Blue By Ninety - Michigan Football Has Another Must Win on the Schedule

Episode Date: October 18, 2024

Justin and Tanner are joined by Alex of Armchair Illini to talk this Saturday's ranked match up between Michigan and Illinois.

All right, welcome back to Blue by 90. I'm Justin joined by Tanner today and we have a special guest our guy Alex from Armchair Illini. He is on the Full Ride Network with us so head over to armchairillini.com and check out some of his stuff and you're at our Armchair Illini as well on Twitter so go go check it out but Alex appreciate you for jumping out with us man. Yeah man thank you for having us it's nice to finally get on a talk with you guys. Excited to talk about this game. For sure. For sure. Yeah. I don't know that many people would have thought that Michigan versus Illinois would be a ranked matchup midway through the season, but you know, the Illini are looking pretty damn good. Michigan's holding on barely to a, what are we, 24, I think, in the ranking.

So I don't know if I'd call it a heavyweight matchup, but, you know, we'll take it. So there's a little more juice to this week, to this game than in past years, which is pretty exciting. Yeah, there's a lot of juice. I mean, if you told me before the beginning of the season or any illinois fan that michigan and illinois would be a ranked matchup and not only that but illinois would be ranked higher than michigan the defending national champs we would have probably called you crazy so there's a lot going for illinois this is a huge game for them um obviously with the um the rededication game being one thing but illinois can clinch a bowl game if they win this this game this is one of their like this is i think their second sellout

of the season um and it feels like second sellout of the decade that's where this program's at um and if we can clinch a bowl game i know michigan does it every year but for us it's a big it's a big freaking deal to clinch one bowl game. So there's a lot riding on this for Illinois. And then given how the last game kind of went at the big house, you know, there's some controversial stuff at the end. Our coach, Brett Bealum, was a little bit salty. He's been salty since. Like, I feel like we – why don't we jump into that?

Because I feel like that, like like sets the table for like this like you said before in the pre-show when we were just chatting like it's kind of like an under like under the the radar rivalry here like hoops we've gone back and forth i know like uh on brad underwood is uh what seven and oh against juwan i think right so like obviously there was a lot of back and forth there and then Bielema has like straight up even in non like Michigan press conferences just like taking shots at Michigan I think there were some comments about the stallions thing last year and everything too so like what let's start there why does Brett Bielema hate Michigan so much yeah I think it goes exactly to those two

things um that controversial ending where there was kind of a pick play um it was like a fourth down I believe J.D. McCarthy had the ball um and there was a pick play where you know I think a DB um got screened by a wide receiver or something like that Michigan got the fourth down and then kicked a field goal to win it I think it was Jake Moody. So I think that really ticked Brett Bielema off during that season. I think it was our best season in a decade. I forgot what exactly the record was, but I think we were at seven and seven and two, seven and three. Yeah. Yeah. And I think the way that ended and then the whole stallion saying, obviously a lot of, you know, different schools have different opinions. But I think Brett, if there's any kind of little subtle knock, you saw what he did with the Penn State thing earlier this year.

If there's any way that he can be a little bit petty, I think Brett takes that takes that to to another level. So I think that's thing. And then I think the hoops thing lays the foundation, right? Obviously, like you said, with Brad Underwood, but then the Terrence Shannon thing where supposedly he was committed to Michigan, you know, Michigan admission struck again, ends up at Illinois, ends up being one of our best players of all time. So there's a lot of different chunk stories that I think build up to this. And then our coach is petty.

That's really what it comes down to. Yeah. Yeah. Correct. Tanner, Tanner, you're, you're a B-Limit fan, right? I mean, I think he's a good football coach. I just don't know why he feels what, you know, any press is good press when you're, you know,

in the Big Ten West at that time, right? Not get as much love as the Big Ten East, you know, just rest in peace those divisions i don't know what the hell's going on anymore man uh still a little confused on the whole new big 10 still i don't know if i can count all 18 18 teams justin so it's uh it's a little bit craziness but no man i wanted to know you know what are your thoughts on this offense this year i mean altmeyer last year was not great um i know he had some injuries that he battled through but you know he's 14 touchdowns

one pick this year completing a solid clip like what's changed with altmeyer because last year he was you know like i said he was less than less than ideal yeah i think he's just learned to take his time more i think last year with his first time starting he's at a new school he transferred in from omis um i think he he had some happy feet um And then his receivers, as good as what they were in Isaiah Williams and Casey Washington, both guys who are in the NFL, they struggled getting separation. So I think all those different things kind of played into his struggles last year. And then just him calming down. He's done a really, really good job of just staying calm and not putting the ball in harm's way, which was his biggest issue last year. And then having two really, really good wide receivers helps with that.

Pat Bryant, Zachary Franklin, another transfer from Ole Miss. He's like 26 years old. So, of course, he's got to be really good. But having those two. Hey, our QB is 25. So, we're not haters right now. I was going to say, I think Tuttle's been there since, you know, I was in college in 2017.

Get a doctorate yeah literally he's got his doctorate it's like you know one of those guys in basketball that's like seven years of eligibility um but i think it'll be cool to see um you know how tuttle does because um he only played like a like a half right or three quarters two and a half quarters yeah yeah yeah um it's so it seems like the davis warren era is officially over huh davis warren era is officially over alex orgy's officially over i guess i i who knows i mean i don't i don't think we truly know like what to expect here right you know he came, he came out hot and, you know, and I think it's one of those things when you go into a game like that

and like sometimes you can just be the spark that everybody needs, right? And so they go and go on a 17-0 run to take the lead, and he's like all of a sudden our offense is moving like we haven't seen it move all year, right? But then immediately also at the end of the game, two turnovers to lose the game too. So you saw like us go, you know, all the way to the top kind of and then all the way back to the bottom. So it's hard to say, like, I don't know, you know, if those eras are over. Like, there's a chance that we see alex

orgy again or even davis warren again who knows right so um hard to say for sure um but i think to tanner's point it will be very interesting michigan's defense has uh you know obviously struggled this this year which we never would have thought that we were saying that midway through the year um you know that this was this defense is what was supposed to be carrying us to 10 and 2 11 and 1 possibly right and so i i think i'm really interested to see what an illinois uh offense does to this defense uh especially after a bye week for michigan where maybe they were able to put some things together and make some adjustments do you think the bye week helped sure hope so tanner jump in there i sure hope so man i mean we talked about this before they

went to washington it was the first away game of the year they started out with five straight in an arbor so the thought is all you know, you're on the road, maybe you find something. It's, you know, kind of backs against the wall a little bit, even though they hadn't been winning, but it wasn't, you know, in an extremely impressive fashion. So I think there was probably a lot of feeling, you know, can we get right? Can we get back to the form that we've been used to?

And our hope was that on the road, you know, you kind of reset. It's kind of you versus the world mentality. And unfortunately, you know, they weren't able to get the job done, had made some mistakes against Washington. So you come into this bye week and it's like, again, maybe just an opportunity to reset, to get the head right, you know, and for some of these guys to do some soul searching of, hey, yeah, we were on a team that won a national championship last year,

but what do we want our legacy to be in our last year? You know, there's a lot of guys that are seniors and then they're going to go on to the nfl after their junior year so yeah i i hope it's a good thing it's really tough to know man because every time we've thought we've known something about this team or coming in you know off the off season and like oh we've got you know this that and the other thing really hasn't come to fruition uh outside of a couple areas so it's tough to tell yeah is there like i was really curious is there like a specific it's hard to call out a player but is there a specific player that you feel like

has been kind of underwhelming um and hasn't really carried the load that that y'all thought he he would it's hard to say i i don't know that it's one guy if there's one guy that we're pointing to it's probably the d coordinator more than a player i would say it's you know wink is has come in he was supposed to be the godfather of this defense right and uh he was the one who created is essentially the same defense that uh we've run the past three years that brought us to you know all the big 10 championships and the national title. So I think most people are looking to him. But, you know, if we're being honest, like,

I definitely think the secondary has been underwhelming, right? Will Johnson has been, you know, he's a top five pick in the draft next spring. But he's had his own struggles. And it's hard to say if that's him, if that's the scheme, if that's, you know, them not having him prepared if he doesn't have the signs, you know, you just never know. But I, you know, I think Will has definitely been underwhelming. Makari Page is a fifth year senior, I believe maybe even six to buy wrong on that tanner um but uh you know we've got some some veteran guys in the secondary that have struggled um that i don't think we were

expecting to this this year yeah i would say the same thing i think the the secondary has been extremely disappointing you know you don't have rod moore Rod Moore, who's been a three-year starter before this season, gets injured in spring ball. You go and you get some guys out of the portal, Mangum from Michigan State, Wesley Walker from Tennessee, Yedamir Hall from FCS school at Albany where he was an All-American. And, like, you feel like, okay, yeah, this is okay. We've got some highly rated guys that have been sitting on the bench,

have been developing and kind of baking. And it just has not really played out the way a lot of folks thought. And then I think, Justin, you brought up the signs, and it just cracks me up when people talk about that because I watched Jesse Minter completely change the Chargers defense. Like, they were so bad last year, and this year they're one of the best in the league. And I think when you look at Wink Martindale's last couple of years in the NFL with the giants,

I think you're probably seeing that discrepancy in how good these guys are as coordinators. Sadly, I mean, Wink Martindale's had a tremendous career. Sometimes, you know, you get a little bit older and you're maybe not so quick to adapt as maybe like a guy like Jesse Minter and Mike McDowell would be. And, you know, maybe you're seeing the results Minter and Mike McDowell would be. And, you know, maybe you're seeing the results of that. I don't know.

Yeah, for sure. I think one of the big things that Michigan fans can definitely take solace in is that literally last week against Purdue, we're playing a second string QB, Hudson cards out. Um, and they just ran all over us, know um and and Ryan Brown literally looked like like Peyton Manning he threw for like 200 something yards um and this is a backup quarterback freshman as well um so it's not that you even need to be all that impressive I think if you can just take advantage of um the Illinois front, which is probably the weakest part of the team, and I think Michigan can totally do that. I think Michigan can feel pretty confident in getting a win. I think defense, though, is where Illinois needs to really take advantage

and get out to an early lead. I think if they fall behind, get ran all over, basically continue what they're doing against Purdue, then it's trouble and the crowd gets deflated. And it just goes downhill from there. So I really hope that Illinois just comes out and really puts their mark on the game, builds up a little bit of a lead. Obviously don't give it away like they did last week, but I think that's definitely going to be something to watch as as the front seven has really struggled here here's what i want to say real quick justin um michigan's offensive line might be its most disappointing position group of 24 so you know i mean just you know defensively

secondary offensive lines been worse right i mean you know those guys are just playing on talent basically it feels like you know going back to our conversation about the defensive coordinator so on the offensive line you know you've had a couple injuries uh their best offensive lineman miles hinton did not travel to washington so i'm assuming he's back this week uh but the right tackle has been just not great uh they've got a true retro freshman in there uh who has just really struggled uh at the center position we've kind of been hearing for the last two off seasons or three off seasons excuse me that uh greg crippen uh he's a big time recruit out of img would have been the next guy up and then the last week at camp similar to the quarterback situation somebody else swoops in and takes the job so there's been a lot of shuffling and then he

uh crippen actually played because the the starter up to that point uh dom judice was injured so like just a lot of shuffling. Justin, I know we want to add on the old line, man. I have no idea what to expect from this team half the time because when they actually hit their assignments and block, like, it looks like a functional offense, but it feels like there's just so many times they shoot themselves in the foot that cause issues in the run game and in the pass crowd

that just make it hard for Michigan to do anything. Yeah, I definitely agree with that. I think that it'll be interesting because Michigan's obviously going to come out with a balanced offense for the first time since week three with Davis Warren in, right? Like, you know, at least having somebody back there who can throw the ball and they're going to try to throw the ball so uh you know i think that uh obviously you know brett bielma in illinois have had two weeks now to prep for tunnel so we'll see how they do on that but i i think when you're looking at michigan's offense

it's like okay you know can you have a balanced attack can you establish the run early with colombo longs and Donovan Edwards, which, Alex, you mentioned, you know, it seems like that's what Michigan has to go to. Even though you have total at QB who can throw it now, you still have to establish the run. I don't think they want to stay, you know, get away from that, right? But can they have a balanced attack where it's like, all right, let's run,

run, and then hit Colson Loveland for a 20-yard pass play, right? That's what I'm looking for. And I know I read on armchairlioneye.com one of your articles that you guys have. I believe it's Xavier Scott looking to have him back as well in the secondary. So I'm interested to hear from you what you think about his impact and what Illinois' defense can do to try to slow down. It's crazy to even say slow down Michigan's offense because they've slowed themselves down all year.

But what they're going to try to do to stop Michigan. Yeah, Xavier Scott's an NFL guy. He's a junior. He's been great. He had two interceptions against Kansas. He looks the part, and he's on his way to the NFL, likely after this year, I would say. So having him back, he placed the star position,

which basically in Brett Bielema's defense is the quarterback of the defense. So having him back, I think that was part of the struggle of last week. He basically only played the first quarter and then had to sit out, and there was a lot of backups in. So hopefully having him back is what pushes Purdue's performance into kind of like what was a fluke. So I think it's really, really, really huge that he's back. In terms of the defense, though,

one thing that has been a huge issue is the linebacker spot and going back with that front seven. You know, I think the front defensive line has been OK, but the linebackers were playing walk ons, you know, so it's been a huge, huge struggle. And I think tight ends have a field day day and I'm not too familiar with Michigan's tight ends this year but they usually produce some good ones so that's going to be something to look for and then especially in the RPO game you know when you're establishing the run and you're the quarterbacks pulling the ball linebackers are huge and Illinois linebackers have been outside of maybe one have been walk-ons. So pretty, pretty notable.

And one thing too, that Tuttle did show against Washington is that even though he's not Alex Orji and like super fast running QB, he was able to scramble multiple times for first downs. Obviously the last one ended in a fumble, which, you know, ultimately lost us the game. Not exactly what you want, but, you know, I think we're looking for Michigan to exploit those linebackers, you know, with the tight end game, with Tuttle scrambling, and then, you know, with Colell and Donovan getting to the second level too.

So, I mean, I also want to talk to you about just like the juice of this game. You know, I know we talked a little bit about that at the beginning, but like, I don't know, you said it little bit about that at the beginning but like i don't know you said it's uh second sellout of the season i believe um you know this is going to be one of if not the like more raucous crowds in memorial stadium history with the the stadium dedication you know just the hatred towards michigan uh ranked match right, for the first time in a long time for these two programs. And you got, like, this is also a huge game for the trajectory of both teams' seasons, right?

If Illinois is able to win this, then this is like a signature win for their season. Yeah, 100%. I think we're talking off air, but if we win this, it's bowl game. And that's huge. And not only that, you're going to be looking at 6-1. You've got five more games left, too.

So that number only goes up. Obviously, making a bowl game is one thing, but to kind of make that statement when you've been a struggling program like Illinois, those opportunities don't come by very often. And with the sellout crowd, Illinois football fan base is pretty well known for when things go wrong, they kind of start to disappear. So when you have them there, you got to you got to deliver. So I think there's a lot on the line for Illinois. Obviously, if they lose, I don't think, you know, it shoots their season down into the drain. But I think there's a lot that you can gain just by winning this game.

Versus the defending national champs, no matter what their season's looking like, I think that name of Michigan, just beating them, goes such a long way. And then on your guys' end, looking at 4-3, I'm not sure Michigan fans can can handle that that reality just based on what I know. Michigan had gone 40 and three the previous three years. So not ideal. Right. Yeah, it is crazy to go from 40 and three. Like, you know, we're we're averaging one loss a year right and then to go from that to uh to you know three losses midway through the year uh i think is even even though you know obviously you lose a ton with hardball leaving with the whole offense leaving um with the whole uh defensive staff leaving you know it's still a

tough pill to swallow too but i think on the flip side too is you know we said this same thing for for Washington but you win this game if you look really good with tunnel at the helm and the defense maybe switch some things up in the bye week and it's like okay there's a there's a lot of season left for Michigan to say all right maybe you know you're not obviously like going i i don't i think the cfp is still in sight it's probably it's a long shot there's no doubt about that but like you know there's a chance that then you can build on that you then you know you have a chance to play michigan state at home you know you hope you can win that it's a rivalry win then oregon comes to town obviously that's going to be a tough game but i i just think that like for michigan you know tanner we've said this like literally every week but if it's a win or a

loss it changes the trajectory of the season if you go four and three you know if you lose this game go four and three i i can i i'm betting that a lot of guys just kind of pack it in right it and it's you know i'm not saying like it's easy to do that right when you're four and three and you've got a bunch of guys that are off to the nfl in a few months um so but then you know you if you like i said if you if tunnel comes out and the offense is clicking and the defense has figured some stuff out all of a sudden there's just like new energy that Michigan feels and it's like, okay, we're coming home.

You've got some juice in a rivalry game. You want to go beat the shit out of Michigan State. And then it's like top three Oregon's coming back to town that just beat Ohio State. It's like, all right, you have the opportunity to go with – like that's what I'm saying for this one. Like you have the opportunity, you know, to go beat like that's what i'm saying for this one like you have the opportunity you know to go beat a ranked illinois on the road have you know one of your better wins if not your best win of

the season right now no i'm with you man and i think to your point we that's all we've talked about right is just can you win and just keep this thing respectable this year, right? You don't – you would have zero confidence. There is like – you're already defeated in your voice. Hey, man, look. I mean, I just didn't think this is where we would be in the middle of October, man. I really thought that this would be a team that would probably have one loss and would look a lot better and look a lot more competitive against Texas or USC, you know,

you know, whatever game that I thought they would have lost. Obviously they get smoked by Texas, one across when I get to USC. So, you know, I really don't know, man. It's kind of hard to have confidence when you just don't know what to expect. It's like every week there's, you know, this is the third starting quarterback in seven games. So like, I'd have no idea, man. I want to ask you,lex what you know because i thought the first however many games up to that penn state game i thought the illinois defense looked pretty good and i started thinking wow this this might just be a brett bielma same thing um

maybe not a ryan walters thing right with that defense you know kind of bouncing back this year what happened in that purdue game i mean we kind of you kind of talked about but can you kind of point to maybe an overarching theme of like, what the hell happened? You know, you give up 21 to Penn State. That last touchdown Penn State scores comes with under two minutes left in the game. It's a dogfight.

You know, and Penn State's a top five team right now, maybe a little overhyped. But then they play this Purdue team with their backup, and you're just like, what the hell? And you have a huge lead. Yeah, I think it was a mixture of a few things. I think Xavier Scott being out was huge but even before then they they looked kind of unprepared which is what they looked like last

year you know the year after Ryan Walters left they just looked really really unprepared Bielema you know kind of touted it to just hey you know it was produced back up we didn't know much about him but that was really really eye-opening you gave up 49 points um obviously an overtime game but you gave up 49 points to arguably the worst power five team with their backup quarterback that's what i i like thought going into that game i saw that illin or uh produce qb was out and i was like they're gonna score zero points in this game yeah yeah i mean they were struggling even with him um and then for for to give up 49 points like even like double digits in general is kind of a lot in this situation so i think it's they got to take it

personally i know it's kind of cool raw talk but they got to take it personally and come back and have a better game because a lot of people were even calling for the D.C. to be to be fired after that. You know, I know fans can be a little reactionary, but, you know, if we had lost that game, I do think that would have been a legitimate thought and saying, hey, you know, the D.C. Aaron Henry, great guy, but he was pretty bad last year and if you if you lost that game at home versus a backup quarterback you know i think that's kind of indefensible and in a season too like it let's say you guys were you know three and two or something like that right and it's like not really that like important of a game but if you have a chance to be on a you know five and one season right that's like you know you're okay we're putting together legitimately 10 and two season or something like that but you lose it to produce backup qb like i agree and and you know sometimes

the saving grace is that you win it but the reality is this what happened happened on the field right you saw it and you know you pull out a win but it's like it is like holy shit what what happened there yeah i mean literally like when i think altmeyer possibly got a fumble like at the end of the fourth quarter and and right posted it um that was like and like i know you guys have probably had the feeling when um you know bam i had that punt and then yeah he dropped it right at the goal line it's probably similar to that feeling we were just like holy shit this is over um but it was really just unprepared football and otherwise they've been solid but i do think that teams are starting to figure out that linebackers really really thin

and defensive line you know past the guys that they start it's a lot of true freshmen and it's a lot of you know redshirt sophomores things like that inexperienced guys um so I think when you run the ball as much as a team like Michigan probably does it's gonna wear guys down and you know teams to stick with it and then you know you saw what happened in that second half last week yeah i mean i have to imagine that that's going to be michigan's game plan even you know even though tuttle comes in and he's got the ability to throw and that changes up the offense i have to imagine that they're looking at what happened last week and say hey we've got two really damn good running backs let's

just go and pound it and see what happens um so it'll be it'll be interesting to to see how it pans out for sure um i i mean i do have like you know joel clatt actually went on his podcast i know he's a michigan like he loves michigan right i i i was with a bunch of my michigan state buddies the other weekend they're like that we hate Joel Clack because all he does is is talk about Michigan but you know he mentioned that he has this feeling that Michigan has a you know turnaround in the second half of their season and right here's the first opportunity and I kind of have that feeling too like you know I actually had a good feeling about the Washington game as well you know I think of have that feeling too. Like, you know, I actually had a good feeling about the Washington game as well. You know,

I think Michigan wins that game. If they start Jack Tuttle instead of putting him in midway through the second quarter and, you know, basically throw away three offensive drives to get, you know, dig him into a 14, nothing hole. But so I, I don't know. I think I have a weirdly like optimistic feeling about this. But I also know like I just know that Brett Bielema wants this so damn bad, you know, and he's going to pull out all the stops, too. So for for Illinois, like this is like, again, it's a signature win for for not only this season, but for Bielema and their program because he just wants it so bad.

I think he's going to try to pull out anything that he possibly can. Oh, totally. You know, like he's definitely – you know that play that ended the last game where, you know, Michigan kind of used the pick? Yeah, yeah. Bielema's definitely going to pull that thing out. 100%. It'll be like like i don't know

if you saw the lions at the cowboys where like the whole damn skipper thing like being eligible and they were put him out at wide receiver like it's going to be that type of thing where like he just wants to stick it to us no matter what yeah i think he's going to do the exact same play i'm calling it i like that i like My thing about that whole situation was, like, you allowed Michigan to drive down and get three field goals in the fourth quarter to win. You know what I mean? It's like it's tough to, like, have any sort of footing where it's like

you literally had so many opportunities to, like, win that game. Yeah. But you know how Illinois fans are, man. They focus it. I think that's just sports fans in general. You're going to focus in like, you know, it's the same thing with the Ohio State Oregon game this past weekend where

Ohio State fans have been like Look at the clock! I'm like, there was a play I saw somebody tweeted out like it was one second went off the clock too much on an incomplete pass with like two minutes left and i wish we

could have had that one second back and i'm like okay dude if you like actually dissect every play like you'll find something wrong with every play right so justin i have one from last year i saw an ohio state fan they were like if only we had this play back, and it was just Kyle McCord's pick. I made that up. No Ohio State fan actually said that, but that's what they sound like. Thank you. I got to enjoy that one for as long as I can, boys. Yeah, we do.

We do. We absolutely do. I'm not feeling too confident in going to Columbus this year. I'll say that for sure. It is Ryan Day, though. You just never know with this year. I'll say that for sure. So it is Ryan day though. So you just never know with Ryan day. You never know with Ryan day. So, all right.

So why don't we end it and wrap it up here with some predictions. I think we've all talked a little bit about what, what we think is going to happen this weekend, but Tanner, why don't you start us off here? All right. I'm going to go. I still feel like Michigan's going to win. So I'm going to go Michigan 27, Illinois 20. Just feels like a football score that would make sense to follow the game.

So going with it. I like it. Alex, what do you think? I'm going Michigan wins. I've been in this situation too many times. The Illinois fans sell out crowd. The moment's there, and they trip, or something small happens.

So I'm going to go 35-27, Michigan wins. Listen, if we score 35 points, I'll be shocked and thrilled and everything. So, yes, I agree with that. I mean, I have a feeling that, and again, I have no reason to like think this at all, but I have this weird feeling that we're going to like come out rejuvenated from the bi-week and it's like, all right, we had some time to reset. And I think Michigan's going to come out. I think Michigan wins by 14.

I'm going to go like 28-14 Michigan. I think the defense figures it out. And then I think the offense, to your point, Alex, I think that it's one of those games where it's like 300 rushing yards. You know, Tuttle maybe has like 150 yards passing or something. But, like, it's just one of those things where Kalel Mullings is – they just keep riding him, and Illinois cannot stop that's that's honestly how i feel i can't believe we're gonna lose to jack tuttle you know uh alex one thing you mentioned i didn't get a chance to

to speak on uh you talked about tight ends it's funny because colson loveland who's potentially he's working his way into the first round uh mock drafts right now but it's funny this was kind of his in 2022 against illinois was kind of the first game where it's like oh this is a dude right so we'll see how he does the second game against illinois but i thought that was funny you brought that up because yeah that was kind of his breakout game for for michigan and you almost had a touchdown that uh jj mccarthy missed him on um that was a wild game, by the way. Justin, I'm going to share my story of how I watched that game. You've heard it a couple times, but I want to share this with you.

So it was my wife and I's honeymoon, and we were in Rome, Italy. And on that Saturday, my wife had booked a pizza-making class at 6 o'clock. Well, that's 12 o'clock Eastern time in the united states and so i had to get a vpn i had to get fubo tv i think because youtube tv would not give me the game uh so i'd get a free trial of fubo and then before we left i just put it on like abc or whatever channel it was on and uh had to like fast forward through it so like like, I just lived in a glass case of emotion. And my wife saw the score. So, she saw that Michigan had won.

And I'm sitting there, like, on this bed in Italy, like, freaking out. It's like, I don't know, like 930 at night or whatever it was. And we're not doing anything. So, yeah, that was my – that was a weird game for me. Yeah. Only Michigan ever. Yeah. It was a crazy game, man.

Blake Korn gets hurt. Like, no, it was a crazy game man Blake get Blake Korn gets hurt like no that was that was a good one so um yeah that was probably the best Michigan Illinois game in some time I'd have to say well 2011 yeah Rich Rod you know fourth day it comes in that was a crazy game man Nathan Sheilhouse that's a name oh yeah what a name but yeah hope it's just as good man i mean that last game i really thought we had that and michigan was like at his peak too you know and i was like man finally finally you know we get them both in basketball and football um but either way i know i know the fans will be will be at it michigan and illinois fans oh yeah. Twitter's going to be fun for sure. For sure. So, um, uh, well check out Alex at armchair line. I.com. He's got great stuff there. We're going to be doing,

uh, some like combo, uh, articles as well, uh, here too. So, um, really excited about that. And, um, and we were just talking before we jumped on here as well, you know, just going to have some fun this basketball season. Dusty May, you know, coming out, you never know. It's, you know, we've got high hopes right now for our basketball team after obviously the lowest of lows this past season. So, you know, maybe Dusty can come out, avenge that 0-7 record that Juwan had. And, I mean, you guys have a squad as well, right? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, with the way the beeline days went for y'all versus Illinois,

I think we kind of took for granted how the past couple years went where Michigan really wasn't that good. And, unfortunately, Dusty Mays is a heck of a coach. I think he'll have Michigan back towards the top again, unfortunately, but I do look forward to maybe more competitive games, Michigan versus Illinois, because I think at the beginning of the Juwan era, those were really fun,

and I think both, despite Michigan being a football school, I think Michigan fans still get pretty juiced for hoops, especially when it's Illinois, and you know how Illinois fans are. We're more fair. I would say, I don't know about anybody else, but I feel like for me at least, I'm more fair whether it is a basketball field, just because it's such a commitment.

Right? Like football, it's, you know, 12 games, right? And then whatever happens after that. Basketball is like, oh, there was a game on Tuesday. Now there's one on Thursday. You got to be hardcore for the Tuesday 9 p.m. Oh, God. The USC tip-off, you know? Oh, man you know yeah and they finish it like midnight yeah man did you see also this is a total aside

but washington i believe is tipping off at nine or tipping off kicking off at 9 a.m pacific this weekend at home not at home but they're well they did that against iowa too that that's crazy to me that they're making them do that like that should be that should have been a requirement that any of the west coast teams like it has to kick off at noon or later on their time zone like well i think you're forgetting one thing money money yes oh the tv networks just yeah they didn't have to care uh yeah what are we're on cbs uh cbs yep yep okay cool um all right well hey man appreciate you for coming on uh this is gonna be fun again we'll have some back and forth on twitter i'm sure in the in the next 48 hours or so um so i'm pretty excited but uh but yeah go check out his stuff, uh, on Twitter and

at armchair Illini.com. Um, and, uh, yeah, thanks for coming on, man. Thank you guys. Appreciate it. Uh, we'll be talking soon. Okay. Of course. And for us, you can follow us at blue by 90 on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, at blue

by 90 podcasts on YouTube and blue by 90.com. We appreciate you go blue. Go blue.