Blue By Ninety - Detroit Tigers to ALDS | Can Michigan pass their first road test of 2024?

Episode Date: October 3, 2024

Justin and Tanner talk the Detroit Tigers' improbable run to the ALDS, Michigan's first road game of 2024, and more.

All right. Welcome back to Blue by 90. I'm Justin joined by Tanner today and it is National Championship rematch week, Michigan versus Washington. The Wolverines are heading out to Seattle. I believe the trucks on the way, right? You got to go cross country truck left a few days ago. I mean, this is I think Miami has to go to Cal this weekend as well for an ACC conference matchup. Michigan goes to Washington. I love it. I'm like, it's just weird, dude. It's still weird.

But, you know, I think that a lot of people saw this as a big time rematch. It's still, you know, a big game, obviously. Neither team is, I don't think neither team is on natty level currently uh we can safely say that but no um either way i think it'll be a fun rematch uh at 7 30 p.m on saturday um before we get to that though i i mean we're both wearing the detroit hats i've got detroit. You've got your Tigers hat on. Lions Monday night, they're killing it. Tigers are back just crushing.

The Gritty Tigers are, I have to talk about them for a second, even though this is a Michigan podcast, I get it. But the Gritty Tigers are why we love sports. And I'm saying that obviously biased because they're my team too, but Holy smokes, the number of national people that I've, that I've seen on social media, like you have to love the tigers.

Like, this is why you love sports. I mean, they figure out ways to win where all the odds are against them. I think it was Benetti, Jason Benetti said, you know, for a team that, or for a city that doesn't care all the odds are against them i think it was benetti jason benetti said you know for a team that or for a city that doesn't care about the odds they've got a team to match i mean unbelievable they're going to the alds now beating the astros who haven't missed the alcs

not the ds the cs in like seven years since 2016 since 2016 since since uh i mean they haven't missed the playoffs since the tigers last made the playoffs in a decade right so holy shit just unbelievable from the tigers it's been awesome yeah and i just want to say it's very nice to actually be able to watch the tigers uh with convenience versus you know finding certain ways to watch the tigers because i will not pay for ballet sports out of yeah definitely um but yeah what a game um obviously we're the michigan football podcast but a lot of tigers fans i'm sure follow us that are that are tigers fans michigan fans just awesome and to your point about folks really rooting for us i can't wait same thing with the lions i can't wait till people stop doing that like i don't want you to root for us because

we're a feel-good story i don't want to be a lovable loser i want my teams to come in there beat your ass talk shit be annoying i think the lions are close i think yeah like people are like oh we're rude for you guys i'm like i don't think you're going to be for long. I think that the Lions, if they continue this throughout the rest of the year, like it's going to be like, okay, this is a real team. This is not just Dan Campbell being like fun and gritty and blah, blah, blah. Like, holy shit. They're an actual Super Bowl contender.

Yeah. I think you saw the shift too. I mean, obviously with Michigan football last year, it caused a lot of people to turn on us but i don't like i want to be hated right i want people to be annoyed of oh my god they're doing it again like you have a lot of people who aren't a part of the michigan ohio state rivalry a lot of my friends were like oh you don't hope you beat ohio state i want to get to a point where they're sick of us beating ohio state's ads right and i want to see that for the Lions and for the Tigers. And, you know, the Red Wings have a, you know, very storied history,

haven't made the playoffs in quite a while. And, you know, hopefully this is the year that they end that streak. Seems like they're kind of going for a playoff run this year. And it's like, I don't want people to, like, condescendingly root for my teams and be like, oh, good job, buddy. Fuck that, dude. I want to go in and win. I want you to hate my team because we're so good, right?

Like, that's what I want. So, yeah, this run is awesome. You know, all the people that are like, oh, man, hard to root against the Tigers. I want you to root against the Tigers. I want you to root against my teams, right? Well, unfortunately, you're not going to get that this year with the Tigers. No, and that's fine.

I mean, I know the story. We did get plenty of that being Michigan fans last year. Yes, and it's awesome. It is so much fun. It is so much fun when everybody's preying on your downfall. I do agree with that. I mean, Michigan's run last year was like there was nothing better than everybody every week just tuning in to hate watch michigan and then we just

keep winning and they can't say a goddamn thing there was nothing better than that i mean you watch the penn state game and then the the uh the ohio state game and then the big 10 championship and then the rose bowl and then wash against washington and thety. And it was like literally millions and millions of people are watching just to hope you lose, right? And then you just don't lose. It's Pat Mahomes. It was Pat Mahomes and the Chiefs, right? It was praying on your downfall and you keep winning.

Like that was the best medicine for last year, right? Because when all that stuff broke, I was like – I would get like knots in my stomach because i'm like holy shit you know this is gonna be something that's a distraction to the team or whatever and the fact that they continued winning was just the best medicine right like they just there's nothing that anybody could say um they still say things they look like morons but they still you know they still speak um but yeah one last thing on the tigers the current tigers payroll is i think 18 million dollars and josh hater makes 19 million They look like morons, but they still, you know, they still speak. But, yeah, one last thing on the Tigers. The current Tigers payroll is, I think, $18 million,

and Josh Hader makes $19 million a year. And Andy Ibanez, bases clearing triple with a full count, two outs. Unbelievable at-bat from him. Unbelievable moment for Hinch to put him in. We were all pretty pissed at A.J. Hinch, you know, and it wasn't necessarily Job's fault, but, like he hasn't played a lot so like maybe the you know the communication and kind of the you know they should have put him in in a situation where it was like I don't know third inning or something the game's not like on the line right yet and

just to I mean he's very very good didn't he he get the win? He blew the save and then got the win. I'm pretty sure he got the win. But, yeah, I mean, that's a kid who is 22 years old. He's got four innings in his major league career. And I think he's going to be a stud. I like his stuff. But, yeah, it's just the win is obviously great, but I also think the win's great from just the future perspective of, like jackson joe it's okay man like that wasn't your that wasn't necessarily

your fault i also thought he pitched decently well defense just didn't really back him up it was like it was a classic just like kind of bad balances too i'm just absolutely okay that's what baseball you have to chop it up sometimes um but all in all like what we were saying pre-show here is the tigers winning is is why you love sports there it's why i believe like there actually is like a higher power or magic or whatever in sports because none of what they're doing they're supposed to do right none of it that the odds are truly against them and I think it was like what it showed up on the screen the ESPN percentage chance to win right and when the bases were loaded for uh the bases were loaded and the Astros had just tied it up um it was like 85 chance for the Astros

to win then they get a double play right away. Then they come out and score four. It was unbelievable. So, yeah, I mean, that's why just sports is the best. I fucking love sports, man. It's the best, man. And, you know, talking about Michigan going through and going undefeated, you know, last year's final opponent, we're watching Michigan go on the road for the first time,

go to Seattle, to a Washington team that's coming off a loss at Rutgers that's kind of hard to digest because they outgained Rutgers by over 200 yards. They had over 500 yards of offense. They did not turn the ball over except for on downs. They missed three field goals, but they ran for seven yards of carry. They threw for 8.5 yards in attempt, and Rutgers put up about 300 yards. And somehow, some way, the Scarlet Knights beat Washington in a game that's like, they should have won this game.

Right. I do think that that is like such a Shiano thing to do. Like, that is why Shiano is a really good coach. Because he also, even though it's Rutgers, finds a way to win a lot of times. And he's built them up to be solid. He's built them up from being the literal worst team in the country by a long shot to a middle-of-the-pack Big Ten team in a new Big Ten conference that is 18 teams, right?

Whatever. So, yeah, I think that, A, to your point, Washington is much better than what you're seeing here. Absolutely. A, they lost by, you know, what was it, three to Washington State? They lost by five. Also another game where Will Rogers is 10 yards an attempt. Their rushing efficiency is not as great, but they ran for 126 yards.

They outgained Washington State in that game. And it's like, I don't know, man. The team could very well be 5-0 right now. Probably should be. They put up 450 yards on Washington State. They did not turn it over. They won the turnover margin. But the one thing that i'm noticing just

kind of doing some research on washington is on third downs um they were 413 against washington state and then i believe that they were 2 of 12 against rutgers they missed three field goals against rutgers uh multiple to tie the game in the fourth quarter they had one with 35 seconds left where they missed it um so i don't know man it's like will rogers is playing really really well by the way and this is a guy that at mississippi state i mean he was putting up some numbers um like i'm like just if you pull up his espn stat page like 21 and 22 he's 36 touchdowns nine picks next year 35 touchdowns eight picks like 70 completion percentage like this is a guy that can play some football he's got 10 touchdowns this year no picks i think he's over 70 at the moment on

the season and it's like they just can't finish drives they either don't convert on third down they get stopped on downs they miss a field goal or they get you know they're forced to kick a field goal and settle that's what happened against ruckers so i think for michigan this defensively is going to be really important for them to bend. Don't break. Right. Like just, you know, Hey, you're going to give up some yards. I think we're used to that at this point. It's not last year's defense. We're not expecting them to be completely dominant.

Like Jesse Minter's got the, the, the chargers defense right now. I know they lost, but I mean, giving up 17 to the, to the chiefs is pretty impressive. It turns out that he's really good. And that's why Michigan. It wasn't Connor Stallion. impressive turns out that he's really good and that's why you mean it wasn't you boy wasn't Connor Stallion it turns out that we you're telling me it wasn't Connor really good coaches and players it's unbelievable that's crazy so crazy so yeah but I mean it's definitely going to be like Michigan's defense has to come in and play this game like they're playing Texas and USC. I think this offense is not – obviously the Washington offense

is not quite to those levels, but they're damn good. And so I think that, you know, if they come in and sleepwalk like they did in the second half versus Minnesota, you know, this is not going to go well. And so they need to, it's the first road game. I talked to a couple of guys this week. I think they're pretty pumped for a road game too, because think about it. What one of them said, actually, which I was, I, it didn't really register in my mind. They've been in Ann Arbor since like July. Camp started in the beginning of August.

They have not left. It's been five straight weeks that they've played at home. They had fall camp all of August. So they're like, all right, it's time. It's time for us to get out of, you know, obviously they all love Ann Arbor, but like it's time for a change of pace, change of scenery. Let's get out.

Let's get out let's get out of our comfort zone a little bit so going on the road to washington is not going to be easy either but i i think that they're going to be like it's just i i think they got a little too comfortable with like all right we're you know we're here in ann arbor and and they're it's it was a little stuffy um so looking for a change of pace there yeah i mean last year was this was uh very similar i think they played four straight road game or home games and then one on the road to nebraska and it was you know a game where coming off the ruggers game last year where it was like oh it wasn't that impressive and then they go on the road and they kind of reset and

they just beat the crap out of nebraska right so i don't think obviously that that's going to happen with this game but we talked about it on the last podcast like it is an opportunity for you to be able to reset you know kind of us versus the world mentality you're not at home you're on the road there's probably going to be a lot of michigan fans um any major city in the u.s seems to be like a hub for michigan alums and literally every city in new mexico yeah so and you may have some folks that are like you know los angeles has a very very large amount of michigan alums maybe they're making that check up there you know sure um on the west coast but well it is gonna it's like i do think there it's the first time with the new big 10 that all these west coast alums now can go to these games right um so we don't play what was the last time we've played on the west coast utah

i mean not for not for not a uh bowl game um yeah probably probably utah i'm trying to think i mean because michigan was supposed to play in seattle in 2020 right and this this one thing happened and then i just ruined it that was something a a couple times. But Michigan hasn't played in Seattle since 2001 where they lost. They actually haven't beat – because they've had a few home-and-homes dating back to their first matchup in 1953. They haven't beat Washington – not to small, simple size, but at Washington since 1970. So, Bo's second year.

Yeah, that's a long time ago. That's a long time ago. That's a long time ago. But, again, I mean, they've played 14 times. Michigan is 9-5 all-time against Washington. They've won the last three. Obviously, the most recent being the national championship. I don't know if you recall. I was there.

I was there. Oh, that's right. I saw it in person. Yeah. We watched it at my apartment and popped champagne after. That pretty pretty fucking cool i had to take my coat to the dry cleaners it was worth it i love it i love it um so uh so yeah i mean this is uh it's it's a test for michigan honestly i think it's a test and an opportunity is how I see it, right? You're going to go up against Jet Fish, who's a great coach, turn Arizona around it like that, right?

And obviously a former Michigan coach too. So there's some ties there. And so there's a little bit more to it, but I think I see it as like, okay, you've got a legit offense. You're going on the road. You're dealing with not a Michigan crowd for the first time. So I want to see how mentally tough are we, Tanner? How mentally tough are we?

I don't know if I've been sold. Michigan last year was as mentally tough as I've ever seen this program, right? You couldn't – Blake, JJ, Junior Colson, these guys could not flinch. Roman Wilson doesn't flinch, right? How mentally tough is Michigan when they go on the road? Yeah, I mean, we're going to find out, right? It's a big test. It's a big opportunity.

You know, the one thing about mental toughness is not making mistakes in critical moments right and so for michigan i want to see that i want to see you know the the missed assignments um especially in the run game the offensive line pass pro like i really want to see if they can clean that up um and then you know again the penalties uh something that we haven't seen for michigan in quite a while because even even when Michigan wasn't going 13-0, they typically were a pretty disciplined team for the most part. You know, maybe have some staff who's here or there.

This year it seems like, I mean, it's kind of out of control, some of these penalty calls. And Washington, too, I want to bring up on that note. Against Washington State, 16 penalties for 135. Yeah, definitely. That's how you lose games, man. Yeah. I mean, listen, my gut tells me this Washington team is they're just young

and inexperienced. Obviously, Will Rogers is experienced, but I think when you lose Kalen DeBoer, who is showing at Alabama that he's one of, if not the brightest young head coach in the entire country. Are we sure that's not our boy Nick Sheridan's? That's true. Can we get – I mean, I don't want to hate on Michigan's coaching staff right now, but wouldn't hate Nick Sheridan in Ann Arbor yet.

Can we get that? Can we get that? Can we get that? He's kind of got old Jalen Millar looking pretty good. Yes, if we can get Alex Sheridan. Shout out Nick Sheridan, by the way. I mean, that's also just such a good poll. 2008. You know, I think – I know Justin Feagin played in that game.

That's a poll. Justin Feagin. Wow. Yes. Yeah, that's unbelievable. let's not talk about 2008 michigan football anymore though i'm okay i don't want to yeah i don't want to hurt myself um so uh so yeah i mean what but back to it jet fish is i'm sure trying to get these boys but like you overturn the entire roster you're trying to establish a culture we see this all the time in

college football where new a new head coach comes in and, you know, a bunch of new guys and they're just undisciplined. They've got talent for sure, but just undisciplined. So I say that to say Michigan needs to be disciplined because we've shown to not be disciplined at a lot of times too. Right. I think, you know, one of my early gripes with this team was miles hitting in the Texas game, you know, one of my early gripes with this team was Miles Hinton in the Texas game, you know, having a false start on play one in your own frickin stadium. Right. So when you go on the road and all of a sudden, you know, the other team is the loud, loud team when you're on offense. How are you going to how are you going to respond? And so while Michigan needs to be mentally tough, it needs to be disciplined.

They need to take advantage if Washington is undisciplined as well. If they have penalties and turnovers, Michigan has to take advantage, which Michigan's defense has done that pretty well this year. Yeah, no, absolutely. And I think that, you know, the thing that they need to be aware of is that, again, you know, Will Rogers is a veteran guy. I believe this is his fifth or sixth year um has a covid year i think so you know experienced guy an older guy he's been around

college football for a number of years and so you know for michigan's defense just just keeping things in front of them um not having any bus because he will identify it right like he's not penix but he will you know if you have a bus he will find a guy open. So I think for Michigan's defense, you just got to play sound. You know, schematically, I still don't need to see five or six rushers on a third down ever. You know, I just would like to see a little bit more zone coverage on those third and long situations. I feel like Wink still wants to be like

oh did you guys see that blitz i dialed up and it's like yeah we did it was delayed and the quarterback got the ball out and you could have had a guy in that zone potentially and it's just very frustrating well i i do think um do you think that michigan being back to full strength yeah i mean you get will johnson and josiah stewart josiah stewart's by the way started getting mocked in the first round um i don't know if you saw but pff who again we love when we when that you know caters to us they had four michigan guys in the top 11 picks i did see that i did see that michigan could have five first round picks in 2025 if i mean if guys continue to play well yeah which i think that is you know a lot of people's gripes and how this season is going is right there's looking a lot of high-end talent here a lot of high-end talent and you you have to you know figure out okay if

you have first round talent i know that the coaching staff uh you know overturned i know that the entire offense overturned, but you have a ton of talent. You've got to figure it out. But with that being said, that talent is back this week. So to your point, Josiah Stewart, let's get him flying off the edge again and not send six guys. Let's see if Derek Moore and Josiah Stewart and KG and Mason

can get to Will Rogers themselves. And then let's let Will cook, right? Let Will cook. And let's let Jair Hill, who's been playing phenomenally, right? He's coming into his own. I want to see Makari come into his own and be 2023 Makari again so um I I think being back to full strength and then on the the other side of the ball uh Samaj right Samaj comes back um you know not that he's been dominant for sure in the first five weeks but um I I you have to

have you have to allow Alex Orji to at least have tools out there to work with. Yeah, no, absolutely. I mean, you know, Samaj and Tyler Morris are the two best receivers as far as being able to actually be a wide receiver. So I want to see, you know, more of them, more designed routes for them. And, yeah, obviously you're going to bring in different guys for run blocking scenarios, right, because, you know, Charleston and P-Dog or Peyton O'leary are kind of your your two better uh run blockers um but i think i think

tyler morris and samaj are very capable too um and then also talking about injuries you know colson loveland played 16 snaps last week he's you know gonna be full go this week and right um you know which is nice and then you know you get to a bye week so a lot of these you know these um you know bumps and bruises or something you can work through in the bye week. So it's like, this is such an important game. Just for, you know, the season, the outlook, the Big Ten race, right? Because again, we talked about it. I don't know what Michigan is going to look like if they can improve enough to be competitive to win in, you know, against Oregon and then Columbus. But otherwise, yeah, I mean, look, Indiana's looking really good, but Michigan has more talent. Let's just be straight up. But can the coaches put these guys in the right position

to be able to win the rest of these games if they're more talented than that? Because Michigan at this point, their floor should be nine wins. I know Indiana's undefeated, but their floor should be nine wins. So it's like, like hey if you could split one of those two big games preferably the one in ohio right you're sitting at 10 and 2 with a win over a top five team and went over a ranked usc and you know i i agree with you and i think that like the importance of this game is the same thing that it was the last, you know, versus Minnesota and what it was versus USC. This game still, it's the biggest game on the schedule.

There's the one right in front of you, right? And right now, because we don't know what this team really is, I think that every single one of these games is determining the trajectory of the rest of the season, right? Because it feels like we're on this balancing act and we're teetering the edge of being either really good or not so good and it's like you know i i understand exactly what you're saying as our our floor should be nine wins for sure but don't you feel like you know

it was the same thing with usc we win that game and it's like, okay, now what? We can win 10 games. We can win possibly 11 games. See what happens. Then in the first half of Minnesota, you're thinking the same thing. All right, you know, it's a rain game. We're cruising. We're looking good. Our ceiling's, you know, 11 wins.

Our floor's 10 probably at the time. The end of the Minnesota game and you're like, okay, well, our floor could be eight wins our floor could be seven wins right and so this game too if you go out and and you lay an egg and you play you know you know with zero toughness on the road you have no enthusiasm you know which we've seen at times from this team the offense can't move the ball you know if you see that right now then it's like okay well all of a sudden the indiana game is is a tough one the illinois is a really tough one or you know

ohio state right so like all of a sudden it's like seven and five is not out of the picture which that would be a bad that would be in my opinion due to poor coaching i have so much talent right so that's why i say it should be nine wins is the floor, you know? I agree with you. Are they going to get there? Are they going to be able to improve enough to make that happen? That's the question, and this is a big question mark coming into the Washington game.

This is a big test. It is a big test, and it's not a test in the fact that it's like, okay, this team is, you know, going to go win the Big Ten or something like that, right? They're in the top three teams. It's honestly a test for, all right, just like I'm saying, every single week it's been this. What kind of team are you, right? Go show us. You go on the road this week and you pound Washington, like you get some confidence and everyone's like oh shit like Michigan can do it right if you start working Alex Orji and into the passing game and it's like all right like maybe he's making strides and we can do that but you go out and throw for 50

passing yards and you win you know even if you win 24-21 on the road like yeah we will take a win we will not apologize for winning but you know i i just think that they need to go make a statement this week and say hey we're for real and we can we can go put up a fight against oregon and ohio state as well i just wonder if they're going to do that and at least at least being a two-dimensional offense right i agree um and then you know the we'll probably we'll see what happens on Saturday but I'm sure we'll come back here on Sunday and we'll record our podcast and we'll say the same five damn things we've been saying all season right and again they're four and one and got a

chance to go five and one so it's not all bad but you know if we if we come back here and I'm like well you know if they put Donovan Edwards in motion and get him out on a linebacker and utilize him in the passing game maybe that would work and then oh you know if they had some more stuff for orgy to run the ball um maybe that would be be good beneficial for the offense and if like if i have to if we come back and say those same things on sunday and just like all right i'll probably say that the the you know two weeks from after you know the the illinois game after that it's just like i i just don't know if this coaching staff is going to make the the adjustments necessary and it's like yeah you could talk about waiting for a big game

right we're waiting for oregon to pull this stuff out it's like bro it's just basic zone reads it's all it is that's all we're asking for just a little bit i also think that like right now we're not good enough to just save things for big games that That's what I'm saying, man. We need to do stuff to win these football games right now because you look at the last two weeks and you're sitting here like, we were lucky as hell to come out with a W, right? So, I agree with you. I think that Michigan needs to figure out, all right, how do we build upon what we're doing?

And the biggest thing to me, Tanner, is play four corners. Absolutely. Whether that's the first half, you know, whether that's a slow start in the first quarter or not being able to put the nail in the coffin in the fourth, play four quarters, right? We have not seen it for a long time. And that's been a struggle for Michigan here here where all right let's figure out how

to be it goes back to mental toughness it goes back to you know Ben Herbert's uh you know his attitude in 2023 was we're gonna finish games and and they did that right even against the inferior teams those those games ended up 52 to 10 instead of 27 24 like it was last week right and so um you know i think that especially if this is like a two score game let's say michigan's up 28 14 going into the fourth that game needs to end 35 14 right at the very least right so you know i i'm i understand that that michigan's an underdog in this i still think they're very much the better team and they should win by multiple scores that's how i feel about this but what from the question remains is michigan tough enough to do that and i i think that they have to answer that question

yeah yeah no i'm with you man um yeah it's funny how like coaching cliches are exactly that they're cliche but they're so true right like gotta protect the football don't commit stupid penalties play four quarters right like play a full game and it's like the very basic things that we're talking about when it comes to this team obviously offensively we could get more into the schematics and all that stuff what we want to see michigan do and utilizing what alex orgy and utilizing you know mullings and edwards in the backfield but like from a just a you know just looking at it from its core for michigan football it's like just don't turn the ball over don't commit stupid penalties that extend drives get off the

field win the field position but like all these things that are basic man like i totally agree with you like okay yeah we could sit down and we can you know break down uh winks blitzing schemes and and zone versus man and and we could go out and say you know oh michigan needs to utilize donovan edwards and stuff like that but i I really think the difference between Michigan being good and very good is doing the basics the fundamentals well and that's again I still go back to 2023 you know obviously there were there was an insane amount of talent there you know we were very we, we did a lot of things well, and the Rose Bowl, you know, it was an offensive game plan, a piece of a work of art, right? But at the end of the day, they've won games by not committing penalties, not turning the ball over, playing mentally tough.

Like that's what Michigan needs to get back to, I think. And that's how you start. Then you can build upon it and say, all right, we can, once you're able to do that, we, then you can say, all right, let's get crazy with the scheme. But until you are good at tackling, until you don't commit penalties, until you don't turn the ball over, you can't do any of that. So I think it all starts there. Yeah, no, I'm with you. Just fundamentals, basics, right? Just right just just basic football um and you know again i i don't know how to feel about this game man like i i mean i know you think we should win by a couple scores here but um i mean you know washington is a team that's really shooting

themselves in the foot if they clean things up you know similar to what we're talking about for michigan like they clean things up you know they're they're sitting at five and oh seriously you know this is a tougher game uh you know students are into it fans are into it but you know they're obviously sitting at three and two um they lost a couple games in close fashion by you know totaled eight points so um but again will rogers i mean he's got 10 touchdowns no picks he's throwing for over 70 this year uh he's playing really really good football he's already over a thousand yards i don't know michigan will hit a thousand yards passing this, to be honest with you. Is that 500-some right now?

I have no idea what it's even – I think it's 500-some. Well, I guess, yeah, sorry. Orgy himself probably has 500, right? But, man, I don't know. I agree with you. Michigan – I hate to be, to be negative about this right now, but I think we're in prove-it mode right now for me. We're in prove-it mode of, hey, you know,

this is an opportunity for you to prove to yourselves, prove to the fan base, and prove to the country that, hey, we can be a 10-win football team, 11-win football team, right? And so I love that they have the opportunity. We'll take that. I'd rather have it than not have it. But, you know, I think that I just want to see them actually put the, you know, put it to the test, right?

Hey, show us, please. Yeah, well, if you would like to know, Kahlil Mullings after this game might have more rushing yards than the team has passing yards. So, Michigan has 577 passing yards right now with 444 of those coming from our boy Davis. And then Kalel Mullings has 540 yards right now. Sorry.

All right. It's fine. Totally fine. Yeah. It's great. We're fine. This is fine. I love it. Insert fine. Yeah. It's great. We're fine. This is fine. Insert this is fine meme here right now.

Hey, have you guys watched the Detroit Lions offense? That's pretty good. It's very fun. It's very fun. We're up 42 on the best defense in the NFL, arguably. It's like – I go from watching Michigan to the Lions, which is like the first time in my life this has ever happened,

where I'm like, oh, my God. What is Ben Johnson cooking up here? We're throwing a golf? This is amazing. Yeah. We're doing hooking ladders like mid-game just for fun. And then the Seahawks stole it and did it against the Lions, and it worked.

Yeah. It was great. It's amazing. All right. Let's give our predictions here um i i think i'll let you go first okay um i'm just keep keep it rolling 27 24 michigan why not what i why do i feel like the exact same exact same why not dude where it's like 20 – similar to that Washington State game where it's like 24-19, like something stupid where we block a field goal.

We're just clenching the entire time hating on them. Literally. That's what I predict. I definitely agree with that where – I think it's going to be very similar where we get out, play well, and then we try to coast. And then by the fourth quarter, we're just like clinging to a small lead. And again, everybody and their brother knows that we're running it with Kalal Mullings right up the gut to try and ice the game.

And that's going to be where we're at. So I don't know man i just think that i i think this defense back at full strength is helpful i think colston loveland being you know close to 100 very helpful smosh morgan being being back is helpful um but i i mean well rogers is playing damn good football right um so i think that it's uh you know i'm i'm interested to see how how this defense holds up for four quarters against the offense and then you know we're now halfway through the year right like this offense needs to figure some things out and do an identity you know become have an identity and you know, have an identity. And, you know, I think we're probably going to say that for a long time.

I don't feel confident that that's going to be solved this Saturday. But, you know, could they cook up something? Could Kirk cook up something? I don't know. We'll see. We'll see. But I'm in the same boat of, like, you know, three, four-point win in the 20s, something of that nature

um I just don't know that this offense uh without like multiple pick sixes I don't know that Michigan can score more points than that if I'm being if I'm being honest um so oh I don't know I wish I felt better I mean Michigan's an underdog. It's crazy to me that we're, you know, a top 10 team going on the road to a team that's three and two in underdogs. But I think that you look at truly how Michigan has actually, if you watch the game film, how they played this year for, for each game. And then you pair that with Washington, you know, being probably a few plays away from being five and oh, right.

Yeah. So we'll see how it goes. Hey, wait, you hate real quick. Can I just give another, another deep poll that I just thought of. Shabodrick Beaver. I don't even, you, you, he was, he was the other quarterback committed alongside, uh,

Tate for CA and Denard Robinson in the 2009 class. And he decommitted from Michigan to commit to Tulsa. Wow. And, there's a lot of other sickos out there who would be like, I know that name. I remember he never did anything in college. It's like,

I know him. If, if, if you out there, if you put, if you watched this far and are, you know, listening to Taylor's poll. Come to a tailgate. He'll just – he puts this on full display at tailgates.

Oh, bro, I'll just go up to Justin and be like, hey, Justin, Brennan Byer. I'll just say some guys' names. It's so fun. It's just guys being dudes. I love it. I love it. A couple of hail IPAs in and your your brain okay a couple hail ipas a truly and then a sun cruiser in the bogzilla is like i mean that's like the perfect recipe it's that meme of where like the brain gets like

crazier and crazier like the galactic brain meme yeah that's that's that's us drinking hail ipa sun cruiser truly shout out to them just appreciate them making a lot of this possible with all the free beverages you know i love it yeah no for sure so i will be drinking some hail ipa you can get it at bush's uh plum market here in the ann arbor area for sure um so we won't be able to grab one in the stadium this week for the first time um so i'm sad about that. You got a free weekend, kind of. I know. I get to watch.

I believe, does MSU play on Friday night? I could tell you. If I could type, I could tell you. I don't know off the top of my head. Who do they play? Oregon, I believe, right? Ooh, do they? That is, yeah, tomorrow tomorrow nine o'clock friday night michigan state oregon is is gonna be a good one i mean there there are plenty of good games on saturday as

well you know obviously michigan's the night game uh let's see penn state State playing UCLA. That should be a blowout. But Mizzou A&M is a good one. Louisville SMU, sneaky good game too. Wisconsin Purdue in the Big Ten. Ohio State, Iowa. Northwestern Indiana. This kind of stinks. I don't think so. Is there a single – Missouri A&M is the only top 25 matchup.

Here's – my take is going to be it's going to be a sneaky good day of football. I would hope so. I would love for that to happen. I think Cal Miami, like we talked about earlier. Cal Miami is going to be a fun one. That's where game day is, right? Tennessee's got to go to Arkansas at night now well you know clemson florida state iowa ohio state uh old miss south carolina might be sneaky um auburn georgia that's probably georgia's gonna come out

and roll them so hey you know what though it's college football man hey that's what i'm saying i think it's gonna be a sneaky good day of football so i'm pretty excited but uh yeah all right man well um we will see how this weekend goes we'll be back on sunday with a post-game recap um so don't you know it's a long day though folks the long day it's a 7 30 p.m if you crack your first beer like i'm going to at probably like 9 30 10 o'clock a.m you know uh and then you keep you know you got to make it to 7 30 you got to make it to like you know justin you could just honestly the plan might be to just black out until next saturday because next saturday is that one where it's it's a it's a really, really nice slate. Ohio State, Oregon.

You've got Ole Miss, LSU. You've got Penn State, USC. You've got K-State, Colorado, which is going to be good. You have Texas, Oklahoma. I mean, that's one of those things. Did you just suggest I black out for a full week? Yeah, I mean, if you just wanted to get there quicker. Yeah, yeah.

Okay, that sounds good. It's about efficiency over here. All right. That's a big brain move right there to get there quicker. Yeah, yeah. Okay, that sounds good. It's about efficiency over here. All right. That's a big brain move right there. I do not recommend that, actually. Doctors do not. Not recommended by any doctor. Please don't.

All right, for us, you can follow us at Blue by 90 on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, at Blue by 90 Podcast on YouTube and blueby90.com. We appreciate you. Go Blue. Go Blue.