Blue By Ninety - Michigan vs. Nebraska Preview Featuring No Block No Rock Podcast

Episode Date: September 17, 2025

Justin and Tanner are joined by Mike Delaware of No Block No Rock and Nebraska Sports Illustrated.

All right. Welcome back to Blue By 90. I'm Justin, joined by Tanner today. We've got a special guest, Mike from No Block, No Rock, a Nebraska podcast. We're going to preview the Nebraska game down in Lincoln. The Wolverines are traveling down there on Saturday. But first, a little shout out to Feldman Chevrolet of Highland. Go check them out. I believe they got some great truck deals right now. They had, what they have? They didn't have the Silver Auto this week. What did they have a suburban. Oh, the suburban of the tailman. Yeah, that thing was tricked out. So, I mean, they've got a lot of sweet stuff on their lot. Also, they're not just a new car lot. They've got a whole used car lot as well out there in tons of deals. My guys out there, Jason and Brad and everybody else will take care of you, Jay, all the guys.

So go give them a visit there in Highland and, and they'll get you hooked up maybe in what Bryce has, maybe in what Bryce Underwood is driving around too. You might have to have some NIL to get that, but, you know, yeah. Like three million a year or something like that. Yeah, we don't know the numbers. We just, we insinuate, you know.

Well, on three can just throw out random numbers too. So $74 million deal with Larry Ellison. That was, I think that was the funniest part of that recruitment was like, Every time somebody tweeted out about it, it was the number went up a million dollars, right? Like it started at like $6,000, $7,8. All of a sudden it's at like $20 million in no time. I was like, what? And he is officially the athletic director at the University of Michigan.

So we had to offer him to get him here. But he now owns Oracle. He's got a majority share. He's got $50 million stock options. Just made a billy off the stock going up last week. All gravy for Bryce Underwood at this point. Exactly. But Mike, thank you for joining.

I think, you know, we went on your podcast last night, which was super fun. So go follow them. I would say you guys are like a rational podcast. You're not delusional. You do talk about us cheating sometimes, which is, you know, annoying. But no, I'm super excited for this weekend. You know, we talked a lot about this last night. that this is a very pivotal game for both teams this weekend in terms of where they could end up by the end of the year, right?

You know, I think for for Michigan, I guess for both teams, like actually I saw somebody who's talking about it online today, talking about Nebraska. It's like if Nebraska wins this football game, there's a path to 11 and 1, legit, which I mean, that sounds pretty damn good to you guys. I have to imagine. Well, considering last year was the first time we made a bowl game in seven years. You know, we called it the measuring stick game, I believe, last night. And I think that's what it is for both teams. Like, we're kind of figuring out, they both have young quarterbacks. Nebraska's coming into it with year three, Matt Rule.

That's what everybody's talking about. Matt Rule did this at Temple, did it at Baylor. And year three, that's when things boomed. And so Nebraska fans have been patiently waiting for year three, Matt Rule. Through all the growing pains, we were able to at least go six and six plus one, is what I call it last year. Bowl games are kind of a joke these days. And so I don't really count them.

We went six and six plus one. I think Michigan would you guys went seven and five plus one? Because that's, uh, yes. Yeah. Yeah, because I don't count. I don't,

I know you guys had a good bowl win as well, but I don't count bowl games anymore. Like I just, I just, everybody opts out. It, they're not just, you know,

everybody but us. Everybody, win counts. The playoff doesn't count. They had too much time off, Mike. I don't know. That's just,

that's an illegitimate national championship. Go on. But, yeah, no, I just, I think it's a measuring step game for both programs. You know, Sharon Moore kind of, he has to prove that he's the guy at Michigan, you know, he's following in the big footsteps behind Jim Harbaugh, that Michigan man. And Matt Rule, you know, he's got, he's got a lot to, a lot to prove. And in seeing if this is year three, Matt Rule. So go ahead.

Are you buying into the year three stuff? Like, it's just going to, I mean, there's a lot of work that goes into it. And obviously it takes time to build a program a little bit easier to do so now, days with the addition of the portal you can get more experienced guys that are that are more talented and quicker than you know 15 20 years ago you had to wait you know three four years for your recruits to roll in do you buy into that stuff or see so when mat rule first got to Nebraska his thing was I want to build a developmental program and and so mat rule has done a pretty good job of of still in doing the developmental program style but still using the portal as kind of like

let's fill gaps here and here. And so a couple examples of that would be, you know, the receiving core, we need a big face of last year. We couldn't play man, get off man coverage. We couldn't block worth the shit. So coming from a no block nor rock podcast,

having a wide receiver's not had the ability to block it was a big problem last year. And so they went out and got Dane Key and Isaiah Hunter and instantly they looked better on offense. And then, of course, adding a offense of mind like Dana Holgerson, it's really simplified the game kind of, for Dylan Royola and I think so far it's making year three matroo look real but we haven't

played anybody like I think Cincinnati might end up being an okay team but I always say week one is kind of like you have to get past week one no matter what team you are it's going to be sloppy football it's going to be mistackles it's going to be turnovers it's going to be penalties and if you get past week one then you can kind of gauge what your team looks like and so Nebraska they got past week one they won a close game which if you know anything about Nebraska football we have like the most one score losses in the last 10 years it's it's insane we are just we're cursed and so the fact that we were able to win a close game a one score game and then go take care of business against two inferior opponents now I think now they've got

their their feet wet enough for team like Michigan but I don't know this game is going to determine if the mat rule year three thing is real because I think if they beat Michigan on Saturday I mean the hype train is going to be it's going to be it's going to be a chugging and you say yeah you said that you know we're kind of a level headed podcast and that's kind of our thing we always tell our fans like go set the Kool-Aid will be your chaser we kind of bring them back down to earth and so that's that's what kind of what I was doing I did it last night on our show after you guys got off uh Jared was and he's not the one that usually would chug Kool-Aid but he's like dude I have a really good feeling about the game and he's like I think we're

to be happy leaving the stadium and I was like all right let me bring you back down to earth Nebraska's lost 27 a row against ranked teams um you know we've got a lot of demons we've got a we've got to check off the list and i think it would start on saturday if we can break that streak of 27 losses to rank teams um i think that's that's the next month you have to get off your back for sure well i mean to be honest like you guys are you guys are where we were back to you know 20 whatever with brady hoke and all that but even with uh even with jim harball right Up until, you know, 2016, 2017, 2018, like, even in those years, it was like, we'd beat the teams that we were supposed to beat, and we'd never beat a team that we were not supposed to beat, right? And I feel like you guys are kind of right there right now, like, okay, to get over that hump, you have to just come out and squeak one out however you can.

It does not matter, but you've got to beat a team that you're not supposed to beat. And that's when you legitimize yourself. And so for Matt Rule, I think that's exactly where he's at right now. And so I also, it's funny, too, because I think I actually heard on our local radio with John Jansen today, they were talking about Michigan State. And, you know, some of the Spartes, even though they're 3 and O, they haven't looked great being 3 and O. And everyone's all pissed off because it's year two and they should be better. I think Kurt Signetti is at Indiana, like screwed everything. everybody's, you know, reality of, like, what a year, two, year three should look like.

It all lined up perfectly for them to be able to go to that college football playoff with, you know, he brought a ton of really good guys with them. They also had an incredibly favorable schedule. And I just, I think that people don't understand how hard this shit is. This is, it's so freaking hard to do, even with the portal these days, it is still incredibly hard to put all of it together. And again, you're in, it's week four. Like we're going into week four, right?

And so, you know, I think it's probably just too early to go one way or the other of like, get on the hype train or not or be, you know, all right, totally like done with it. So, yeah, it's just, it's just funny how like it all, you know, all the overreactions of all of it. 100%. Well, and yeah, the hype train, like I said, it's going to be, it's going to be, it's going to be rolling if Nebraska can win a game and I don't even know if I think right now the spreads at like one and a half now it started it opened at like three and a half for Michigan now it's down to one and a half and so I don't know what it's going to be at kickoff like to me it almost feels like a

coin flip because I feel like these programs are kind of in the same spot right now like I know Michigan came off a national championship two years ago but college football it's crazy because you could be you could have so much success and then two years later your coach can get fired so right it's just crazy that you have to just you have to do it over and over again and the big 10 is the best conference in college football sorry cc homers like that's that's that is what it is like the big 10 has proved to the last two seasons they've won back-to-back naties in this college football playoff era with nil and all that stuff that is now legal so yeah i mean it's tough and kirk kirk kirk signetti i mean give him it give him his flowers i mean the dude said i win google me and then he did exactly that so

you know it is what it is but i think it is it is a tough bar to chase the Cygnetti effect because he smokes his big sig and nobody else can do that yeah he's a different cat man uh going into saturday Mike what are you know we talked about this on your show last night but like where are you concerned uh going into this matchup I mean that's easy so I just wrote an article actually today about it so Bryce Underwood the ability to run the football like I I think that is something that gives not only Nebraska but just defenses in general fits is is a quarterback that can get on the run, get out of the pocket, make plays.

I think that's going to, that, that worries me a lot. And of course, just the traditional run game, that was something that Cincinnati had a lot of success with. They were averaging over seven yards of carry. That's without the quarterback run. I think they ended up going almost closer to eight or nine yards of carry against Nebraska in week one with all the Brennan Sorsby runs. And he ran for almost 100 yards and two touchdowns. So my thing would be if Michigan wants to win this game, it's going to be dictated by them controlling the line of image and running the football. If they're able to do that, they're going to have no problem

beating Nebraska. But if Nebraska can show up and stop the run, I think, and force Bryce to make plays with his arm, I think that's where Michigan might have to worry because I don't know if you've seen the numbers, but if you look at Bryce Underwood's numbers when he's blitzed, and especially against Oklahoma, I think he missed nine passes in a row when he was blitzed. Like, if you get pressure on Bryce and you can contain him, then it's a bad recipe for Bryce Underwood right now. I just think he doesn't know how to read a defense quite yet and i think a lot of that pre-snap stuff isn't it's a little still foreign to him so if you can get pressure on bryce i think that's where nebraska can have success but if they're able to run the football against this this blackshirt defense it's going to be

a long day for Nebraska yeah i mean i think that um here's where michigan got into trouble against Oklahoma was everybody in the world, like once we knew, once it became clear that Michigan was going to play pretty conservatively, then everybody knew we're going to run the ball. And this is not the same old line as two years ago where you could know that we're running the ball, we're still going to run it down your throat and you can't stop us, right? It's not that same offensive line. Justice Haynes could be just as good as Blake Corum, right, in terms of talent. I'm not going to say Blake Corum is a god to all of us.

I'm not going to say, like, we don't have the, we, right now, what we're, what we're lacking is the Blake Corum guy who will just fall forward for four yards no matter what happens, right? And so, right now, I think that to your point, like, if Nebraska can come out and put pressure on Bryce, make him feel uneasy, we know that that's going to be an insane crowd, probably even worse than a night game at, in Norman, Oklahoma. And so that is something. that, okay, I'm looking at, like, to your point on our side, what my concern is, is like, okay, how do you let unleash Bryce, which that's all that they've been talking about is let him air it out, let him run it out? How do you do that without with having him control what he can control and not make mistakes and throw interceptions, right? Like, you know, that's what I worry about is like, yeah, we all want him to be Johnny Mansell and go nuts until he throws it into double cover.

and you're like, hey, you idiot, what are you doing? You're like, well, that's kind of what you asked for, you know? Yeah, I just think if Nebraska can get pressure, that's where the, that's where the keys are going to be to affect Bryce, like his numbers night and day. And it's most quarterbacks, but especially like a true freshman quarterback, night and day different when he's under pressure. I mean, when he has a clean pocket, the dude's like over 80 PFF rating like at everything at all levels, throwing short passes, long passes, deep passes.

But when he doesn't have, when he's pressured, I mean, we're in the 50s. Like, it's, it's not good. It's such a large drop off. And that's where I think when I drop that thing, the graphic with his PFF rating, all that stuff, that factors in his running ability. That factors in how good he is as a runner. But I think right now, I think he has got all the arm talent in the world, but he still needs to figure out how to actually run, run a college offense and read a college defense.

And so with John Butler being our defensive coordinator coming from the NFL, he's had a scheme against Lamar Jackson multiple times. You know, you have to think about confusing him pre-snap, like getting him uncomfortable, confusing him pre-snap, thinking the blitz is coming in one way and it comes another way. And I think Oklahoma did that quite a bit with him. He just looked rattled out because he thought it was coming from one way. And that goes back to the progression thing with Bryce. is if he can see where it's coming from, I think it's going to be a huge step for him. But that's where I hope Nebraska,

if they can get pressure on Bryce and get creative on the way they blitz and the way they stunt, it could cause problems. But I just think, I think Michigan's going to shorten the game. I think they're going to try to pound the football and test out that rush defense.

Our defense line is not the same as it was last year. We had two super seniors that are now in the NFL in Ty Robinson and Nashutmaker. and those guys aren't here. So we've got a lot of young, unproven guys. And Cincinnati was able to push them around. So I don't think it's a news flash. I think Michigan's office line is probably better than Cincinnati's

office a line. So we'll see. Like I said, week one is kind of a weird thing. But, yeah, that's what has to happen for Michigan to roll against Nebraska. They got to run the ball. We've experienced having an NFL coordinator, you know, an NFL guy come, be the defensive coordinator. there were some hiccups, you know, with Mike McDonald coming from the Ravens over,

tempo got him a lot. Like he didn't know, he did not know how to deal with tempo his one year at Michigan. Then they bring in Jesse Minter, and that kind of cleans that stuff up. But then you go with Wing Martindale, and there were some things last year that we saw that I don't know if he understood he was coaching college, because it's tough to know because those last two games were against, you know, Mac opponent and FCS opponent. But have you noticed anything with the new DC that you're like, man, I don't know if you going to ask a college kid to do something like that so not really because but like i said it's

kind of fools gold Nebraska they they squeaked out by Cincinnati and they got two cupcases to play back to back and if you look right now Nebraska's number one in the country and passing guards allowed like our secondary Sierra right nobody's throwing at him so that'll be interested to see if Bryce takes a chance throwing at number one's way but between that they're number six and they're down they're number six in total defense their number eight and points allowed per game so I would say right now it's been a really smooth transition, but Matt Ruhl did go hire his best friend and his previous Devenza coordinator at his other stops. And then he also brought in another Devenza coordinator that is now coaching DBs and Coach Addison. So we've got three defense of coordinators, not to mention

Matt Ruhle has been a coordinator himself. So we've got a lot of cooks in the kitchen. And so I don't know if there is going to be like a growing pain for John Butler because he's got so many guys that have been at the college level for such a long time helping them scheme and make plans. So I'd say yes and no, but we don't really have a sample size right now with him being the full-time D.C. Real quick, dumb question. How do you feel about, is it Sierra?

Is that how you say, Sierra right? Is that how you say it? Movie star. Yeah. Yeah. If you guys watch it, you know, you guys bumping up his numbers, let him get some checks on that.

That's like an NIL. No, I think you probably cashed all that stuff in at USC. So I think you went USC first. And he really took off, though. And going back to Matt Rule, being a developmental program and hire a guy like John Butler, like Sierra Wright really took off once he got to Nebraska. So I don't know. I know he's still taking acting classes at Nebraska, but I don't think he's really worried about his acting career right now.

I think he's trying to focus on, you know, maybe making it to the NFL. Well, that's a guy that Michigan wanted. Yeah. Don't have the, you know, the connections and the acting school that USC has to offer. I don't know, I don't know if they're shooting any movies in Lincoln, but who knows? You never know. I know he wants to get into directing. He said in a press conference before, but yeah, I think his acting career right now is on hold,

and he's more worried about putting together a really good secondary at Nebraska. You want to know something? Going back to Bryce, because, you know, obviously we can't stop talking about Bryce Underwood. No, of course. No, I saw something from a Nebraska page. I'm going to be honest, I don't know who it was, so don't quote me on it. But basically, it was breaking down, you know, Bryce Underwood running for rushing for over 100 yards last week, right?

And I think basically the gist of the tweet was that seven of the nine runs were not, you know, pre-planned runs. It was scrambles. And that was like the majority of his yards. And his, the tweet was, it was like trying to say. like, oh, he can't really run on planned runs. And I'm like, actually, that's what would scare me more

is the ability to scramble than a pre, you know, planned run. So that that tweet is actually from the press conference today. John Butler, they talked about Bryce Underwood's ability to run. And he said, you know, it's crazy. And what worries you is that, you know, seven out of the nine weren't just like design quarterback runs. so he's making he's making out of kicking shit and that and that is more pressure on your defense

because you have everybody covered except for the guy that has the football on his hands and so I totally agree like Nebraska fans need to be worried about Bryce his ability to run and they got to spy him all game yeah yeah I agree I mean that's that's something that again we've talked about that like JJ was able to do that but that was never his first go to, right? Really ever. And we tried to avoid, I think, doing that especially because he was banged up a lot, you know, later in his career at Michigan. And right now, exactly. Well, unfortunately, speaking of not so great O lines, the Vikings offensive line, not so great. Yeah. But, but yeah, no, I think it's like that, that right now seems to be the difference for Michigan is like, okay, you know, you don't have

unbelievable weapons at wide receiver, right? You've got good but not great weapons. You know, you have Marlon Klein, you have Donovan McCulley. You know, Somage has played really well. So, but you don't have, it's not like you have Oregon and Ohio Statewide receivers. No, Jeremiah Smith isn't on Michigan. I don't think. Unfortunately, no. Yeah. But, you know, Bryce's ability to extend a player, go get a first down with, you know, even if those guys are covered, that does change the game. And then also what that does is it opens up the actual run game for Justice Haynes and Jordan Marshall, too. So, yeah, but all right, enough about Bryce.

We have not really talked about Dylan and Ryola at all here yet. And so I think that this is something we kind of half-joked about last night of just like, you know, he's not on the national radar right now at all for, you know, the stats that he's put up, again, we know that it's not against good competition, but, man, you've got a five-star quarterback that's, you know, almost thrown for 1,000 yards already, essentially. And, like, nobody's talking about it. So give us, you know, the scoop on Ryola right now. It's year two.

You know, it was up and down last year, I think. But what do you expect to see out of him on Saturday? So that's the, I put this in my article this week or today. I said, Dylan is the one sure thing that he gives me the most confidence going into Saturday. Like, he is light years ahead of any quarterback I've ever seen play the position, especially at Nebraska. I know we are historically a option team. We ran the football a lot.

So it wasn't like we've had a lot of pro-style quarterbacks. But just what he does at such a high level. I mean, you guys will appreciate this. His godfather is Matt Stafford. I mean, come on now. So, I mean, he grew up in NFL locker rooms. He's got all the mentors in the world, including that guy that everybody talks about, Patrick Mahomes.

he trains with the same trainers and you know it does it is starting to show i know people they think it's a gimmick and all that stuff but dylan just he he tries to be himself it is crazy as that sounds like he is he's very good at being himself and himself is good at quarterback so like that's the one thing i'm confident in dana holgerson's offense has simplified things um and just it's simple short passes and people get all gung-ho about not throwing the deep ball but like the high percentage throws that he's making and it's the mess tackles and everything else.

Like Nebraska's still top in the conference in 10 plus pass attempts. So like they're making plays after you know, after catching the football. And I just, I think Dylan's playing at such a high level that that's one guy you're worried about. He was rated as the 40th best quarterback in college football coming into this season. That's crazy. I mean, they had Mark

Grunowski ahead of him. I think they had Bryce Underwood ahead of him. Like they had all these guys who never even played a snap at their schools. head of Dylan Raola, who finished the year pretty strong, has all the tools to be an NFL quarterback. I mean, he is, all the armed talent in the world can make all the throws. So, yeah, I think he knows that there hasn't been national respect. And I think that's the kind of chip in the shoulder that he has going into Saturday, because he isn't getting any recognition. So, I mean, you complete 76% of your passes and you're getting, you're getting

zero, zero publicity, which is, which is fine. I like being under the radar. That's kind of where I think Nebraska should feel right now. I love living on the radar. Well, so I'm curious what your thoughts are on the Cincinnati game because that's like the one data point that we really have to go off of because the last two games, he's over 10 yards in attempt. He's almost 12 yards in attempt against Akron.

He was 5.8 average. It was 33 or 42, so he's 79%, but for 243 yards. I mean, what kind of, you know, I watched that game, but I didn't follow up on it like the way I watched Michigan games. I'm sure you've watched the replay, your highlights. Like, what was that just what Cincinnati was trying to do is just let Nebraska think and dunk take away the back half of the field or like what kind of led to that? Yeah. I think, I don't think Cincinnati their DBs could cover.

And so they play just off. They play 10 yards off. Our receivers could do anything they wanted inside of 10 yards. And so Dana Holderson's like, and he challenged Dylan to not make the throw. Don't make the mistake. Just take what they give you. And that's another part of Dylan's game that I think has progressed from year one to year two is not forcing the ball down the field, forcing it into a tight window.

Like he is just taking what the defense gives him. And that is something that I watched the Michigan Oklahoma game. And when Michigan played a lot of zone, Mathier was able to kind of fit balls into spaces. And if you play zone against Dylan, he's going to pick you apart. But if you play man, that's where he struggled last year. You play man. And if you play agap blitzes right up the middle, that's where he struggled a lot.

So I'm interested to see how creative Michigan can get with blitzing Dillon because nobody's got pressure on him yet this year. He's only been sacked one time. And so he really hasn't been touched. And that's the one thing that bothered him last year was that agat blitz right up the middle, man coverage. But I just think with the receivers we have this year, they should be able to get off man coverage a little bit easier,

especially Jacori Barney, year two, Jacori Barney. He's playing at a high level. Dan Key from Kentucky, that dude is a straight baller. And then, Isaiah Hunter, I mean, he's kind of our, he's kind of our go ball guy. So, yeah, I don't know. As far as Cincinnati goes, it really just comes down to. They just took what the defense gave him. And he was able to just dink and dunk his way all up the field.

So, I mean, 33 or 42. Throwing 42 passes is pretty crazy in a college football game. And also, it wasn't like a 55-54 game. No. 20 to 17. No, like, so passes were like our running game, even though Emmett, still had a really good day. So, like, Emmett Johnson's a guy that you guys might have to worry about. I don't know how the run defenses look so far for Michigan, but Emmett Johnson's playing at a really

high level. He's kind of a do-it-all. He'll catch her to the backfield a lot, and he's getting yards after contact, which is something he did not do last year. I think, Justin, you probably agree with this. I think Michigan, so far this season, the only time it really struggled against the run was when the quarterback's legs were a threat. That doesn't seem like that's what Dylan ones to do that doesn't seem like that's in the offense like he may take off on a third and six if it's wide open but otherwise he's probably going to stay in the pocket and they're not going to be maybe any designed runs called for him no there there might be uh i wouldn't be shocked if there was some sort of zone read they try to do that at least once or twice a game it's it's just

keep the defense on us and make sure that you know that dn at least has played the quarterback once but dylan mainly gets his yards if he is running the ball it's usually when you're playing man coverage, and you've had good coverage on the back end, and nobody's containing the quarterback. That's what he had against Ohio State last year, and he had like a 50-yard run, but he's not a dual threat guy. He is not, he's not even Patrick Mahomes, like, in all the comparisons. Patrick Mahomes has really improved his endurance in the way that he runs the football. Dylan is not there yet with his game. He is, he's worked on his body. He's lost a little bit of weight. He lost that baby fat, but he's not, he's not going to run like they did with

material at at uh Oklahoma well first of all you should have beat ohio state last year just want to say that uh we watched that at the tail game we watched it at the tail game we're so mad at you guys well you know when you when you're able to pull our receivers on third down when we're driving to go take the lead and you know it's not called and you can just blatantly see the whole jersey pulled while the ball's in the air it you know it's i mean we listen we all know ohio state cheats they cheat a lot you know and you guys rely about teams cheating that's a form of cheating in and of itself. I think there was a fourth and goal that maybe got stuffed on that maybe had something

to do with that loss. I don't know. I don't want to bring a bad member because we were rooting for you. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We got stopped at one yard line like four times in a row.

Yeah, that was really, really bad, too. But I'm just saying, we had chances in that game. And that was, that game kind of sucked because Nebraska, they go in and they're happy that they had a close lost Ohio State. And then UCLA runs into town and we're chasing 13 to six at halftime, and their heads are down and they play like ass they get their ass kicked by at UCLA who their coach just got fired you know so like that team just had a lot of mental things and i feel like the mental confidence of this team so far although they haven't been challenged to to this point except Cincinnati um i

feel like it's a little bit better well and i think um you know to that point but also to the point on uh you know raola and your rushing attack and that type of stuff that you know the pressure coming from the edge. You know, we actually struggled a little bit with that against Oklahoma and even in game one. Like I didn't, we weren't really like getting to the quarterback like we had been in the past. Then all of a sudden, J. Sean Barham in week three gets, you know, put at edge instead and he is all over the place. And it, and it changes our defense. Cole Sullivan, number 23 linebacker, seems to be, you know, taking off right now. And so I think that's what we're looking for is, let's get J. Sean Barham flying off the edge with his ears pin back and see what he can do against

Ryola. And hopefully that contains that run too. Because I think, you know, to answer your question on the run defense, you know, let's just be honest, we don't have Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant anymore. And I don't know that we ever will have two of the guys at that caliber at the same time in the middle of the defense. But I still think that we've got some pretty good dudes in there with Rayshon Benny and Trey Williams and some of those guys. Eno Eto has been pretty damn good already, too. So, yeah, I mean, Tanner, anything to add on Barham and just like how, I mean, again, I know it's central Michigan and we're all going off of games that are, you know,

lesser inferior opponents, yes. But, I mean, he looked like he would, he went crazy last week, let's be honest. Yeah, he's a guy that, you know, had NFL decision to make last year to come back and play, you know, a true linebacker spot or to play an edge. and I think they've kind of settled on moving them around, like a chess piece, right? Kind of like just a hybrid guy that's either going to line up off ball or, you know, he's going to be, you know, maybe, you know, not a hand in the dirt kind of guy, but he's going to be on the edge and he's going to be looking up in his ears back

and get after the quarterback. Mike, you know, you've already mentioned, obviously, that's the one guy that most Michigan fans are going to know of. You mentioned Sierra, right, like defensively or offensively, like who should Michigan fans be aware of on this team? I know you mentioned Dane Key, you know, I think Emmett's a really solid running back. I think he had a little bit of fumble issues last year, but I thought I, you know, I liked what I saw from him against Cincinnati.

So who can Michigan fans kind of look for on Saturday? So a defense set of the ball, I like a, like a transfer here, Desai McCola. I think he's kind of like the guy you were just talking about. Like they're going to move him all around, you know, on the edge and the middle. He's going to, he's going to aspire quarterback. He can play us, he can play safety. He can play everywhere. So he's kind of like that chess piece.

that they'll move him around. And I think he'll be kind of the guy that's going to cause havoc pre-snap for Bryce. But I'd say, Desa Maikola, and Vincent Shavers, number nine, if he plays more, and I don't know if he had a hamstring injury coming into the season, I don't know if he was on a pitch count or what, but he's the one that made that impact play at the end of the half against Cincinnati, knocked the ball out. Nebraska ends up having a two-score swing in that game.

He just makes plays. He is, he is, like, he has a nose for the football. He's really good. So I'll be interested to see how much number nine Vincent Schavers plays. As far as offensive side of the ball, one thing to look out for. You talk about the edge rushing, right? Nebraska really hasn't been challenged on the outside yet as far as a pass rusher goes. I want to watch both tackle positions.

Teddy Perhaska, which you might be familiar with Tanner. Elkhorn South Kid, right? Yeah, Elkhorn South Kid. And then you talk about Gunnar Gatula, who is a true sophomore playing left tackle. And we had kind of a battle at the left tackle position going to the offseason. We went and signed Elijah Pritchett out of Alabama, and we slated him to be the guy at left tackle. Well, Elijah Pritchett jumps off sides at the one yard lot against Cincinnati. They get a false start. Nebraska's only giving three points at that drive. And he's been in the dog

house the rest of that time. So I don't know if Gunner is the most talented guy at left tackle. He's been playing very well. He's the starter now. And I'm interested to see if he does struggle, because last year he struggled a little bit, and they brought in Micah Mazuka to replace him, who was a guard, they'd bring in our backup guard to play tackle, who's never played tackle before, in like passing situations because Gunner was struggling. So I don't know how long of Elish Gunner Coutula will have,

and I'm interested to see Teddy Perhaska playing against a real opponent because he's been playing really well at right tackle. And Teddy's had all the talent in the world, but he's been just plagued by injuries. The guy has had like three ACLs, and finally he's 100% healthy. He's got his football feet back, underneath them and he's playing lights out right now at right tackle but i want to see how it

looks against a big 10 team just i don't know if you know this um but teddy is six foot 10 he's big yeah jesus christ yeah but yeah i mean i you know you know i went to elkhorn high um and elkhorn south is is their big rival so you know it's always cool to see the local kids from you know west omaha go uh you know go on to play division one football and so always always was, you know, rooting for him and to see him, he's played well. He's played good football, but, you know, to Mike's point, he's just been riddled with injuries. So this will be a big test.

I mean, we talk about Jayehan. T.J. Guy didn't play. He was a healthy scratch. I don't know if he's in the doghouse or what. Yeah, that was weird. And then, yeah, and then Derek Moore, he's, I mean, he's played a ton of football since his freshman year at Michigan. So, you know, he's a guy that, you know, he's kind of, you're senior that you know what

you're going to get from him. But I think the X factor for the defense really is Jashon Barham, because he's a guy that could completely wreck the game for Michigan. And I don't know if they have anybody else that I would say can do that, right? I don't think you have, you don't certainly have an A. Hutchinson. You don't have a Mason Graham or Kenneth Grant. But I think Jashon is the guy that can really, you know, impact and kind of leave his fingerprints on this game and get to Rihola. Because, you know, to your point about Bryce, I think any quarterback, especially college, man, if you get pressure,

most quarterbacks even in the NFL like it's just a different ballgame to try to try to stand in there complete passes and you know read the defense while guys you know screaming at you like it's it's it's it's a lot tougher obviously so that's that's my big X factor is bar ham yeah i don't want to ask you guys about uh just speaking of local guys um you guys obviously team captain for michigan now ernest houseman yeah lincoln guy went to Nebraska after Scott Fuck got fired He transferred Michigan

Obviously won a Natty with you guys And now his team captain What are your thoughts on Ernest Hausman? I actually know his sister And so the housing family They're really They're very nice people And they're Husker fans

But they wear blue on Saturdays for Ernest And obviously they had that cool documentary About him on game day or whatever What like how's Ernest How's been playing? It looks like he's been bawling out dog absolutely dog he is he's the leader of that defense honestly he's the guy that makes it go um you know which is that's a linebacker's job obviously right but um no i think he um when he came

here you know he was still a little undersized and we had really good linebackers and junior colson and some of those guys you know mike barrett when he got here um but now like he's a big boy and he flies to the football flies he is in on every play and it is like it's a nose to the football type situation where you know there you'd be hard pressed to find a play in there after if you're really watching him where he is not somewhere near the play by the time the play is done yeah I think I think Ernest has been pretty solid I think has had some coverage issues I think he'd be like a really good 2003 big 10 linebacker where you can just get downhill and fly to the ball

But I think when offenses are able to kind of isolate him in coverage, you know, because that's not his game. No. When he's able to get downhill, make place towards the line of scrimmage, that's where he's at his best. But honestly, like they've been rotating guys. I mean, Jimmy Rolder is a fourth year guy. He's, you know, had some injuries himself. And he's been playing really good this year. Cole Sullivan is a red shirt freshman, kind of a, you know, he was a three star, but like, everybody around the program was like,

this kid's going to be a dog. And he's just been phenomenal. And then Todd Bull's son, Troy Bulls, transferring from Georgia, he's been playing. He's a little undersized. But, man, they like to bring him on some stunts and some blitzes. And so I think saying all that, I think it allows Ernest to be a little bit more comfortable and do what he's good at, where he doesn't need to necessarily be in coverage so much. He can play a little bit more aggressively towards the line of scrimmage.

So, yeah, I think Ernest has been, I mean, he was a big part of the 2020 team, honestly. like he was in a lot and uh you know he's been the leader of the defense for a number of years and his story is awesome um you know i watched that and that was that was pretty cool to see and so yeah he's definitely a guy we all root for um seems like a great great young man and uh it's a cool cool little connection because you know i just live in omaha so yeah not not far from columbus so it's always cool to see those guys you know make their way to in arbor yeah yeah um all right Last thing here that I want to ask you is the Memorial Stadium experience. Obviously, it is, you know, it's known as one of the best in the Big Ten, if not the country.

And Michigan went there in 2023. I would say, Tanner, from what I know from your perspective, it was allowed for maybe, you know, half a quarter, a quarter. And then Michigan took the wind out of them, which, again, I don't blame anybody on Nebraska for that. it was just the situation at hand. That was an uphill battle. But for this one, I will say, you know, in 2021, every single player that I know, and I knew them well at that time for sure, said Nebraska at night was the most insane thing ever. And they had all played at Ohio State, at Penn State, you know, a lot of these different places.

So 3.30 game on Saturday. Give me what you think it's going to be like. I know I've seen, you know, Raola came out himself talking about how it needs to be better than the Colorado game and everything like that. Yeah, I think it starts there. You know, you have your QB1, the face of your program, challenging the fan base to one up themselves when, and I'm, when I was at Colorado. I'm at every game, but Colorado was the best environment I've been part of since Miami in 2014. It was, I mean, it was no sit Saturday streaming first down through third, through, fourth down. I mean, it was, it was electric. And it helped that Nebraska came off, you know,

they were up 28-0 at one point. And they just, they kicked the shit out of them. And we don't like Colorado. We don't like Coach Prime. We didn't like them talking shit about our team. And I think Saturday is going to be very similar. They got, they're going to have Bud Crawford walking him out of the tunnel. He's coming off being the best pound for pound boxer of all time. He just came off that, that went against Canello over the weekend. Not sure if you guys are aware, but it is, it is going to be insane. I've told our listeners, I'm like, rest your voices from now until Saturday. I love this.

I want them to be in tip top shape. Like, I'm talking salt water, gargle the salt water, do whatever you have to do to make sure those pipes are ready for Saturday. But yeah, you're right. Like, if things get ugly early, I've seen the stadium get kind of quiet. And I don't know. The measuring stick game like this is, I think the fan base is fully engaged.

They're ready for Matt Roll year three, and it's going to be hostile. If you thought Gaylord Stadium was loud, I've been there. And it's pretty loud, but I've been to a lot of stadiums at Memorial Stadium can get, they get to like, you know, there's loud and there's like this extra sound on top of loud.

That's where Memorial Stadium will get. And they've got, we've got zero respect in the video game. We've got zero respect because teams come in here and kick our teeth in the last 10 years. So fans are hungry. They want to see in the brink. and the streak of 27 losses against ranked opponents.

So it's going to be allowed. It's going to be hostile. I can't wait. Yeah. Well, I'll say this. I was there in 21, wearing Maze, sticking out like a sore thumb. And that first half was pretty comfortable. You know, Michigan's up 13.

Nothing. That third quarter, a lot of things go against Michigan. McNair threw his first pick of the season. Remember, Justin, he didn't have any picks through a pick. they're down 2219 at half or at the end of the third and then they do that uh light show light show and i thought there's going to be a fight at midfield like they were they both teams were fired up and it it was my apple watch was like do we need to call paramedics are you okay heart rates like 200 beats per minute so 2021 is the best college football environment i've ever been a part of um in terms

of just like the noise um and you know the sound pop i guess 23 michigan ohio state was pretty pretty fantastic too. But we just don't keep the noise in Nebraska Stadium. It's not as big as some of the, you know, like Penn State or Tennessee or Michigan, but the way that it's built up, it's similar to Penn State where the noise just has nowhere to go. And it's just on top of the field. That place is crazy. Like the noise pops from Lincoln, like, are insane. And I've been to two Michigan games, and I've been to a handful of other games just throughout the years, just going to see. I mean, you know, some of the guys I played with in high school played Nebraska want to go see my guy, Chris Weber, Graham to Abaddy, some walk-ons.

He came on our show. I love Chris. He's a good dude. Yeah, I remember that. You know, it's funny, 2021 walking in the stadium, who do I see? But Chris Weber? Yeah. Not Michigan, Chris Weber, of course.

This Chris Weber with 1B. But he played linebacker under Mike Riley in the mid-2010. He's a really solid player. One of us, I mean, he's a doctor now. So it's just incredibly smart guy. Anyways, it's an awesome environment. If there are any Michigan fans going, man, hit me up. Like, I lived in Omaha for 10 years.

I lived in Lincoln for a year. I know it very well. It's a lot of good spots. I'm blanking on the name, Mike. What's the, what's like the courtyard? Yes. Yeah. Bro, the beeria tacos at the bar down there are phenomenal. It is quite a time tailgating, just, you know, being down there.

Justin, in this spot, they just have, like, picnic tables. I just remember seeing quite a few gals with Carson Barnhart jersey just getting after it. Carson Barnhart, Jersey. Just like, I'm pretty sure it was just his family, and they were just on top of the table dancing. Shout out Jenny Barnhart, his mom. She's a queen. Yeah, I just, anytime you see, like,

not a quarterback or running back jersey, you're like, that's their family. And they were getting after it. So it's a great time. I would implore any Michigan fan if you ever get a chance to go to Lincoln, Nebraska, do it. No. Awesome time.

I think, I mean, I'm excited to see our guys. So I think, like, going back to 2021, that was like one of the moments that we knew, you know, we did it at Wisconsin where our team jumped around with them and like kind of did the takeover your trap type of thing. We did it during Thunderstruck for Nebraska too. And that all of a sudden became like the Michigan 2021 team's identity of like, hey man, we're like we're not scared of anything.

And so I'm actually very curious to see how our team, you know, response to that in 2025 because, you know, I know they did jump around at the end of third quarter in Oklahoma. It didn't work because of the fourth quarter, nothing really happened. So I'm curious as to how our guys respond because they aren't really, I don't know that they're sure of themselves yet. You know what I mean? Yeah.

And so, so yeah, I'm excited for the environment. I mean, I'm just excited, you know, CBS 330, baby. This is like a, it's our song now. Yeah, it feels like a, an SEC showdown, you know. love it man it's uh it's going to be a hell of a game on saturday yeah well i think you guys gave your predictions uh yeah let's hear it on our show but i'll give you mine just because i don't think you guys heard it i have michigan winning 34 24 but i'll tell you right now it would not shock me at all if nebraska wins this game just given the environment um a young quarter young

inexperienced quarterback in brys underwood and having an x-factor like don't raola i'm just telling you that now it would not shock me at all i hope i'm wrong with my prediction and a 34-24-24 Michigan. But, like I said, I'll be there screaming my head off. They won't lose because of me. I'll tell you that right now. It ain't going to be because of me. If there's a, you know, the Bill Belichick, do your job, you're going to do your job.

Oh, 100%. And that's what we have to do. Like, what else do we do? So, Nebraska, we have no pro teams. We don't have the lions. We don't have the Red Wing. We don't have any of that stuff. All we have is Nebraska athletics.

We have football. We have a really bad basketball team, which I love, and I've seen tickets for that, too. and then we've got volleyball and then we're a volleyball state through and through people think that's a jab but you know like it's not at all volleyball is awesome to watch volleyball is kick ass is shit and um but this is it it's the only show in town so if nebraska football gets good again i think it's not only good for nebraska but it's good for college football there you go i love it i love it i'm with you um yeah i love it i mean we did talk about that on the pod uh on sunday that you know this is this is what you guys have and that's this is not a shot at you guys it's just like you guys it's just like

like this is it because we've got like if michigan loses i you know i can i i can watch the lions on sunday i care a lot more about michigan that don't get me wrong on that but there's at least like something else to watch or like the tigers are about to clinch the playoffs you know or like things like that right so um if you know it's this is this is your guys uh every saturday is a super bowl for sure you know what and i'm sick of i'm sick of the you know this is more pro sports but like oh in Miami there's just so much to do or LA there's so much to do screw you sit on your couch watch football for 12 hours you know be a person awesome yeah be a normal human being for once yeah that's all we do

surfing it's America what do you know what you know what you know what you know what you do in Omaha you wait for the cultural series to come around wait for to stop being 90 degrees I heard it was 90 out there today yeah it's warm tonight yeah last two years ago that game is hot shit for no reason yeah like we were doing the tailgate thankfully I think we were under a tent or something Mike we did the live podcast pregame yep it was So hot and windy, though. And then Michigan was on the shaded side on the sidelines. Yeah, that's one thing they did switch too.

So Matt Ruhl got here and he's like, why the hell do we have our guys cooking in the sun? You know, so they switch the sidelines and all that stuff too. Like Matt Rural runs Nebraska like a CEO, like a business. Like he was in the NFL. Obviously he didn't go that well. But he runs this like a professional organization. and from top to bottom between the health and the health staff, the nutrition, strength and conditioning.

I mean, he's got so many good people in that building and making just the simplest thing like, hey, let's switch sidelines. Why the hell are we getting cooked on by the sun? I feel like people say it's big brain stuff, but it's just common sense. Well, I always thought they did that so that in the winter it was, you know, it was colder and under the shade. I don't know. Yeah.

So, November, late November. All right. Well, we'll see what happens Saturday. Yeah, we're excited. I think this is a, like we said, defining moment, measuring stick game for both teams. Go follow Mike Ed, no block, no rock. It's an NBNR podcast. We appreciate you guys from coming on.

Thanks for having us on your pod yesterday. You guys are good friends. Again, I want to get, not getting down there this weekend, but I want to get down there at some point. We'll bring some woods and whiskey. Yeah, we'll bring Woodson whiskey. You guys got your, what's your, what's your brewing company? Nebraska Brewing Company. It's the largest brewery in the state of Nebraska.

If you guys do ever come down, we will take you through the brewery, give you a tour, hook you up on some, some free beers. I know Tanner brought us in Blue By 90 beer last time he came down. You got a new recipe. I have two in my fridge still from, from 2023 or whatever. I didn't finish them, but. That's okay. That's all right.

A new recipe now. New recipe. There you go. Shout out to Feldman Chevrolet of Highland. Again, we appreciate you guys. Shout out Woods and Whiskey, too. Go to Woods and Whiskey.com. You can buy the Team 144 commemorative bottle still,

as well as some of the new products that we've got going there. For us, you can follow us at Blueby 90 on Twitter. It's here on Facebook. At Blueby90 podcast on YouTube and Blueby90.com. We appreciate you. Go Blue. Go Blue. Thanks, guys.