't then we're upset uh mason graham also got a selection which i think we'll be talking about again next year uh definitely he is uh he's a monster so he'll be a preseason first team all-american for sure he certainly should be so will um you know depending on who comes back. Maybe

if Rod Moore comes back. I think Loveland will get some nods. Brock Bowers is gone. I don't know who the other top tight ends are. I would certainly think Loveland would have an opportunity to be a preseason All-American. Depending on if JJ McCarthy comes back. There's a lot

that we don't know. We talk about a lot behind the scenes that we're still like we want to know what's going on, but the team is so locked in to Alabama, to the Rose Bowl, to the next minute, hour, day, week. They're just tunnel focused right now, which is fantastic from everybody that I've talked to about it. Man, it's crazy. The football season is already kind of over. It's very sad, but like I said, we got a couple more games. So

very exciting to kind of think about. Brian, do you want to get into a little bit of the Alabama game here? Because I think that may take up. I know we've got a transfer portal and recruiting, I guess we could get to first. I know Gatlin Bear, kind of almost a five-star wide receiver, decommitted from Boise State down in Michigan, Oregon. He's committing here in a couple of weeks at an All-American game. Berner, like a 4.340 elite track speed. What are your thoughts on him? It seems like, I mean, all the crystal balls are saying

he's going to be coming to Michigan, but not for a couple of years with his mission that he's got to go on. So he'll be more of a 2026 recruit, but still an elite talent that Michigan could potentially add here late in the recruiting cycle. A wide receiver faster than Tyreek Hill. Let that sink in. High school 100-meter nationals, he ran a faster time than Tyreek Hill. So a very, very fast player.

I don't think he's as twitchy or as quick as Tyreek Hill, but just top-end speed, lightning fast. From all intents and purposes, he's a sign, seal, and deliver Michigan guy. You know, he wants to get his attention on the big stage, but it sounds like that's a done deal. You know, it seems like the end of this cycle has us less, you know, I follow recording pretty closely. It seems like there's less drama and excitement than there is in the past.

There's not a really big-name guy other than him, and I guess the reason there's not much drama there is because it's kind of a foregone conclusion that he's going to be in the class. But it's also good on the flip side. It doesn't seem like the guys that have already committed to Michigan seem pretty locked in. So I think we're going to have a pretty anticlimactic early signing day here next week. Yeah, the only other guy in addition to Gatlin Bear is, and I may butcher this, is...

Yeah, good luck. I don't want to take that anymore. He's an edge 6'6", 230 out of District Heights, Maryland, Bishop McNamara High School. Consensus right around the top 300. Basically a boomer bust type prospect. He is very much an athletic freak, has a lot of traits that you want from an edge rusher. And so he's a guy that I think if – when I think about late flips in a recruiting cycle as you get to this point, and there's a lot of guys locked into other programs,

you're not able to get as many guys interested at this point, and you're still going after a couple positions, this is the kind of guy that I want to take at edge specifically at Michigan. This is the kind of guy that turns into a first round pick three years down the road. Maybe not as polished coming out as David Ojabo was, just looking at some of the different scouting reports that are out there, but certainly a guy who has that potential that you can tap into. And if there's any staff in the country that I feel confident in doing that, it is Michigan is one of them, right? With the strength and conditioning staff here with Ben Herbert, with the development from Mike Elston, the defense that Jesse Minter runs,

like this seems like a guy that's a perfect fit to be kind of a – not a late riser, but a late flip to bring into the fold or kind of snag at the last second. I mean, what do you hear from all these guys in the transfer portal that they all go somewhere for the flash, for all the different reasons guys choose colleges, and you hear a lot of the top players when they get interviewed, what do you really want next?

And obviously there's some guys that are just chasing the money. But you hear so often from these kids is I want to go somewhere where I'm getting developed. You know, they made a choice because they like the uniforms, they like the stadium, they like the girls, they like whatever. And they realized they weren't getting better. And so, you know, you said it. That staff develops people really, really well. And when you talk about a project, because I agree with your sentiment of like a project this late in the cycle, I echo those sentiments to a T. You come here, there's a lot of depth here. There's a lot of talent here. You can learn from some really good on-field mentors,

amazing coaching staff with a track record for amazing success. And then you get to play on the biggest stage in America, the largest stadium, more people watch Michigan football than just about anyone every year. I mean, it's got a lot to really, really like. So he'd be a great target. I don't know where they stand with him at the moment, but seems like a great candidate here late in the cycle. Yeah, so unless there's any other potential secret flips at the moment or there's any coaching staff changes, right?

I mean, if you're not locked in in December, maybe there's some movement in the coaching carousel that opens up some guys that may reopen their recruitment like we've seen over the last couple of years. We saw that with Derek Moore and Keon Saab in 2022, or the class of 2022. So we'll see. But on the transfer portal front, there's been some movement. Michigan, again, is really locked in for the playoffs right now, but they're still recruiting in the portal. So the one player that I've seen, he's the 41st overall player in the transfer portal.

Number four corner is a player out of Western Kentucky, the Hilltoppers, Upton Stout. He has three crystal balls all to Michigan. I know that he was a freshman All-American in 2022. So he's a guy that has flashed a lot. It seems like with his size, you know, I think he's about 5'9", buck 85. He is going to be the slot nickel in the 2024 defense to replace Mike Sander. And when you watch his tape, he reminds you, Mikey, he's small, compact, very good frame, just a tiny guy. And he brings it. His highlight tape is just of him smashing dudes.

All three major sites, 2-4-7 on three rivals, all have him ranked as a top three corner in the portal. So obviously, despite coming from Western Kentucky, despite the smaller frame, you know, all three services kind of agreed this guy's a playmaker. So he seems like a perfect fit with Mikey heading out the door. And when you look at our roster right now, we have a lot of talent in defensive backfield.

I don't know that I, you know, I was working on a depth chart for next year for the site. And it's tough to kind of pencil in who's the next nickel. Like we've been kind of blessed there with some really good talent here the last few years. And he seems just like the perfect fit. Come in, set it, forget it. You know,

and a guy that's across the recruiting services all believed to be a stud seems like he's, you know, poised to be as long as admissions doesn't do what admissions does. And we don't need to go beyond that. Yeah. As long as we don't have to get bit by that, he should be good. I think he's a grad transfer, so it should be not a lot of problems. No, he's actually a sophomore this year.

He'll be a junior next year. But the issue is the 60 credit hours, right? So if you're coming into your junior year, you're going to potentially not lose as many credits if you're coming into your senior year trying to transfer in to potentially not lose as many credits if you're coming into your senior year trying to transfer in. That's what's happened with, I believe, Terrence Shannon and Caleb Bluff on the basketball side, and maybe some other guys on the football side that we don't hear as much about. For some reason, the football team seems to manage the...

Van Jefferson's the last one that comes to mind for me. Yeah, that was a fun time. But it seems like football's able to kind of maneuver through some of the restrictions on transfers a little bit better than basketball is for whatever reason. But football teams did a really good job of bringing in instant impact guys. And you think about Josiah Stewart last year. You think about, obviously, A.J.

Barner. You think about Miles Hinton coming in. Josiah Stewart, Josh Wallace. I mean, yeah, I'm like in my head, like trying to remember everybody. James Turner, Jack Tuttle. I mean, yeah, I'm like in my head like trying to remember everybody. James Turner, Jack Tuttle. I mean, just about everybody other than Hinton. Can we talk about James Turner real quick, man? Like at the beginning of the season, the amount of people that were like,

well, I don't know about this kicker. And then what does he do the last two games? He's seven for seven, goes three for three against Ohio State. Like his money, his 250 yarders the last two games of the year. Kid is money. So, so you know him coming in like so many guys that have made an impact um you know whether big or small but Michigan has done a great job of supplementing their current talent on their roster with transfer portal guys and I have no doubt that that's what they're going to do this year so Upton Stout hopefully he pulls the trigger

soon uh really like his his high school tape and some of his Western Kentucky tape. I think he's a ball player. But then also, you know, on the defensive side again, Jay Sean Barham, St. Francis Academy. So, you know, played with – Sounds familiar. With Derek Moore. There's probably some other guys I'm forgetting about.

Nikai Hill Green. I don't know when they overlapped. But, you know, came from St. Francis Academy. Play played at Maryland. He's actually the player who intercepted JJ McCarthy in college park, uh, right before the half. Uh, but he was a pretty big time recruit coming out of high school. So he's listed as the number 116th player in the portal listed as an 88 rating three star, uh, number five linebacker. But man, youer but man you put on the film and he's a guy you can see why he was so highly rated and you think you get him into a scheme like michigan's he may be a big time ball player i mean he reminds me of uh like a colson like i mean you know junior

colson type of athlete 632 30 i think that's almost exactly what Colson was coming out. Yeah, I mean, he was number 10 linebacker in the country in the class of 2022. So, yeah, big-time athlete. Seems like they're positioned really, really well there. Yeah, so he also has two crystal ball predictions, both to Michigan. So they're also looking at some receiver help. I know the Donovan McCauley guy from Indiana, he's somebody that I really liked over the last couple of years. I'm pretty sure.

Was he the same player that played quarterback against Michigan in 2021 when Pennix was hurt and their other backup was hurt? I mean, he's a great athlete, you know, didn't really have a ton of success trying to play quarterback, but he's a guy that seems like he's trending to going back to Indiana withdrawing his name from the portal. So now they're repositioning and I don't have his name off the top of my head here Brian so Wake Forest right Jamal Banks so I know that he he just posted on Twitter that he got an offer

um so it seems like there may be I've seen that he got an offer last week but maybe he didn't report it till this week I don't know when he got offer. I don't know if this is a reaction to the McCauley tea leaves here, but a guy that put up some decent numbers at Wake Forest for a team that was not... I mean, after they lost Sam Hartman, they really just kind of fell downward here in 23. They were pretty rough compared to the last few years when they've been a pretty fun team in the ACC. So put up some solid numbers with probably not so great quarterback play. He had better numbers than Roman Wilson or Cornelius Johnson.

So 6'3", big body. Saw highlights of him making some 50-50 ball catches, which are always fun to see. Seems like he'd be a great fit. Wake Forest should academically fit pretty good with Michigan. So hopefully that works out. Yeah. Pretty, pretty, pretty good school, uh, Wake Forest. But again, I think it's, it's weird, man. It just comes, always comes down to the credits. It always comes down to the credits because Michigan is very particular about how are you going to receive a Michigan degree? You're going to do that by at least taking half of your credits

at the university of Michigan. So, uh, you know, that's just, I don't know, man. It's almost like you're fighting with one arm behind your back sometimes, but it is what it is, and the football program has done a great job of identifying players that can get in academically and that can also contribute on the field. I mean, you know, one of my favorite players from this year's team was A.J. Barner. You know, he's a guy that came in right away, picked it up, you know, has had some monster games, has had some quiet games, but he's always effective as a blocker and he just plays his tail off. So, you know, hopefully they can go and find some guys that fit that mold, right? That want to come win, that were at a program that maybe

wasn't as successful and want to come to Michigan and be able to make a much larger impact on a team like Michigan than they are on a team that's, you know, four and eight or whatever the record is. So yeah, so I'm excited to see what other movement happens in the portal. I don't know much about Dante Moore. I don't know what's going on there. If that's something that's going to happen, that's, you know, it seems like there's a lot of movement there with other schools, but I know I've heard his name on different radio shows and on different paid boards across the Michigan media space. So I don't know if that's still something that potentially is happening.

Brian, what are your thoughts on Dante Moore, man? Cause it's very divisive. It seems like depending on who you talk to and if they want them on the team or not. Well, I think,

you know, a lot of Michigan fans and particularly the ones that live online and social media and stuff are just so burned by what happened. You know, he seemed like he, you know, from the time the kid was a lot of Michigan fans, particularly the ones that live online and social media and stuff, are just so burned by what happened. He seemed like he, from the time the kid was a sophomore in high school, he seemed destined to go to the University of Michigan. It looked like that was lock stock early on in his recruiting cycle. And then he commits to, he flips around a couple of times. I just, I'm skeptical. I've said elsewhere that I feel like I won't believe Dante Moore is coming here until I saw, regardless of what I read, regardless of what Sam or Josh or Trevor or anyone reported, I would not believe it till I saw him on the practice field wearing a Michigan

jersey. You know what I mean? Like, and I feel like his dad's done a really good job of being an advocate for his son. I respect that. And I feel like every, you know, you read the message boards or the sites, recruiting sites for different programs, and he always gives a great sound bite. Yeah, he's really interested in Michigan, loves the staff, really interested in Oregon, loves the staff, loves their teams, himself as a fit. So, like I said, I'll remain skeptical. That said, you know, I did read an article, it was an interview with his mom and she was saying that he just felt like from the minute he got at ucla that they didn't do anything to help him like he didn't feel developed you know he felt like uh you know that the system was not geared towards him why did you choose that school in the first place then but that that system wasn't uh and we know

the answer to that question but uh why would you go there? And it seems like what the one thing I've heard out of his camp is he wants to go somewhere and be developed. Oregon just signed Dylan Gabriel and his family said that's not a hindrance to maybe going to Oregon because he wants to be developed. If he's got to sit a year to make that happen, who knows what to believe? Do I think he's really talented? Yes. Do I think he was not an ideal situation in UCLA? Yes, I believe that. And so would I like to have him come to Ann Arbor and compete for a job here? 100%. I think he's a super skilled, very talented kid from a local kid.

So I would love that. But do I have any hope that that will actually happen? I don't. Yeah, that's kind of where I'm at with it too. I don't know what's going to happen with Moore and his potential of coming to Michigan, but I would absolutely take him in a heartbeat because, you know, it sounds like from, you know, look, go to Oregon, flip to UCLA. Certainly there were some promises made that maybe weren't delivered upon. You heard some rumors early in the season and never going to fault anybody for getting their market value, right? I mean, that's what this country is all about.

But if his mindset has shifted, and it sounds like this from hearing what his dad has said, is that they want to go somewhere where he can be developed, where he can win, and where he can get to the NFL. And I think there's a number of schools that you can do that at, but I think Michigan makes a ton of sense, especially jim is around um that that makes a lot of sense he's a very accurate passer um you know i don't know how willing of a runner he is but i know he can certainly is is athletic and can make throws on the run i mean i saw some throws look his stats you look

at the stats at ucla you're like why would like, why would you want this kid? But again, top ten player in his class, five-star, big-time arm, very accurate passer. Get him in the right system and you give him a run game that can be complementary of what his skill set is as a passer, I think it would make a ton of sense. So I think it won't happen. It makes too much sense, right? That's one of those things.

So I would like to see it, who we'll see we'll see what happens there's a lot of schools out there that are looking for quarterbacks michigan we don't know if if mccarthy's gonna be back so we don't know if jj comes back what is that you know you mentioned the oregon comment but does does he want to sit and then what if michigan is bryce underwood in 25 right so it's like what does that does that look like for him in that depth chart? And you saw Jaden Davis coming in, by the way. We got Carter Smith in the fold. Don't sleep on him. He's got a huge boost. I think he's one of those guys that could be a fast riser and by the time it's all said and done, we're looking

at a very highly rated quarterback. I mean, he's already highly rated, but I mean really, really highly rated. So we'll see. Yeah. So Alabama. Rose Bowl. highly rated quarterback and he's already highly rated but i mean really really highly rated so we'll see yeah so alabama rose bowl house ball playoff what a time uh interesting i'm sure everybody's already given their take i'm gonna i think i talked about on the blue by 90 show but i'll just talk about it here brian because i want to get your thoughts you obviously live down in florida so i don't know how often you run into seminalle fans. I think it's a crock of shit what the committee did to Florida State, in my opinion, and I still can't believe they did it. Look, I can see the football reasons why, but at the end of the day you go undefeated.

You beat two SEC schools that you play out of conference. You beat 10 Power 5 teams, 11 Power 5 teams on your way to a 13-0 season. What happens if Jalen Milrow gets hurt in practice? It's ridiculous. Do we kick him out and put him in Georgia? What are we doing here? It's football. It's violence.

Injuries happen. My favorite – I agree. My favorite commentary about this whole deal came from a guy that I don't really typically ever agree with, that I don't really typically ever agree with, that I don't really typically agree with his takes, but Booger McFarland, you know, an SEC guy, said, hey, when did we start making college football, what did he say, a beauty pageant or a runway where we just line everyone up?

You know, the notion that, well, if Alabama played Florida State tomorrow, they'd win. Based on what? Like, do you think that would happen? And even if you do think that would happen, it doesn't matter. The games have to matter, right? And everything you said, well, what if Florida State played in the big, bad SEC? Oh, wait, they played two SEC teams and smashed them. You know, they didn't smash Florida, but in rivalry, they did beat them pretty good in Gainesville. But, you know, they checked. They did everything because the guys hurt, to your point.

Like, it's just, it's ridiculous. And, you know, fact of the matter, times moved on. It's done. Your Michigan fan is Alabama scarier than Florida State? Absolutely. And that still doesn't matter. I think, you know, as we, as we get prepared for this game, you know, one thing we can talk about the matchups, we can talk about all that, but one thing that I've already seen start to happen so i live in florida surrounded by sec fans my the guys i golf with the guys i hang with the guys i work with all wave for the most part all wave sec fan flags and their bias runs deep right and so all

season you know it was pencil and they know that i'm crazy you know fan of michigan and and uh you know wave wave the mason blue flag like crazy all year long all i heard from them was how big and bad the sec is right just wait to the sec just wait to the sec the sec so big and bad right the game's here now we play alabama now how that narrative with sec fans down here with me is like, well, it's not one of Saban's toughest teams. This is kind of a weak Alabama team. And I tell them, wait a second. So all you told me how big and bad and top to bottom SEC is such a powerhouse team. And the only team in the conference that went undefeated inside the conference, the only team that beat big, bad Georgia is all of a sudden a weak team. A team that on paper, the 247 talent composite is the most talented Alabama team in the history of Alabama football, or at least in the history of the 247 recruiting site, which is, you know, 20, 25 years old.

I think it goes back to 2007 or something like that. You know, just funny how that narrative begins to shift and change. You know, the fact that, and I think Michigan fans, Big Ten fans, fans across the country have a hard time wrapping their heads around because of the name. Michigan opened as the betting favorite. They remain the betting favorite. And so Vegas doesn't, Vegas didn't build all those buildings and build all those billions of dollars on being wrong and not having a clue, right? And so the thing that I tell my friends and family, like, gosh, we're playing Alabama.

It's like, trust Vegas, right? Like they know that they know what you, they don't buy into the history of Alabama and the big bad SEC and, you know, Michigan losing the last two bowl games. They know about the teams that are and the big bad SEC and, you know, Michigan losing the last two bowl games. They know about the teams that are on the field now. And so that's, candidly, when I find myself falling in that trap of we got to play Alabama, I remind myself of that. And then I'll let you hop in here. The other thing I would say is how scared is Nick Saban, right? Like everyone

says, Nick Saban's not worried about Michigan. Well, he's pretty scared when he goes higher. The guy that's he hires the linebacker coach, George Hilo, that's been fired that I think is still being investigated by the FBI. You know, that's not what the Hilo was ever investigated. That was Matt Weiss. Oh, yeah. Right. Right. Right. He was. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. But Hilo, you know, thank you for correcting me. But Hilo, you know, he goes higher than a linebacker coach. Do you really need to do that if you're not worried? Yeah, that was interesting timing, man. You know, look, we've all said – I don't think it makes a difference. I don't think it matters. But are you telling me that hiring a coach in the middle of the season,

right before you play a certain team that he was on the coaching staff for two years is not a competitive advantage, but iPhone footage is. Just throwing that out there. Very interesting time. Just don't recruit two weeks ahead of time, but it's okay to bring in a coach that was on the sidelines with this exact coaching staff

for two of the last three years. Brian, what they think of the player safety, man. Yeah. That's another crock of shit. That phrase is coming back to me today for some reason. So, yeah, they hire George Hilo. Interesting timing. Certainly would think that's a guy who will never get hired from a Harbaugh

coaching tree ever again. Not knocking it at all, man. I mean, I would, you know, I don't know how much he's getting paid, but I would take however much for three weeks of work. Chestnut checkers, baby. Saban didn't get here by being a dummy. Right, yeah. So, you know, this is just the legal way to advance scout. And it's okay, and we don't need to do an incidental investigation.

It'll be fine. But, yeah, so with Alabama, man, I mean, this is still – look, they beat Georgia. They beat the team who everyone thought was the best team in the country. And when you look at Alabama, though, they've had some tough games this year against Arkansas, against Texas A&M I year against Arkansas, against Texas A&M, I believe was close, against Auburn. Auburn ran for almost 250 yards on Alabama. So this is

an Alabama team where, yes, there's a ton of five-star athletes all over the field, but this is an Alabama team that Michigan can move the ball on. And I think they will move the ball enough to win. You know, I think with Jalen Milrow, there's a lot of folks that are worried. And I understand that. But thankfully for Michigan, you basically have a clone of him and Alex Orji to run the scout team offense for the next couple of weeks to hopefully figure out what your game plan is going to be to minimize his success on the ground. He's also a guy that holds the ball a long time. I think Alabama's bottom 10 in the country in sacks allowed,

which is surprising with how athletic, how big, how strong he is. I saw someone say this. I don't remember where it was from, but somebody said that he's like Vince Young during the Michigan Rose Bowl. Not the fully unleashed Vince Young of the 05 team that won the national championship over USC, but the Vince Young that's right before taking the leap. And I see it.

I mean, he's a freak athlete. He's got a big arm. I think that his decision-making has gotten a lot better over the year. I watched him against Texas, and you're like, man, this kid's just making bad throws into coverage, and now I feel like he's playing his best ball. So it's going to be a challenge. But I think Michigan's defense is just so good in the front seven that I think they're going to be, you know, they have the athletes to keep up. I know Alabama's starting a freshman,

Caden Proctor's starting on that offensive line. He's a five-star, right? He was going to be the savior of Iowa before he flips Alabama last signing day but there's some holes on this on this Alabama team that I think Michigan can exploit so I'm I'm really looking forward to the matchup it's going to be I mean Michigan Alabama does it get any better than that in the Rose Bowl I mean I've always I've always had a respect for Alabama with Nick Saban like that's who everybody wants to be right like even Georgia's got all the success they've had the last two years. They're still chasing Bama. Bama's got, what, six titles since Saban got there 15 years ago?

So that's the program you want to be. So I've always had that respect for Alabama. And like Ric Flair says, and Ric Flair's always been around the Michigan program over the last decade or so, to be the man, you've got to beat the man. So for Michigan, I want a national championship either way, right? Would it have been sweeter beating Alabama versus beating Florida State? I wouldn't care. But I will say if Michigan is able to go and beat Alabama,

shut up Paul Feinbaum and go win the national championship, it's just going to be some delicious crow being served across the country. And living down here, buddy, man, I will be intolerable to some of my friends hey man you know uh my my company's home office is birmingham and they're all they're all great folks but uh i will have some fun uh so you know it's uh you know it's it's uh it's a big-time game, man. You know, played in the Citrus Bowl, what, four years ago. I was there.

It was an interesting game. A certain quarterback could not hit the broad side of a barn. But Michigan was in that game. I mean, they were up at half. And Alabama's guys did not sit out. I mean, Jerry Judy's playing. Ruggs is playing. Devontae Smith is playing. I mean, Jerry Judy's playing. Ruggs is playing. Devontae Smith is playing. I mean, everybody was playing, right?

They were all there. And that was – Nadja Harris was playing. Mack Jones. I mean, it was the four. Right. Yeah. And that was the team that the ensuing season was one of the best

in college football history during the COVID year. But there's enough proof of Bama being dominant to say that, yeah, that's a pretty damn good football team. I believe that they were one of the I think they were the highest rated team on SP plus all time uh Bill Connolly's algorithm that that does predictive scores and and you know kind of is able to pit teams against other teams like that Alabama team is one of the best so Michigan's a lot more talented a lot better a lot bigger stronger faster i just i feel like michigan can get this thing done so i'm very excited for it how about we do this brian we talked about it a couple times this season man what jerseys do you want to see in the rose bowl i want traditional i've been a fan of uh you know some of the different looks this

year the rose bowl alabama like roll out both traditional uniform, you know, I want to see Maze Pants, blue jerseys, go old school, not old school, just the traditional look. So I wouldn't hate the all big game blues. That's fine. But you know, if I had a vote, if I was in the room, I'd say give me traditional for this game. I mean, you know, Michigan has lost a playoff game wearing traditional and big game blues. So's no superstitions at this point. I want to go with traditional. I'm excited to see what the patches look like. I would love to see the 97 big patches on the shoulders, man. That would be

cool to see because they don't do it anymore today. That would be a cool throwback. Yeah, it would. I'm all for it, but we haven't do it anymore today. No. But that would be a cool throwback. You know? Yeah, it would. I'm all for it. But, you know, we haven't seen it like that. They typically do like the little emblem on the chest and, you know, just to pay a little homage to the, you know, whoever the sponsor is and the bowl game itself. But, yeah, give me the big shoulder pad patches.

Let's bring it, you know. Well, I don't even know. Like they probably wouldn't be as big as back in the day because I think a lot of guys wear much smaller shoulder pads than they did 25 years ago, right? So it's more compact. They're not as bulky as they were in the 90s. But, yeah, I'm just excited to see that winged helmet in Pasadena.

It's been since 2007 when they played USC. Feels really good to go to the Rose Bowl after playing Ohio State undefeated, two undefeated teams, I will say. Well, and, you know, it seems perfect also that it's the end of, you know, the Big Ten as we've known it for the last 20 years, right? Like next year, Oregon and USC and Washington come. And so like kind of the end of that era, like you said, beating Ohio State, the end of the four-team playoff, to end it with Michigan going to the Rose Bowl just seems so historic, seems so appropriate. You know, it just seems like the ideal, you know, not the end,

hopefully not the end, right? But the next perfect next step in this season for Michigan football. Yeah, put the final stamp on this era of Michigan football and move on to the next. But, man, 13-0, you know, going into last year I felt really good. You know, and things happened in that TCU game. and O. Going into last year, I felt really good. Things happened in that TCU game, but man, it's just tough not to think, why not us? Why not Michigan? This team is so talented, so deep, so many great leaders, great coaching staff,

just a great program, very healthy program at the moment. Why not Michigan? Why not go into this whole thing? A little bit of history. In the nine previous years of the college football playoff, the number one seed, do you want to take a guess what the record of the one seed versus the four seed is? We didn't talk about this. Is it 9-0?

It's not 9-0. 8-1. It's 7-2. 7-2, the one seed, right? Ohio State. And the one, so that's really positive if you're a Michigan fan. Like seven and two, I like those odds. The two teams that – the two times it happened, we're both in the Rose Bowl.

So, you know, history on our side, not on our side. So the two times it happened were the very first playoff, Ohio State beat Alabama. And when was the other time? Alabama beat Clemson in the end of the 2017 season, the 2018 Rose Bowl. So the Ohio State-Alabama game was not the Rose Bowl. That was the Sugar Bowl because Florida State-Oregon was the Rose Bowl. So we're okay. Eight and one.

Yes, we're good. Yeah, we're good. Yeah, we're good. Yeah, no, seven and two, but the Ohio State game was – Yes, so Ohio State, that's when they snuck in with a third-string quarterback. Funny how they can do that for the committee, for a one-loss team, but not for an undefeated team. But that was the – the only reason I knew that was that was when Jameis was just throwing that ball up there for who knows to catch. And Morgan returned that for a touchdown.

I just remember that being the Rose Bowl. Good memory. I wish it was filled with more important, meaningful, useful things. If it was, you wouldn't be on a podcast with me on a Friday afternoon. That's true. That's true. But I may be a little bit better at my job. Who knows? Who knows?

But all right. Well, man, this has been fun. Been a great season. And we're obviously going to, we're going to come back after the rules bowl, win or lose. Hopefully we're very joyous, but as we're recording here, it's the 15th of December. So to everybody that's listened all season long,

thank you all so much. I hope you enjoy the holidays with your, with your loved ones, with your friends and family, uh, have a great new year and enjoy some time off, get some rest and recuperation. And, uh, Brian, would you like to add anything on our last show of 2023? No, just thanks. It's been a fun ride with you, Tanner. Appreciate you taking the time and doing this together.

It's been a really fun season. It's been really fun watching Michigan for a third straight year. I mean, you think of, you know, you said earlier, it's been such a great ride and such a fun time. And thanks to everyone that listened along with us and helped support us and have a great Christmas and holidays and new year and look forward to an amazing bowl game on the first. Absolutely. Well, while you're going to visit your in-laws or whatever family, go grab some North Peak Hail IPA. We're going to have some in-laws or whatever family, go grab some North Peak Ale IPA.

We're going to have some details on a way that you may be able to drink some of the Blue By 90 Ale on January 1st. We're cooking something up with North Peak Brewing. So be on the lookout for that. We'll have some more details on the Twitter. You can follow us on Twitter at Blue By 90. Check out our written content on BlueBy90.com and check out all of our podcasts on Spotify, Apple, Google, Amazon,

wherever you get your podcasts, YouTube. We appreciate you. Go Blue. Go Blue.