Blue By Ninety - Michigan Football Bounces Back and Impresses Against Washington

Episode Date: October 20, 2025

Justin and Tanner discuss Michigan’s impressive performance after a tough loss to USC.

All right, welcome back to Blue by 90, presented by Feldman Chevrolet of Highland. It's October 20th, and Michigan came off a huge win over Washington to get back on track here. Tanner, we talked about it this past week about how much of a must-win game, this game all of a sudden turned into after the USC lost and tons of negativity coming from, you know, the Michigan fan base. and even actually Sherell Moore talked about, like, there was some negativity inside the locker room as well. And, you know, it sounded like they had some, like, come to Jesus type meetings about who's going to be in and who's going to be out on this team.

And so I think for this program, this was just a huge statement win. And, you know, it was the way that they won it in the second half for me. I think that after this, you know, this season, And even in a lot of the wins, Michigan just played so poorly in the second half coming out, not being able to step on throats and finish games or just, you know, even in the USC game, like you're getting absolutely dominated in the second half, right? And so Michigan actually flipped that out of its head, dominated in its own right. So happy to be 1 and 0 this week coming off of, you know, the lost USC.

And it feels like this roller coaster of a season is now back. to the top where everyone's happy again yeah well i would i'd like to say we were we were i mean me especially i was pretty down after last week's performance um we're talking about what does it mean for the program and on a grander scale but i you know and i was uh critical of chiron like i you know we talked about it with worm um but you know on other shows that we do i talked about the work blue collar shirt and i thought it was corny and it you know but they you know what they went out and it was very workman-like it was right and we we talked about like having those coming to jesus like difficult conversation difficult meetings kind of looking in the mirror

being introspective and i think that probably happened because the way they came out it was again it was very workman-like um you know to your point about who wants to be here who doesn't i do wonder like was there like there was a lot of guys that were out yeah and i wonder if what obviously there's injuries there or like with rod more there's a snap count but it's like hey if you're not you know participating in at least two or three practices this week you're not playing like i don't know if that had anything to do with it but um a lot of energy from the team like we talked about you kind of had to bring your own juice because the big house was sleepy like we predicted it was a little in the beginning it was a little like and then they got going

sharon did you see sharon was right in front of us like I'm fired up. Pre-game getting people going. Like, it was nuts. So I love that. I also think, like, I don't know if you saw the Jack Tuttle thing where he, you know, kind of called out Michigan's locker room on whatever. And then he deleted. Yeah. So, like, I think that that, you know, sometimes that gives guys some juice. And for people that didn't see it, Jack Tuttle basically just like, it seems like there's a lot of finger pointing going on inside the locker room, which, he said happened a lot last year as well so um i think he was i you know i don't know that he was trying to be malicious with what he was saying although you know you know how a clip finds the internet and then all of a sudden everyone runs with it but to your what you were going to say is

rod more came out and tweeted something about uh about that clip um deleted it immediately you know all that stuff um but i i did like overall the response was great. You know, this team, it looked like after last week, could just cash it in. You know, it just didn't feel like they were playing for each other. It didn't feel like they had that juice. And with a sleepy noon game, this was one of those that could totally get away from you if you're not prepared for it. They came out prepared. So I was pumped about it. Yeah, man. I thought defensively, they were more vanilla. They didn't blitz as much. I think I saw that in the USC game, they blitz 50% of the time. In this game,

the blitz rate was 20%. So, you know, forcing a quarterback to drive the field. College quarterbacks, you know, they make mistakes. And we saw DeMond Williams made a couple. The last interception was not nearly at all his fault. No. Craziest pick I've maybe ever seen in the big house. In terms of just like pure like probability of that happening. Literally fall, that is the definition of falling into his lap. Yeah. But, you know, I think they, I think wink, again, so we had this conversation last week. And, like, at the end of last year, they made adjustments to basically just be very vanilla and run their base defense, right, in those games against Ohio State Alabama, even Indiana.

I mean, they held Indiana to the 20 points last year. That was a really good defensive performance against an IU team that was killing everybody just like this year. And then it seems like at the start of this year, it was like back to what he fell in love with in the NFL, just blitzing, blitzing, blitzing, and then it's kind of reverting back to that. So in the grand scheme of things, look, win, get seven points, defense played really, really well. um hate that they seem to really i think i tweeted it that was the fourth time in seven games that they gave up a touchdown within a minute uh left in the second half so those things need to be cleaned up but they give seven points to washington at one point you know was averaging 60 you know even last week i know ruckers is not like the top of the big 10 but they score 38 on on ruckers last week and devon

Williams had 500 yards. Like, it was insane. Yeah. So they really, they really, they really played well defensively. You know, I think Derek Moore, you know, we'll talk about the PFF stuff on the other show that I do with our friend BB's Big House, but I think, again, snap count was low. Like, that's one of my biggest criticisms aside from the scheme stuff is just the rotation of guys.

Like, I want to see Derek Moore out there. I want to see Jay Sean Barham out there. I want to see TJ Guy out there. like, you know, and those are three edges and there's typically two edges on the field. But, like, I think you would still do some things with Jay Sean in a linebacker-type hybrid role that allows your best edges to be on the field. But at the same time, like Cameron Brandt played really well. Obviously, you want to get Nate Marshall out there to have him continue to develop because

he's a high, high-ceiling prospect, right? He's a guy that's going to be a game wrecker in the near future. So, but yeah, overall defensively, I was really encouraged. Bryce like it's on the it's on the header here I think his best game at Michigan right I mean 27 three drops like I mean it he was incredibly efficient and I know you want to know what's funny is before the season what were we talking about we're like oh he's a freshman he's going to make all these mistakes and it's going to be like this roller coaster thing where he has unbelievable plays and then, you know, throws a crazy pick, the next play.

We haven't seen that. Even when he's played poorly, it's, he's still taken care of the ball. And I'm incredibly impressed by Bryce Underwood, just being super efficient, taking care of the ball, no, like, forcing the ball really. And yeah, I thought that like as bad as the game plan was versus USC for Chip Lindsay, I thought that that was as good of a game plan versus Washington because, you know, they had Bryce throwing all over the place. It felt like they got everybody involved. Everything was working. So I, seven games into his career at 18 years old, I am, I'm loving where Bryce Underwood is

at for not only right now, but for the future too. Well, I didn't necessarily think Chip's game plan against USC was horrible. I think they had some execution issues. But They had in this game, too, right? Because if you look at the drive chart, first drive, Bryce misses wide. I don't know if that was a slant. I rewatched the game yesterday on Sunday. I need to go back and check it out again. But he misses wide on the first play.

You run it. I think it's like third and eight. And then check down to Tonnelli. But after that, you know, they go nine plays, 47 yards. Should have been nine plays 77 yards. That would have been a touchdown if Samaj catches that. if you want to complain about the fact that, you know, maybe you have another receiver running that route,

so be it, but it was a great call. Would have been a touchdown if you caught the ball. The only, can I say one thing on that is, yes, he's got to catch the ball. It was a little bit behind him, like a hair behind him, but you're a college NCAA Division I wide receiver. You need to catch that football. Yeah, like Bryce's high school receipt.

Bryce threw for like 75% in high school. So those guys caught it most of the time. and they're not on scholarship. Most of them aren't on scholarship to play football at Michigan. And the one teammate that is is in the defensive backfield, right? So like, I don't know what needs to happen there. I noticed that though, Justin, like the commentator is like, they're always like he needs to take some off of it.

And then you'll see a throw to a tight end and the same speed. And they catch it. And it's like, I just think there's, I don't know what. He, I will say this, there's one. I believe it was it was to Deacon Toneli on a little like crosser out route type thing and he fired that thing that was jack marshal yeah it was off his fingertips that wasn't a drop that was definitely no no no that deacon toneli caught it oh sorry i'm thinking about a different one there was a drop that wasn't necessarily a drop sorry

go ahead no yeah i was going to say it was to your point though like i thought he honestly brice threw it a little too hard for my liking and tonioli caught it and turned up field right away. And I was like, okay, well, you know, it's not, listen, this is, this is big boy, big boy ball. You got to catch the football. Be ready. You know, listen, you're not going to have the perfect pass every time. Like, you look at the guy, if you, if you come to Michigan, you should be planning on playing in the NFL on Sundays, right? This is what's going to happen in the NFL. Yeah. You have to make extremely difficult catches that are not right in your bread basket all the time well and in the NFL like yeah they know how to layer the football but also especially when

you have the margin of error that you have you have to get the ball there that's what like the commentators when they're like he's got to take some off of it and it's like no I want the ball out there quickly yes like yes you know you don't want to just fire it in there as hard as possible sometimes that's necessary for it to be completed and if it's a you know if it's deflected or whatever it's a less of a chance of getting intercepted like if you lob it in there you know maybe it's an easier pick for the defense so you know i've noticed that like i don't know man i i was listening to i was listening to the cover three podcasts uh last night and uh before i went to bed and i wanted to listen what they said about michigan um they said the same things about bryce and i'm like i don't i don't know where

this like narrative comes from that he just can't layer the ball like he had multiple throws in this game that were just beautiful the one the first one in the first quarter to tonelli that he has to get to and i mean but it's like perfectly thrown and then he has to bring the ball back and I guess to dislodge for an incompletion, but like that is a big time throw. He has a throw in the fourth quarter, two-tonelli, up 14 to seven.

Like, game's still in balance, right? Like, it's still anybody's game on a third and long, right after he took an ill-vized sack running out of balance, like off his back foot makes a throw. So I don't know where this narrative comes from that, like, he is just super inaccurate and just like throws it in there because, yeah, his completion percentages may be around 60% right now.

But it's people that don't watch the actual games. Like I'm not throwing shade at cover three specifically or whatever because I actually think that they're really good. But I think it's for the most part got like the people that are talking about that are just looking at the box score seeing that he, you know, they see at USC that he was nine of whatever, right? You know, and they see that that he's not at a 70% completion percentage or whatever like that where, you know, to your point like that that deep bowl that he

just he threw off his back foot and squeezed it in there perfectly i was like holy shit that was an unreal throw yeah and he had some throws in this game that that were i mean pretty phenomenal right like but then he also has some throws where it's like hey that touchdown of zach marshall late in the game like it just lobs it in there yeah so the idea that he doesn't know how to take speed off the ball is just stupid by the way cover three um tom for now i don't think he actually watches the game sometimes because he said Michigan got uh you know put up over 400 yards, but we got most of it late in the game. And I was like, well, that's not true.

They had a lot of yards. They just converted to points, right? So that's kind of been my point on the talking through the drive. So they had that seven play, 80-yard drive, ends in the marsh screen for a touchdown. That I think Bryce was five of five for 68 yards on that drive. Like that, that is what coming into this, what you wanted to see, you know, at certain points. Like, you're not going to do that every drive, right?

Like, that's just football's hard. It's a difficult sport. Really talented players all over the field for every team you play. but like that was what you kind of wanted to see but then again 11 plays 63 yards missed field goal end of half and then to come out they forced three and out and they go 10 plays 55 yards and they don't get the uh the fourth and fourth and two which i thought was a solid play call it was blocked well but Washington just fit it really well like they had two guys yeah coming down where where marshal was going to run but then they finally you know they started to move the ball

i mean they had the um they had the interception by solvin that led to one play touchdown but then they had the nine play, 66 yards for a touchdown. And then at the end of the game, they were able to run out the clock for four minutes, four minute drill. Marshall, like, we talk about Bryce. Jordan Marshall, his best game as well at Michigan.

I mean, does he not look, but you took that three off the jersey and he was like three inches shorter? Does it not look a little Blake Coramie in a way? It does. It's shifty. It's little, like, bouncy, you know, those types of things.

Driving the leg. backwards still move in the pile. Like he's not, you know, and he had a lot of, it was a 14-yard run, but that touchdown, I thought he had a nice burst to get through. It was a great play design, kind of kind of a wrinkle off of what they do in the run game with Bredeson crashing down on a trap play,

and he's able to break a tackle, an arm tackle, and show some burst. But in the same way that, you know, Corum could still scoot, and I don't know how quick he is, because we haven't really seen it other than the Nebraska game where he had that long touchdown. But, man, it just, you know,

and I think I had some issues with his vision last week. I've seen cutback lanes. I thought it was better this week. Thought he made the right decision, you know, when to cut, when to follow the play design. So, and this, Joel Klatt said it, and I agree, this was the Boa Constrictor game. Like, we've seen this a couple times for Michigan this year. Look, it's not as dominant as it was in 22, 23. But there are moments that you see it, and it's like in the fourth quarter when they need to have it, they're just running the ball. And they're running it down their throat, and they can't stop it.

Like, did Jordan Marshall go down on the first tackle attempt on any run this game? If he did, it was only a couple times. It did not feel like if sometimes it was third or fourth try, you know? Yeah, and he's getting eight yards and you're like, oh, it's second and two. Like that, that's the recipe for Michigan. And then when you have an elite quarterback, which Bryce isn't there yet, but when you have a guy that can make all the throws that is athletic, that can, you know, is just a shot in the arm to the offense.

Because this offense last year was horrible. And we're sitting here talking about 24 points, 420 yards. And it's like, oh, man, they left some meat on the bone. Last year, would have killed for that. Yeah, 100% would it kill for that. And I feel like, you know, 24 points does feel like you, like it's not a dominating offensive performance, but it did feel like that on Saturday, at least in the second half, right?

I felt like that. So, you know, for especially when you're looking at what the offense looked like a week ago, right, where it was just swallowed. shot. And so, I mean, I was excited to see this, this bounce back game for the offense. Let's talk about the defense for a second, too, because I, you know, we, we, Wink Martindale needed this really badly because last week it was not good, right? And so for him, you know, where I'm looking at like this Washington offense, Jetfish is a phenomenal offensive mind. there's no doubt about that um i really like jed i think that he's going to continue to be a great

head coach i mean uh there and damon williams is very good so for wink martinale come out there and have you know put on the game that they they put on they i mean Washington had 46 yards total in the second half it was seven to seven a half time and then i this defense went crazy and i mean obviously the turnovers and interceptions helped that a ton. But I just felt like there was never a moment where DeMond Williams was like in control of the game. I felt like he did not. He looked almost like, you know,

a Dylan Ryola back in that Nebraska game for Michigan where it was like, he was all out of sorts. So, you know, in a 7-7 game, this defense went to, went into the locker room at halftime, came out and put on a hell of a show. yeah i mean they're flying to the ball earners houseman had a great play um was that in the first half in the second half where he tracked down williams on a designed run i think it might have been the first half but either way these guys played phenomenal i mean um their drives in the second half go three plays two yards punt 10 plays 27 yards punt one play interception three plays

interception four plays turnover on downs force fumble from derrick more and one play interception in the fourth quarter alone they had negative eight yards yeah michigan 110 you know what that fourth quarter box score reminded me of Justin what's that it was columbus last year dominated the fourth quarter to win the game obviously different scenario here but man i mean those drives in the second half i mean michigan just put the clamps on them um and again i thought derrick more maybe his best game of the year two sacks force fumble trying to block him with a tied end is certainly a choice that one can make, not the choice that I would make, to be honest.

Trey Pierce had a huge play right before that fourth down on a third and one to push it back and fourth and three on a TFL. I need to see more Trey Pierce. I know he didn't play as much in this game. I think he might be the best defensive tackle on the team. You know, Benny got banged up a little bit, so hopefully he's healthy. I thought he had a solid game. Yeah, linebackers obviously making the plays in the past game

with the two interceptions from Rolder and Sullivan. Houseman was all over the place. I thought Barham was really good in the run game after, you know, for first drive when they went down to Mississippi. Field and then he kind of cleaned it up a little bit. There was another moment. Dude tweeted this, and I know a lot of people saw it, but he, on the fourth and one that they converted in the third or fourth quarter,

Barham has a chance to kind of squeeze and make the play on the fourth and one, and he just sucks in, and the running back just goes where he wasn't. And so those are continuing to learn things playing edge that Barham's got to go through. But yeah, man, I mean, I thought, I thought Zeke Barry had a pretty good game. The tackling was much improved. There were no issues with tackling all of a sudden. Do you think they practiced it this week, Justin? I bet they did.

I think that they did. It sounded, I actually heard a couple things of them. They did go live, I think, a lot this week and did some live tackling drills, because I think that it was like, hey, guys, we cannot be this soft anymore. So love to see that. Well, yeah, I mean, dude, and I think every Michigan podcast has made this point. We've probably talked about it too. But like in the NFL, you don't really need to teach guys how to tackle.

Right. Like they're in the national football league. Right. They're the top percent of the top percent of people who play football. So, you know, you probably don't have to practice that as much. In college, these guys are coming out of high school. They probably need to be coached up a little bit. So making that a point of emphasis, I'm sure it was a big thing this week.

And also the screen game, Washington had a little bit of success, and then Michigan kind of shut them down. So that was something that got Michigan against USC last week. And I thought that they came out, man, and they just, again, it was spirited. The sideline was lively. Guys on the field were making plays. They were pumping up the crowd. Again, dude, it was a – let me just say this.

I was in Section 16. Shout out to the homie Nolan for the free tickets. I appreciate that. They were beautiful seats. Phenomenal view, right in the corner. I love being in the corner. I prefer it to even being in the 50. I know that's right around where you sit,

but I like the corner for some reason. The corner's nice. But stir down. Like the game may have been tied or up seven. I look back. I know. I look back and I'm like, people are on their phones.

Like there's like 12 seconds on the play clock. They're about to snap the ball. I'm over here. like the you know my guy the on youtube the weatherman like screaming like i'm trying to get them you know what i mean i'm trying to get i'm trying to cause a false start and the stadium got a couple of them uh washington got a couple false starts but again i just i thought they did exactly what we kind of said like they needed to bring their own energy bring their own juice and um they were ready to go man and i was really impressed by you know how charon's able to kind of get his guys

motivated and um you know he's a players coach sometimes you got to be a dickhead and i bet that was this week. I do think that they put the pressure on the boys this week of like who's going to step up. Who's going to step up to the plate? Who's going to be a leader? You know, that's what we talked about a lot last week of just like, we need internally guys, you know, we need guys to just step up and be that leader. And it sounds like they found a couple. So I, I, here's my thing, though, you got to do it week to week to week. Right. So I mean, obviously I'm not this guy that's going to be negative after a win like that i'm very excited about what we saw um but even pat macsopi talked about it on game day of just like michigan season going up and down and up and down and it's like right now

you know you are headed to sparty this week and you better i mean first of all if you can't get up for that game then we got bigger problems but um i just i want to see this team put it together for a couple weeks in a row against quality opponents and um you know i thought that at least on Saturday, it looked like they put it together for four quarters in a row, which is a good start, right? But, man, I just, like, that's, that's right now what is keeping this team from being a playoff squad, right? A playoff contender, because they really, like, this is what I'm looking for. And you have a chance because, really, you're going to be favored in the rest of the games along the way until the Baha has come to town, right? And so, you know, but this week,

It is a hell of a test. This is something I know Michigan State is not in a good spot with their program right now. It's almost like more like worrisome though because they have literally nothing to lose. They have they're fighting for their lives. And I mean, maybe the coach has something to lose like his job possibly, depending on how this goes. He gets paid a ton of money to not work. Again, I would take that deal. Someone offered it to me.

Someone come to me with a bag and I, you know. it'll be fine i i'm with you i i don't know i mean what's your expectation though for for this weekend um you know going going into what's now it's a night game right it's a you got two night games in a row actually with ms u uh in east lansing and then at home against peru which everyone's pissed off about but we're excited because we don't have to get up at six a m to set up the show game it cracks me up because everyone like all the all the beat writers on twitter i just like no no i'm like gonna be up till 2 a m it's like well we i'd rather i'd rather do that i mean i'll i'll be honest i woke up at 4 30 in the morning on saturday to get to the tailgate so uh you know

i'm i'm not too mad about hey we won it you know listen we get after it my my dad said it uh to me he said after we were as we were heading into the game he said you know what you won again the tailgate's undefeated tailgate is still undefeated so your dad's the best height man man. I need to call him before I go, like, get up and get the work in the morning and just have him just jack me, you know, jack me up a little bit. Just amped up. Shout out what's in whiskey, by the way. Yes, that helps too, I think. I don't know if there's any caffeine in their products, but it feels like it. You just feel a little different after one of those. Yeah, man, I think, I mean, look, Michigan State this year, do you want to hear the points against, and I'm not sure how many of these, because I know Nebraska blocked a punt, and so I don't know exactly how many of those are on the defense, but just to give you an idea. give up six against lesser Michigan, okay? Give it 40 to Boston College.

Boston College team that is absolutely horrible, as Benzler quarterback, they're in shambles. Give it 24 to Youngstown State. Give it 45 to USC. Can't say much about that there from our angle. Give it 38 to Nebraska. Again, seven of those were a block punt. Gave up 38 to UCLA and 308 to Indiana.

Now, there's some good teams in there, but this defense is not good. And so they also don't have the offense that USC has, right? So you're probably going to have more opportunities. I think we're the USC game because we said that about USC's defense. It's not very good. It's really not. But Michigan just gave up such long drives. Like they didn't get a chance to really possess the ball.

In this Washington game, they had the ball 37, 22 or something like that. So they held it almost 67% of the time. So in this game, I'm looking for Michigan to be able to move the ball, finish drives, finish drives. Here's the thing, Justin. And you talk about inconsistency. You know what freshmen do typically? Like the really talented freshmen, they flash.

And you're like, wow, that guy's going to be pretty good. But then they make stupid mistakes, right? There's a lot of freshman playing on this team. It's a lot of inconsistency. So I think that might be baked into this team a little bit. To your point, though, the next four games, Michigan should be nine and two going into the game. They should be nine and two with a Big Ten championship birth on the line.

Because if they win that, I think the only other undefeated team in the Big Ten is Indiana. So if you go and you win your next five, games you should be going to Indianapolis that would be electric by the way the Hoosiers man you know they like the party that would be better than any of the other ones we've been to in the last few years we'd be at we'd be at Clayton's country bar with a with a big he might I mean he's an I you guy too so what I don't we'd Clayton would be torn so um man you know he's got the blue by 90 stuff you can wear that nobody you know exactly it's not official Michigan gear but yeah I think you know this is obviously a big game you talk about having nothing to lose

I do wonder, like in 23, we saw, well, so in 22, we saw what happened after the game in the tunnel. In 23, we saw Braden McGregor, guys tried to spear his neck back his head. While he was laying on the ground. That's crazy. And then last year, the stuff on like the kneel downs. Yes. And so I'm sure that, you know, I hope there aren't any MSU fans on this because it's just got to be better things. to do with your day and your time.

There's always, it's so funny, because they always say Michigan fans have like a victim complex. But like they tried to turn the tunnel thing into like, oh, Spartans against the world. And it's like, oh, by the way, that Carrie Crump dude like pushed a ref was like trying to fight a ref this past game weekend.

It turns out he's like not a good person. Yeah. Trying to dive at somebody the back of their head and neck. Not good. And then last year, like, whatever. Like I thought it was just a stupid little scuffle. people blew it up into something that it wasn't. But like, I just wonder, has Jonathan Smith co-shed out of the program?

Or is that still going to be something that can happen? Because I always get weary of this stuff. And it's been going on for 15, 20 years. Like, Taylor won, getting his head, like his helmet ripped off, you know, twisted sideways. Let's be honest. Taylor did a few things of his own. For sure. For sure.

But, like, just the way things happen in this game. over the years there's always something so what does that look like this saturday you got to keep you cool right that's what i'm going with it's like you gotta play through it sure play to the whistle get back to your huddles like that's what you have to do if you're an offensive ground defense special teams no stupid penalties there's a lot of trash talking in special teams nowadays which i find always hilarious like like they're just like drawing going back like they're like 40 yards away like 10 yards from from each other sideline just yelling at each other yes don't get any dumb penalties, right? Like, you got to be level-headed

in this game, is my point. Yeah, and actually Sharon talked about that in his press conference today, about that's the goal of them. I think G.O. Al-Haddy also said it, being like, hey, this is anything that, any energy that you're putting towards the trash talk and the extracurriculars

is energy that you're taking away from the actual game, right? And so I think that they, like, this is honestly for both teams, because this is, I don't think Michigan is innocent of, like, all of this, right? It's, I, you know, I know you're talking about the victim complex and all that type of stuff. Well, you can't skip up a tunnel, Justin.

No, I, yeah, there are obviously some things that are absolutely egregious, but I think that both teams are guilty of what it's, you know, of doing the things that have brought this rivalry to where it's at right now. And so, honestly, I'm really hoping that Cheryl Moore and our team knows that they're the better team and just goes and lets their play do the talking. like that is for the most part in 2023 what happened right and that was what i was like that's what i loved obviously that was literally the best team in the nation playing a jb high school football team that that that year was a fun game by the way what's that that was a great game i i had a

scoring with eight seconds left i had with it being all michigan fans left in the lower bowl just moving down singing singing and dancing all over it was so good great time um i'm hoping for the same you know I don't think obviously our team is as good as that 23 team, but you never know. So I think, but honestly, what I'd love to see is just like, hey, let's go kick their ass in between the whistles and let's let them do the bullshit, right? And then like that's where, you know, going back to it in 2023, that's where Michigan was so good is they let other, they weren't stupid. They let other teams do the stupid shit.

And then they, you benefit from it when you get 15 yard penalties. And so, like, if I was Shiro Moore, that is what I would be telling my guys this week is like, hey, let's not shoot ourselves in the foot and get 15 year of penalties. Let's make them do that. And we'll beat them that way. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, this team, this Michigan team against this Michigan state team, the talent levels are not close. No.

I saw people who, like, on the MSU side, who were complaining about the spread being so high. I saw Michigan fans, it was Michigan podcast, there's Steve Dase. I mean, he's just the most negative Michigan fan I've ever seen, which is crazy. But he was like, oh, the spread's too high, and it's like 12 and a half. And I'm like, I'm seeing memes from MSU of like, you know, the YouTube video of two idiots fighting. And it's Michigan and Michigan State. And I'm like, have I watched the same football season? Like, yeah, Michigan's had a couple tough games on the road against really good teams.

But you're not in that class. We're not the same. No. This should be a game that Michigan's able to. go out and win by three scores in my opinion yes you got to come correct i don't know what the split's going to look like saturday night i'm sure there's going to be a lot of michigan fans you know in 2023 it was kind of the same situation obviously michigan was undefeated number two in the country at that point that's not this michigan team but msu was on a down swing you know they had an interim

coach at that point we're very much looking forward to hiring jonathan smith from morgan state which has really worked out well for them so i i i just this team i think if they can continue on the path that they've been on, you know, since the USC game, which has only been a week. But they just continue to work, continue to work, improve on the, on the things that are kind of costing them in big situations, work on, you know, that deep, like, again, Charles is a really athletic quarterback. Same thing with the Mon Williams. Like, yeah, make him, make him make mistakes. Because guess what, he's going to. Yes. He's going to. Actually, he is known for that. Yeah. I still go back to that guy who tweeted, well, I think it was the,

the chief of propaganda for MSU, of him being in certain award conversations. Like, what awards? Which ones? Name them. Because I just, again, I watch these teams and I'm like, they're not on the same level. I mean, the difference in, so listen, Michigan has been, has looked poor, looked really bad in their two losses. Let's be honest with it. But those are on the road to top 15 teams, right?

like those that's that's where we're at and um meanwhile that is not the same as losing at home on your homecoming to UCLA who had gotten their first win the week prior right like i know that they're this new uh you know rejuvenated team um but those are not the same and to be honest i thought the indiana game was going to be a lot worse than it was i thought they were going to score 60 points. I think that Cignetti in Indiana literally just like, we're like, all right, let's score her 38. They're not going to score more than 15 points on us.

Let's get out of here and move on to the next week. So that's what that game felt like to me. I mean, this is talk about, like, again, where the trajectory of your program for Shereau Moore is like he has done a very good job of beating his rivals, right? That is, there's no doubt. and you can keep your fan base by doing that. There's no doubt about that, right? So I would love for him to get up for this game,

then to just go put a pounding on MSU. Well, yeah, and to your point, too, if anybody wants to argue, because yes, they're not ranked that way in the AP poll. But Oklahoma's fifth on SP Plus, which is one of the best algorithms in terms of just predictive rankings out there from Bill Connolly, who's at ESPN. It's not the FBI. I always feel like I have to emphasize that.

So Oklahoma's fifth with that rating system, and USC is 16th. So Michigan sits at 21st. They just beat number 23 Washington. They beat number 26, Nebraska. I'm trying to see who else I can see here. But Michigan State is 77th, one spot below Purdue in that rating system. Yikes. So there's a big difference between these teams.

I think 12.5 point spread is a little generous towards the Spartans. You get three points for being at home, so I guess I get it. But again, I wonder what this game looks like. in terms of the crowd split. There's a lot of Michigan fans making that drive up. Maybe some folks selling off their tickets coming off back-to-back 13 or 30-13 losses. Like, they want him gone.

They want him to go back to Oregon State where he came from. So I just feel like this is a game that, you know, if Michigan is a team that I think they can be and have shown throughout moments, right, that inconsistency piece, I think this is a game they go and win 38-13 or 38-10. Like, this should be a game where they can go have success on the ground. Hopefully, Haynes is back from injury.

Marshall, you know, I think Seth on the MGO podcast was listening to earlier made the joke about the Waring Terror system in college football games. Like, you know, Jordan Marshall would be a little banged up. He might be a little yellow, little orange on his body on the game. He needs a little bit of rest because he 23 carries,

but again, how many tackles did he break, right? So you get Haynes back. Parker got some run. Look, Bryson Cousdalt, nice story. I would much rather see Jasper Parker in there. Yes. He's a scholarship running back, right? And then guess what?

Next year, Sabian Hyder. You know, I don't know if you saw, did you see stats, by the way? Six touchdowns. On 12 carries for like 260 yards or something stupid. Oh, my. And the one stiff arm was just nasty. Not fair. Yeah.

So, but yeah, I think this is a game that, you know, it'll be interesting to see what their responses. Are they going to try to stack the box and, you know, make, make Bryce beat him? Because I think he can't. Like, I think we're getting to a point now. He's halfway through his freshman season. He's got another bi-week coming up here in two weeks. Like, you get through these games.

You continue to grow. Like, he's going to, it's going to click later in this year. It's already started to click on some things, right? It is very much starting to click. I'm not going to say. To watch. Yeah, man, he's, I'm not going to come out here and be like, yeah, he is, you know, unbelievable. He's a He's a Heisman candidate yet, you know, but, man, it is, it is really cool to watch him grow.

And I think you just forget that he's literally in this. seventh career game in college football. Well, can we talk about, like, I mean, when you watch the game, like, when you're in the stadium, you're going to see a lot more than the TV broadcast shows. Right. So you get to watch, like, when you watch a game on TV, it's hard not to watch the ball because that's where it's really focused on. But I do try to watch the O line, try to watch the D line.

You know, in the stadium, I can watch the secondary. I can watch routes develop. I can watch all these different things. But the thing that I noticed most was just how in command he was and how comfortable he looked. You know, he's just, he's yelling. everybody to get, you know, into their, into their alignment for whatever formation was called, you know, like, there's just, like, and it's different because it was at home versus some of these games on the road, but, like, you remember, like,

the Oklahoma game and the Nebraska game, like how it was, like, two, one on the play clock. And now it's like, again, it's at home, so it's different. But I just feel he has more command. Yes. He's more confident in just getting his guys lined up, right, and getting a play call in. Those are things that take time, and he's starting to get it, man. Like, seventh career start. I know. it's crazy. I think that also, you know, to your point on the feeling in command, he is knowing when to run the football, right? He knows when to pull it and run it. You know, had a couple where he got caught from behind, whatever, you know, but I felt like, you know, even there were a couple

Jordan Marshall runs where the reason that Jordan Marshall was able to make a move was because Bryce played out the play fake and, you know, and it opened up everything. the DN bid on it. And so I just think he's doing everything that you can ask of him right now. You know, there really isn't anything I'm pointing to at the moment that's like, man, he really needs to step that up, you know. And obviously, with Andrew Marsh coming into his own, you love to see, shit, why am I blanking at Marshall?

Why am I blinking at Zach Marshall? I was like, we got too much Marsh going on. right now. Dude, we got, we got Marsh, Marshall, Marshall, and then we're going to go play. Maybe another Marsh next year. We're going to go play Marsh next, this week, too, who, you know, I heard he was friends with Bryce Underwood growing up, you know, who's to say? Come on down.

Come on down. Yeah, it would be, come on, Marsh, Marsh and Marsh. Everybody keeps making, like, attorney, like, you know, at law jokes, which I enjoy, you know, Underwood, Marsh, Marshall, and Marshall. That's pretty good. I like that a lot. No, you love to see Zach Marshall as a third tight end come in with Marlon Klein out. Hogan Hanson is still obviously not healthy, which is crazy to me.

I don't know what's going on there. But no, I think that, you know, it's been a new, it's been a new receiver every single week that has had their kind of like breakout game. And so that's where like I love what Bryce Underwood is doing to command the offense, move the ball around. It's not like, hey, we need to force it to this one guy all the time. time, right? And so, yeah, man, I'm excited to see this week. I think, to your point with MSU, this is a chance to put a nail in the coffin and for Michigan to get another coach fired for,

you know, for the Spartans. I mean, this is like, if you go in and you beat the shit out of them, they are going to be calling for his head because that is the one thing that Michigan state fans cannot stand is getting their ass kicked. And last year, you, you know, you as an MSU fan, you came to the big house, lost to a team that literally couldn't throw the football. And now, you know, I just think if they, there's nothing more, and I don't blame them for this. Like, I would hate it too. If Michigan fans just take over their stadium once again for the second time in two years, that it's not going to be a good, good situation. So I love the opportunity

that Michigan and Sharon has to go do that. Maybe a good situation for me. I would enjoy it. It was a lot of fun in 23. Yeah, man. I mean, they're, you know, I wouldn't even say they're at a crossroads. Like, they're over it. They're done with him. I mean, there's no recruiting juice.

There's guys decommitting left and right. There's guys taking visits like that, fan base. And look, I feel for him, because that's not a fun place to be, especially when you care about college football. Yeah. Like, it's not a fun headspace. like that's you know because for a lot of folks it's a distraction and there's a lot of great michigan state fans like i know you're friends with a lot of them went to the

tailcase were awesome in 23 you know you just get on you get online and it's just going to be like that anyway uh or you know anytime you have that um so i feel for them for sure but yeah this is really an opportunity for michigan to go in there and have the fans kind of take over and do what you need to do uh and and get a big big big rivalry win man no matter what the records are like I throw the records out saying I think is so corny but it is no matter what it still means something I it it's funny because I think chiron and the players who were in press conferences today they said every like every you know typical uh rivalry sentence that you could say right like you throw out the record books oh they're a tough team like you know anything can happen in this

game right it is true like I really do think it's true like you do have to like really be sound because, you know, if I had to guess, listen, after back-to-back weeks where they're, you know, getting beat 38 to 13, if I had to guess, they've been prepping for this one for a few weeks now because in, you know, as much as if they lose this game soundly, they're going to want that coach fired, if he wins this game, that probably earns him another year. So if I was him, I'd be doing everything I could to win this game. So that's where, like, if you're a Michigan fan, it does make you a little bit nervous. So, well, here's the thing about Jonathan Smith.

He doesn't get the rivalry. He doesn't understand it. Like, I think sometimes with Michigan, it is, I don't think you always need to hire a Michigan man, right? But like Michigan State did with Mark Dan Antonio for them, you need to hire somebody with hatred in your heart. Yes. He doesn't got, he ain't got that. He's too nice. I saw him make a comment in a, like, profile piece from the free press or somebody, and then he, like, tried to talk about, like, the arrogance of Michigan.

And it just came off. like even in written format it was just like what do you you don't you don't understand it there's there's unfortunately he seems like a nice guy like which is obviously the problem not good for them it's it's the problem but um yeah there's like no there's no juice behind what he's doing like like i haven't really seen this but i i can't imagine a like pregame pump up speech from him gets the guys going really well you know and strength coach you know so um so yeah So I'm sorry, say it again. You got to bring in the strength and conditioning guy.

Yeah, 100%. Somebody uses a psycho. Yeah, you need that. So, yeah, man, I don't know. I feel like that is one thing that Sherylmore definitely has is he understands it. He gets fired up. Like, it's easy for like you as a football player, football fan to get pumped up, you know, around Shero Moore, right? And so.

Yeah. And I also think we do still have a lot of guys in this locker. that understand this rivalry, and they hate these guys, right? Like, you know, so I, I'm pumped about it. I mean, it's a state game, right? Like, you got to beat the state teams, Michigan State, Penn State, and Ohio State. I don't know if they do this still, but from Jim Harbaugh, you beat a state team, you get a steak dinner on Monday.

So there's a lot of steak here, no pun intended. But what about a tent steak? oh oh maybe we don't we don't we don't need to bring that maybe we don't do that when worm brought that up on our podcast talking about like ways to get motivated i was like tough tough yeah that's a different michigan state program that was you know almost a little over 10 years ago by the way i got to tell you we're driving we're trying to get out um of ian arbor or out of the the stadium on saturday i just drive by worm and his wife just sitting you know that park over uh over by like i can't remember what that park is called

but like you basically just if you keep going straight you'll come out on a stadium but yeah he's just sitting there and I'm like oh what's up worm I was like I was like your boy wink came through and he's like yeah I'm about to make a post right now we just drove off it was very funny just seeing seeing Michigan legend Chris Wormley just sitting there waiting for traffic to dissipate so I love it you want to actually I I've I've got one for you too we stayed and hung out after the game and we were just like post game tailgating in the lot, just like a small group of us.

Sharon drives by on his way out of the stadium, rolls the window down and is like, go blue, let's go. And he was just like honking his horn. I was like, hell yeah, dude, let's go. We can never say anything negative ever again. I know, I know. So, I mean, I like, listen, I think everyone who, it is funny, we talked about winning Cures All.

Winning absolutely does cure all. Because right now, we've got a literal 180. feeling from what we did last Sunday and Monday, right? Yeah, they did a great job of stopping any of that from snowballing. Because I think where a lot of the negativity was coming from is it was the same story as last year, right? Now, maybe different ways to lose, you know, that, if you had Bryce Underwood, like this version of Bryce Underwood on that team, they probably win 10 games last year.

Right. But, you know, they lost to Washington and they turned around and they lost Illinois. So you go from like, K4 and 1 feeling pretty good, like still in it, no big 10 losses. and then you're four and three. They did a great job of coming back last week, getting after it, shutting out all the noise. And again, like to Jerome's point,

they, again, I thought it was corny last week. But if it's going to work, do your thing, wear your blue collar shirt, you know? He did it again? It's like a mechanic. Did it again today? Jordan Marshall wore it. Does it help that Jordan Marshall wore it in his post-game press conference?

So it's not just like a Sharon manufactured thing? Well, he also, I mean, again, workman like his his day Saturday was just keep turning the legs keep keep moving piles like he was he deserves to wear that damn shirt you know what i mean he did go shirtless underneath which i'm sure some of our friends of the podcast enjoyed yeah um you know so yeah i'd probably do that if i could nobody you know what i mean like that'd be like if i was a chiseled like college running back like hell yeah but yeah i would i don't have a blue collar shirt either should we do we make blue collar We should, I could call, I got, you know, the Wolverine, I could call them and see if we can make some customs.

I think that would be electric if we just got on board with it. That would just be, dude, we just wear them to every podcast, every tailgate, you show up to Jake Butt and Chris Wormley on Frat Row doing a podcast and your blue collar shirt. Like, we just make it a movement. I think we should. And also, yeah, to your point, if I was a chiseled like college football, well player, I would probably never have my shirt up, if I'm being totally honest. I would be shirtless as often as possible. I'd also be

at Feldman Chevrolet just buying corvettes all the time. I would have multiple. I would too. Sounded like they also got our guy Rod Moore hooked up recently too. So shout out Feldman of Highland. I mean, they just, they help the boys out. Hey, what they do. That

2,500 Silverado, the high country, that wasn't that bad. 70,000. 70,000, but it wasn't crazy compared to the suburban they brought. For what it was, though, it was like 70K for the biggest truck I've ever seen. I think the only thing it didn't have was like leather seats, which then I guess you don't get heated seats maybe or whatever, but otherwise it had everything.

I mean, it was the short bed version, but dude, go to Feldman to hook you up. Jason's the man came over, gave Emery, my daughter, some Nucks. You know, he was just having a great time. They were making some phenomenal breakfast Sammy's Saturday morning. Jason's wife is unbelievable on the grill. Dude, like I saw Justin Howl and I was like, hey, let me get one of those. It was electric.

It was a great tailgate. Next tailgate, 730 kick. 730 kick at home. Yeah, man. Listen, I would have loved a 3.30 if we're being greedy. If we're being greedy, I would have loved a 3.30 for that one, especially once you get into November. It might be 75 degrees, though.

Yeah. I mean, it is so nice. I couldn't believe how nice it was again on Saturday. Dude, like, it was warm in the beginning of the game and then the win, because it was going to start raining. And I don't, I don't remember if it did, but it started to just feel amazing. It was a perfect moment. It was the greatest weather I think I've ever experienced.

Yes. It was a little overcast. The sun kind of went away, but it was, it was, and Michigan's just beaten the breaks off from in the fourth quarter. Like, it was, I ascended. I levitated. It was amazing. It was amazing.

And to your point, like, The stadium woke up a little bit in that second half, right? So it was great. I mean, I think, yeah, if I was getting greedy, I'd love for that. I'd love for both these games at MSU and for Purdue to be 3.30. But, you know what? We'll take a night game. It'll be fun.

At least you get time, like, I'm going to East Lansing. You're going to East Lansing, right? Like, you get time to walk around and see friends. and it's not like, hey, we just started tailgating. Oh, we got to go in the stadium, right? Like, that's what's so good at noons. The amount of time you put in to set up the tailgate for a noon game versus the amount of time you actually get to enjoy it is a lot lower.

Yes. It's like one to one basically because it's like sometimes like an hour and a half, two hours to everything up. I know there's stuff that goes on on Friday, but even on Saturday morning, like we're moving the tent eight times. Like there's a lot going on. And it's like, oh, shit, it's 1130. You got to walk in there.

a night game it's like two it's two 30 you've had a couple couple beverages you know maybe you start with the bloody mary's oh you work your way to the to the to the woods and whiskey old fashion like you got a lot of options maybe the blue button on any beer which is phenomenal by the way really like the redesign on the on the recipe there i think it's a lot better i do i do too not a couple camp vodka waters that are a little i had a few i'm not going to lie to you i had a few too many of them on Saturday. They were really good for Flip Cup, though. Great for Flip Cup, because we go down like literal water.

But we were dominant. They couldn't hang. We're playing the college kids. And like, dude, we're old. You guys should be beating us. They're getting smoked. I'll tell you what. I did, which I, for a noon game, I would not recommend it.

But on Saturday, I started drinking at about 8 a.m. And my last drink came about 1 a.m. And I was out in Ann Arbor the full day. I Sunday morning my wife and I both looked at each other like we can't do the all day and the all night anymore we're way too old for that you know what time I went to bed Saturday 8 30 o'clock it was amazing bro I was like

I'm my iPad I was like I'm going to watch this USC Notre Dame game there's a couple other night games and brother I was like I like almost you know sometimes I had the iPad it falls almost hit me in the face I caught it I was like yeah I'm going to go to bed I'm going to go to bed I'll just check the scores when I woke up like two in the morning, check the scores. It's like, well, USC lost. I was kind of hoping they would have won, but, you know, yeah, all day, all night, man, you can't. The body's just not built for it anymore. It's like the John Elway that I see, I see his press conference when he retired where he's like, I just can't do it anymore physically. And that pains me to say. And it's just like, you know, people our age who are like, you know, me after my prime, I can't drink anymore. Like, that's us. We're in that. That is us. 100%. I just as much. As much. as my heart is in it my body just can't do it but but like I mean what time we're going to what time

we're going to start the tailgate like 11 12 yeah probably not new something so you know 11 to 12 to like 730 and then I don't need to buy beer in the stadium that's right like that's just a big hassle especially if you're in the middle row middle of the row you're walking in and out like you're waiting in line you're missing the game so like from like 12 to 8 yeah absolutely do and then I'll sleep like a baby when I get home that's exactly right um so by the way weather for that day as of now says a high of 53 that's the most football weather we've had this year because saturday was like 76 again i will say that's going to get pretty chilly come seven o'clock at night so um not that i've to bring multiple outfits that's true multiple outfits for sure um you know what we've been

asking for a little uh bomber jacket weather all all year so it's here um i love it So, all right. Well, we'll see you guys later again this week. We're going to try to have some guests on here, some more as well. Big guests on Stadium in Maine. Big guests. It's not our show, but Chad Henny will be there. This will be uploaded Monday.

They're recording on Monday night. That will be uploaded Tuesday morning. So go check that out. All time we've passed for in Michigan history. Look at us, dude. Look at you. Who did you start? This is crazy.

Yeah. Chris Wormley coming by our tailgate, you know. Also, I don't want to glaze him too much, but I do love worm. Worm's a great dude. Good vibes guy. Great vibes guy. Also just like a normal human being, except for he is way bigger than us. Yeah.

I wanted to ask, next time I talk to me, I need to ask him what size shoe he wears. Because I were a 14, and that's pretty astronomical look. And he has a nice kicks game. And I'm like, how do you get those? Those look like a size 16. Yes. He's a big boy. big boy it turns out when you play defensive tackle in the NFL you have to be a big boy

yes yes sometimes it's just you know luck of the draw genetic it was not in the cards for us all right for us you can follow us at blue by 90 on Twitter Instagram Facebook at Blueby 90 podcast on YouTube and Blueby90.com we appreciate you go blue go blue