Blue By Ninety - MASSIVE top-ten showdown in the Big House | Can UM be efficient & disrupt Texas enough to win?

Episode Date: September 5, 2024

Justin and Tanner give their thoughts on what Michigan must do to beat top-five Texas at home on Saturday. ...

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 All right. Welcome back to Blue by 90. I'm Justin joined by Tanner today. It's Texas week. It's Texas week. The Longhorns horns down. What horns are coming to town, baby. And we're ready. We're ready to welcome them in open arms. Not really, not really at all. But we'll welcome them. We'll be we'll be kind at the tailgate we'll be kind on friday at pretzel bell absolutely pretzel bell we'll have some north peak all of some blue by 90 beers and some hail ipa uh there on friday night come join us for some michigan football trivia it'll be fun and there'll be some longhorns there i'm excited we'll get some banter going right absolutely yeah i've got a buddy that I worked with that played at Texas in the late 2000s. Good friend, good mentor of mine. And he's coming up with his spouse, and they've got a 10-person Airbnb. So he's going to be coming through to the tailgate. He wants to check out Ann Arbor.
Starting point is 00:01:00 And, you know, actually, it's funny, man. You talk about the horns down. I asked him, I was like, how do you feel? He's like, do you care that much? Is is that a real thing that's what i want to know like he so his point was i think it's great because horns up is one of the more iconic hand gestures in college football like you've got i gotta give it to him yeah it's cool yeah yeah um you know and i told him i was like like, I was like, he's like, does Michigan have anything like that?
Starting point is 00:01:26 I was like, we got to put your thumbs together, make an M. He's like, you can't do that holding a beer. I was like, you're right. That's true. You know? That's true. So they don't, I don't think they really care. He's like, he's like, I embrace it.
Starting point is 00:01:36 You know, bring on the horns down. I love it. But yeah, it's going to be a good time on Friday at the pretzel bell. Last week was awesome. Hopefully we don't have any tcu texas people i don't know uh yeah that was the one shout out our boy uh we were giving a hard time he was he was coming hard but like i don't know if he remembered that yes tcu did beat michigan in the fiesta bowl but i would trade that a thousand times out of a thousand for what
Starting point is 00:01:59 happened last season so i got the last thing we actually, we, um, once we got to the national championship, we made it count instead of our doors blown off by that's true. It looks like me on Heisman mode, uh, TCU Georgia. So, but yeah, it's going to be a great, great week, man. It's a short work week, thankfully. Um, but also behind on things. So I'm like, just trying to get through, get to this game, man. I mean, I, I, I'm struggling to get anything done at all because
Starting point is 00:02:26 i'm just thinking about this game so i feel that way every week of the football season i'm like all right let me you know there's monday night football tonight on monday and then it's tuesday and you start getting the shivers you're like all right thursday night football is a couple days away friday nfl is doing friday stuff this year you know the big 10s always do friday stuff so you're like give me the thursday and then friday you're like well there's football tonight so like how productive am i gonna truly be so yeah i'm in that same mode man just football season the weather's cooling down you're just saying like we essentially just take like five months off of work like when you can just you just cash it i hope our bosses aren't watching but yeah yeah what am i well one of my really
Starting point is 00:03:04 good friends at work who is our team lead does watch sometimes. So, if you're listening, Brandon, I do work, brother. You can check the Salesforce. But, no, man, I'm with you. It's like it's the best time of year. We're going to really kind of start to see who teams are. You know, week one you can't really – it's tough to tell.
Starting point is 00:03:20 You know, like as Michigan – you think about Michigan and they're in a game with Fresno State. Oregon is in a game with idaho who's a good fcs program they go to the playoffs but that's oregon versus idaho um so it's like we're gonna really start to see the season take shape of who's who and this is that this is that first really in my opinion big time game i mean we had some good matchups last week but this is that first one where it's like all right we're gonna learn a lot about michigan and we're gonna learn a lot about texas yeah and obviously you know you're gonna have overreaction central no matter what happens in this game right um you know for us michigan fans we haven't uh i we haven't endured a loss in quite some time now it's been a while
Starting point is 00:04:02 i don't know if you remember but but last year they went 15-0, so we didn't have to deal with that. It has been a long time. So we haven't endured a regular season loss in even longer than that. So if Michigan loses this game, there are going to be some melting – there's going to be some meltdowns. Well, there's already been meltdowns. Even after a 20-point win, they almost cover.
Starting point is 00:04:26 They're half point off covering that game, and people are still melting down. So, yeah, that's to be expected. But on the other hand, if Michigan wins, I am running the biggest victory lap around everything because here's what I'll say. The haters have been thinking about this game ever since michigan won the national championship last season they've been thinking
Starting point is 00:04:52 about it the ohio state i see ohio state fans on twitter already claiming quinn ewers once again they're they're doing the whole dance it's insane but they're they're looking to this game right now everyone's going to be hate watching Michigan and they're in their mind they're thinking Texas is going to roll they looked really good Michigan looked shitty on Saturday you know what if what if Michigan comes out and play some good football and wins this football game I feel like we're still at a point of playing with house money you know obviously you want to win this game this is not complacent not complacent we're not i was in my head as i said that it's a game you want to win because there are playoff implications if you win this game and then you split one of the oregon ohio state like that sets you up to get into the
Starting point is 00:05:40 12th team playoff right now that's not to say they lose this game that their season's over by any stretch but so you're kind of playing with house money you're still getting acclimated and you're still kind of you know figuring out your identity as an offense which we know what the identity they want it to be can they do it that's the that's the main question can they run it 30 35 times have success um and we're going to find that out about this team uh on saturday in the big house so yeah it's it's an interesting matchup i mean dude let's let's be real here two of the biggest brands in college football history two of the greatest programs this and i also real quick i love that this is a this is an on-campus matchup we're not playing at jerry world
Starting point is 00:06:20 we're not playing at some bs chick-fil- kickoff game. You're coming to the big house. And guess what? We returned the favor in 2027. We'd go down to DKR in Austin. And I want to go to that game. Like this is what college sports is about. Absolutely. This is what it's about.
Starting point is 00:06:34 So I love it. Yeah. It's going to, I, I, I totally agree with that. These games, especially now that there are more and more playoff games, you know, there, there's a lot of, there are a lot of these games that are not on college campuses. And, you know, I love that we're going to have a ton of Longhorns in Ann Arbor. Like, that is awesome.
Starting point is 00:06:54 Yeah. It's going to be great. They want to check it out, you know? Yes, and I want to check out Austin for a game. Yeah. Like, that's the whole point. That's the fun of college football, right? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:07:04 So, can't wait. Okay, let's the whole point. That's the fun of college football, right? So can't wait. Okay, let's dive into it here. So Michigan's offense, let's start there. Obviously, you know, you could say sputtered in the first half where it definitely didn't look like the J.J. McCarthy-led offense, the Zach Zinner, Trevor Keegan-led offense, the Blake Horn-led offense. What does Michigan's offense need to do to make a very big leap, it seems, from week one to week two to be able to stay on this field with Texas? So what they need to do, in my opinion, is get in second and five and five third and three all those types of situations
Starting point is 00:07:47 right and how do you do that i think it's with cologne mullings um you know and i look we've talked about this i mean even at points in 2022 there was talk about donovan's ability to be kind of an every down back um he obviously answered the bell in 2022, had monster games down the stretch that were huge for Michigan. And he had a monster game last year in the national championship and he made plays throughout the season. But this is, in my opinion, that's not Donovan Edwards' fault. I think you need to find a way to get him involved in the pass game and in the run game in ways that take advantage of what his skill set is. So for me, it's really leaning on Colell Mullings on, on first out and those early down situations,
Starting point is 00:08:28 getting in the ball, because obviously look, it's Fresno state. We've talked about it, but the offense and the offensive line in particular, what the hell lot more efficient when Colell was in there. And I don't know how much better they were blocking for Colell. I think Colell was able to find cutback lanes,
Starting point is 00:08:41 opportunities to, to go against the grain on, on defense or on the defense for Fresno. And when you try to tackle him, you better come correct because he's going to drag you from five to seven yards after the fact. Right? So he's going to fall forward. It's that Blake Corum effect.
Starting point is 00:08:57 And that's good. You're going to be a lot more successful when you've got, you know, shorter third down situations. Because when I watched it back, you know, I think what Michigan only, I think they were, I think they were, I think there were like four of 11 on third downs, but Davis Warren did a great job when he was tasked with throwing the ball on third down when it was in a manageable spot.
Starting point is 00:09:15 Now last year, the difference was is JJ on third and 13 could go run around, throw it up to AJ Barner, you know, or Colston or CJ or Roman and, and, you know, get a first down extended drive. I don't know if Davis has that ability, you know, it's not fair to Roman and, you know, get a first down extended drive. I don't know if Davis has that ability. You know, it's not fair to compare to the top 10 picks. So that's my that's my thing.
Starting point is 00:09:31 Like, get it in manageable situations. Yeah, I completely agree. If we're stuck in third and nine, third and 10, third and 11, this is not going to be a fun day for the Michigan offense. There's no doubt about that. And I agree with you on Kalel. If you ask Michigan's offensive line from 2023, Blake Corham, although that line was really good, made that line look really good a lot because even when there was nothing there, he made something out of nothing. And it did seem like Kalel did that, especially in the fourth quarter. So I definitely think that there, you know,
Starting point is 00:10:05 if you can get Colell going on just like, hey, let's get four or five yards on first down. Let's get into second and five. Then all of a sudden, to your point, you can get Donovan, you know, going on some other things, get him in the slot, use him differently. I think that there is you know you're gonna see a little bit different approach to things because i obviously they obviously came out on saturday thinking donovan's running back one we're gonna try and run him up the gut or run between
Starting point is 00:10:37 the tackles and see how it goes it didn't go all that well they're probably gonna have a different strategy now they're not gonna change everything just you know one week but i do think that's going to be the case now you know when you think about this passing game davis was not the issue in the passing game right i i thought that davis didn't do poorly he he did a very like average job He averaged to above average job in the passing game. There are a couple drops. You know, we talked about if Tyler Morris goes ahead, you know. But he doesn't need to blow the top off ever. You know, maybe if Fred Moore is open down the seam, you got to hit him.
Starting point is 00:11:20 Right? He does have to hit him. But I think if you can continue to hit colston loveland 10 times you know in different out routes or across the middle or different things like that you know if you can get samaj going we've got to get samaj going 100 right like you have he's he's one of if not the biggest weapon on the field because of his quickness but you have to get samaj going so i think there's more to just like saying you know there are a lot of people that are just like right from the get-go davis warren's not it right let's let's hold let's hold the phone a little bit
Starting point is 00:11:55 because there are plenty of weapons on this team that he can get the ball to and i think you you got to use them in a unique way to make sure that they get going. Yeah, no, absolutely. And I think to your point about taking the top off the defense, you know, he had a couple opportunities to do that. And the one, you know, he had an underthrower, was late on it. One of the two outcomes on that play that led to the interception. But then, yeah, the Tyler Morris out and up that Morris kind of doesn't really try his
Starting point is 00:12:22 hardest on. But I think to your point, one thing that Michigan can do with the passing game is, you know, when we watch Fresno and when I watched the game, I mean, these linebackers are, they got seven in the box and these linebackers are creeping up to the line of scrimmage, right? They don't really respect Michigan's ability to pass.
Starting point is 00:12:39 So with Michigan and Colson Loveland, you know, if he split out wide or, you know, you have some eyes running on a drag route or something that Loveland, you know, if he's split out wide or, you know, you have Samadis running on a drag route or something that kind of, you know, keeps these guys in the front seven for Texas from really just getting sucked in, you know, to load up and take out the run game. If you can hit consistently, you know, 10 to 15-yard passes over the middle, which I thought Davis was very accurate in those scenarios.
Starting point is 00:13:02 I thought he stood – he also stood in there and took some hits while he did that as well so I thought he was very composed in those situations right and and Sharon mentioned that like you know his the lights weren't too bright for him you know look if you want to come on and say hey look at the stats yeah no okay we get it like it wasn't it wasn't eye-popping it wasn't gaudy um but, for the most part, threw the ball where it needed to go. There were some times where some pressure came through, and that's something you hope that the offensive line can get better at and, you know, have more trust in each other with five brand-new starters.
Starting point is 00:13:34 That also affects the running backs in pass pro. That affects Max in the run game. That affects the tight ends with Colson and Marlon Klein. So, you know, all those things from Davis, I thought were pretty good. As far as, you know, get the ball out, you know, he obviously really likes throwing it to Colson Loveland. I too would like throwing it to number 18, but if you can get like, again, if you can get, you know,
Starting point is 00:13:57 some play action involved where you get those linebackers to come in a little bit and then you hit those, those shots over the middle, I'll get for 10 to 15 yards. That's going to make those linebackers think about the next time that you know hey we think this is a run I'm going to I'm going to be coming down well if you do then Davis Warren may be able to you know hit somebody over the middle I also will let you uh hop back in here Justin but the one question that I have is are there any RPOs in this offense because I think that's going to be an opportunity to take advantage of some
Starting point is 00:14:25 of that aggressiveness from the front seven, but I don't know if they're in the offense. Yeah. I mean, well, especially if, when Davis Warren is in the game or RPOs a factor, because obviously we know that that was essentially every, every single play when Alex Orji was in the game was an RPO. But it was a read option, but yeah RPL. Or at least a read option. A read option, but yeah.
Starting point is 00:14:47 But I think that, you know, all it takes is like one time for Davis Warren to pull it and see what happens, and they have to respect it, right? He's an athletic kid, too. It's not like he's close. No. He's not a burner. He's not fast like J.J., but he can, you know, get you five, six, seven yards.
Starting point is 00:15:04 He's somewhere between Kane McN, but he can, you know, get you five, six, seven yards. He's he's somewhere between Ken, Kate McNamara and JJ is where I would put him. Right. And so he can make it happen if he needs to. So yeah. And then that leads to my next question too, of how does, what's the rotation of Davis Warren and Alex Orji? Obviously we saw him coming in uh we saw orgy coming in he ran it almost every time except for two throws one for a touchdown one for a duff in the ground um right but um you know what does that look like what wrinkles do does shero more and kirk campbell have uh in uh in the playbook and so I'll ask it back to you in this way.
Starting point is 00:15:47 What are we going to see on Saturday that we did not see this past Saturday, if anything? So to answer your first question, so when I believe it was Angelique Shangelis from the Detroit News asked the question about the rotation. Yeah, she's awesome. Brandon and I had her on a podcast like seven years ago and we're like 21 i have no idea how just that justice pulled that off but she's fantastic um but chiron's answer was like we'll see and then gave a little smile and so i'm
Starting point is 00:16:18 like what do you have up your sleeve i don't know what they're looking to do with orgy um you think you would have saw a little bit more as far as, Hey, if there's like a deep shot in that package and that all, you know, in that formation with orgy coming on that you would have seen it against Fresno state. So I don't know, man, it's, it's going to be interesting. I think I would say, I think what you'll see is you'll probably see some designed options for, for Warren, because you can't just let them play 10 on 11. Like that's not a real recipe for success when you don't have Blake Corman,
Starting point is 00:16:53 even the last couple of years when JJ was the quarterback, like, you know, they may have not had the reads on, but the threat of him running was there. And they may do it early in the game. You'll get your first down. Right. Exactly. Everything when obvious it, when it was very obvious that Cade was not, They may do it early in the game and go get your first down. It changed everything. When it was very obvious that Cade was going to just hand the ball off to then JJ having the option to pull or scramble, it freezes those linebackers even for that split second. And so I can see that.
Starting point is 00:17:21 I also wonder, are there some fun packages with both these guys in at the same time? Do they do that where all of a sudden – I know we're getting crazy. Do you remember we did that with Shea Patterson and Dylan McCaffrey? I don't remember what game it was, but that was the worst. Okay, yes. That is the most different situation than what this is right here because neither Shea Patterson nor Dylan McCaffrey were going to have like one ounce of the athleticism that Alex Orji has right um so um so I okay yes that was dumb I'll say that right
Starting point is 00:18:02 now but I I'm willing to bet that we see something with these two guys on the field at the same time. And honestly, I think there's a chance that it works because Alex Orji, you know, could essentially just be used as another running back, right? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, honestly, he would be a phenomenal H-back. Like, if he had been in Max Bredesen's position for the last three years, like he would be really good at that position. Yeah, I don't know, man. I don't know how crazy they're going to get.
Starting point is 00:18:32 I do think that they were very vanilla last Saturday for a very particular reason, and that reason is because of this game. So I think, you know, I'm just curious if they feel limited at all. And honestly, my biggest concern is the wide receivers. More than any position group on the offense, like, can they get separation? Can they make plays? Do they trust Samaj to catch the ball over the middle, beyond the line of scrimmage?
Starting point is 00:18:56 Because they didn't really go to him too many times. So, you know, I want to see Morrison and Samaj get the bulk number of snaps, which they did. But, like, I want to see those guys get targeted a little bit more. So I know I kind of got away from the Orgy Warren conversation, but I just – I want to see those guys get the ball in space. Because that's – you know, you need playmakers to be able to move downfield. And I think those two guys outside of Colston are probably Michigan's best chance.
Starting point is 00:19:26 I also think, like, two – I like where you're headed with that. One thing that I want, and I'm not saying that these guys don't have this, but I want to see it on display on Saturday. I want guys that want the ball. You can tell right away that Colston Loveland wants the ball right i want tyler morris to come out i want samaj morgan to come out and i want them i want it to be very obvious they want the ball and they want to go make that play right because i think right now again this is you know there's no doubt that these guys want to be playmakers right in their head but they need
Starting point is 00:20:03 to show it a little bit more uh this past saturday i felt that everybody was a little bit like passive outside of colson loveland and maybe even colel at the end of the game everyone's a little bit passive waiting for somebody else to make the play right they've all sat there and roman wilson and blake quorum and cornelius johnson and Cornelius Johnson and Donovan Edwards and those guys have all made the play made the big plays over the past three years right we need these guys to step up somebody's got to want to make the play and then you know that's what I I think I point to uh Samaj Morgan and Tyler Morris uh to say you guys got to want it you know and again they definitely want it in their brain,
Starting point is 00:20:45 but you got to show that on Saturday for me. 100%. Yeah, you want your receivers to have a screw loose. I'm not saying you want them to be Antonio Brown, but you want them to be delusionally confident, always open. You want that mentality, and you want to see that when they're on the field.
Starting point is 00:21:02 So I think Samaj has got a little bit of that. Tyler Morris seems like a less outspoken kid kid but that doesn't mean that he can't make plays we've seen him make big plays in big moments so you know i mean those are the two that that michigan's gonna have the best chance with their receiver um seems like i don't know if you want to talk about this i thought it was shocking when i got the pff grades and snap counts that freddie moore played three snaps i don't know if that was because they felt that he needed to go up and try to high point that ball to help Davis Warren out, try to deflect it, try to break that interception up.
Starting point is 00:21:30 He had three snaps. So our dog, Peyton, had 26 snaps, right? I know. I'm just curious what the thought process is there because the receiving room is just so thin. I mean, you had guys transfer out you had guys go to the nfl you guys graduate and it's like you didn't go get a guy in the portal what did cj charleston do did he i remember seeing him a couple times i don't think he did much
Starting point is 00:21:56 yeah i mean i love the pff grades i thought for sure i thought for sure that uh peyton and fred would split snaps um so i'm happy for Peyton. Obviously he's our guy, but definitely just like, you know, I would have loved to see it more, although spread around to see who can go ahead and make those plays. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:22:17 So CJ Charleston was on the field for six snaps. One of those was a pass play. Gotcha. So, but I say no, they didn't get anybody in the portal no disrespect is meant towards uh cj charles you know you think about a guy like donovan mccauley would have been would have been a godsend coming in i mean you know that's one thing and we this is more of like a broader conversation that we never get into because
Starting point is 00:22:41 we're talking texas but like last year winning the national championship is awesome and it's the best but the thing that it does is it really hinders your ability to go get guys in the portal because you have so much uncertainty if who's gonna be even worse this year because there's now they gotta fix that they gotta figure that out there's gonna be no spring portal essentially is what what's been being talked about right now and the portal window is January or sorry, December 9th through January 7th. So if you're in the college football playoff, which there are going to be 12 teams that are like,
Starting point is 00:23:12 you have to plan to try to win a national championship. And while building your roster for the next year, it's the dumbest shit of all time. I don't understand why they don't just have the national championship on January 1st, every year and just have the season go through the end of november through thanksgiving conference championships and just play it through to end on the first so that teams have that window so that kids are able to actually enroll in school for the spring semester versus these guys
Starting point is 00:23:40 transferring in the middle of february which when a coach leaves or gets fired is the weirdest thing, but I digress. That's a different conversation. A different conversation. So last thing on the offense here is let's talk about Michigan's offensive line. We obviously know that they need to get in those short third down positions, but it was pretty obvious that Michigan's offensive line that we saw on Saturday was not Michigan's 2023 offensive line right and I think that's like that is very much to be expected you lost six guys to the NFL that's gonna happen right but can they make a leap? Can they figure it out?
Starting point is 00:24:25 I'll say from my perspective, you know, you're obviously not going to, from a talent perspective, make some gigantic, you know, leap in seven days. But I do think that a lot of what I saw on Saturday was simply guys not fully knowing where, you know, not communicating. I was talking to Jake Butt this afternoon as well. was simply guys not fully knowing where, you know, not communicating. I was talking to Jake Butt this afternoon as well. He recorded a podcast talking about this for Champion Circle, the lab. Go check that out as well.
Starting point is 00:25:02 But he said that what he saw was last year he saw five guys playing as one unit. This year he saw one unit playing as five individuals. That's what he he saw on Saturday I think that's a great way to put it it was not a one cohesive unit and guess what that takes time the reason that Trevor Keegan and Zach Zinter were so good together Carson Barnhart Ladari those guys played together for a long time they've been taking snaps together for four or five years, six years, right? So it's going to take these guys more than a week to figure this out. But what I am intrigued by is that that's fixable, right? It's not just a talent issue.
Starting point is 00:25:38 That's fixable. And so I think that they're going to make – are they going to make enough of a leap? I don't know. But they will make a pretty big leap, in my opinion, on having their shit together on Saturday. Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, we talked about this pre-show, and it's like are they going to – you know, they're going to improve, and it may not be a huge leap week over week, but by week four or five,
Starting point is 00:26:01 you might say, okay, this is about more what I expected. Does that happen on Saturday Saturday I don't know I mean you know you hope these guys are having a great week of practice that's the tough thing about five brand new starters like I mentioned earlier like you have guys that have not been in those situations together like Zach Zinner Trevor Keegan Trent A Jones Carson Barnhart I mean these guys had been playing together forever. And then you bring in, you know, Drake Nugent with Darius Henderson. And so you're able to kind of, you know, ingrain them into the offensive line that's been playing together for a long time.
Starting point is 00:26:36 So you have five brand new guys and you've got to be very distinct. You've got to have a lot of belief in your line calls and making sure that you're all on the same page. And so a lot of that's going to fall on dom judice right and so that's where i i you know what i've gathered from listening to the the insiders like sam and all those guys like and he's making the right line calls right he's been a center he's been on the offensive line for a couple years now since switching over from d line but like that's where my concern is is like if you don't have somebody that not saying you got to be olu but you should be able to call line calls like oh right like you may not be as dominant as him as physical as him as big and strong as him but
Starting point is 00:27:14 like you got to get everybody lined up and that really a lot of times falls in the center so you know that's a lot gonna fall on dom and i think if you know hey week one first start you know first real playing time for michigan in his career like hey if that, you know, hey, week one, first start, you know, first real playing time for Michigan in his career. Like, hey, if that's, you know, something that maybe takes a little bit to click, that's OK. But it's got to click at some point. Right. So. And again, it may not click Saturday, but we may be sitting here in October. You know, Michigan may be USC because our offensive line has started gelling. It's like, OK, like this is we can work with this. So it's tough. It's tough to tell, man, because it just takes different teams and different guys, you know, longer.
Starting point is 00:27:49 So I don't know if we can really, you know, guess on what that, what's going to happen with that, but that's, that's my two cents. Yeah, I definitely agree. I mean, they obviously, they've got to put together, put it together this week, right? There's, there's no time like the present. You're not playing UConn or Hawaii like the last couple of years, right? Yeah. So they're going to have to figure some stuff out.
Starting point is 00:28:13 So, all right, let's transition over to the defense. The one thing that you mentioned while we were talking pre-show was looking at Texas. Looking at their offense and thinking about how they're going to line up against Michigan's defense. We've talked about Michigan's defense ad nauseum for nine months of offseason. Their defense is good. Their defense was very good on Saturday.
Starting point is 00:28:40 They were good even when they weren't good. I'll put it that way. Even when they aren't playing at their best they're still pretty damn good but Texas has got a pretty damn good offense as well and what you mentioned was how fast they play yeah they they do a great job I mean Quinn Ewers does a great job I mean obviously this is his you know third year starting. He should only be a true junior, by the way, if you remember. But when he went to Ohio State, he reclassified to get there earlier, coming out of high school. So, you know, he's a guy that has played a lot of really good football.
Starting point is 00:29:14 He went into the Big 12 Championship last year. You know, they almost beat Washington in the CFP game. They go to Tuscaloosa, beat Alabama by two scores. When Alabama was in a similar situation to Michigan as far as breaking in a new quarterback. And so, obviously, Millereau and Warren are completely different guys. But, you know, it's an interesting, you know, that they've done this before. So, you know, Quinn Ewers on Saturday against Colorado State was 20-27,
Starting point is 00:29:38 260 yards, so that's almost 10 yards an attempt for three touchdowns. He did have a pick. And the one thing that we talked about pre-show was that Colorado State was able a couple times to get pressure. Now, I watched the ESPN cut up like 15 minutes. I was at the gym. I have not sat down and watched the full game. I don't plan on doing that. I've got other time commitments, unfortunately.
Starting point is 00:29:59 But the thing that I noticed was, you know, you can get to him a little bit. Like his interception, he steps up. I thought he should have ran a defender gets a, gets a hand on the ball and it just ricochets up and Colorado state picks it off. But when he gets the ball out, they find those spots in the zones, you know, in that zone defense. And then you got to tackle because they are quick. I mean, John Tate cook is a guy that Michigan recruited big time recruit. He looks like he's, you know, he's in a sophomore year. He looks like he's ready to take a big leap. Isaiah Bond, who we saw at Alabama last year, they've got a kid,
Starting point is 00:30:30 Matthew Golden, who had two touchdowns, transferred from Houston. Brian Wingo, who was a big-time target. I know he was down to Texas, Mizzou. Niklasa, 24, obviously picks Texas. He led them in receiving yards with 70. So, you you know they were able to throw the ball over the field um you know they have some depth questions at running back but um Jaden Blue was uh I believe he's a sophomore he had um he was he was about five yards of carry
Starting point is 00:30:56 Jared Gibson was about almost seven yards of carry so they were very efficient they were very balanced against Colorado State now we know that Michigan's defense is it's a little bit different than Colorado State but the thing that I would say and then I'll kick it over you Justin but the thing that I would say that I'm curious to see is you know what is wink dial up I think there is a way to try to confuse Quinn Ewers with the different disguises and shells for coverage that you run you know maybe maybe having fake pressure come from one end you think it's coming from from the weak side it's coming from the weak side. It actually comes from the strong side. So, what does Wink dial up to kind of confuse him?
Starting point is 00:31:30 Because I do think Michigan's best chance is to force turnovers, is to get into Ewers ahead and, you know, get good field position, get short fields, right? So, but, yeah, I'm really curious to see this matchup. I mean, we know what Will Johnson is. We know Michigan's defense is fast too, right? So, yeah, their office is fast michigan's guys fly to the ball you see those wing helmets corralling um getting getting to the ball so um yeah i'm just really excited to watch man this could be a it's gonna be you know this is gonna be the fun um maybe for michigan maybe
Starting point is 00:31:57 the funnest part of the game uh we'll see about the offense but like this is where like yeah no you this is how you win a game when you're a dog at home uh definitely and so i think that um i i'll i'll put it like this this is what i say when when i play and pick up basketball with my boys and i haven't made a shot in a year and a half i i say defense leads to offense defense leads to offense and defense leads to offense. And then, you know, I try to pick it up because I'm a defensive rebound type guy. I have no jump shot. You just got to see the ball go through once, you know, and then maybe it's a little better. And so here's what I'm thinking about. Okay, if obviously, you know, there's a big if here,
Starting point is 00:32:39 but I think if Michigan's defense can get to Quinn Ewers, if they can stop things, I think where it's got to start is they've got to stop the run. Now, we obviously know that Quinn Ewers can throw, will throw. Steve Sarkeesian is a passing guy. They love to throw the ball. But if we can make sure that they cannot get into a third and two because they ran the ball twice on first and second
Starting point is 00:33:05 down. I think that changes the game. And then I think to your point, if all of a sudden Michigan's the Derek Moore, the Josiah Stewart, Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant, if they can start getting to Quinn, all of a sudden the big house is going nuts. They're backed up into a third and 15. This is a different ball game and what that does too you know you all of a sudden he's throwing off his back foot you all of a
Starting point is 00:33:31 sudden that's when will johnson comes into play that's where you know a um you know the the rest of the secondary comes into play for michigan and i i think that the way that Michigan's offense needs to work in order to score here, they might need some cheating from the defense to get them in good position. Not that type of cheating, people. Not that type of cheating. But they need Michigan's defense to make some plays, create some turnovers, maybe some sacks in the backfield, some negative plays for Texas, and get this offense in good field position so that they can go and march down the field.
Starting point is 00:34:09 Because if Michigan's offense continues in starting at the 20-yard line, that could be a long way for them to go. But that's where I think Michigan's defense can really change the game here. Yeah, and i certainly agree with you being able to you know create havoc um you know force turnovers you know get short field that's going to be huge for michigan's chances in this game um easier said than done because again they've got i mean they can go five wide with with just speed at every every receiving uh you know every receiver on the field so it's going to be very interesting to see how, you know,
Starting point is 00:34:46 Week approaches this game. I'm going to be curious. I didn't look at it. We should go back and see if there was any matchups between Week Martindale and Steve Sarkeesian when Sark was in the NFL as a coordinator. It would be very interesting to see those results. But, yeah, I mean, dude, and Sharon talked about this. He gave him a lot of praise.
Starting point is 00:35:03 Sark is one of the best offensive minds in college football. He does such a great job of being creative and getting his guys open. So, you know, how can Michigan combat that? You combat it with the fact that you've got multiple first-round talents all over the field. And you might have – I mean, again, we talked about Will Johnson, Kenneth Grant, Mason Graham as, like, the first-rounders. And just on the defensive side, like, well, hold on now,
Starting point is 00:35:27 because Josiah Stewart, like, he's looking like a dude. And Derek Moore played really well, too. I want to just – I know this isn't a show where we talk about it, but Josiah Stewart, Derek Moore both had grades over 90 on PSF. They were the two highest graded guys on the team. So, they were wreaking havoc all over the place. Rayshon Benny had a hell of a game too, right? So really good.
Starting point is 00:35:47 Glad to have him back. Yeah, absolutely. And looked like he's back to his normal self. So we're going to need those guys. We're absolutely going to need those guys to make plays, to be disruptive, you know, and be able to let the linebackers flow. I really can't wait to watch Jay Sean Barham.
Starting point is 00:36:00 I mean, that guy, he didn't have like crazy stats, but dude, when he tracked down the quarterback, like, oh, my God, this guy. Like, it's almost like Happy Gilmore when he's running after Shooter McGavin. Like, that's what it felt like. Like, it's just inevitable that he's going to, you know, make some plays this year for Michigan. So, you know, yeah, the defense is obviously going to be huge, man. And special teams, too.
Starting point is 00:36:20 Like, you know, you take points when you can get points, right? So, you know, the fact that Michigan feels like they can get inside the 40 to the 35 and they're good to get at least three that's a huge win I I agree with you I mean there's a chance I I know you know Texas offense could do Texas offense things for sure but there's a chance that this becomes like a low scoring battle and I think you're going to want to take a field goal when you can take a field goal and i love having dominic zavada back there uh for sure so um all right uh so i think that uh we got to give our predictions here um michigan ends up at um i believe they're at seven and a half right now they're plus seven and a half right now. They're plus seven and a half is what I believe.
Starting point is 00:37:07 So it opened at six and a half. I think it's ended up at seven and a half. Let's start with this. No, everybody, because we're both going to say the same thing. I was going to say, are they going to cover the spread? We're both going to say yes, because we also think they're going to win the money line too. I was going to say so are we doing it
Starting point is 00:37:25 are we are we going are we going all out or what are we are we going for our boys here because like i thought about it and you know i think it's close enough to where i can just throw a michigan pick in and just be like hey you know those are my boys yeah why not i this is a michigan podcast um but also like i here's my thing. I think that, like, I don't know. I have a lot of people, a lot of people, even Michigan fans, that are like, I'm going to make a bunch of money by betting on Texas this weekend. Like, listen.
Starting point is 00:37:57 Emotional hedge. I don't hate it. Emotional hedge is fine, sure. But don't count these boys out. I'm just saying. Don't count these boys out. Everybody else is counting Michigan out. Let's have some faith. I know it's not the same team as last year, 2022-21,
Starting point is 00:38:13 but they've got some of that in their blood. They've got some of that in their blood. These teams have been counted out for the past three years. They've been doubted. They've been said, oh, for how long has it been that they're like, oh, yeah, you won that one. But you're going to get your shit blown off by, you know, Ohio State this week and Bama this week and Washington this week. And it's like, fuck them. Fuck them.
Starting point is 00:38:40 Right now, Texas is coming to town. Everyone said, oh, it's a done deal. It's over. Texas looked great. Michigan looks like shit. Fuck them. I don't care. We said, fuck them for the past three years. And we won an Addy. Absolutely. Why not? Why not us? And the thing that I would say too, right, obviously to your point about Michigan, but different teams, but you know, late in the season last year, I mean, Texas was in some dogfights, you know, we'll get some good teams, but I mean, you know,
Starting point is 00:39:08 they beat Kansas state by three and overtime, they beat TCU by three, you know, they beat Iowa state by 10 and obviously different teams, but, you know, they weren't so close games last year too, which obviously will help them, you know, anytime you're battle tested. And Michigan was in some games last year as well, as we know. But it's, I don't just don't, I don't think it's that conclusion that they're coming in here and just boat racing.
Starting point is 00:39:29 They've got, they have just as much to prove as Michigan, if not more. Right. Michigan play with house money. Cause like nobody expects anything from Michigan. Michigan did their thing last year. Right. And you lose as much as they did. I think a lot of people are expecting to, you know, have a bit of a fall. Texas hasn't done shit. Yeah, they made the playoff.
Starting point is 00:39:52 Then they got boat raced by the team that Michigan then boat raced. They lost by six, but I hear you. I just don't want anyone telling us we're off base. Listen, we're going to get that in the comments no matter what. It's true. I just – I think that – here's my – I'll end it on this. This is not a foregone conclusion that Texas is going to win this game. They have just as much to prove, if not more, than Michigan.
Starting point is 00:40:22 Steve Sarkeesian hasn't gotten over the hump, as everybody said about Jim Harbaugh for how long, until he finally did it, right? Texas has got Quinn Hewers and Arch Manning on the same damn team, Tanner. They're right? So, you're telling me they got to come out here and prove to everybody that they're the real deal, right? And guess what?
Starting point is 00:40:49 This game's in Ann Arbor. They got to come up here and play us. It's supposed to be 65 degrees. It might as well be snowing for C.J. Stroud, honestly. So I think it's just going to be like, if you think that Michigan is just going to lay down, you know, you haven't watched Michigan with Sherell Moore at the helm. Right?
Starting point is 00:41:12 I know Jim Harbaugh was the coach, but this team last year in 2023 had a lot of Sherell Moore in them. And what they're going to do is they're going to grind this baby out. And it might not be pretty at all times, but how many times in 2023, 22, 21 was it also not pretty and they got the job done, right? It's a gritty, not pretty situation. I just want to win.
Starting point is 00:41:34 I don't care about how it looks. I don't give a shit. I'm on my soapbox right now a little bit. I'm ranting and raving that that's fine. And this could get clipped when things don't go well on Saturday. on my soapbox right now a little bit i'm ranting and raving that that's fine but i i'm you know and this could get clipped when you know things don't go well on saturday but i i just don't think that michigan's gonna lay down and you know let this happen it and so um i i'm gonna give my prediction that it's going to be i'm'm going to go 21-17 Michigan.
Starting point is 00:42:05 I was going to go 27-24 Michigan. So we're in similar mindsets. But, yeah, I mean, look, that's – Michigan's got to play a really good game to get to that score, right? Like that's – Michigan's got to do a lot of things in all three phases to be able to win a game like that. And so, yeah, I'm not as confident as I have been going into all these big games the last, I mean, two years really because 21, I was like, well, you know,
Starting point is 00:42:32 are we finally going to do this? And so the last couple of years it's nice to have confidence going in. This year it's just uncertainty more than anything because there's talent. There are good football players, but it's like, what does it look like when the lights are bright? And that's what I wonder with this team. to your point about chiron um you know they they really rallied around him last year when jim was out and so yeah and there's a lot of guys that have played a lot of football for this team over the last two years three years that are have been
Starting point is 00:42:58 in big time moments know what it's like to play in this type of atmosphere this level of the football game so you know it's a big one, man. We're going to have two. The two living Heisman winners that played at Michigan are going to be in Ann Arbor with Desmond Howard on ESPN's college game day and Charles Woodson will be at Pioneer with big new kickoff. So that's pretty cool. Derek Jeter's in town.
Starting point is 00:43:19 We're in town. We're drinking. Matthew McConaughey's in town. Oh, shit, is he? Yeah. That's insane. That's actually – I might have to buy a ticket now. I wasn't going to go. in town we're drinking matthew mcconaughey's in town oh shit is he yeah he'll be there that's insane that's actually i might have to buy a ticket no i wasn't gonna go but now mcconaughey will be there um who's the who's the new hot guy who's glenn powell is he coming to town i don't know i don't know he might be coming to town who knows uh he's the man dude in uh
Starting point is 00:43:41 in the new top gun he was was in the new Twister movie. He was in some on Netflix, The Hitman, I think. That was really good. I love that I said who's the new hot guy. You immediately had Glenn Powell. Well, he's a Texas guy. I keep saying on my Twitter that he's a big Texas fan, so I knew who you were talking about.
Starting point is 00:43:58 You refer to him as the new hot guy. Yeah, he is the new hot guy. Absolutely. Stand by it. It's a two-way street there. Absolutely. Absolutely. All right, we'll the new hot guy. Absolutely. Stand by it. It's a two-way street there. Absolutely. Absolutely. All right, we'll end it with that.
Starting point is 00:44:08 We will see what happens on Saturday. Big game, Texas at Michigan at noon. We'll be there. We'll be there on Friday at Pretzel Bell as well. So come on out to Pretzel Bell. We'll have some North Peak Brewing, Hale IPA, and Blue by 90 beer. There might be some weather issues. We're going to figure it out. We're going to figure it out.
Starting point is 00:44:29 I think it's more in the morning is what I saw. Well, we're gritty, not pretty too. It might not be beautiful, but we're going to get it done. I don't own a rain jacket. My wife keeps yelling at me. I just don't own one. That's wild. Well, I don't have a waterproof one. I have designated. I know, but if it rains, I'm just not going anywhere.
Starting point is 00:44:46 Unless Michigan football plays, and then I'll figure it out. That is just such a Tuesday. I'll just be miserable. I'll just be miserable. Yeah, just be miserable. And then Saturday we'll be in the Chrysler Arena parking lot with our sponsors Sun Cruiser, Truly, North Peak, KLIPA, State state and liberty joe's pizza we got it all so we had dude wipes over there again like i'm gonna close them i'm gonna close them for some
Starting point is 00:45:15 partnership deals there we go there we go all right for us you can follow us at blue by 90 on twitter instagram facebook at blue by 90 podcast on youtube and blue by 90.com we appreciate you go blue go blue

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