Blue By Ninety - MICHIGAN FOOTBALL ROLLS THE DAMN TIDE

Episode Date: January 4, 2024

27-20 ROSE BOWL CHAMPIONS

This is the University of Michigan. Touchdown, Michigan! The beat of Michigan football! And they've caught extra pass. And it goes to the win! The three-pointer by Jordan Poole! Down the sideline! Peebles-Jones!

Touchdown, Wolverines. All right. Welcome back to Blue by 90. I'm Justin, joined by Jack, Kalen, and Tanner today. It is January 3rd, and the Michigan Wolverines are playing for a national championship. Beautiful, beautiful to hear that. I mean, I've been waiting my entire life to say those words, say that sentence, and I still, it's wild for that to come out of my mouth. It really is.

I know we were freaking out at the Preps-O-Bell. Caleb was crying on the floor we were just jumping around hugging everybody got an awesome video of um the back of my head and uh makes me want to shave my head again but what was it like in uh in the rose bowl because you were actually there if people can't see on youtube you're wearing all rose bowl apparel you got a rose bowl tattoo on your face. It's beautiful. I am. I'm that annoying asshole fan.

This was me. I wore this same thing in the airport from LAX to Detroit yesterday too. I'm the guy that went to Disney World and is wearing all the Disney shit on the way back too. You're the master's guy. guy i'm the masters guy for

sure the uh they're like you have to you wear the stuff just to tell people you went to the masters like that's me now every time i wear this hat for sure um so um so yeah it was genuinely like top five days of my life um i'm legally obligated to say my wedding was number one of course um and uh but it was legitimately one of the most like insane experiences I've ever, I've ever experienced. It was from the moment we woke up to the moment I went to sleep, like that 20, 12, 18 hours, whatever it was, was just unreal. So we went to the parade. Uh, we, the parade I was going, like, I got dragged there kind of, cause I was like, you know, it's a parade. I've been to it.

I've been to a 4th of July parade. You know, it's kind of like fireworks, right? That was in my head. I was like, Oh, everyone's got to go see the fireworks. And then you get there and then it's like, well, I've seen fireworks before. You know, that's what I thought in my head. The Roseville parade was one of the most impressive things i've ever seen in my entire life it was a hell of a production um like genuinely the just the vibes were off the

charts it's sunny it's new year's day like people look forward to that 100 it was ridiculous so that right there the floats are crazy there's fireworks speaking of fireworks coming off the floats um the the floats are wild people are just having a great time um yeah that that was a great way to set it off um for the day and then um got back to the golf course which once i realized that we were tailgating on a golf course at the Rose Bowl, I knew we had it in the bag. I mean, that was meant to be. It was absolutely meant to be. I think there's, I feel like we're us in the Rose Bowl might be the only teams out there that have, you know, tailgating on the golf course outside the stadium. So that was incredible. And then, I mean, I told you guys this before we

hopped on, but I could talk for 24 straight hours about breaking down everything that happened in that game. And we'll obviously try and recap it here. But to, you know, put it in all in a nutshell here. It was 2021 Ohio State in the big house, but in LA. Our fans were just unbelievable the entire game. It was every single play going ballistic. It was everything I could have hoped for. And the setting that is the Rose Bowl is crazy it is just like it is an unbelievable setting and then overtime happens in our end zone i mean i'm lined up as you can see in the picture that i posted on twitter i'm literally lined up with the goal line and cj our, was on the sideline at the end zone at the pylon. He had an even better seat than me somehow and got just ridiculous views. But, I mean, to have it all right in our face right there and to go score, have Blake go score on that first play,

and then J.J. comes over and pumps the whole crowd up. I mean, it was the most roller coaster of emotions thing. We'll get into a lot of the ups and downs of that game, but holy shit. I've been to a lot of football games in my life. I think that it is close, very, very close to that 2021 Ohio State game. And I never thought I could say anything would touch that. I love it. I love it.

Different experience on our end. A lot of beers were flowing. A lot of blue by 90 beers. A lot of hails. Shots. Press a bell. Did another great job accommodating it. Yeah, shots.

Love it. Pickleback. Biggest pickleback I've ever taken in my entire life. Shot on North Peak Brewing. Yeah, when we got our – biggest pickleback I've ever taken in my entire life. But it was water. Yeah, when we got our, so we each had, some of us had tequila shots. Some of us had pickleback. And like when you handed me the glass, it was not a shot glass. It was like a rocks glass, half full of tequila.

It was like a mixed drink size. And I just, you know, I took it and it felt good. You know, felt The burn felt good. Was that at halftime, I think, or maybe in the third quarter? I do not remember when it was. Yeah, it was halftime. Not that I got that drunk, but the whole day was a blur. I think I had two beers and a shot because I was dialed, bro.

I was locked in. And so I feel like I have to preface when I tell people, yeah, it was a blur. I don't remember a lot of it. I do because I go back and watch the highlights, but moment to moment, I feel like I have to preface when I tell people, like, yeah, it was a blur. I don't remember a lot of it. Like, I do because I go back and watch the highlights. But, like, moment to moment, I remember the plays. But, like, in between, it was just a blur because I was, like, so nervous, so focused, so tensed up. And it was such a roller coaster of emotions the entire game.

Like, from the first play, oh, my God, throw it away a little harder. Thank you to that Alabama DB for having his heel barely touching out of bounds like i wanted to throw up i still haven't been able to watch the whole game back um yet because i flew home all day yesterday and and i've been working all day today um so there are a lot of those plays. That one was – I mean, was that not just like, oh, my God, we're going to TCU it. We're going to TCU it. Yeah, that's exactly. It's like, oh, fuck, here we go again.

I was like, hey, you're only up from here. True. And then, thank God, they started talking about how his foot was on the line. Caleb was like, his heel's not touching. And then they showed a sideline angle from the pylon basically from the end zone. And you could see his heel clearly on the line. Caleb was like, his heel's not touching. And then they showed a sideline angle from the pylon, basically, from the end zone. And you could see his heel clearly on the ground. And we all were like, oh, my God, thank God.

And then the vibes were high because the defense got after it on that next guy. Can we talk about just the fact that we're seven and a half minutes in and we haven't gotten past the first play of the game yet? So, we'll get to this, Justin. But on this topic, because you mentioned not you know not you know didn't see it on the broadcast i don't know what you're thinking it was yeah what did it look like on the double pass because i we all were like oh my god then he caught it and threw a dime with that he didn't you see that he had no laces off his back foot

the the picture that patrick baron posted looked like his eyes were closed. I honestly think they were. And I don't know how, but he put it perfectly to Roman. From my angle, it was just like complete chaos because you're like, oh, my God, oh, my God. Like, you know, you're going all over the place. And, you know, it felt like there were those types of plays a hundred times in that game where it was just like, oh, oh, oh, oh, you know, and somehow we ended up on the right side of it. I have no idea. You know, honestly, the the best way I saw we were watching Pat McAfee the next day who he's, you know, he's all over the place.

Sometimes he loves us. Sometimes he's a complete hater. So I don't really even know. But he was, he said, you know, normally he said, the reason why I thought that Michigan was going to lose was because I believe in the football gods. And he said, you know, with all the stuff that's gone on this year, he was like, the football gods are not going to let them win this game.

Right. And then he's like, I saw them win that game, and they had the football gods on their side like 99% of the time. And he was like, now I think the sign stealing is bullshit. And so it's like – Which is an interesting take because the muff punt leads to seven points. Oh, God. Alabama has a muff punt that the freshman returner immediately hops on. You have the flea flicker, which would have potentially been a touchdown

to Tyler Morris. The double pass would have been a touchdown. They ended up scoring later in the drive, but still, it would have been a touchdown if it was a clean, you know, if they had that play clean, because I think it was Roman was wide open. So that's an interesting take for a team that also missed an extra point because of a bad snap, missed a field goal, and then Alabama's kickers drilling 50-yarders. I think Michigan overcame a lot in this game to win. So that's an interesting take from him just coming from somebody who watched the game.

Not to mention the one yard away from a safety to lose the game. That too. I didn't even think about that. Oh, my God. Let's get through it because we need to talk about that at the end. I think I've got some things to talk about because I could spend an hour on just that play alone, I think, of how my heart just dropped. But, yeah, I mean, honestly, I got to halftime and we you know i was

like outside of samaj's punt they didn't do shit you know i was like i was telling everybody around me we're the better team we're literally the better team and there's no doubt about it and if we act like it if we play it, then we'll win this game. And I still believe that. I still believe after everything, we did overcome way more mistakes than they did and won the football game. But we were the better team. And going into that halftime, I'm sitting there like I truly believe.

Now, then the third quarter comes. And, you know, Nick Saban is Nick Saban for a reason. Halftime adjustments, you know, you go back to putting in Tua at halftime and winning a national title, and it's like, holy shit, he's going to do it. I mean, I don't know about you guys, but at the end of that third quarter slash the beginning of that fourth quarter, I was down bad, man. Donovan dropped that pass, and I was like, I didn't think we had it in us. I thought all the dog left us. I thought there was no shot that we were going to be mentally tough enough

to come back from that because when they sang Dixieland Delight, I mean, that was one of the most electric things of all time. So they played a little. So did they show that on the broadcast? I don't know. Yeah, I've seen it. I've also seen Mr. Brightside from Alejandro's Twitter as well, which was electric.

So they did Mr. Brightside for us right before we went out on one of the defensive possessions in the third quarter. And they played it perfectly. We went nuts. It was awesome. We unfortunately, I think that was the drive that they then scored a touchdown on. So it like we had all the momentum.

They overcame it and they went and scored. Then they immediately go to Dixieland Delight after they score the touchdown and play it going into their like biggest, you know, biggest time on defense all day long. And the place was going nuts. So I was like, holy shit. But one thing I want to give our crowd a lot, a lot of credit for was in the middle of Dixieland Delight, their side is going nuts. And we started a let's go blue chant that nearly rivaled Dixieland Delight.

And I was like, I felt like, and a lot of the guys on the team said this in postgame, that like that helped – it truly helped us to keep our mojo instead of just losing it completely. I love that. It was – yeah, I mean, it looked incredible. And I think it's – I mean, it sounded incredible. It sounded like a home game at some points. What was the – I mean, I'd heard a lot of different things, Justin.

What was the crowd split from your perspective? Because it seemed to be a lot of maize and blue in there. So we got there. And I'm not kidding you. When we first started walking, we made our walk from the golf course to the parade, which is legitimately a 40-minute walk, which is brutal. I didn't, we didn't,'t we knew it but like we had to do it but anyways um i honestly thought it was 80 20 michigan fans at that point i didn't see

i didn't see many bama fans at all and i'm sitting there like all right are they a late arriving crowd because they've done this for 15 years straight. You know, are they all flying in from Bama today? What's going on? But it was a – I think it was honestly either like 65-35 or 70-30 Michigan fans. I really do think that. It felt like it was crazy on our end. You could hear it. You could hear it.

You could feel it. You think it was because of all the alumni out there or what? Yeah, I think, I mean, A, it was a lot of alumni. B, we haven't been there in forever. Yeah. C, we haven't been, I mean, we haven't been to a game where we like, a big, big game like that, where we thought we were going to win.

You know, I feel like last year versus TCU, a lot of people were like, we're going to steamroll TCU. I'm just buying my natty ticket. Right. This year, everyone's like,

all right, a it's the Rose bowl B it's against Bama and see, you know, we're, we gotta go, we gotta go win this game. And so I think that, that, and, and then, you know, we're, we gotta go, we gotta go win this game. And so I think that, that, and, and then, you know, being in LA, there is, there are a shit ton of people out here that are Michigan fans. I mean, LA Ox was insane with Michigan fans, even just going

to Santa Monica pier. Like it was all Michigan fans. It was crazy. Yeah. I have, you know, it does. Um, I just had something i wanted to bring up real quick uh yeah blake quorum beauty just blake quorum is all that i wanted to say beauty i mean he is he's the michigan goat running back right at this point he cemented himself like obviously there's a ton of guys right like there's so many guys you can go back tyrone wheatley uh you know you think about my car yeah i mean you think about jamie morris back in the 80s like you think about all these guys anthony thomas was a stud like there's so many so many players chris perry that you can name but to step up in the biggest games of Michigan season the way he has.

I saw this on Twitter. I don't remember who posted it, so I apologize for not crediting you. But Penn State, 20-plus yard rushing touchdown, game winner. Ohio State has the 22-yard touchdown run that's massive, that puts Michigan back on top. They don't ever relinquish that lead. And then in overtime, the 20-some yarder that puts Michigan up 27-20, they never give up that lead.

Like how many big moments he had, the fourth and two. Like that may be one of the most important plays in Michigan football history. I mean, I saw somebody say it. Fourth and two on our own, what, 30, right, close to it? With what was it, four minutes left? Three-something and three timeouts yeah i you know a this was this was an awesome take that i absolutely love to see on twitter ryan day punts that football i saw that too yeah 100 does that is the most devastating thing you could ever say about somebody in terms of softness, and I think it's so correct.

And even 2019 Jim Harbaugh maybe punts that football, honestly. But I think that he believes in his guys so much, and they believe in themselves. It's almost Dan Campbell-esque a little bit now where it's like there was never never I don't think it ever crossed anybody's mind that they were going to punt that football no I don't think anybody at pretzel bell we were all like yeah go for it it's the right move yeah because you you need to get you need to generate some sort of positive momentum for yourselves right because

if you punt it away and Milrow you know breaks off a scramble or two they're potentially in field goal range anyways. And now the game's over. Also, how about that throw? Because that ball was inches from being tipped. I mean, you go back and look at it. I mean, it's so close. And JJ gets it out there, puts it right on him.

Roman, I was – What are you doing, Roman? I felt bad in the moment because everyone was around everyone around me because I was livid and I knew that Michigan had the first down but I was like yards are at a premium right now and like everyone's like it's okay still got the first down and I was just screaming and then of course what does number one do goes back and make go he makes up for it like Jack was like dude it's okay and I was like so mad I'm not gonna repeat what I said Jack was like, dude, it's okay. And I was so mad. I'm not going to repeat what I said. I was freaking out.

Well, you never saw his helmet or you never saw his face mask. You only saw the back of his name. There was a chance that that was the dumbest penalty of all time. There was no shot. He didn't even try to just – he like full-on bench pressed him. And then I said it to Zach right after he scored. I was like, thank God he just did that. And you totally redeemed yourself.

I missed the Blue By 90 beers out in LA. I got back here and they taste damn good. So shout out north peak brewing because this is it doesn't get better than this so no no dry january for you i how are we i mean has hasn't everyone's plans had just been thrown to the wayside i've given myself a few mulligans i'm like you know what it's well we got the the semi-final game then we got the natty then there's like a brew fest or beer fest going on in toledo that i'm going nfl playoffs like dry dry when there's no football my new year's resolution is to set achievable goals

and if i'm saying that i'm going to do dry January during this incredible Michigan football run. I'm kidding myself. Why would I do that? You know, I mean, we've got, we've got a natty on Monday. We've got a lion's home playoff game, by the way. I know we're not a lion's podcast, but that's always exciting. So I did the same thing, Jack. I told myself January one, January eight would be the two days that I gave myself to drink, but I I'm going to try to keep myself to dry January. But that North Peak Brewing, man, they just do something to me.

It's tough. Doing something right there. Bionicle, Hale, Blue by 90. So many good beers. They got some fruity-flavored beers. They just crush it. They hook us up. So shout out to North Peak Brewing, man.

It felt damn good getting that check at the end and going, we just spent $200 on $1 beers. Of our own beer that we all have a bunch of. Literally, we have like cases of it in our garage. I'm not joking when I say it's stacked as high as tall as I am tall. I thought about that as we were buying the blue ben any beers i'm like this could you could use this to money launder right just buy your own beers back so yeah i don't think we're supposed to say that oh my god i mean out pretzel bell

um yeah i mean so i you know by the end of that game, let's talk about – okay, you talked about Blake Corum who is – I mean, that play alone, Jordan Acker said it on Twitter, Michigan Regent, who is the biggest Michigan football supporter and the biggest NIL supporter by far. Just a little tidbit there. I think that's up there in the biggest plays of all time in Michigan football. Absolutely.

I know Desmond's punt return is unreal, right? It was just the most ridiculous play. But I don't know a play with the stakes higher like on that on that gate you know to make that play that jump cut he fucking udini did how did he how did he do that mike hart but fast oh my god i gotta give my guy Amir at Thrive Training. Go check it out, Thrive Training, because he texted me after and he sent me videos of Blake literally doing jump cut drills this past summer with him. He was like, this is how we did this.

I was like, I love you. You should have tweeted that. Did you post it? I need to. In that moment, I could have kissed him on the mouth. So there's a bunch of guys that we need to shout out, honestly. Quinton Johnson. Now, I know Michigan didn't capitalize on the fumble.

He makes a hell of a play on Millero. Millero has the ball facing the defender in his right hand, and QJ makes a hell of a play. And then Josh Wallace recovers it. Keyon Saab. Real quick on that play. Sorry to interrupt you. Real quick on that play.

I know it was, we didn't score, right? Which was honestly disappointing to me. It hurt. At the moment, I was like, you've got to be kidding me. That was our break, right? That was our break to go take the score, take the lead. But what it did was they had all the momentum in that moment, and it completely stopped their momentum. Because I think if they don't fumble that,

there's a really good chance they go get seven. And it's a whole different ballgame. So even though we didn't score, that was a huge play to stop their momentum and flip things. Absolutely, man. I mean, Keon had the stick on that first and 15. Josh Wallace, I mean, did he have the tackle that made Bama punt in the last minute?

I believe he came down on the running back where they showed man, and then he dropped into his own, and then he came up and stuck the running back for like four yards. And then he also had the tackle on burton at the three and a half which made that a lot more difficult for bam on that fourth and goal also mason graham is a absolute monster that second and goal i mean he he the dude went nowhere it was a four yard loss because that's exactly where he started in the backfield when he got the ball like we made their O-line at times literally look like MSU this year or East Carolina.

Like we were mauling them. Also, a couple other guys to shout out. You already said it, but I interrupted you. Keon Saab just coming in in an absolute clutch moment and making a hell of a play from 15 yards back. Ron Moore made a ton of great plays. One was an open field tackle to stop Milrow at the, like, seven. You know, there are so many guys that we – I mean, Mike Barrett.

Braden McGregor. McGregor. Going back to those first couple drives, I was like, they're literally going backwards right now can we talk about destroyed at the line of scrimmage like and that was one of the biggest talking points going into the game was alabama line right all this you know nick savin almost has a great offensive line and the fact that we were just able to manhandle them just speaks volumes to Jesse Minter

and just what they've been able to accomplish on that defensive side of the ball. I love that team. Have we talked about Josiah Stewart yet? No. So he had the sack, but the last play of the game, J.C. Latham, five-star coming out of high school. I'm looking at his draft profile right now with kind of just every single website. It's all top 10, top first round guy he has about 70 pounds on Josiah Stewart and Josiah Stewart put

that man on skates and that was what really made the play I think Michigan probably still gets to stop without that but that was an unbelievable play by a guy who's been we all know he's been really good this year but I think it goes back to kind of the last month of how people view Michigan versus Alabama. Alabama's got 18 five-stars. Alabama has more five-stars than the entire Big Ten combined, right? And so, oh, Michigan doesn't have the talent to compete. Which, okay, I'm sorry.

I want to touch on that for a second because, listen, I know this was definitely not the best Alabama team of all time, right? I think we can all agree on that. But just because they didn't play unbelievable all year long doesn't mean they were any less talented than any of these other Bama teams. Yes, I would say Jalen Millero is is not quite the qb especially as a passer but he's an incredible athlete when he gets the ball in space he is nearly unstoppable and like to your point tanner they get just as many five stars and four stars on that team as any of their national

championship yeah that's i think it's a little it's a little bit um you know it discredits michigan because again going back to the last month leading up to it michigan can't hang with the sec speed sec strength and size and they've got i mean this is the most talented alabama team on the 24-7 composite ever by the way so it's not for lack of talent maybe not the development you know they obviously not to say ch, but like they go through coaches because Nick Saban's amazing. He's probably one of the best ever at identifying coaching talent. And then they get another job and they move up the ranks, right?

So maybe not the development they've had in the past. But I think it just really discredits what Michigan was able to accomplish because this is still a really good Alabama team who beat Georgia and that's all we heard about the last month and they lost to a playoff team in the first second week of the season right so it's like we're discrediting what Alabama actually was and it's like you can't have it both ways you can't hype them up leading up to the game and then after the fact like oh they actually weren't that good and it it's still Nick Sander. As well as the Georgia people that are like, Georgia would be favored against Michigan in this national championship.

Well, the unfortunate thing is that you didn't fucking win, so it doesn't matter. You know what they say about my aunt. You know what I mean? Like, what are we talking about here? Like, I don't get how we're like, well, if – like, it didn't happen. Tanner, here's what it is. It is anything – they've got to do anything to say that Michigan is not good.

They'll do anything other than admit to themselves that Michigan is a good football team. And you want to know – all right, our good friend Lindsay O, the Buckeye fan. She blocks me. Oh, you want to know what too? I need to tweet this as well. I just realized it yesterday. Jay Book blocked me yesterday as well.

And I have literally never interacted with him in my entire life. So that was just like a badge of honor. Love that. But Lindsay O said it some, and she's, I mean, maybe the worst account on all of Twitter. So I don't even know why I'm giving her recognition. But she said something to the effect of like, yeah, well, this is the worst college football year of all time.

There was never a dominant team. There was never a number one team. Hey, Lindsay, I have some news for you michigan was the dominant team the whole time i i hate to tell you i hate to tell you but michigan was that team we're not stuck in the room with you you're you're trapped in the room with us exact vibes yeah well she i had a nice tweet after, I think, after November 25th. I think something happened on that day, and then I tweeted something. It wasn't that mean, but it was kind of mean. It was kind of funny, though, so she blocked me.

But they're a special breed, man. They're still – I tweeted today, and I've been a little more free with the cursing on Twitter. I typically just put my names on it, right? You can go look me up and stuff. I don't like that, but I've been a little more free with the cursing on Twitter. I typically just put my names on it, right? Like you can go look me up and stuff. I don't like that, but I've been a little more free with it. And it's just like they have yet to shut the fuck up. Like I don't know.

Will they shut the fuck up next Monday? Probably not. Well, how can you keep talking, bro? Because they would clown us. If we as Michigan fans in early 2015 were talking all this shit, they would clown us, and rightfully so. And now the shoe's on the other foot, and they just want to keep talking. They want to talk about their transfer portal quarterback from Kansas State who was Adrian Martinez' fucking backup.

Congratulations. Good luck to you next year. We still got Mason Graham, Will Johnson coming back. So good luck to you. I need the ref helmet cam when Tanner's going on a rant and he's just in my face like Joe Michael. Just a huge, huge amount of chaw in my lower left lip. I think that's the best part is you can just see that poking out of his bottom lip.

Dude, I just can't with some of these people, man. And there are some folks out there, and I'll say this, there's a majority of the Alabama fans that I've seen have been complimentary and giving credit to Michigan, and they understand big boy football. They know what it's about. They know it's not a level playing field. It's never been a level playing field. Otherwise, teams don't win six championships in 12 years, right,

or 14 years or whatever it is. So they get what it is. But I just find that just very, very interesting that a certain fan base. And then there's another fan base. How can you talk about anything right now? Your basketball team sucks, the one thing you hang your hat on. Are we talking about the one down the road in East Lansing? Yeah, I saw one of them call Michigan TTUN.

Brother, look at a fucking map. Yikes. Yikes. That's very, very appropriate. Famously north of East Lansing, the city of ann arbor what are we doing in our public school system god damn i'm dude these people are dumb man i'm just fired up i love it i get on there i'm chronically online at some time here's the thing about all that is um we're playing in the national championship and nobody else is none of those other teams are um and yeah so that that's where i stand on it is like i i you know who had the best rant of all time? It was a 1A, 1B situation with what Tanner just did.

But Chris Jenkins after the game, I posted it on our Instagram to go watch it. But the best line was, you know, keep doubting us, and then you're going to have to watch us do it. You're going to have to watch us. So all you Buckeyes, all you Spartys, all you Bama fans now – and I actually – the Bama fans were fine. I mean everybody was very, very, very good. I was – I have no ill will towards them currently.

But everyone else, have fun watching us on Monday. Enjoy it, please. Enjoy it. I can tell you as a Michigan fan, I've had this pit in my stomach where Ohio State's playing for a national title. I hate it, right? I'm not ashamed. I root for everybody, but I'll tell you what I won't do.

I will not go to the location of their playoff game wearing a shirt that has the Michigan logo, temporary Bama fan. You dweeb. Are you kidding me? Why did you buy those tickets? I can't imagine spending a lot of money on them. Unless it was like a work thing where you get them for free. But then I'm selling them, bro. I'm profiting two, three, four grand.

You know what I mean? Listen, even if I am going for work or doing something like that, I'm wearing a black sweatshirt or something like that. Absolutely. And not being that guy. Don't be that guy. No. Those are the worst kinds of people.

Whether you're a Michigan fan or anyone else, don't be that guy. I want to get back to the game a little bit here. Yeah, sorry. That felt good, though. That felt nice. I felt like you needed that. I needed to get that out there. I can't.

Dude, what am I supposed to do? Yell at Claudia? You know? Like, go yell at my wife? I tried to explain to her the catapult stuff. She's like, I don't know what you're talking about. I'm like, alright, I'm going to go tweet some more. That's why I'm online. She doesn't get it. Tanner's a man in purgatory.

He's just... You talking to your wife about Catapult is the meme of the guy yelling at the bar. That is 100%. Alright, so they hacked into our servers. I'm making that meme right now instead of the group chat.

Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. But, I mean, I think we talked about Blake's run, but I think that the drive to go tie the ball game was i mean is that also up there as in the biggest best drive of all all time possibly absolutely that's like a top three michigan drive in my lifetime i feel like how many times as a michigan fan have we been like okay we just need you know to do x y and z and we just can't seem to do it

at the right time think about back to kaylin think about back to john o'corn right you know that's i i'm not saying that that is an equivalent team to what we have right now but like all you're saying in that moment is like all we got to do is this right right? Or even 2016 Michigan, Ohio State, all you got to do is this. You know, all you got to do is stop them. All you got to – JT, six inches. Shout out JT Barrett for coming to our tailgate. But six inches, you know, two inches, whatever it is. It's the same.

That's all you got to do. But what did you say? That's about the same. I mean, if you have a good personality, it doesn't matter. But you're right, Kalen. Like, there are so many times throughout our, you know, young careers, I like to call ourselves still a bit young of watching michigan football and how many times you know even last year the tcu game it's like there's there's a

minute left right on the on the clock at the end of the game and you can go down and win it and unfortunately we weren't able to so for them to go do that and the way that they did it, I mean, like you said, Blake's the fourth and two. Roman's tipped catch. I mean, are you kidding me? How is that still a spiral? I know. I have no idea.

I have no idea. I think that's a cool thing. We talk about the drives and how great the drives were, but every player that was supposed to be, like, a star and a playmaker this year for this team had an incredible – at least one incredible play that they made. Yeah, you're right. Like, Brayden McGregor, everybody was excited about him making –

you know, being the next Hutch or – I mean, probably a bad comparison. But, you know, being that next great DN for Michigan, he had a huge sack on that first drive for Bama. You see Mason Graham, who's like an up-and-coming star as a sophomore. He had a great freshman year, but he made a huge play on that overtime drive. And then Roman has, you know, a couple great plays. Blake has some incredible runs and plays that he makes. J.J., I mean, when we were talking about that throw that he made to Roman

on the throwback from Donovan, the when we were talking about that throw that he made to roman on the throwback from donovan the catch he made to make that throw was just incredible he jade that shit he literally obj that shit i mean there's so many this is one of the i know you guys know for me i'm i'm i'm sick in the head and i like to watch rewatch all the games that we lose that are big games now i've got a game that we can go back to that's like exciting and i can like re-watch and i'm not watching 2016 osu or last year's semifinal against tcu anymore there's like a close exciting game that means more than anything than any other game i've had in my lifetime that we can like re-watch and like we're living through it's fucking jackie when, when you watch those games,

I'm now moving forward going to envision you just as happy Gilmore taking the pitching, the batting machine or whatever. Three or six, five days until next year's trial. Jesus Christ. I can't think of what that's actually called. Holy shit. Pitching machine? I don't know. Either way.

Yeah, you are sick in the head. Do you guys remember in the preseason when the Big Ten Network went to Michigan's fall camp and there was a video of JJ just catching a ball exactly like that, and everyone's like, oh, it was so easy. And then the fact that he pulled that out in a game in a moment that could have completely turned that game on its head and was able to flip his hips and throw that ball look with his eyes closed is just like poetic justice i mean if he doesn't catch that one-handed tips it whatever that's a

fumble yeah could have been a scoop of score going it's going the other way which all right it is it's time to talk about the jake thaw i mean i so i from my perspective i'm on the other side of the field so i cannot really see very well what, what goes on. There's a bunch of players that are running down there. I, I obviously realized that he muffs it, but I can't see what happens after that. Cause it's just chaos at the goal line there. Hey, Jake, I love you.

He's literally the nicest team on the, on the planet, nicest player on the planet. And every single guy on the team said if there was somebody to date my sister, it would be Jake Thaw. So I'm going to preface everything I say here with that. I love you. Get the fuck out of the way, man. Just get out of the way. Just get out of the way.

But, like, he muffs it, then grabs it. He's right on the six-inch line. Gets drilled. I mean, he got murdered once he got the ball. Hangs onto it. I mean, we are so close, so close to losing that game after the greatest drive, as you said, Kalen, one of the greatest drives in Michigan football history to one play, them getting a safety, and us losing that football game.

So the thing with that is, though, so if he catches it in the end zone, he can take a knee for a touchback because he never fully had possession. But if Alabama recovers it, then it's a touchdown, which at that point it's almost like you'd rather have the touchdown than the safety, right, because then you have to punt the ball back to him. Thank God none of that happened. But he touched the ball before he got into the end zone, right?

Right. So we talk about this pre-show my football knowledge uh so the minnesota michigan game in 2015 harbaugh's first year i was at that game i don't know if you guys remember this but jabril did that same thing where he touched the ball um and then he went into the end zone and i thought it was a safety but technically he never had control so then the ball it's a touchback if he's tackled in the end zone because he was tackled in the jabril was tackled in the end zone so that rule is is there but that's a lot to be thinking about in that moment but shout out i know some people got roasted for saying this and

i was so pissed in the moment but great play to corral it and at least get it at the one you know because they were able to get out of that and now we're going to bring in Dean Blandino to go over the rules. How about Dean Blandino with a lion's head on the other day? What a clown. He was hopping off a Jerry Jones bus probably. What are we doing here? But, yeah, honestly, I would have to go, like, read the rule book there. But, I mean, it is – we're we're literal like inches from disaster uh and that was as i said in

the beginning of this pod it was like it was like literally 10 plus times that we were inches from disaster it felt like in that game and somehow the ball just like i mean even where the ball bounces it's like it perfectly kind of pops up to him right before the goal line. You've got to be kidding me. So there's many mistakes that we made, which I'll say this. I think we made more mistakes in that game than we had made mistakes all year in the last 13 games prior total, like combined. Yeah. Yeah.

Maybe. Sounds very accurate. I don't know enough to disprove that. I mean, Michigan had seven turnovers leading into this game, I believe. So that's one every two games. You know, had one on a really just tough, tough play from Samaj. You got to think special teams will be a point of emphasis this week. I mean, that's like,

so genuine question where we like, do you think we were so focused on offense defense that we just kind of left special teams a little bit on the back burner or I don't know, you know, was there wind that day or something that we couldn't see on TV? Like it just seems so out of character for us that I was, like, searching. What's the worst special teams performance by a hardball team in Michigan? No doubt.

So, I'm pretty sure that they went into that game thinking special teams was a dub. Like, you know when you're, like, looking at the, you know, and you're like, all right, our offensive line versus their offensive line, you know when you're like looking at the you know the and you're like all right our offensive line versus their offensive line you know our defensive line and that our special teams it's like that's an easy w right for michigan you're giving the advantage to michigan for sure and i think they overlooked it a little bit in terms of like i don't want to say overlooked it but just overconfident maybe overemphasized it you know that was what they did they felt that they did last year was they overemphasized a few things and then all of a sudden your brain's thinking about it you know and um i mean think about all the things that happened that game that literally i mean will will wagner hasn't had a bad snap as

in his entire career you know james turn Turner hasn't missed a kick in forever. You know, Samaj hasn't mucked a punt. He's been awesome all year. Jake Thaw has been awesome all year. You know, like, there's just, it was crazy all those things that happened and all of them happened, like, consecutively. So, obviously, they'll be, you know, dialed in. Even Doman, you know, I love Doman too.

He's a phenomenal punter, but he didn't have an awesome day. And on the flip side, they make two 50 yard field goals. Their punter was bombing it all day long. And so, yeah, it was, it was very uncharacteristic. What I hope for sure is that sometimes now it's in those guys' heads a little bit, right? You know, that's how sports go. And I hope that they're able to be mentally tough enough to get past that for sure. Yeah, only can go up from here, right?

For sure. yeah only can go up from here right so for sure um i think we're gonna have to have two parts part one part two before uh this natty game for a podcast oh i like that i like that i don't know when we would do it but we gotta find maybe find some time we'll make we'll make some time i fly out on saturday i fly out on saturday um it is i you want to know what people don't talk about enough is just like how quick this turnaround is you have for the team you have 30 days to prepare from the big 10 Championship to your Rose Bowl game, then all of a sudden it's seven days that you have to prep for the biggest game of your life. And it's just crazy, especially when you figure out travel.

You know, I think they leave on Friday. So, like, they got back on Tuesday. They have Wednesday, Thursday here, and then dip out, go to Houston on Friday. They got back on Tuesday. They have Wednesday, Thursday here and then dip out and go to Houston on Friday. It's just a whirlwind. It's kind of Final Four-esque in that sense where you barely have time to breathe and think about anything. It's just crazy.

I'm good with it because clearly having a month to prepare isn't always a positive. So I said this at the pretzel bell on Monday. There's only a week now. So for whatever reason, this coaching staff seems to be a lot better preparing on a shorter notice than they are having an entire month to prepare for whatever that reason is. Although let's talk about the coaching staffs for a minute cheryl moore jesse mentor oh my unreal oh my god and i you know we say them because they're the leaders of those groups right but there are probably a hundred people underneath them analysts coordinators all these people that

are helping to build those game plans but i mean mean, Jerome Moore, let's start with the offense. Like I think they said it was every game, every play, except for two plays, all game had pre-snap motion. I mean, he had Nick Saban in a fucking tizzy. Like they had no idea what to do on defense for a lot of those and then talk about not knowing what to do jesse minter was dialing up blitzes where jalen milrow was seeing red he had no idea where to go what to do he didn't have a chance their center who now is already in the transfer portal, by the way, entered today. Oh, yeah. He was shitting down his leg the entire game. That was unbelievable. I think Unnecessary Roughness had a really funny tweet

where they said, like, the center is transferring. I was like, oh, I hope this wasn't a snap decision. I thought that was clever. It made me giggle. Another good pun for you. Speaking of unnecessary roughness, Max Bredesen had a great game. I can't believe we haven't given a shout-out to Freddie. Freddie, I mean, just a dog.

Talk about on that last play, or on Blake's last play, he mauled his guys. Just like set the tone. Same withon barnhart shout out carson um shout out carson for stepping into that guard roll shout out trenta jones for stepping into that tackle role and dominating um yeah i don't think you give up a single pressure by the way wow and insane that blake touchdown barnhart getting all the way from his right guard spot out in front making a block like just these guys rock they're just awesome i mean you know we've had we've been fortunate to talk to some of these guys um and they're just all great dudes and they all love playing with each other for each other making big plays like they're

all excited for each other like every time there's a big hit on special teams jj's pumped up like it's just awesome man like it truly is a team that plays for one another and in this era that's awesome i couldn't agree more and i think you want to know the the kind of the epitome of that uh the epitome of this team being a true team and not having, like, they have stars, but it doesn't matter who makes the play. They don't care. Is Tyler Morris, of all people, having his first touchdown reception in the biggest game of his life and dialing it up and beating everybody down

the sideline where i bet you nick saban's like who the fuck is tyler morris dude we were talking about it when the play was going down i was like i thought he was gonna step out at 20 and he just turns the corner and just flies down the sideline i mean you know he's he's from illinois so he's not that quick but i mean that speed was impressive I didn't know he had that in him. I mean, he just put on the burners. He absolutely did. And I just think that that's, like, the perfect way to think about this team is that everybody steps up at the right time.

You know, it's just like they all – you know, it almost is the Bill Belichick, like, do your job, right, where it's like almost is the bill belichick like do your job right where it's like if every single person does their job then we collectively as a team do our job and that's how they that's how they look at it and you know i i just love that uh there's not like even though that we do have the star guys there are still guys that step up. You know, Quinton Johnson by no means is a star guy, but he's made gigantic plays in every big game. You know, Rod Moore's that guy as well. I mean, you could go down the list forever and ever. So man, unbelievable, unfreaking believable. I have, I've never experienced anything like that

I don't know if I'll ever experience it again but the thing is in four days I fly to Houston to try to experience it all over again and I'm going to get emotional already just talking about it

I cried my eyes out on Monday after we won and I uh i cried my eyes out on monday after we won and i hope to cry my eyes out again this monday oh my god it is it this is this is such a fun ride man this is this is so much fun i mean you know i get that because so mond Monday I expected to be a little emotional. I wasn't. I don't know why. I didn't think it was a lot of adrenaline. But outside of career things and personal life things and goals and stuff, this is something I've – one of the things I've wanted most is to see my team,

specifically Michigan football. Michigan football is by far and away the most important sports team to me. It's always been like a family thing too, which I think is what drives some of that passion, some of that emotion. I've wanted this more than anything. Again, outside of the personal stuff. I've wanted this more than anything forever

since I can remember. I can remember watching Michigan play Ohio State in 03 when I was 8 years old. The first game I have true memories of. I've wanted this for so long. When Michigan wins on Monday, I'll probably have a little bit of tearing up happen to me because it's

something that's been super special to me for my entire life. Even through the down years, even through Rich Rod, through Brady Hoke, every Saturday in the fall, man, it's very much like a religion. Sometimes a And it's sometimes a little cultish, right? I think all college fan bases are similar in that regard, but it just means a lot, man. So I'm stoked for you, Justin, to go.

I can't wait for this game, man. I can't believe it's here. Like I can't believe this is finally happening. Just got to get the job done, man. Job's not finished. One more, one more win and you get to get to etch your name in the history books for Michigan, for all these guys to just really cement themselves as the greatest Michigan team of all time. I love it. I love it.

We haven't even really previewed the Washington game at all. So I think we're going to try and do another pod here previewing this game. I just called it the Washington game. Like, it's not the fucking national championship. Bro, I saw a tweet. It was like, imagine telling Michigan Washington fans in 2020, like, two years from now you're going to play for a natty. Like, what?

What? That's crazy. So we'll do that. I mean, all I'm doing is talking about that i was i was dying laughing the other day i was i we we were talking about it for an hour straight we changed the subject for uh like literally 30 seconds and then i was like hey you guys remember that play that happened and i just changed it right back, this is literally the only thing on my mind right now. So, yeah, man, it is.

It's very surreal that it's here. Soak it all up. I've said this, I think, for the past, really the past three years, honestly, is like, enjoy this ride, man. This is, this does not, this doesn't come around very often, man. This does not come around very often. You can ask ask some of the old old heads of Michigan football, man. This does not come around. So if you're out there listening, enjoy it.

This is you're you're living that unbelievable time, that unbelievable ride right now. So we appreciate you guys listening to us for sure and being a part of this because without you guys listening, we wouldn't have anything. We'd just be talking to ourselves in a group chat or some shit. So thanks for allowing us to do this. But for us, you can follow us at Blue by 90 on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, at Blue by 90 Podcast on YouTube, and blueby90.com. We appreciate you. Go Blue. peak go north go blue go blue