Blue By Ninety - Blue By The Numbers: Michigan Finally Incorporates Bryce’s Legs

Episode Date: September 16, 2025

Brian and Tanner talk about Michigan’s bounceback win over Central Michigan.

All right, welcome back to Blue by the Numbers, presented by Feldman Chevrolet of Highlands. Coming up on week four, Brian, it feels like we're quarter the way through the regular season, man. It always creeps up, and it just goes quick. So how was your weekend? How, you know, how was Saturday? You know, we'll break it down, but like initial vibes. Yeah, vibes were great. You know, last week we were on here, and the lions looked horrible.

Michigan looked horrible. And so much better vibes, much better. weekend. It makes for a much more enjoyable weekend. So vibes all good here, my friend. How about you? Hey, man. I'm with you. I kept telling people that the Bears and the Chippewas were get-right games for the Lions and for Michigan. And that is what happened. I was expecting it more so in Ann Arbor on Saturday than in Detroit on Sunday. But yeah, you know, we're big Lions fans here. So obviously, we don't talk about the Lions too much. But nice to see them get back on track. It was fun being at the big house on Saturday. I'll say this. There's some throws that when

you're in the stadium, you don't appreciate how good of a throw it is. Yeah. The throw that, and there's a bunch of throws that we'll talk about, but the throw that Bryce made on the run rolling out back over the middle to Donovan McCulley, just like, oh, that's a good throw over the middle. And then I get home and I watch the cutups and the arm angle and he like kind of is like almost like coming down across his body to flick it there special talent and anytime you get a seat in person it is just different i said this yesterday uh go check out our blue by 90 podcast from this morning on monday he will be the number one pick in 28 i just there's there's i mean he is just the total package and very lucky to have him uh shout out to everybody involved with getting him to

come home to Michigan. The kid is just a freak, man. That's really all I can, I mean, we haven't even seen the full potential either. I mean, this is, have a lot of fun right now, and obviously you've got to see it against better competition. But, man, when the, when the lights are on, this kid just, he just makes you, makes your draw drop. Yeah, he's really good. I mean, you know, we saw the Oklahoma game, and I don't blame anything, a lackless of performance on him per se. It was more of game plan. We heard Biff say they took the air out of the ball and they won't ever do that again. But, you know, like you said, before I dive had burst into the Bryce hype pool,

I got to see it against somebody good. And it starts this week in Nebraska. So I'm super fired up for that game and loved watching him this last week. Loved, we knew, anyone that watched his high school tape knew how dynamic of a runner he could be. And, man, when he turned that on, he made some just incredible run. run's first quarterback to go over 100 yards since Devin Gardner. I mean, that's what is, almost 10 years, over 10 years. 2013, yeah.

Yeah, so, I mean, you know, in some flu game that some quarterback breaks off a 70-yard run or something, it hasn't happened in over 10 years. Like, that's pretty remarkable. And I don't expect it will be his last game over 100 yards either. No. And I think when you're watching, especially the first couple runs, I'm like, all right, get on, get on, get on, get out. And then he trucks a guy and trucks another guy.

And you're like, well, all right. You know, I think 24-7, there's been a lot of comparisons made and comparison is a thief of joy, but it very much is a, like, at least with his running ability in terms of just the way he runs is very much, it's Cam Newton, it's Vince Young, it's that long striding trail prior to Ohio State, just effortless gliding, kind of similar to Aidan Charles over down the road at Michigan State, but just a dynamic athlete, you know, he's probably not as quick of a, you know, on the dime type cutter as a run. but he's a very physical long strider and yeah nine carries 114 yards two touchdowns a few of those signed otherwise uh i'll tell you this there was a play i think it was on the two minute drill that he scrambled back left and he had the ball in his left hand and he switched it and look you know got his arm up to throw i mean you just got to love seeing that from a freshman just he's looking to run to pass and if it's not there then he's going to take his 10 to 15 yards.

I just, again, the more we see of him, you know, and he made a couple of mistakes, but the more we see of him, you can just tell that it's not too fast for him. He's processing things. I think he's learning as he continues to get reps. And, yeah, man, I know we're, you know, coming off the Oklahoma week after, you know, post-mortem where we're like, oh, this is maybe not going to be so, you know, it's not going to be so easy. But, man, this kid, I mean, once fully unlocked,

I don't know, Brian. I mean, I don't know if I've ever seen a true freshman quarterback with this physical ability. Yeah, there's been some good ones. But, man, it's, I don't want to be hyperbolic. Hard not to. Yeah, maybe last year probably plays a role in our reactions, right, of just not having good quarterback play for over a year. I don't know, man.

I don't know. It's impressive. I thought you made a pretty good point or a very good point of, you know, one thing I really liked is when he runs. He's still got his head up. He's still looking down field. I mean, he's still looking to make the play. I mean, I think he still wants to be a pocket passer. I think he realized the staff realizes it's better for everyone for him to do both. But that was one thing when I watched that closely when I watched it again. And each time, you know, I think back to, you know, Devin Gardner was a very underrated player for Michigan.

I think we just played on some bad teams, but I think he was a very good quarterback for our scheme and at that time but denard you know i mean he would tuck it and go he wasn't really looking to pass much just as exciting as he was i think he's going to you know the game's going to continue to slow down for him more the picture is going to get clearer as they say as he looks and scans the field and get more comfort with different guys and so yeah i think it's the sky's the limit but let's let's let's start doing against big ten competition and rule if they are going to kind of unlock him this weekend in Lincoln, and I feel really confident that he's going to have a big performance.

I just think that it doesn't seem like the moment's ever too big for him. You know, didn't have a great stat line against Oklahoma, but still made some throws. And I think with him, kind of his running ability on display, that's going to be another thing for Nebraska to think about right defensively. So you can't just say, oh, he's not going to run. well, you know, he might burn you for, you know, a buck 20 if you're not careful. So, yeah, man, I'm, hey, we got a fun couple of years here.

Yeah. I say that. I think he's, man, I just can't wait to, you know, I don't want to rush it. But, like, I'm just, man, I, again, what does he look like as a sophomore or junior? Right, right. What does he look like? Because let's talk about some of the throws he made. He made that throw on the touchdown on third and four, two somage, dropped it in the bucket.

As I was watching it, because that was towards. my end zone. I was in Section 19, so probably like the 10 or 20-yard line. I love that type of seat in the big house. It's just so you get a great view of the field. I'm like, I don't know if that's going to get there. It's going to get there. And it just dropped in the bucket. You know, and that was, I believe, kind of a, I want to say it was like a mesh concept. And then Samaj kind of broke it off. I'm sure that's part of the play in the route tree. And Bryce just split it between two defenders. Big time throw. Big time throw. Yeah, I think he, I mean, he's got to, the one thing is he can make every throw right like i mean there's no question about deep ball short ball he's

proven now you know that concern in those first few throws is he just going to throw lasers all the time i mean he can layer in i mean the past samage and several others i mean with just the touch is just okay he's got it all you know he's got it together and and do it in big spots yeah you know the throw to marsh on that deep crosser um that was i mean wide open but it was you know on the money And then he's got the throw to Hogan Hansen who climbs the ladder over the defender. A third long, like, that's got to have it. Well, and, you know, I got this thought from the Mgo blog podcast, but also I thought it myself, like, what do we after the season, if Hogan Hanson and Marlon had the years that we might expect

after seeing them at least play one game of football and they're healthy? Like, how does that change the dynamic of the way you look at that Oklahoma game, right? If both of those guys are healthy, because those are probably, two of your top four best receivers, right? Just pass catchers in general. So just, you know, having Hogan Hansa back from injury, Marlon Klein got a little bit of run. Hopefully he's continuing to rehab and will be, you know, 90% here before the Nebraska game. And then he gets to the buy week, get those guys healthy. But I think those two are clear cut, the top two tight ends at Michigan in that room. And I think that drop off, unfortunately, is a little bit

steeper than maybe we had expected with Marlon Klein being out. And then, you know, Hanson doesn't go against Oklahoma. So you're with your third tight end. I think that just helps, that's going to help Bryce. You know, the point that Jake Butt made with us on a show last year when we were talking about Colson Loveland is your tight end is your closest receiver to the line of scrimmage to where you're lining up as the quarterback, right? He's off the tackle, typically. So, you know, you're just more inclined to see those guys. And, you know, Michigan likes to spread out their tight ends a little bit, but I just think having those guys the safety blank is going to be huge for Bryce in these tough environments like this Saturday. So I think those guys being back is going to be a big boom

for the offense. Yeah, man, he just made some throws. He made some big time throws and it was a lot fun to watch. I think another point about, you know, just to elaborate a little bit on what you were saying about Hanson and Klein is, you know, in Chip Lindsay's offense, I think we're going to see a lot more tempo against Nebraska. And, you know, let's face it, in that scheme, we run Samaj out of the slot, but we also put the tight ends there. So you're moving with tempo and you're a defender and you run up to the line, expect him to Z Samaj.

And now all of a sudden you've got to see Hogan Hanson and vice versa, right? Like, it kind of, the dynamics of that, I think, can make this offense pretty explosive. You know, they got to get healthy. They got to get right. They got their timing. I think, you know, one thing that I can see some Michigan fans. getting a little frustrated in Nebraska is when I looked at PFF, Nebraska's ranked 16th in the conference against the run, great, you know, in terms of rush grades, rush defense grades.

And so this has all the, this smells like a Chip Lindsay, you know, his reputation. I think this is a heavy run, heavy screen, heavy take advantage of those weaknesses. And so, you know, I don't think we care how much it looks like. it's what's the result end out to be. But, you know, I think you have like this fever of wanting to see Bryce just go crazy. And, you know, if you're a Michigan fan, you can't not want to see that. But ultimately, let's get the W. And so I think it's going to be a heavy run game plan with a lot of screens.

But I think now we've unleashed his confidence and the play caller's confidence to take more shots downfield, more confidence by Bryce, more confidence to play callers to get him out in space and make him comfortable where he knows his legs are a weapon. And so I think the more he uses his legs, the more dynamic the whole offense gets in. It definitely makes the offensive line job easier. When he's standing back there and just motioning to one side of the other, you know, when he's can be dynamic and move around, that just makes everyone's job on the whole offense easier. I'm sorry, did you say Nebraska was ranked 16th in the country in the conference? In the conference. Okay, yeah, it's hard to know because, you know,

there's 18 teams in the big tens of like yeah because that tracks because when I watched and this is three weeks ago but it's not 2012 yards against them Cincinnati yeah forsby had almost 100 right right and he's not Bryce Underwood so um yeah I don't think they've got a running back uh like either haines or Jordan Marshall so um yeah that's that as you were saying that I was like wait a minute that I think it was because I didn't I didn't catch it um yeah they gave up 202 yards um 96 to the quarterback and and that's the game I keep kind of when I'm trying to figure out what Nebraska is going to be that's the game I look at but that was it was you know coming up on a month ago right and it's you know three and a half four weeks ago and that's the first game of

the year and there's always a lot of improvement in the first quarter of the year so Nebraska you know they lost some guys up front but to your point I think you know the ground game is I think what's going to help Michigan win this game but you know get Bryce involved in that, that potentially, you know, you run the pass and that opens things up. I thought the play action against Central Michigan, I thought, I love seeing it. You know, Michigan's been such a run-heavy team for, I mean, ever. There really hasn't been a time where they really aired it out, maybe a little bit with Gardner, but they've always been a team that's going to run the ball.

They can be physical. And I just thought that the way Chip Lindsay incorporated play actions early in the downs was awesome. I've been wanting to see that forever. you know i think bryce is he's done a really good job with being able to turn his back and then look back at the defense because that split second that defense could shift they could be in a shell and they're they're showing cover two and then actually they're in they're in cover three or they're in man to man with a single high safety like they could rotate while you're looking

to to fake the handoff so um i think the play action is going to be huge but i thought you know chip lindsay did a great job uh saturday do you lead any do you lend any credence to the um kind of that narrative that because Sharon wasn't there that, you know, the substitute teachers in the class and can do whatever they want because I don't. He's still got total control and he's still involved. I mean, do you believe any of that? Because I've seen a lot. I mean, Michigan fans love to be unhappy. When your boss goes on vacation, do you change how you do your job? You know what I mean? Like, right. So, I mean, it's like some of that's just ludicrous, I think, you know, I said it last week after the Oklahoma game, play calling gets a lot easier

when you can block the guys on defense. It gets a lot harder when you can't. You know, you've got to take into consideration the level of the opponent we're talking about here. You know, a second or two for an athlete like Price Underwood is enormous. And I felt like he was constantly under three seconds against Oklahoma and he constantly had four seconds against Central Michigan. That second, second half is worlds of difference. You know what I mean? Let's them establish a running game with eight rushing touchdowns, right? Is that right? I think so, yeah. Eight rushing touchdowns, right, by one, two, three, four, five, six different guys. I mean, you know, you've got to having your way with them a little bit. And so when you're having your way in the run game, and let's face the game

could have been way worse. I mean, they completely shut it down once they put Bryce. And, you know, they didn't throw other pass for the last quarter and a half of that game. So, you know, that game could have been 80 easy. And there wasn't any defensive scores, special team scores. That game could have been even more in a hand. But I'm excited. It's like, you know, if you just had, you know, like a lot of teams in the country, you look at the particularly the Big Ten, you look at their opponents,

and they haven't had the tough test yet. So let's just say our second opponent was Akron or, you know, Houston Baptist. We'd be thinking this team was unstoppable. bowl. We have this governor that we had to play Oklahoma, which, you know, I think John Mateer is now the leading candidate for the Heisman from an odd standpoint. I mean, I think, you know, the nation is getting on to him. And so like we said last week, you know, we may look back on that game and say, you know, we played one of the better teams of the country. So, I mean, that story has to be written itself. But, you know, I think when it comes to play calling, you got to consider the level of opponent. No, absolutely. And real quick, I made this mistake all week. They played Houston Christian. What, did I say, Houston Baptist? Yeah, different. Yeah, yeah.

I didn't know that. I thought they were the same program. Is there a Houston Baptist and a Houston? There is, yes, and I believe Nebraska has played them as well. Oh, wow. So, hey, look, we got our two. We got our two. And New Mexico, by the way.

Yeah. Beat the brakes off UCLA. UCLA fired their coach yesterday. But yeah, I'm with you. I mean, you know, I think you're never as good as you think you're after a win. You're never as bad as you think you're after a loss, right? I mean, that's something my high school coach in Omaha, Nebraska, legend five state championships,

one of the all-time winning as coaches in Nebraska history, told our team all the time. You're never as good as you think you are after a win. And so, you know, I'm probably drinking a little bit of the Kool-Aid, but I always tell Justin. You're fired up. It's way more fun. It's way more fun.

You know, if I get overhyped and my expectations are too high and they lose, okay, it's, you know, it's not a real. you know, it's not a real consequence to life. I may get some trash thrown in my face, trash talk, whatever. I'd rather be excited than be a pessimist and be pleasantly surprised. That's just how I am. Yes, and I love that. You asked about the dynamic of Sharon to Biff.

I will ask a very similar question. Are our wide receivers all of a sudden good? I think what I saw for McCulley gave me a little bit more confidence. I think he ran some really good around. and I thought he had a really solid day. He did. Again, I think the tight ends, they're a huge X factor this season. Just thinking ahead, though, as I'm watching on Saturday, I'm like,

are these receivers going to want to be a part of this in the future? Right? Like, that helps not going to come this year. You know, I think there were, I thought, I'll be honest. You know, Samash had the drop on the bubble. That would have been a touchdown, but he made plays now. I watched that replay that. I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I said.

saw the refill of that. I can't imagine what that looked like in the stadium because it looked like there was nobody. Was that husband out in front of him? There was someone out in front of him. No, it was Chan Goodwin who had his guy sealed and there wasn't anyone on that court of the field. I mean, he catches that and that's one of the bigger highlights of the season. I mean, he goes for forever. Yeah. Did you see him after the, he like, he like coached himself on the field. He like put his hands where they needed to be. But I'll tell you what, he had a good game. I mean, he had to catch on the sideline, got both feet down. He had the catch on the touchdown and the corner route, I think if they can figure out that he's not just a bubble guy,

because he can be effective in the screen game if he can catch him. But I thought him being a downfield presence was a great thing for Michigan on Saturday. I think McCulley is a clear number one. I mean, I think we all knew that going into the season. I think Goodwin, you got to catch the ball. I mean, I know Bryce is throwing it in there, but I'd rather Bryce throw it in there because when a guy catches, he's got a lot more room to operate, right? the ball doesn't take so long to get there you got to get the this is another thing on i'm

going to blog to talk about like get the jugs machine turning it all the way to the fastest speed and work on your hands every day this week right like you've got to be prepared hey man he's he's got a rifle right and you i mean if you want to play in the NFL like those guys are throwing that speed almost every starting quarterback you've got to be able to catch the football um so yeah i don't know i don't know if i feel any different about the wide receivers i again And I do think McCulley showed me some things that I hadn't seen in a Michigan uniform yet that were impressive. Again, same with Samaj. Yeah, if Channing Goodwin could be that reliable underneath third wide receiver,

I would feel so good about where we're sitting in mid-September. That's still an unknown to me. He's got to come, he's got to make those catches because that's the difference in these types of games. That's the difference between a win and a loss on a third and four, third and five. You've got to come up with those. because then Michigan misses the field goal and it's just central Michigan, it doesn't matter. But in a game in the Big Ten,

that could be the difference between a win and a loss. I think by year's end, but this is no sled on Channing Goodwin, I just think Andrew Marsh is such a dynamic athlete. I think we're seeing more and more of him every week. You know, he looks like a young guy, but he also looks really dynamic. He looks different than the other guys we have at that position.

He just looks fast. He looks dynamic. And so I think as long as he can keep stacking days and stacking games, think by the end of the year, he'll be the number, you know, two, three guy. I think one interesting thing that has surprised me, but I really was expecting going this year that Fred Moore was going to take a jump. He's a drop his shoes, too.

He had drops. He didn't play an offensive snap against Oklahoma, and he didn't get into the game on Saturday until the fourth quarter. I mean, we played a ton of dudes, and we played Bryce Wilcox, you know, riddle me this. I mean, I mean, yeah, that's, and so he's in the doghouse for sure. Yeah, you got, I mean, you got to catch the football, right? That's, that's, I don't care if it's coming 100 miles an hour. That's your job, right?

You were paid to do that. You've got to catch a football, man. And Fred's a great kid, and I'm sure, you know, I've never met Channing, but I'm sure he's a great kid. But you got to catch football, man. And Channing has made some plays so far this year that, you know, you can see the potential there. see why they like him. And so I just, if he could, if he could button that up a little bit, again, do your point with Andrew March coming on, you know, he had the touchdown on the

end around, you know, if he can show that he can be, you know, consistently open, you know, maybe you go with him and McColley on the outside and Samaj in the slot, right? I mean, Samaj can certainly, you know, be an effective slot receiver. For sure. And then you have your tight end running back, you know, in that 11 personnel set. So, yeah, they played 80 guys. 44 on the offense, 36 on defense. So here's one for you.

Anyone that knows me here, follows me on socials, knows how much I love this team and know the players on the team. I did not know we had a tight end named Crandall Quinn. All shout out to Crandall Quinn, but he played six steps for us on Saturday. I had no idea he was on the roster. So let's see. There's a lot of names here that I'm, Dan Tara Boy.

Yeah, he's played with. cool yeah he's been around for a minute james cabooclos um i'm sure of maybe a greek uh names sounding name there um yeah there's a lot of guys that i know their names um john weedenback shout out to you john i love michigan football the weeder man the leader shout out to john Nico Andragetto, not Andretti, Andregato. Yeah, a lot of guys getting in there that I don't recognize their name. So no disrespect, but shout out to my guy, Caleb Schleck. I do know Bryson Cuzzdall because he balled out in the spring game.

And he looked pretty good against, you know, I don't know how Central had their starters or second stringers in there. But he had a nice little drive there with Jaden Davis is the quarterback out of touchdown. You mentioned eight rushing touchdowns by six different players. So Haynes had two, and Bryce had two, but everybody, aside from Haynes, that was their first career touchdown. That's pretty awesome. Oh, I didn't realize it. That's super cool.

Yeah, that's a pretty, you know, Jasper Parker got in there, Cuzz doll, Andrew Marsh. Am I missing? Jordan Marshall. Had that had a touchdown, right? No, I don't believe so. He had the end-around sweep that went for like seven yards. Oh, no, right, right, right, right, right. Yeah, no, he didn't have one.

But, yeah, it was good to see, and I talked about this, and you know this, but this is, this is, you know a win like that you know central michigan whatever but it's good for the program to get 80 guys on to the field that's invaluable experience even if it's just three snaps or five snaps or whatever it is just to see game experience in the big house build some confidence you know kind of know what to expect when you get out onto that field Michigan didn't have this opportunity last year no they were in dog fights against Arkansas state and fresno state so now you know you get guys that are able to get in there it's good for morale it's good for the just the the vibes of the the program in Shem and, you know, because those guys busts their ass, man.

For sure. Like, they bust their ass. And, you know, some of them maybe get on special teams, but to get in an offense or defense, I think it's super cool and love seeing those guys play. You know, that's why I typically try not to leave the stadium, even in blots like that. Because, you know, they put in a ton of work. And I think you should, you know, pay your respects to the guys that you don't get a, you know, you don't hear about or you don't see people talking about or getting interviewed

or whatever. So, you know, that's awesome for the program. And I think, you know, more, a bigger drop-the-mic type situation is getting John Wiedenbach snaps, you know, and getting snaps than having your starters, you know, score another touchdown and put up some guys staff. Like, I think it's, you know, I love it. You know, you said it very well. These guys play a ton of snaps to, or play a ton and do a lot to help the program. And have them go out there in the big house and put on the uniform and we're on the field. make a tackle or just run into somebody it's just awesome they're going to be on tv they can tell their

kids and grandkids right you know i think about a guy like jaden davis too right who came in as a big time recruit and uh you know Bryce won that job and how cool you know for at least from the outside looking and i don't know how he feels about it but i thought it was awesome that he got to lead a touchdown drive i wish i would have let him throw it you know um but you know it's late in the game but you know he gets to lead a touchdown drive in the big house i mean that's got to be pretty special, I would think. So, you know, it's just great to see. I'll tell you this.

I keep saying that, by the way. I don't know what I just, I'll tell you this. It's not like a radio host. That interception, yeah, exactly. That interception from Elijah Dawson was, pretty impressive, man. He used to play. Him, I mean, that defensive backfield, they played a ton of guys, has a bunch of really good athletes there.

Shemari Earle's played. Jain Sanders played. Jordan Young played Dotson. Jacob Oden looked good in his limited amount of time. I think he's kind of a lost man because of how well they recruit that position this last cycle. But yeah, there's a lot of really good players. Jaya Hill, you know, he had a really good game. They looked good on defense.

Again, know the level of competition. J. Sean Barwin played the entire game at Edge. That's such a weird thing. You know, people have got two things. One, if you watch the replay, his first sack, I'm pretty sure I could have made that sack. And I'm slow. I don't know. The guy, his blocker just ran away from when the quarterback ran right towards him.

I mean, I'm not saying I could, but, you know, most of the guys in scholarship to make that play. Dude, that closing speed in the stadium was, it was insane. Like, that quarterback must, because I was like, oh, he's probably just throw this away. And he gets, I mean, tackled immediately. I thought that was just insanely impressive from an athletic standpoint from Jashon. Yeah, I mean, the closing speed of his size, I mean, part of me does kind of wonder because of how well rolled Cole Sullivan, Troy Bowles, Ernest, they're all playing very well at linebackers.

And you maybe could, I mean, but you can still use them in that hybrid. We've got to come up with a name like Viper for that position because he's kind of all over the place. But, man, he's effective as a pass rusher. He's effective as just a straight-up linebacker. But, man, that sack was like, again, because I thought he was just going to throw away. Yeah, like, I could only imagine what the quarterback was thinking because he got there in a hurry. But, yeah, no, T.J. Guy. That was interesting.

And they came out and said that they wanted a bigger defensive end in there. He didn't record a snap. I don't know if he's in the doghouse. What happened? I don't know anything, but when you have a guy that's been a program for four, or five years as a captain and he doesn't play a snap it's something happened he's either a doghouse some just skipped some workout skipped class something you you can't sell me on he's perfectly healthy and when you play john widenbach that he didn't get a single snap because he's uh

shout out to john witton i feel horrible now but you know what i mean like the fact that he doesn't get any snaps like something's up there and hopefully he moves past it and we see him in a decent way this week says because i think he's a good player you get borrowing keep those guys fresh um you know date mark and Nate marshall i would expect i haven't heard anything i don't have any insight but you know he got hurt i would assume that we're going to not see him for a couple weeks again i don't have any insight on that but we need tj got to take those snaps if nothing else so i yeah and and to your point um the linebackers look so good i thought i read and i haven't verified but they didn't blitz at all in that game not one time well no it was on um i think i know what you're

talking about it was a tweet about getting pressure on every snap they didn't blitz on or something like that yeah yeah it was like two yeah um that they got pressure on but i thought they brought pressure a few times um i'd have to go back and rewatch i rewatched a little bit this morning at the gym um but i thought they did bring some guys i mean Troy bulls yeah because Troy bulls had a couple quarterback hits that kid i don't know where you fit him on the field but every time i see him i come away and press and i know you've got cole solvin and ernest allison and jayshon barham and jimmy rolders playing really good football like you realize man that kid seems too good to keep off the field i don't know how he didn't see the field well i do know i didn't see the field georgias they got

the best linebackers in the country but that kid can play man i mean you know his dad's in i think he's a little undersized i think he's a little undersized yeah he wears number 18 and like I had a split second, like, flashback to McBarrows. And I was like, that's not McBarrows. This Troy Bowles out there. He was in on the fumble recovery or on that. I don't know if you, I can remember if you forced it or what, but, man, he just is, he's flying all over the field.

They've got a lot of depth and they've got a lot of young talent defensively that I'm extremely excited about, you know, that's going to be coming through the ranks. Again, that Elijah Dodson pick, I mean, he's, he's running to his right. The ball's thrown behind him to the left. He gets his body around, gets his fingertips. on it. I mean, that's a freakishly athletic play from him. He was committed to pit, man. I can't believe. I know that all kind of worked out with getting him and Bryce and, you know, the Belleville connection. I couldn't believe that, you know, it took them that long to get him

to come to Michigan. Like, you could just tell he's a ball player, you know. Was Bryce's leading receiver at Belville? He was. He played both ways, yeah. He's a great athlete. Yeah, he played 12 snaps and graded out at a 91.4. I mean, you don't see very many over 80 on a week-to-week basis. So 91.4 is very good, and his coverage grade was even higher. So the folks evaluating the snaps over at PFF were really impressed by him. And he looked good. Yep.

Jair Hill had a sack. He also got beat on a double move, but had safety protection over the top, came and hit the receiver, and it was nothing to be worried about. But those double moves get me a little concerned sometimes with Jair. That's like the one thing he kind of needs to clean up. yeah um you know that really concerns me otherwise you know also don't don't do the celebration like that in front of the ref i think uh got a little lucky he didn't get better like for sure i was like i did too but i was like god you got to stop with that stuff man it's just um you know especially

i know college football isn't the NFL but i know the NFL is cracking down on taunting i'm sure that's going to get passed out of college like that's just going to become more of an emphasis for the for the college officials so got it got to got to stay away from that stuff man go celebrate with their teammates. I don't know. I'm not in that generation, though, Brian. I don't know what's cool and what's not. So I don't know. It's not cool getting a penalty, though. These gray hairs, I definitely don't know, right? Yeah. Speaking of penalties, a couple penalties, bring back long touchdown runs. The first one, I can't remember. I know the second one was a legit call. I can't remember on the first one. It felt like I think I saw some people say it

was controversial. Can't do that, you know, especially, again, against Central Michigan doesn't matter, but man, you get a 70-hour touchdown next week against Nebraska is called back. A lot of people are going to be real upset. A lot of people in that building and the coaching staff, your position coaches. So need to clean that up. Other than that, though, there wasn't really a lot of, you know, game issues like that for me. I thought the two-minute drive at the end of the game, or the end of half was perfect. The official screwed up.

The clock should have stopped with like 22 seconds left. And there's a bunch of people around me, like, complaining that the coaches aren't calling a timeout. I'm like, internally not trying to argue with these random people. They're like the clock's supposed to stop. It's under two minutes, the first down. And then they said 12 seconds on the clock. I don't know what we're doing. But it worked out.

Got a touchdown. I think, yeah. You talked about mistakes. I think one thing that's been kind of a mistake-ridden unit is our offensive line. I know they played a lot of guys. You know, I don't know if they gained any clarity. I mean, I know I think Jake Warner certainly seems like. You know, he was the highest-graded guy in the interior.

played the most snaps and graded the highest. I think he seemed like a mauler. He had some mistakes. He had some missed opportunities when I rewatch, but he looked really good. I don't know what the best combination is because sometimes the best player isn't necessarily the best fit because of how guys play off each other. And I think those Joe Moore Award lines were perfect examples of that.

I don't think they were always, you know, one through five the best at their position. But I think they played really well with each other, knew where each other would be, knew who they could trust and do what. So I think as the season goes on, I think probably one of the most important things besides trying to get a little more healthy and, you know, finding the rhythm on offense is identifying the best five or six, you know, and making that clear because I think Alhadi's going to be out for a couple more weeks. I think that they said that's not really I think. They said he's out a couple more weeks. So I don't know.

Yeah. I tell you what, Gornera for a redshirt freshman, because we've seen freshman office as recently as last year. and Evan Lincoln has turned the corner. I think he's been playing much better football, at least compared to last year, kind of like a, you know, kind of a baseline guy, which is fine. I'm totally okay with that. But for a retro freshman Guarnara, it has been mauling guys.

I mean, I thought he moved guys in the Oklahoma game, and that's more of a barometer for me. But Central, you know, against Central Michigan, yeah, he's moving guys. But I think he's been one of the best offensive linemen that's seen the field this year. Oh, yeah. And I have a soft spot for him. He went to Nice High School, same place as Tim Tebow, my niece and nephew went there.

So I was hearing about him long before he was kind of on Michigan's radar. It was this massive human that was going to go play Division I somewhere. Yeah. With that got traction, it was kind of fun. Well, and, you know, his recruiting profile, to me, doesn't make a lot of sense. Even, you know, just it doesn't matter anymore. But, you know, you go back and look, he was the 27th best interior office of line in the country. I mean, he had offers from Florida, FSU, Miami, Ole Miss, Penn,

state, like, that's not really a, you know, mid three-star kind of guy. So I'm not surprised that, you know, I think he's probably a guy that the recruiting services maybe missed on a little bit, you know, I don't know how well they can project interior offensive alignment, especially to the next level. But I think Michigan did a great job in their e-val with him because, again, you know, what you heard about him as a recruits and what you're seeing on the field, I think is spot on. He's a mauler.

He's got a nasty streak. I love offensive linemen like that. So you got to think he submitted him. himself is one of the best five offensive linemen. They'll shuffle around as guys get back from injury. You know, I think, I would assume Norton will be back. I thought, you know, phobie had the, you know, had a penalty or two, but I still, I think he's a young guy figuring it out as well. It takes time, man. Like in an ideal world, you know, last year with Evan Link or this year with with a phobia or an era, you don't see them until they're

at least Redshirt sophomore, if not Redshirt junior year. Like, I know. And, I know, know the NIL world in the portal and stuff that's hard to do now but offensive linemen are just so different they're not going to come in and you know there's there's been some guys at michigan that have done it um relative uh relatively successful with like mason cole um but you just it's such a difficult position to learn in the college game um so i think we'd be talking about Babelolo is a stud. Probably one of those guys, yeah. He would have playing, he would have started that week one based on what we saw, right? Like, I think I feel pretty good. He would have played a ton, probably would have started against Oklahoma, starts against

Central, and we'd be talking about him, like, that's a future all-American. And I still feel that way, but it's just a shame that, you know, he is, he got injured like he did. Yeah, man, it's really tough, you know, I mean, typically true freshman offensive lineman. And it's not the end of the world. He's going to come back, and he's going to hopefully be ready for fall camp next year and be ready to go but you know this is valuable experience you could have been getting even if you wasn't the starter right to be able to go and play and rotate and figure out what your best five is because I mean you've been you're down a few guys right now I mean al-hadi is going to be out for a couple of weeks that will is out for the season

Norton got made up in practice right like I don't know man I don't know where uh where they kind of go from here. But you're getting guys experience, which I think is great. Like Blake Fraser played 23 snaps on Saturday. Caden Strayhorn, who's our center of the future got 14 snaps. Avery Gatch got six snaps. So you got some guys, some very good experience on Saturday. But, you know, it's a little thinner than maybe we would have liked at this point in the season, unfortunately. So looking ahead to this week, I know Nebraska's a little bit, it's kind of a sweet soft spot in your house. How's this week look for you as you guys talk about the week with family and friends? Yeah, well, we got a wedding in northern Michigan.

We're going to it's Monday afternoon as we're recording this or Monday around five-ish. Wednesday, we're heading up to go to Mackinac Island. My wife wants to do that. So it's my first time there, even though I'm from Michigan. And then, yeah, the wedding is at four games at 3.30. So I'm going to mute my phone because I've got a lot of friend groups that like to talk a lot of trash. Oh, yeah. So I'm going to have to mute those threads.

And such a hard time doing that, by the way. I know. I'm going to watch the game as long as I can without looking like an imbecile. And then I'm going to pause it and mute my phone. Hopefully nobody texts me. Hopefully ESPN doesn't alert me to anything. And then I'll try to watch it through like the cocktail hour. And then I don't know.

I mean, because, you know, the bride and groomer Michigan grads. So, you know, I was like, hey, the buy week is 27. You know, we need to reschedule. But they don't know the schedule. Yeah, they don't know. I mean, I got married on a fall Saturday. I can't say anything. But no. So with all that said, this might be a big week for me, Brian. You know, my wife's always

trying to finesse and get Nebraska onesies. And I'm like, no. No. So this, she might, you know, I need the boys to win. Let's just say that. I need them to pull it out. You know, so my daughter can, you know, root for the winner. Yeah. So I got the pro Detroit teams on lock. now it's just you know michigan needs to needs to need to uh come up for grasp in the household yeah exactly i mean look my wife has a lot of michigan stuff you know she's in Nebraska grad uh she's a trooper man she goes to all the game she's a good wing man oh yeah yeah it's a little tougher with the with the little one but uh we actually just booked our our travel to chicago for the game at rigley so she's not going but we're gonna have a hotel and you know so i'll go she won't that's okay

But, yeah, man, she's a Nebraska grad. She roots for Huskers when she can, but she doesn't really care that much. I mean, you know, I'm like, I'm going to go talk about football with my friend Brian. She's like, she doesn't care. So, yeah, it's a big week, though. It's a big week. You know, the company I work for has a home office in Nebraska. I got a lot of friends there used to work out of that office.

So, you know, a lot of texts this week, a lot of teams calls, you know, how you feel in. You know, they haven't, they haven't beat Michigan since 2013. So, you know, they're, I got a lot of friends that once the University of Nebraska. And so they're, they're chomping out the bit for this one, man. I'll tell you that. And that's just not the fans. That is, that is, this is a huge opportunity for Nebraska and Matt Rule in year 30 to show that they're different, that the close game narrative can go away. Like, I don't know in reality if they do win this game, if, you know, because if they go out and they still lose six, seven games, like that narrative is going to be there about Nebraska.

But this is a huge opportunity for them to really have a springboard in, kind of that new era of Nebraska football that they've been looking for since they fired both cleaning right so then that building you got to imagine i mean this is going to be an intense week for them you know matt rule has been pretty public about his uh disdain for for mich for michigan here recently with all the you know he always makes his little jabs and i'm sure on his podcast he'll make a comment um which i normally root for Nebraska but honestly since he started just kind of talking out the side of his neck i don't care for him yeah i can't coach your program run your own race worry about you yeah it was 45 nothing

in the third quarter or whatever it was. Signs weren't the reason you got your ass kicked. And just keep it moving, man. Worry about your program. Right, right. That's how I feel. So I don't... Because, you know, before that, seemed like a good coach, decent dude, but he started chirping. It's like, yeah, I'm done with you. I don't want it. And now he's got his podcast, house rules, you know. Kind of funny, man. I'm surprised looking back that Jim Harvard didn't get bashed more for having his podcast. You know, you would think, because remember that time, but, you know, uh pre-covid like oh they can't win the big one blah blah blah yeah i'm because and i'm surprised

that i don't know i just coach football man coach football why are we having podcasts right right you know um but everybody hey look we got a podcast let us all right yeah everybody every time somebody says uh podcast quick but should be more expensive i'm like damn it's not that it's not that expensive you can get into it real real easy um but yes anyways they're going to be fired up that fan base is going to be fired up yeah Because I'll tell you, in 2023, his first year, 3.30 kick or 230 there, central time, man, it was loud for like three minutes. And then I think the moment it kind of just, there was no noise is after JJ threw it to Rome and he pinned it on the dude's helmet. And then it was quiet from there and out.

But in 2021, when Michigan was undefeated coming in a night game, which this is not, thank God. It's a 230 kick, local time. that place was dude that is the loudest environment i've ever seen i know just has made comments talking to guys on that team that that was the loudest stadium that they had ever experienced so nebraska fans can get up man because they got this is what this is their favorite thing um this is what they they love they love support nebraska in any sport but especially football so it's going to be a tough environment it's probably going to be a little bit tougher than oklahoma in terms of the crowd noise if i had to guess um so i think the you know the communication for for bryce and

the offense is going to be huge i mean it's got to be yeah They got to get the W, man. That's all I know. Vegas has the game in like a one and a half point spread in Michigan's favor. I would expect that. I would expect that to move towards Michigan. I do too. I would expect that's like four by kickoff as my guess.

Yeah, I know Bill Connolly from ESPN has his SP Plus algorithm that has Nebraska's 1.5 point favorites. Yeah, it's going to be interesting, man. I don't think we know, I mean, you know, Michigan went to a tough environment. It's Oklahoma. Worth noting Bill Connolly is the same. guy that you just referenced, the same guy that after week one had Texas ranked above Ohio State. So it takes some time for that algorithm. Yeah, it takes time for that algorithm. I put a lot more credence into his algorithm than a lot of the other ones out there. It's typically

once it gets later in the year and they could, I think the portal has really ruined his ability to kind of, you know, project a little bit in the first part of the season because he's got like the, it is a little wonky, but it is 100% better than the ESPNFPI. Like, I don't know why they still have that. They should just use his. about October is when it starts to really kind of be much more accurate. And I'm a big fan of his and work he does with that thing. It's typically pretty spot on. What's the score going to be?

Give it to me. Put me on a spot, dude. I am. Come on. That's what we do. Give me Michigan 2720. 2720. That's reasonable.

I feel like, you know, looking at this game 36 hours ago, I felt like it was going to be a dog fight and, you know, it was going to be a fourth quarter game. The more I've looked at kind of a deeper dive of the opponents and the analytics and strengths and weaknesses of these teams, that being running the ball and stopping the run, I feel like Michigan's just going to put hurting on them. I really do.

I know Vegas doesn't say that. Like, I only thinks they're going to lose by one out. I think Michigan wins by double digits. I think they score 3, 31, 20. I like it. I mean, I love it. Any margin of victory here because I just, you know, there's a lot more. I'll take a 3-0 win.

Come on, give it to me. There's a lot of Nebraska fans in my office. Oh, yeah. I work, remote, but they, you know, we're all interconnected. We have team meetings. You know, I want to come on to the team meeting. They're on a Michigan hat, you know, just not say anything. just enjoy it.

Yeah, I do think, though, that it's going to be a more competitive game between these two teams when we've seen the last couple of times, you know, in 2022, Michigan beat them 34-3 and then in 23, they beat them 45-7. So, you know, I think it's going to be a lot more competitive than that game. But I do think Michigan, you know, I think, I don't know how much we talk about, but I thought the defensive line for Michigan, I was really impressed by. I thought Trey Williams played well.

I thought Benny had a bounce back. He was not the Benny I was expecting in the first couple weeks. I thought he played a much. better game. I think they just got a lot of depth defensively. And I think the X factor for Nebraska is going to be the willingness to run that Royola brings because, you know, he loves to be Patrick Mahomes. He is a little bit like Mahomes in the fact that he's not looking to run very often, right? He doesn't run there. He doesn't break it out when he needs to. I don't think he's as good of an athlete as Mahomes is. But I do think he's, you know, he's got the ability to scamper for seven

yards if, you know, he's a division one athlete, but I think, you know, if you look at the last several years, it's some, these mobile quarterbacks have given us fits. And right, oh, he's a pilot, man, he does not run. Like, can he run? Sure, he's a division one athlete. He can run. But if you look at his stats, I don't think he's ever had a game with more than 40 yards and that's including games against Houston Christian, not Baptist. You know, he just, he's just not that guy. And so I think if you keep a guy between the tackles and let Wink pin his ears back and try to confuse him a little bit, you know, bring Troy Bowles, bring those linebackers, bring Cole Sullivan, bring Barham. You know, I think they're going to create a lot of problems for him and create the turnover. And so that's part of where my optimism comes from is his lack of mobility and lack of, as you said, willingness to tuck it and go.

I just don't think he wants to do that. He'd rather throw it away and live to fight another day. Yeah, yeah. No, I agree with you 100%. man. So it's going to be a fun week. We're going to be doing some stuff with our friends over at No Blog, No Rock. They're a Nebraska podcast that one of my good friends who's in my wedding, neighbors with one of the guys.

That's what we got connected. So you'll be seeing some stuff in partnership with those guys. They're also one in Nebraska perspective. Check them out, no block, no rock. I want to say a huge thank you to Feldman Chevrolet of Highlands, as well as Witson Whiskey. Check out the new Mazin Blitz. I believe that should be a total wine. Any of those liquor stores in Ann Arbor in the surrounding areas.

is very good. Had a couple of those Saturday at the tailgate, Brian, and we had some Friday night at the graduate bar, did a little tasting, had some Blue Bin 90 fans come out. Chris Wormley was there. He and Jordan Shracher doing the stadium of Maine podcast on our YouTube channel and Spotify, so check that out.

But just a huge thank you to our partners, making all this stuff possible for us. And that's going to do for me, Brian. Any closing thoughts for you as we get out of here? Go Blue. Let's see the Bright Show. let's get to Broadway there maybe absolutely man go blue and once again thank you to felman Chevrolet of Highland for us you can follow us on Twitter on Instagram Facebook

YouTube at Blueby 90 and you can check us out at bluebond90.com we appreciate you go blue go blue