Blue By Ninety - Blue By The Numbers: Tempered Expectations for 2025 Michigan Wolverines?

Episode Date: September 11, 2025

Brian and Tanner talk about Michigan’s disappointing performance in Norman, Oklahoma. 

All right. Welcome back to Blue by the Numbers. I'm Tanner, joined by Brian today. Brian, tough, tough weekend for our Michigan-based football teams. It was tough, man. That's what I got. That's how I'm starting. It was a tough weekend. I mean, as big of Michigan fans as I am also a lifelong Lions fan. And, you know, you get so excited for football season to come back, right? And then for that to be the weekend, it was just a lot of pain. It was a lot of pain. Long season. You know, I made this comment to Justin on our Blue By 90 podcast. A lot of football left, and it's a long season. And a lot can happen. And there's a lot of development that happens over the course of the year. But initial thoughts, Saturday night, Oklahoma, you know, kind of a, you know, I know Michigan lost by 11. They were down eight in the fourth.

It was a bit of a rock fight. I mean, Oklahoma had some explosives. Michigan had an explosive run. But kind of, you know, for the most part, it still felt like a dog fight a little bit that just Michigan couldn't, you know, get out of their own way sometimes. And Oklahoma definitely aided that with some turnovers. But what were your thoughts on the game on Saturday? I mean, I tend to think much like you do.

I mean, we were still in that game, most of it. Like as ugly as it was, as painful as it was, many mistakes. And we'll get into the play calling and how different guys played. But we were still in it. I did think, you know, complimentary, John Matier might be my favorite player watching college football. That guy's awesome, you know, just his grittiness. I mean, everything I love to watch in a football game.

The other thing that stood out to me is if you're not a fan of either one of those teams, there were two times early in the game when the game was kind of trying to sort out, third and long, where Mateer just throws prayers up and his receivers just make miraculous catches, not the greatest catches of all time, but, you know, if those get tipped and they go to bounds, no one thinks anything different, they're punting, and the way we go. And we didn't, I mean, McCulley's catch was pretty remarkable. But other than that, we didn't have a lot of that, you know. And, you know, it was kind of an ugly game, really, for both sides.

I mean, they had turnovers and, you know, penalties, giving, you know, letting us convert on third down that we wouldn't have otherwise. It was kind of an ugly game. It is just one game early in the season with plenty of time to get better. You know, we have a couple games now that we can try to get it right. But, you know, as excited as we were last week, you know, of all the potential this team possesses you know this game if you're a michigan fan you were humbled you know if you were thinking uh whatever you were thinking your expectations have to have changed a little bit

you know i don't think the world's falling apart but yeah expectations for the top end of this team i think you know the governor on that has come down a bit yeah so a little um behind the scenes here i guess uh so i text one of our friends who makes our graphics and so um i typically try to get the YouTube algorithm and I try to come up with something catchy or just something off the top my head. Last year against Texas, the thumbnail says shell-shocked. That was not this. This graphic on our most recent podcast says back to earth, back to reality, right? That's kind of a little bit of a gut check for Michigan and Michigan fans. So all that potential that we thought was there, I still think is there. I think, you know, I think the offensive line that needed, you know,

I think we don't really preview games on this show, but. But just moving forward, I think against Central Michigan, I think you've got to try some different things. You've got to get the best five out there, see who gels. You may have to go with some different lineups. But I think there's still a lot of potential. Obviously, at the quarterback position, you know, not his best night. Only a second start on the road against a ranked SEC opponent,

Brent Venables, who is we talked about, you know, as a guy that is known for confusing college quarterbacks, especially younger quarterbacks. So, you know, I think there's still a lot of room for growth. And that's, again, it's a long season. It is September 10th here as we record this. We're in early September. It's still warm out.

So, you know, this team is going to make improvements. They're going to take strides. But I'm with you where, all right, well, now it's a little bit back to the drawing board. And we need to kind of find something that works between what this program's identity has been built upon forever in running the ball, being tough. Because, again, going back to the offensive line, there wasn't really a moment where I was, You know, that 75-hour touchdown run, it was well blocked. They had seven offensive linemen in. I loved it.

But there wasn't a moment in a tough situation, third and two, third and three, where they could go and manball you and get a first down like we've come to expect over the last few years. So there's got to be kind of a way to merge that identity with Chip Lindsay and what he wants to do. But they've got to do a little bit of soul searching in the next couple weeks. I think so. I think, you know, very few teams are really good at everything, you know. And if you have a weakness, you need to find a way to call plays, make plays around those weaknesses, despite those weaknesses.

And it doesn't seem like we've sorted that out. Like we have a dynamic quarterback that can make everything on the field that even though we haven't seen it yet, we've seen his tape from high school. Like, I can make plays with his legs. And, you know, we'll get into it. to it. We get the position groups. I don't, there's some narratives going on about some of the guys or some of the position groups in our team that I don't completely agree with and we'll get into it. But, you know, I think when your offensive line can't establish anything, you know,

there's so many times you watch and the line was pushed back to three yards at snap. You know, the line's going to just reset. We're in the past, you know, we were two yards downfield, that was going other way. That limits your ability to call plays. But, yeah, there's a bunch of stuff that's kind of, you know, all correctable, I think, mostly correctable. I shouldn't say I'll correct you, most of it correctable. Yeah, some of it's just going to take time and, you know, retooling and rebuilding of the roster. You know, we talked about that a little bit, Justin and I did, and I'd love to get your thoughts because I think, you know, there's a lot of social media is an interesting place.

There is a lot of things, you know, and I keep my feet as much as I can to sports into college football. So then I end up getting a lot of, you know, rival fans, which is great. You know, I love seeing their takes. They're very measured. They're never over the top. They're never quitting on a guy in his first NFL start two minutes into the game and proven wrong 30 minutes later. It just doesn't happen.

But I do see a lot of Michigan fans that maybe I don't follow or maybe I do that come up. And, you know, if Sharon doesn't do X, I'm out. It's like, okay. Like, you know, I have some. critiques and I've been critical, but I also think, you know, give the man some time to build up the way that he wants to build it and, you know, instill some of the things he wants his program to be. But my point of saying all that was I don't think, love Jim Harbaugh, won us national championship forever indebted to that man. But I don't think on his way out

that the recruiting effort was really there. And I think you're starting to see that a little bit because 2023 class is juniors now, right? And so I think that, again, that may be something that just takes time. It's just you can't do it overnight. I mean, you can do it a little bit with the portal, but then you've got to have your homegrown kids in the program for two, three, four years. It just may take time on some of those things that I'm assuming you were alluding to

in terms of, you know, there's some guys that are just, their good football players are just physically not as dominant as what we've been used to with Oluo Timmie, Drake Nugent, right? Like those great centers. for that time. Andrew Bustardis as well. You know, Trevor Keegan, Zach Zinner, all those guys, right? So it may just take a little bit of time. I don't know. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, it's what your picture is or what your outlook is. Like, are you looking at, is your expectation before the Oklahoma game that this team was going to win the Big Ten, go to the college football

playoff and win a national championship? If that was your expectation and that's something you put in your brain, then you're probably really hurt and maybe that's the source of some of that rhetoric that you see on social media because we have false expectations. You know, I, and I still have this. My expectations of this team haven't really changed. I think they win, you know, they can win nine, ten games. If they win the right games, you know, maybe squeak into the playoffs, not playing a really

good bowl game. And then you're building for next year, you retain people, you play a style of ball that's attractive to people, and then you keep building the roster to the points that you alluded to. You know, so it's all about what your expectation of perception is. And I believe that we're kind of building we're a year away. You know, if we can be a really competitive team in Bryce Underwood's sophomore year and then be ready to win it all in his third year.

I mean, that's kind of got to be, you know, a program building mentality, I think. And that's, you know, a lot of fans that's like national championship robust. And, you know, I'd love to think that's a reality, but it's not reality for many teams in the country. so no you know you know it's way too magnetic you know no i i'm with you i mean i you know i i came on this on this podcast i said micha was win 31 17 i was 25 points off you know uh sometimes you're sometimes you're sometimes you're a little bit of away from your target um but you know i always say i'd rather i'd rather be overhyped than be just miserable like yeah it's supposed to be fun right and if you lose that sucks but you know you get over it and uh life moves on but

yeah i'm with you i think you know you're you're really kind of building towards 20 and 27 with Bryce Underwood, with this team, with the talent they've brought in, especially the 2025 class and, you know, the 2026 class. There's some guys that are going to be major contributors here and hopefully, you know, get Michigan back to where they want to be. So, yeah, to your point, there's, you know, there's, and I'd love for Michigan to get there, and I think if they continue to recruit, you know, the way that they have, I need to see a little bit more development.

You know, I'd love to, I mean, I'm not asking for it to be Jim Harbaugh level to develop but would like to start to see some of these younger guys, you know, get better throughout the year. But I certainly think there's a world where they can be that type of program, you know, one of the top five in the country in terms of consistently being in that conversation. So, yeah, I think some folks need to adjust their expectations. We were very excited about Bryce, and I'm still very excited about Bryce, but, you know, true freshman, road game, again, ranked opponent, one of the tougher places to play in the country. That's going to be tough for any young quarterback, let alone an 18-year-old making a second start.

Yeah. And I think one thing to put a pin in that we don't know is, you know, one thing that's made a lot of buzz on social media the last few days is, you know, the AP voter, the woman that raised, that moved floored up in the rankings and didn't watch the game if they lost the USF. And to that point, preseason rankings and our own bias about certain programs give a false read of who's good and who's bad this early in the season. And the pin I referenced is how good is Oklahoma? Like if Oklahoma goes this year and loses four or five games, and that will, this, you know, when we look back on week two at their place, like, eh, that was a bad win, Michigan isn't that good. If Oklahoma, it turns out to be really good, and from what I saw, they could be, I think, you know, they got to keep that quarterback healthy because he runs around like a wild man. I don't think you want to be 19 times a game in the SEC. Yeah, that's not sustainable.

But, you know, they could be a really good football team. You know what I mean, you look at the history of college football, what is, Is he in year three or four at Oklahoma? Who? Head coach. This is fourth year. Okay, yeah. So he's kind of, you know, this window.

But like, is this the year that they break through? And if so, we look back seven, eight weeks from now, and we've stabilized, we've got things right, and you think, okay, so we lost the number four team in the country. You know what I mean? So the story is being written, and we don't really know what this game was, you know, we just don't. Yeah, it's tough to know. so early in the season. I mean, same with, you know, you look at the NFL. You have no idea. You have a, you have somewhat of an idea and you have an expectation and you have an assumption at what teams are going to be good. And, you know, we know the bills and Ravens game from Sunday night. We're going to look back and those are probably a couple of playoffs. But you really truly don't know, especially in college football where the turnover is so big, you know, there's so many variables when it comes to college football players and teams. Like you just, you know, they're 18 to 22 year old kids. really and they're learning to become men and it just is not as consistent of performances that

as it is at the professional level so it's even harder in college football to know who's going to be good who's going to be championship contenders you you can sort of get an idea but you're not going to know until october at the earliest right right i mean yeah that's my whole thing like you know so let's talk about it let's do it we kind of gave our our thoughts on the program as a whole were you, I don't know where I want to start here with the Oklahoma game, but like, let's talk about the good. What did you take out of that game moving forward? You're like, you know what? I can work with this. This makes me excited. So, good question. I think, you know, I think of the offense. I mean, Justice Haynes is explosive or running back. I can remember.

We've had a lot of really good running backs. A lot of guys have different skills, different traits. What's the last time? I mean, I'm thinking, like, all the good backs we've had is the last explosive back tyrone. Like, who did we have that really can run away from people? Sophomore Blake Corum? Before he added the weight? I don't know. I don't remember him ever being breakaway like that, but yeah. Donovan is a sophomore. Yeah, maybe, yeah, that's true, right? Yeah, Donovan, if you just watch a couple games, so we'll see how he sustains that. but you know you asked what stood out that is um and we can you know what else in the offensive side of the ball i you know as as much as people want to criticize in those stable uh social

media folks one thing that you that i walked away feeling good about brys underwood is he never panicked like he never looked panicked he didn't turn the ball over you know what i mean like how many times that situation do you make a bad situation or losing situation much worse by just being reckless and careless. That didn't happen. He's still yet to turn the ball over. That's coming. You know, turnover is just happening.

What else in the offense stood out? Not a whole lot of the offense, really. Like, I think defensively, I think we have some young guys that are just super excited about. Cole Sullivan continues to look great. Marshall seems like he's impacting plays all the time out there. Who else jumped off the page for me? T.J. Metcalf, I know you love him. He was everywhere.

all those coverage skills, you know, he might be more peppers than I originally. I was just thinking that. I was just thinking, like, he'd be a proper of Piper. Yeah, right, right. You know, not a lot of stuff got me really excited, you know. Dominic Nichols, Nate Marshall, Cole Sullivan, the real young guys in this class that, you know, we talk about building for the future. That's what's got me excited.

Jair Hill had a really good game, like some of the stuff that we complained about him in that first game. He kind of cleaned up there. I didn't see some of that. What else? Yeah, that's about it. I'm a real positive of being honest. I like the fight.

I mean, I know, you know, like, you can say, oh, they're getting paid now, you know, but I did like the fight. Defensively, the one touchdown they gave up in the second half was a play that Brandon Hillman should have made the sack. That led to a touchdown, right? That happened a few times. That happened a few times. Yeah, and Meteer, I mean, look, Mette is like,

maybe a little bit of a hybrid and not both of their best skill sets, but maybe a little bit of a hybrid between Tim Tebow and Baker-Mayfield in terms of just like willing to run, willing to, you know, throw a shoulder, but it's a pretty good pastor. So like, you know, like a, I don't know, like a, not a poor man's version of both of those guys, but kind of. So, you know, he's a good cop, I think. Yeah.

I'm telling a Baker, Baker. He's clearly not a, don't, he's not as big as Tim Tebow. I know, I already see the comments. I'm just saying, like, the willingness to run. And I don't know Baker will run, but maybe it is just a Baker-Mayfield comp. I don't know. I don't know if he's got, he does not have his good of an arm. And we talked about some of his mechanical issues, and that did show up.

You did throw that pick to Metcalf. But again, the defense in the second half. Yeah, yeah, Jair, you know. But as I'm saying that, they did go on like a nine-minute drive to ice the game, basically. So it would have been nice to get off the field. I do think his running ability was just the difference maker for Oklahoma and they just

every third down he made a play with his leg or with his arms through his legs. And it was just difficult for Michigan to get off the field. I was excited about Donovan McCulley. We had heard about the jump ball contesting catchability. You know, would love for him to just go up with it

to him and let him go make a play, let him box the guy out. He did have the one opportunity. He came down with it. off the back of the helmet yeah um yeah justice haines um i thought jake guanara looked good coming in he i mean he was moving people i that's more than i can say for yeah some some other guys um yeah it was you know i thought cole solvin had a had a solid game um i honestly i don't know what the game would look like but joshan coming in in the second half i think was a huge part of you know their ability to get stops right and again that

last drive took nine minutes so it's like hard to but i thought j sean played really well um would love to have had him for the first half i think maybe yeah early on yeah because we weren't in home we had no pass rush in the early part of that game and he's such a big part of that so do you think that was any part of the concerted effort to not let mityer make you know scrambles like you because it just didn't make sense because it just didn't seem like there was much of a rush attempt from the defensive ends and i don't know if they wanted to stay in their lanes or what but it just something fell off we did have a guy assigned him i mean they were aware of his running like you know the home and play you mentioned

there were several of those where we just didn't get home like if you watch the replay of the game and encourage anyone to go watch you know there's a few people who put out like 30 40 minute recap some replay game watch how many times we should have got home it wasn't the scheme's fault really guys just took bad angles missed tackles i think it was one of the worst tackling games i can remember as a michigan fan we miss so many tackles so many i'd love to know how much many yards after contact they had because they just a lot a lot there was a there was a few times where you had a you had a zero or one yard gain and then it was first down or close to it i think you know one thing i liked about that game that i didn't like about the game is we spent

a lot of time last week talking about marlin klein and sometimes you don't know you know what's that saying you don't know how much you love something until it's gone uh you know he creates space he was open willing target and without him that just wasn't there you know there was that one doubt deep out route to zach marshall that was and and you know we've talked about how fast malon klein was marlin klein's there he's taller he's bigger and he's a whole lot faster he probably gets there well bryce has probably rep that with marlin not with zach right so it's probably you know it's probably muscle member to make that throw in terms of marlin's athletic ability and zach marshal is a really good athlete i'm still excited about his potential here i mean he did get

open on that wheel route when Bryce was under pressure. That play, do you think that Bryce was trying to get into the wheel route? Because he had so much pressure, but he's got such a strong arm. I don't know. Do you know what I'm talking about because there was underneath the road? I couldn't tell. I have no idea if he was trying to get it to the wheel route or, yeah, I mean, there was missed opportunities, right?

Like, you think about Donovan McColley's got that one-on-one with the defensive back. Defensive back is flat-footed and Donovan runs basically. at post and Bryce throws it out of bounds. I mean, if he hits, if he throws to the middle of the field, that's a touchdown and he down 2117. Yeah, just a lot of missed opportunities, man. I thought that there were, yes, your offense wasn't great Saturday night, but your offense wasn't great.

Like, you sometimes when you're in those, you know, plus 35, plus 38, don't pun it, first of all, let your All-American kicker try it. But go for it. On those fourth and twos, those fourth and threes, take a shot because you don't know when you're going to get the ball back again. And, you know, they obviously didn't score enough points to be even within a score at the end of the game. Michigan had more drives in their side of the field, more possessions than ended on their side

of the field that the other way around. So, I mean, they, you know, scared money don't make money. You know what I mean? Like, to your point, go for it, take some risks. I think I want to be interested in your thoughts, it seems like the number one thing I see, online is, you know, since the game ended and, you know, was questioning the offensive play calling. Where do you come in on that? I do, so I do understand the frustration, certainly, and I wanted, you know, in the moment, I wanted Michigan to open it up more. But I think as the

game went on, and maybe it was because Michigan was in a scenario where they're down late in the game, and Oklahoma knows they need to throw the ball. But the last thing I I want to happen to Bryce is what happened to Devin Gardner. And what I mean by that is just not trusting your offensive line. Your clock and your head's going off after a second. Like you don't think you've got any protection. So I do understand it to a certain extent.

And you know, a lot of people are like, oh, you can't protect your quarterback. Well, you kind of can because this is not, again, this is a three-year investment for Michigan and for Bryce Underwood. This is not a, you're not winning the national championship Saturday night. And you're not losing it either. Right. Like we don't, I mean, look, they're not, I don't think they're going to. and make a Cinderella run and win a national championship this year,

but you're not out of it. That game, yes, it would have been great to win. Yes, it would have been great for your playoff. A chance if you lose a game or two here or there. But it's a 12-team playoff now. You're not out of it. So I think, you know, take an opportunity against Central Michigan to make it more comfortable. I think I really wish, and this is no disrespect to the Matt Rule-led Cornhuskers.

But I wish those games were flip-flop and date because I think that would have been an easier transition for Bryce to go into Lincoln, Nebraska. And play that team versus, but at the same time, I do think it was a really good thing that Bryce went through that so early. And now he's going to be able to learn from it and, you know, be on the same page with his teammates. Understand, hey, you know what, I really got to, I really got to get my cadence up. Like, I got to scream on the road. When I'm, when I'm in the horseshoe next year, I got to be screaming, losing my voice because I'm screaming these, you know, these play calls or screaming the cadence or the adjustments at the line. So I think it was really good. But, yeah, I mean, you know, I don't think you need to go crazy and throw it 50 times last Saturday. I just, I think you can be a little conservative, but I would like to see him open it up as he gets more reps under his belt. For me, two things can be true. One, you know, I've said this for a lot of last year and, you know, even last week. Our offensive line is not that good.

You know what I mean? Like, you know, when Al-Hadi goes down, you know, there's a reason why. I, Andrew Babelola, was pushing to that starting spot. You know, it goes back to that point you were making earlier about raising the level of talent on the team. He was obviously making a push, and maybe that's him, and maybe that's a five-star being a five-star, or maybe that also speaks to what we have, but we're not getting the push that we've come to expect.

And I realize I'm talking on both sides of my mouth a little bit, because earlier I said, if you have a weakness, find the way around it. But I do know, as a play call, it's difficult if you can't protect. and block the play to work you know what i mean it's amazing how good wide receivers look when the quarterback has three four three and a half seconds to toss and ball to them it's amazing how bad people are critical of the wide receiver group when a guy has under two and a half seconds to do it you know i mean so um so part of the issue is they got to clean up that offensive line they you know they have to sort that out i don't know what the answer is i know i have some ideas on it i'd love

the, you know, get your best five out there regardless of where they are. And I think Blake Fraser is a better option than the guards are rolling out there right now. And this week with, you know, Hattie out, most likely out and hope he's out for a long, you know, a long period of time. But, you know, give him some run. Let's see what he's got. Let's how they gel. I do think there is a little bit of bubble wrap with Bryce. Like, the guy has it all. And there's some balance between protecting him and not exposing him and not having him play reckless football and you know and and if you're the offensive quarter at michigan and making a million dollars plus to be the year that's why you're paid to figure out sort that out when to

push and when to pull back and uh you know i thought the second to last drive they waved the white flag it was third and eight they had uh max protect third and eight passing down right the only receiver there's two receivers to the right uh channing goodwin and max predison max bretison immediately goes to block. Channing Goodman goes like eight yards of block all on the right side of the field and they throw a screen to Justice Haynes and as soon as he catches like four guys,

I mean, that's just waving the white flag. Like you're not even trying to make a playout space. You're not trying, you know, a dig route scheme there would be perfect. You know, something other than that. And so I felt like they called that game knowing it was going to be challenged, like almost not expecting to win.

Like, let's just get in a rock fight and hopefully some way the ball. bounces we win and so I think both are true that you got a you know we threw let's see in the first half we had 10 pass plays six were screens four were less than five yards I mean one pass went over five yards like there's a miscommunication where you threw it all the way and that's just that's just to be expected right like like That's going to happen. It's not on the same pitch.

It happened on what looked like maybe an RPO that McColley didn't hear, and he's blocking as he's blocking down the field. And Bryce is like, you're supposed to be running a route, throws it up to him. Right. So, but yeah, I'm with you. I thought they telegraphed a lot of what they did too. There was a formation where they had four to one side, and it was, Haynes was offset.

And I just, I was watching. I was like, they're just going to throw it to him. And I'll tell you, though, the line. back at Oklahoma that's on scholarship and NIL money that watches film all week also knew it was going to Justice Haynes just like the guy on the couch did um so yeah i thought they telegraphed a lot of what they were doing i didn't think they did a great job of utilizing play action um yeah just overall you know wasn't great wasn't great uh wasn't a great game plan but again you know there's a lot of there's a lot of moving parts here to kind of have

that need to find you know a way to mesh together and again that might might take time and you know by the time we get to October November if they figure things out there's certainly a lot of potential with those offense to be more explosive and you know again they did have some big plays you know they had the touchdown run and they had the long pass they actually had I actually there was some there was a couple in the first half that were you know the one two samaj on the rollout I think He got about 15. There was one to Cheney Goodwin on a rollout. They might just need to get Bryce on the run.

Just rolling to his right, he seems so comfortable. So comfortable. Here's devil's advocate, right? And I'm a sincere question. So everyone's being critical of the play calling and being conservative and not taking shots. Let's just say the outcome's the same. But the path to getting there is different. And that path looks like us taking them on shots down field and the fans get what they want.

They take shots down the field. They spread it. Bryce Underwood throws two interceptions and puts him on the ground. And the score is the exact same. What's the story? You know what I mean? Like, I'm not saying it has to be. It's not a zero-some proposition.

I'm not suggesting if they would have done that would be the outcome. I'm just saying that I think there's times where as fans, we just want to win. And when it doesn't win, we got to find something to blame, point fingers out. And, you know, is protecting him not just from a physical standpoint, from a mental standpoint, not putting him in situations where he will do that because, let's face it, as bad, you know, you didn't have a great quarterback rating, people, you know, there's plenty to be critical of, but I think if he went out through a couple picks and threw some bad, dumb ones, like the narrative could be a whole lot worse, like, okay, this guy, you know, now that guy just moves on and he still

doesn't turn the ball over and, you know, his psyche's not wrecked, and I don't know, I don't know what the answer is, I'm just thinking aloud. Well, you know, sometimes, you know, guys throw a bad pick and the internet loses his mind. We saw that on Monday night, Brian. I mean, so, you know, nobody gives young quarterbacks the time anymore to make mistakes and work through them. And I don't, you know, there were some throws. I'm sure Bryce won it back, but I do think he did a good job of just not throwing a back-breaking pick, right? Because you're still in it.

You're in it. You're fighting. You know, you're down 11 most of the second half, but you are driving multiple times. You get the muffed punt. Just can't capitalize. on it. Yeah, capitalizing. I didn't think the special teams was great.

It's a problem. It's a problem. I also didn't like that Sharon said he deferred to a special teams coach when punting from the 38 for a net pun of 18 yards. I hated that. Like, I hated that. Even if that's true, even if that's true, you don't say that out loud. Like, even if it's like, I wanted to trust my, you got to stand up there.

If it works out, then you give him the credit. But when it doesn't work out, you. You got to own it. You got to say, you know what, I made a call and, you know, maybe next time I'll learn from that. And maybe I should have done it differently. But I felt like it was the right thing to do in that situation because of X, Y, and Z. You don't say, I just deferred to, you know, a guy that works for. You just don't do that.

No, no. I mean, I delegate all the time, but, you know, you got to be tactful about it. Right. Yeah, I just, I didn't love that. I would have rather to, and I know he missed one, but the fouler jinx was awful, by the way. Just, Chris, shut up. You know, just shut your mouth. No disrespect, because I do love Chris Fowler,

except I was a little on his ass Saturday Night, Brian, after that. But I think it's because he's the announcer a lot of times in college football, the video game. And so then if I throw a dumb pick, he's like, oh, he's 12 picks on the year. And I'm like, shut up, Chris. So then it's, you know, rolling over into real life here. Yeah, the announcer takes was rough. Because that, you know, who knows what the game looks like if they make that field goal.

But, you know, theoretically, you have that. three and you're down 2416 you're still in it you still have belief that you can because that last final drive just felt like yeah there's nothing you can really do there's no there was no faith that they were going to go out there score getting onside and score again so yeah kind of nailing the coffin on that fuel goal um but yeah man it was uh you know i will say it was fun seeing those colors out there the the maize and blue and the white with the mace pants against oklahoma's classic uniform i love oklahoma's uniforms actually i'm a big i kind of like oh you like you know i don't really uh you know i just i don't have any beef with them i just i think

there's a historic program and uh you know i have some friends who are you fans they've always been cool and you know i just it was it was cool to see that and i'm excited for them coming next year to the big house uh hopefully we can you know be hospitable hosts um but it was a cool match up to see man because we you know and it wasn't at you know jerry world or mercedes Ben's stadium, like college football stadiums, period, and a story. Yeah. I mean, like you,

I've heard from maybe four or five people, I mean, not a ton, but just how great their fans were and what a great experience. I love hearing that. That's how it should be, right? I mean, that should be fun. It should be like, okay, we want to kill you, but like, we're happy to be here and flattered that you spent money to come

see our home stadium. That's how it should be, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, great color match. great just that night atmosphere i mean you know college football everyone for the most part just just figure out how make an entertaining experience the lights the sounds i mean it's just awesome i don't know they didn't show it on tv i don't think they did but you know just like we have our bright side there of their deal and coming out of the third quarter michigan on the sidelines i didn't see on tv i just saw on social media but all how our team did what we've been doing for the last three

four years of celebrating whatever they do in their stadium and our fans going or our fans our team going crazy, you know, doing their deal, I thought was super cool. Yeah, I mean, I, you know, I like seeing that in a win, you know, but if that's what it takes to get the juice going, then do it. You know, I've been at, I've been at Nebraska in 2021 when they were down after Cade through his first pick of the year, and they were down going into the third quarter, Nebraska does their light show, and then they're, I mean, they're basically at the 50-yard line, midfield, like towards Nebraska's bench, and they, you know, needed that.

They did that to Wisconsin, so that's what they got to do. That's what they got to do, but it's a lot more fun when it comes in a win. Yeah, yeah. But it goes back to that, I mean, you know, it's like, I feel like we're both talking all the sides of our mouth because we're, you know, taking our lumps. But, you know, they fought to the end. So, I mean, you know, maybe they kept them from throwing in the towel and making, like I mentioned earlier, you know, making a 10 point loss being a 30 point loss, you know.

Well, and here's the thing. Everything's in front of them. I mean, yes, you've lost, but you have literally every. Every goal, aside from going undefeated, every goal that you want to accomplish is on the table. Like, you control your, you know, week three, you control your destiny, right? So it's okay. It's a long season. And, you know, you have, you know, the opportunity to move forward and, you know, achieve those goals of, you know, winning to big time, beating Ohio State, going to the playoffs, so on and so forth.

So anything else stick out to you on Saturday or? No, I think, you know. a couple things we talk about the young guys, another great opportunity to see, you know, the Shamari Earle situation drives me crazy. Jaden Sanders, they played three cornerbacks in that game, right? As much as we talk about depth, they picked three. They played snaps. Jaden Sanders, who, I know they like him, true freshman, highly recruited, didn't get nearly

the run, the buzz that Shemari Earls got thrust into action. You know, PFF gave him the lowest grade. I don't remember being that bad. well i don't know but i mean someone that does these weekly pf up updates for the last three four years i can't remember putting a 31 on a on one of our players i feel like that would have i feel like we would have remembered it was that bad yeah yeah um let's see he you know and he was the highest grade defensive back in tackling so so his coverage was his you know what his grade wasn't 31 that was a snap and it was a type of his grade

was 67. Okay, I was going to tell me, I don't remember being that bad. So right in line with Zeke Berry. Right, yeah, right line. Erase everything I just said. Yeah, well, that's okay. We'll leave it in there for everyone to enjoy our confusion together. Right.

But yeah, the point stands, Chamari-year-old should be getting those snaps. And if you were Jane Sanders and then you play for him. Well, Jane Sanders didn't face-plant. No. Pre-game. So that's a, that's a, that's a, Check in his box there.

Yeah. I think, I mean, our defensive, you know, sometimes we're told lies coming out of spring how good things are. I don't think our defensive line is nearly as good. You know, maybe it's scheme, you know, I think you raised a really good question earlier about, you know, where we just trying to keep him boxed in a little bit. So we didn't, you know,

that doesn't seem like a weak Martindale intentionality. But maybe that's the case. But we just weren't getting home. And so that seems to be a product of, you know, not having the type of line we thought. I feel like our four linebackers all bring different skill sets to the table. I think as much as I like Howell and Barham in their tackling ability, you watch that tape again, they're both liabilities and coverage, right?

And Jimmy Roller's, you know, decent. Like Cole Sullivan seems like he's everywhere. But I think they're not the as exciting as they are and as big impact plays that they'll make all season long, you know, they're a liability in coverage, and they're going to have to figure that out because I feel like they're thumpers and Brandon Hillman's a thumper and Mason Curtis wants to come up make plays. You know, and you have all those guys in the middle one to make plays, you know, we didn't get burned much, though, so I don't know, we'll see.

Like you said, everything's in front of us and still got to sort it out. And one thing we learned last year is Wink Martindale figured out the talent he had as they went along and they got better. You know, players improved, obviously, but I think his scheme. teams got better. By the end of the year, you know, we started wrecking some havoc on people. Yeah, no, absolutely. You got a get right game on Saturday, noon, central Michigan. Brian, you won't be there. I will. I'll be drinking the maize and blitz from Woodson whiskey. I'll be drinking the bourbon probably, you know, not together at the same time.

Separate drinks, of course. You know, we'll have some, well, you know, I don't need to mix the two whiskeys together um but feldman chevrolet of highland will be there as well with their high country that brian i'll tell you man every time i get a couple of those what's some whiskeys i'm like i might i might even trade my truck in for this one this one i only have a 5.7 liter v8 that's got a 6.2 so it'd be an easy sell to the wife and you know um wouldn't be able to drive at home i'd have to wait uh you know i'd even go if i could do the paperwork at the tailgate but anyways we'll be at the tailgate we're going to have some drink We're going to have some food.

We're going to have some trucks. You can check out. We have a lot of great people there. It's going to be a great time. So, you know, come to the tailgate, come hang out with us before Central Michigan. We've got to get Brian up one of these days. Brian, any final comments as we get on out of here? Need to see improvement.

You know, we're two weeks away from Nebraska. So I think for this week, play every combination that's available. I don't care about style points this week. I know some of our fans are going to want to pound a flesh. and win this game by 50 so they can all feel better. And Bryce Underwoods, and I would love that too. Would bring me tons of joy. But I think more importantly is find, test all the things you want to test

because then we get the Big Ten slate in Nebraska the following week. So figure out some continuity on that offensive line, move some guys around, see who plays well together, study the tape. Same on the defensive line. Same with the defensive backfield. I hope, you know, rumblings that Rod Moore could make his return. You know, I'm questionable about how a guy that's off that long can make an impact. But, man, at his best is one of the better defensive backs we ever had at school.

So, yeah, I'm still optimistic. Like you said, everything's in front of us. And, you know, I think my top end expectations have been reduced a little, but not diminished. And so I'll be fired up to watch him Saturday like I am every week. Hey, man. Like J.J. McCarthy said, after he threw his pick six, where would you rather be, right? You only get so many football games, so enjoy it.

Again, come check out the tailgate. We're going to have a great time, and we'll be in the big house rooting on the Wolverines. So, you know, it's going to be a fun season, man, and hopefully the lions get right, too, against the Bears. Let's go. You know, after the first drive, I was like, oh, man, we're going to miss Ben Johnson, and I watch wrestling. Yikes, I think everyone just sucks.

I don't know. I don't know what the answer. is there so you know hopefully a couple get right games for for our teams um but thank you so much and uh for us you can follow us at blue by 90 on social media twitter instagram facebook youtube we appreciate you go blue go blue