Blue By Ninety - Rise to the Victors: Iowa Talk

Episode Date: September 24, 2026

Michigan opens Big Ten play with a ranked matchup against Iowa — and we're getting the Hawkeyes' perspective before Saturday.On today's Rise to the Victors, Trevor McCue and Darnell Porter are joined by Eliot Clough of HawkeyeInsider to preview Michigan vs. Iowa at the Big House.We break down what Iowa has shown through three games, how legitimate the Hawkeyes' defense is, what Michigan should expect from the Iowa offense and the matchups that could ultimately decide a game expected to be a physical, low-scoring fight.We'll also get Eliot's perspective on Bryce Underwood, where Michigan could have an advantage, what should concern the Wolverines most about Iowa and what each side needs to do to leave Ann Arbor with its first Big Ten win of the season.Two ranked teams. Two defenses playing at a high level. And Michigan's first real test of whether the progress we've seen over the last two weeks carries into conference play.〽️ Rise to the Victors🎙️ Trevor McCue & Darnell Porter🎤 Guest: Eliot Clough — HawkeyeInsider📺 On the Blue By 90 network

All right, welcome and everybody, rise to the victors here on the Blue by 90 podcast network. We are brought to you by Feldman Chevrolet of Highland. Excited for today's show, Trevor McHugh with Darnell Porter, as always. Good friend of mine, we've talked a few times, covers Iowa, now over at Hawkeye Insider on 24-7. Elliot, we are, or at least I'm famously known from our previous conversation of saying I liked Iowa corn better than Nebraska. that's been my goodwill thing to Iowa fans from the past, but good to see you again. I know you're making of the trip to Ann Arbor. I won't be, unfortunately, it looks like, but excited to have you in town.

Yeah, yeah, man. I'm excited. That is absolutely a way to win over the entire Iowa fan base right there. Man, I'm from Northwest Iowa. And I went to you and I, so it's a little different. I'm not playing the fan thing for Iowa necessarily. but and even though I'm wearing red right now. It is Arizona just for the record.

But I have a deep hate for Nebraska. So I appreciate it too. Oh, yeah. That I-80 drive out there is brutal. Not fine. All right. So the last time you and I talked about a Michigan, Iowa game was 2023 Big Ten championship.

Obviously it feels like a lifetime ago in a lot of ways. some things they're the same, some things are very different. In that conversation, though, we talked a lot about is Iowa going to even be able to score in this game, right, with the offense? And now I would say the Iowa fan base and even some of the players are showing after these first three games, they are very confident in this offense, not only to be efficient, but also explosive. Yeah, especially relative to, That last time we talked. Yeah.

It's not Deacon Hill under center anymore. This is a very different era. Brian Ferrence no longer on staff, right? He was kind of a lame duck. I mean, he was a lame duck offense coordinator at that point in time. Iowa's best option that year and definitely the year after was hand the ball off and hope something opens up, more or less. Now, Tim Lester was better at scheming things up for Caleb Johnson in the following year. But yeah, you know, this is now entering third, well, now in the third year of the Tim Lester era offense,

there are guys on this team that are capable of actually making plays. I'm sorry, I'm dealing with my dog here. I know we're live. You're all good. We're not super formal, buddy. Okay. Next time. If dog wants to say hi, that's cool.

Okay. Next time one of you guys talk, I'm going to put them out of the room. But anyway, so I'm sure you guys have heard about Tony Diaz to this point, right? UTRGV transfer. That is the best receiver I was had in probably about a decade, if we're being real. I mean, and the bar isn't all that high, right? So there's a couple things to that as well is Hank Brown, who is now Iowa starter, full-time starter, no more oars on the death chart. He has made some NFL throws. Opposite hash, one hash, right hash say, to the opposite side line,

left sideline makes it look really easy, really effortless, throws a tight ball. I mean, that 56-yard deep shot to Tony Diaz against Iowa State, that was a spiral the whole way, not even a duck, not a duck even a little bit. Then you look beyond that, the offensive line, they return effectively three starters from the Joe Morrill, award group, even though they lost three guys because they have their right guard back in Cade Peeper, who could be a first round draft pick. Trevor Lough, left tackle, could be a first round draft pick. Blayton Jones, who stepped in for Bo Stevens, and I'm just going to put him outside of the room.

That's good. That's good. It works. When he gets back, I want to ask him about, or darn out you can ask next, but he's back. There we go. Put the bark collar on him, thought that would work. Sorry. He wants to be on the show. Oh, he does.

I mean, he is the center of attention at all time. Yeah. Let me tell you, he wouldn't have it any other way. Okay. So to the point of the offensive line, returning Layton Jones at left guard to, replaced Bo Stevens partway through the game against USC last year. And Tim Lester, I was offensive coordinator, didn't notice because Layton Jones was that good. Like, he's NFL.

He's going to be NFL. You got Kail Winter at center, too. and then right guard or excuse me right tackle is jacked dotzler it's a little bit more of a question mark both of those positions because of the fact that winter was a walk on doxler's in his fifth year and hasn't been able to really carve out a role consistently but it's the jimmies and the joes at this point that that's just the massive difference that this team has now be a portal via high school recruiting and hitting on guys like dj benami and ruse bandersy too and then going out and getting to Hank Brown. So I'm sorry, that would have been more concise and accurate if it wasn't for the 30-pound gold

I don't find. I guess my first question that I would ask for you is I see a lot of talk this week, not just from maybe you guys in your beat circle, but also national media. I think this is Hank Brown's first big road test as far as going on the road. And so I wanted to kind of touch base with you to figure out, like what is some things, and I'm happy you're going to be there because I'm going to be there too, but what are some things if we're in the stadium as an Iowa person that knows Hank Brown, we should look for it. Like, what do you think if you see this? You're like, okay, he got it.

The road, this won't bother him. Or if you see this, you're like, uh-oh, okay, this could be a problem. So over the first three games, especially against Iowa State, Hank was really just locking in on Tony Diaz. That's his first read. That's where the ball's going. a couple of those throws. One in particular stood out. I think it was in the second half and they were really having trouble getting any sort of consistency against Iowa State.

Third and two and they went five wide, which if you're Iowa, run the damn ball. First of all, second of all, ran an out route to Tony Diaz to the sideline. And you knew where the ball was going. There were two defenders over there. Tony Diaz had to adjust to the ball. Ended up behind the sticks. They had to punt. On that same play, Reese Vander's,

he was on a drag route literally right in front of them would have been an easy completion just dump down you get the first down Hank is known for making the makeables not being a guy that's going to lose you a game and try to force something right but he needs to consistently make those types of makeables in important situations and again there and if he's missing on deep balls because they're not going to throw the ball deep super often it's just not what iowa does but they need to execute it when they do do it, i.e. that Iowa State deep shot, the 56-yard pass that was completed and set up their only touchdown at the game. If he's missing on deep throws, the rare deep throw that Iowa does, one, and not taking what the defense gives him to,

it's over. Michigan's going to win this one easy. The other thing is Hank hasn't thrown an interception. He's thrown a couple turnover worthy balls against three. northern Illinois. There was a ball that is again opposite sideline, wasn't a smart read. Ball ended up getting popped out by Tony Diaz. The second one, Iowa State, he went to throw a dump down throw to the tight end and the defensive end from Iowa State, Caden Crawford, actually a former Hawkeye, got his hand up, knocked it down at the line. And if it wasn't knocked down at the line, that may very well have been a pick six. So if the turnovers catch up to him, you know, just by odds, right?

If he throws one or if he's continuing to miss, because he has to make those makeables to beat a defense like this. Even if Michigan struggles offensively, I mean, if you're not making those makeables, if you're not taking what the defense gives you, I just don't see how I win this game. I think both of you guys know, like, my favorite angle is trying to find the truth between narrative and reality, right?

So if I'm giving you heavy Michigan narrative, narrative, Elliot. I look at Hank Brown and would I, first off, just quick, dancer, would I be wrong to say, like, what I felt like coming out of the Iowa offseason was you had a quarterback battle and neither quarterback looked particularly good, right? Um, yes and no. Okay. So a little bit more complicated. Yeah, some more nuanced to it. Okay. But we go from that. Obviously, Hank Brown has thought of very highly right now because of the start that he's had to the year. What's interesting to me, it's not just his first real road test. It's his first row test period. Right. And also, this blew my mind. It was a Michigan

fan on a message board posted this and it's gone kind of viral. But he's never been sacked before and he's only been hit twice was stats that were showing up. Right. So I'm wondering is that when you see him in the pocket or what you've seen so far this year. year. Is this a situation where he hasn't faced the kind of pressure that Michigan could potentially create? And, you know, what does that mean? Or, you know, if they are able to sack him, what that does to his game, or if you've seen him just really great with his pocket awareness and ability to read what's coming at him and get the ball out quickly? So there are a couple things to that. I would say, so meaningful snaps against Indiana last year.

I think Indiana was really in a pre-vent sort of situation just because like backup quarterback, we're nowhere more talented. So there he probably would have faced a little bit more pressure, but he didn't because of the circumstances. The only real time that I've seen him handle pressure is against an Iowa state where that defense, that defense is aggressive. And I think that is that narrow win is something that probably really helped prepare this team for this game, even though it was at home, even though it wasn't in a hundred.

hostile environment. You're getting at least a glimpse of what it could be like to handle pressure. And one thing Hank has done much better than I expected him to is to stand in the pocket and throw the ball and take a shot or two and not fall away, not let the feet get happy, the footwork get off at the same time. He doesn't do it consistently. It does peek through from time to time where I think maybe sometimes he's leaning on hoping to get a pass interference call down the field and he fades away and he throws the ball in a in a spot where his receiver might have a chance to get it, but it's it's just it's not it's not accurate. It floats like it could be an interception.

So even if he doesn't get sacked, that is probably Michigan's best bet. get him on his back foot, make him elevate the ball, and get that pressure. Because he's faced some pressure, but probably not the pressure that Michigan, like with four and five-star guys. And that's a great question. What's his mobility, yeah. So in 24, Iowa had Brendan Sullivan, that Northwestern transfer ended up taking the place of Cape McNamara later on in the year.

and that's a trigger name. I was like, yeah, you see his boat. Okay, yeah, yeah. But it's it's more that than what folks saw from Mark Grinowski, where he can just take it through the A-Gap, break a tackle, and take off. That's not Hank Brown. It's if he recognizes the opportunity to take off,

say it's third and five, and he's got a lane, he's going to get it. But at the same time, I wouldn't call him dual three. I wouldn't call him, you know, I wouldn't call him a statue. He's probably, he's quick at yoke. It's not a good dual threat name. Let's be honest.

No, it's not. He's good in the open field. But at the same time, too, something for Michigan fans to know is when he took off a couple times against Iowa State, that ball came out. Now, he landed on it both times, but that is something to know and something that I'm sure that they're talking about, punch that ball out. We've had that problem. We're about to say we're very familiar.

with a quarterback problem. I guess my question, my next question would be from a matchup standpoint. So where do you see Iowa's biggest mismatch or vulnerability when it comes to playing against this Michigan team, whether it be on offense or defense? I know we haven't really got into the defense yet, but on offense or defense.

And then where do you see their advantage? Um, for, sorry, for Michigan or for Iowa or both? Where's Iowa's biggest vulnerability? Yeah. Vulnerability. Yeah. Where Michigan could have an advantage. Offensively, it's probably, it's probably right tackle.

Um, just because Dotsler, he's got experience, but he also kind of got worked by, you guys know the name Jack Campbell. His younger brother, Drew Campbell, is a defensive end who broke through the rotation this year. He's probably in that second unit. Drew Campbell kind of gave him the work at kids. You guys get siblings, man. I know.

Jack DeGine coming down the pipe. Yeah. But that's one spot that I would say I'd probably be more nervous about. I'm less nervous about Center just because you can kind of cover up some of the issues at Center with how good Cade Peeper and Leighton Jones are at those guard spots. I haven't been, say, against the Iowa State. or in the Iowa State game, Iowa's run game really did not get going. And there's three things that I think about as to why, two more than anything. But Reese Vander Z and DJ Banami did not block well in that game,

whiffed on some blocks to the outside. And then Kamari Moulton didn't take cutback lanes that were available to him. And I was on another couple other podcasts to talk about this game and the concern for some of these folks you guys cover in Michigan is oh is kamarie bolton going to be available well he is but in the one more test that i was had this season against iowa state he didn't really look like himself until the fourth quarter i will only ran for 93 yards on the ground in that game um so i think that i will run the ball better because i think they're You know, I was really good at correcting mistakes as the season progresses.

That's one of those exemplary things regarding why Kirk Farrants is as good as a coach as he is. 100%. And I think it will be better. Do I think it will be perfect? Do I think I was going to rush for 200 yards? No. But that is probably, I would say I'm more concerned about that than the average person covering the team. Regarding the other side of the-

Go ahead. Sorry. Other side of the ball. That was defensive line is very green. Jose Epinessa. You guys, family, right? Another brother. Ridiculous.

He's in his second year, has only registered three tackles in three games, no sex. Kenneth Maryweather, other defensive end, no sex. Will Hubert and Luke Gaffney, two walk-ons at the defensive tackle spot in the rotation. Will Hubert starting next to Bryce Hawthorne. Bryce Hawthorne is legit, but the rest of this defensive line, group group campbell's shown some good things kamari brown and transferred from elon showing some good things but not really any consistent pressure you and i's quarterback had a lot of time last week um jackson

daily transferred from arkansas state he also got beat up he got beat the hell up in the second half but he was getting the ball out so i the defensive line is is is the weak spot for this group that is and at the same time too, Zach Lutmer, who should be Iowa's best defensive player, hasn't been very good this year. Been overrunning, tackles, not taking great angles,

things like that too. So I, if he is in a position to, you know, help out on a JJ Buchanan, you know, he's dealing with an injury is what the problem is. So that's,

those are the things that come to mind at least initially. I mean, I just wrote a stock up, stock down article. And I never would have thought in a million years that Zach Lutmer would find himself in the stock down. But that's that's where he and Josea Vanessa was in there too at this point. So they've got their weaknesses. It's a Phil Parker defense, but there's opportunities to take advantage. It's funny. We're doing a Michigan, Iowa game. And it took us 15 minutes to get to the defense. Never thought we get. But this is why I wanted to have you on, though, because I think for a lot of Michigan fan perspectives.

Look, I've respected Iowa running backs for a long time. They always seem to have a dude, right? Like, guys, we've probably been envious of having. And there's dudes like going back to Karen Higden. We've recruited similar tight backs too, right? But specifically on the defensive side of the ball, you just touched on something. You know my respect for Phil Parker and everybody should have it

if they don't do the defensive legend for a reason. But when you think about your typical Iowa defense, you just touched on it. It's not the experience level that you're probably used to seeing. And if you would have told me, hey, what's Iowa good at? And I knew absolutely nothing. I would have predicted probably a couple strong defensive ends in a really good linebacker core, right?

So Phil Parker, again, is Phil Parker. And he's going to find, get the best out of the defense. But with what you've touched on, what kind of things are going to look different, potentially, or what are they doing to maybe offset where they haven't had those strengths in the past? if that makes sense. Yeah. Well, you mentioned linebacker.

I've already mentioned Jack Campbell once, but here we go. Cam Buffington is going to be in that conversation with Jack Campbell, Jay Higgins, Josie Jewel. Three games in, and two of those games are N-IU and UNI, but he had 15 tackles against Iowa State. Top 10 in tackles after that game. His ability to read and react, his open field speed, his strength, his athleticism is right up there with a Jack Campbell.

came up from you guys you guys have eight man football in michigan yeah came up from i wish came up from he's in houston so yeah oh gotcha okay there you go um came up from eight man and was throwing down dunks in basketball was a state champion in long jump um looked like i mean in eight man there are guys who look like grown men and there are guys who look like 12 year olds cam buffing is one of the grown men by far he would like if he had like if he had had the ball in his hands and had to run over a 12-year-old kid looking kid, he probably would have killed him, like that type of size and strength. And Cam has been cooking for two or three years.

It's like Iowa likes to say, been developing, been learning what it means to be a Mike Lineback for the Hawkeyes. Wasn't quite ready yet last year. Last year was kind of a gap year. Jaden Harrell started the year, got hurt. Jaden Montgomery took over, who's now at Will. And Cam, Cam is really good. guys like if if there is a hope for iowa i think it's him as a spy on bryce underwood for how

well he's been running the ball um and i was off that or excuse me defense is designed that way with the two gap scheme right up front it's designed to funnel tackles to the linebackers particularly the mike linebacker and where cam has struggled would be some past cover's situations he's a third year guy so you're still figuring some things out but in the run game like he is elite elite um the other thing too is they just got tyler brown back um who was out from partway through camp all the way till uh third week transferred from james madison had 80 tackles last year for a college football playoff team he's going to be really helpful and run support um and then deshaun leet has taken that jump that you want to see from a for or from a senior db your senior

corner a t j hall michael ojumudia jramari harris got guys that come to mind that have taken that jump as a fifth year guy that might end up NFL. He's a little undersized. But then the other side of the ball, Jalen Watson is the young green corner who has shown some really encouraging things, but he is still young. So so much of this defense still has to prove it. Only three starters from last year returned. So a lot of young guys, not much experience.

Yeah. No sacks. No sacks from the defensive line. The only sack that returned from last year was Zach Blutmer. in the end one. Wow. Yeah, like I said, very uncharacteristic for typical experience, Iowa. Yeah.

Since we're on the defense, one thing that I know Jason Beck has started to do, he talked about it in the press conference this week about outside run being an issue, not really getting going, so they may go a little more north and south. But last game, we got our receivers on the perimeter, right? You saw a lot of swing outs where Andrew Marsh, Celessie Moa, starting to get some reps. So with them being such a young, I don't want to call them inexperienced because they do have some games on their belt, but just being a younger defense, how do you feel like you guys or that defense will do against plays in space? Because to me, just kind of looking at some of the people that's reviewed, some of you guys is,

I think it was just the Iowa State game, right? One of the things that was pointed out was that maybe you guys may have, if there's a weakness in a field parker's defense, it's to attack them in space because of like what you just said, the youth and maybe the inexperience. That and just Iowa's going to play zone defense, right? So there's going to be gaps. Yeah, you know, Deshaun Lee has shown himself to be a very good open field tackler at corner. And then, you know, I mentioned the injury to Zach Lutmer. that really hurts Iowa's ability to tackle in space because his ability, again, he's a read and react guy, not the size of a Cam Buffington, right, because he's playing safety, but a sure tackler and he'd take away, if he's not 100%, that's taken away one of Iowa's best weapons.

And in some of those plays that Iowa State made in space, Lutmer was right there to make the tackle and he missed it. And again, I think that's part of injury. So if they're going to attack the side of Jalen Watson, I'd be a little bit more concerned than that of Deshaun Lee. Montgomery is pretty good in React, too. That was one of his strengths were over Harold once he stepped into that spot last year. But Montgomery is so, he's a short king. I'm 5'9 and we are eye to eye. So that's a difficulty in recognizing plays from the last.

linebacker spot just because you've got a bunch of six three, six four guys who are in front of you, you know? So, yeah, I would say if there was maybe a weakness that I would think of in the past game off the top of my head, that could be one for sure. And I know that's going to be easier for Bryce Underwood because, man, his ability to read post snap and even pre-snap has been atrocious from what I've seen. Getting a little bit better, but the zone, I think. And see, the thing that, and I don't want to go on to, I know we had time,

but the thing about zone teams is if they can't pressure, you have all day to find a hole in the zone. Where they usually get quarterbacks is you don't have enough time to dissect where the hole is. And so we get the sack. So that chess match, if that defense align gives him an extra second or two to find somebody sitting in the zone, I think price will be fine based on what we saw last week. Right? Because U-TEP started on a man approach, and then once they started to see them make throws towards the second half, they loosened up and started shit in the zone. So we'll just have to see. But Trevor, your question now.

It would help if I wasn't on mute. There we go. No, I was laughing because of the short king thing. Anybody, whoever asks me like, oh, what's it like in the press box? I'm like, we're all short. That's like, right? Like, that's the funniest thing as you go in. Like every beat writer, like if there's a tall beat writer, it's like, whoa. He's a giant. No, the defense thing. I mean, that's Phil Parker's staple, right? Is like the pressure in the zone defense works because they're well coached.

Everybody does their job. They know where they're supposed to be, right? So I'm with you. That's going to be an interesting, maybe potential difference, right? But I wanted to touch on, because again, it's Michigan, Iowa. And a couple people have asked, special teams. Right. Well, no, I mean, we have been really pleased with Cam Brown as our punter this year. Michigan's punting hasn't been good the last couple of years. The kicker we just saw Bikowsky got a 49-yarder, which was his career long, not because he doesn't have leg, but just hasn't had a lot of long attempts, had a good kick. It feels like special teams could matter a lot in this game. And obviously, you know, Michigan and Kerry Coombs has taken some steps this year. with kicking, punting in, and the returns as well.

Iowa's been a, I mean, your special teams was your offense for a little bit there, right? To be fair. But your longtime coach left too, right? So what's Iowa special team? Again, when I'm thinking about what Iowa has been for three decades or whatever, we've talked about some of the defensive differences, some of the offensive differences, is this still in Iowa special teams or is there some unforeseen weaknesses there that we might not be used to.

Well, it wasn't just Lovar Woods, who left for Michigan State. Hunter left for Michigan State along with him. I wasn't going to say where he went, but that's fine. Sorry. I'm joking. Michigan, or sorry, almost said it again just to trigger him. I'm messing with. I don't care.

It's fine. Drew Stevens left for the NFL. Caden Weegean leaves for the NFL. Yeah. Long snapper was a year rental post Luke Elkin. He's graduate. waited. And so it's not just Chris Polizzi taken over and you still got guys who are great or what have you. It was a complete overhaul. Now, if there was a weakness, I'd probably say

long snapper. I ex-speelt is, I think he's from the Des Moines area, Van Meter, if I'm remembering correctly, but had the snap to the, it was the final snap of the game when they went to kick the ball to beat Iowa State. And Tanner Philpott. who is Iowa's holder, transfer from Simpson College, again in the Des Moines area, Indianola. What's his name? Tanner Philpott. That's an Iowa football player. Had to reach back.

Reach back here. Get it. Put it down for Caden Burr to kick it. So if there's a weak spot, I would probably say long snapper at this point. But Iowa's got Caden Burr at kicker, who I just mentioned, missed his first PAT, wide right, missed his first field goal, 52-yard field goal. Since then, he's been perfect on field goals, and he had one PAT get blocked against U&I on their eight PAT attempts. So it's just a fluke, I think. Yeah.

Grew up a diehard Iowa fan. He's from Bettendorf, the Quad Cities area, and got that opportunity as Sighawk. Pretty damn cool story. Still, he actually beat out. Iowa went out and got a transfer kicker from North Dakota State who was an all-American, Eli Ozick, and Boer beat him out. beat him out, beat him for the job. So that's an interesting story in and of itself. And then you moved to punter.

I mentioned Phil Pott, who was serving as the holder. He was transferred from Simpson and a D3 All-American. And a lot of us expected him to be the punter this year. But no, Iowa goes out and gets another Aussie. This is the third Aussie to come over and fill the void, Boston Everett. And Boston's been awesome. I was not expecting this at all. the one thing that Kirk has said is I think he might just be a little naive and that naivity is helping him out in terms of not understanding how big this is in America.

Like he's in front of 70,000 people, never played 11 on 11 American football before doing it in front of 70,000 people in Kinnick Stadium, not one time other than in practice, right? And he has 13 punts so far this year, nine of them downed inside the 20. he's got a punt along of 58 yards his ability to just make it roll, put it in a spot where the returner is just, you know, yelling Peter, Peter, Peter, get away, get the hell away. And then the ball continues to roll has just been, I think he might have won the Iowa State game for Iowa

because they were just playing that field game position, or a field position game, rather. And I just did not expect either of these guys to be as consistent and as good as they have been, and they've been both. So if there is a weakness, I would maybe long snapper, maybe the 110,000 gets in his head and something goes awry. Or punt return has been a really weird situation this year.

I think everybody expected Zach Lutmer to be the guy, and now with the injury, they just don't want to put him back there. I mean, like the Cooper DeGine comps came flying out. out of spring and out of fall ball for Lutmer, and he just hasn't been that because of the injury. That's a lofty comp. I know it. Don't I know it?

Are you still upset about getting robbed on that return, by the way? Yes. Yeah, brutal. The worst calls ever. Awful. But at that punt return, and by the way, I think I may have told you this last time, Trevor, I went to the same high school as Cooper. Like, I saw him grow up.

You tell me every time we talk. Okay. I'm just kidding. I didn't know, so I'm glad you're going. There you go, Darn. There you go. You know, like, the wallet photos. It's like him and Cooper.

Right. So, like, for you, Darnell, his dad was, like, my middle school track football basketball coach. No way. All that kind of stuff. So, and I know Jack's decently well because of that, too. So I'm, like, no, like, my buddy, Sean Bach, who's with 24-7, whenever I say that to somebody and he's around, he goes, wait, wait, did you go to high school

Cooper, did you? No, I didn't. No. Oh, it's the, it's the, it's the, uh, Matt Stafford and Kerrshall. Yeah. Anyway, so punt return. Sorry. It's okay.

It's been a really, it's been a really weird start to the year in terms of per return. Reese van der Zee back there, ex-receiver. Don't see that very often. Yeah. I don't think he did it much, if at all, in high school either. Uh, because he played quarterback his senior year and the year prior to that, Zach Lutmer was there.

Um, and they were high school. teammates. So Lutmer was returning punts, but or somebody else was. But it's more of a occurrence thing of he's not going to make a mistake. And if he'll be smart when he bear catches the ball. And even against Iowa State, he had a couple returns of 10, 15 yards. So he's maybe a little bit more explosive on that front than one would expect from an ex-receiver. Then there's Evan James who had a punt return, 77-yard punt return against Northern Illinois for a touchdown in week one and he had the second half returns had the second half was going to have the second half against iowa state tell you about that a second and then had all the punt returns

against northern iowa he is more of your classic slot receiver speed make a cut and go kind of returner that feels like oh that's the obvious choice but then against iowa state there was a ball that dropped in front of him that he probably should have fair caught and he's used to And he's yelling, Peter, Peter, Peter, poison, poison, whatever your call is, which of course, we all know means get the hell away, get the hell out of there. And he didn't get the hell out of there. He just stood in front of the ball and backpedaled, backpedaled, backpedaled, backpedal. And it very easily could have been touched or been a turnover.

Iowa State actually grabbed him and tried to throw him into the ball, which is a personal foul and didn't get called. And then same dude, same dude who grabbed him was hitting the back of his helmet while he was trying to get up. That didn't get called either. So Evan and Brevindal actually came running in and grabbed the ball in what looked like Iowa might have touched it in that scenario. So just a complete whiff by officials. But also, you're telling other people to get the hell out of there. Get the hell out of there. So he hasn't really, he hasn't, nobody's won the job. Say that. So it'll be one of those two that run out there against Michigan. If I had to guess, Reese Vanders.

A quick shout out to Iowa native Alahasan Darbo, who went to the same elementary school as Amara Darbo, you would imagine. I would expect that as. Yeah. Speaking of siblings in Iowa, there you go. Yeah. Darbo gets terrible internet service, by the way, because he must be in one of the more corn parts of Iowa. I'm not sure. It's awful.

Yeah. But, um, sorry. Let's just roast. Let's just roast, let's just rose barbo for a while. Can we do that? In Iowa by proxy. Okay, guys. I saw that play, and I thought it was wild when they like literally grabbed him.

I say, I'm going to have to look that up. It was like yanking Kim towards the ball. I'm like, that can't be legal. Two officials right there. No call. What? That was a crazy. Huh?

It was crazy. We're at 35, so why don't we put a bow on it? again, I like the reason I want, thank you for coming on first off. But the reason I wanted to have you on is you always have a very reasonable, realistic view on a lot of stuff. And Twitter's not real life. And the Michigan, Iowa interactions this week have been hilarious to me. So tell me where you're at as far as what you think. You know, I'm not going to hold you anything here, but just what you think this game could look like if you have a prediction or any type of score or stuff, what you think you're going to see in this game.

Yeah. You know, I will be a slug fest. I just, I think what this one comes down to is jimmies and Joe's, and Michigan has the jimmies and the Joe's. And Iowa has some gyms, I guess. Not the Joe's too. They've got some guys, right? A lot of that has been through development.

A lot of that has been through the portal. I think the talent discrepancy is where this gets decided. Somebody makes a play that an Iowa player hasn't seen, whether it's a pass rusher or a safety, a DB, what have you. And I think it's close, but right now I believe in our preview and prediction that's up on Hawkeye Insider,

I believe I picked Michigan 1713. It's just not a scenario where I think Hank Brown is in a position to take full advantage of the makeables. It's the first real legitimate road snaps. It's the pressure. or like he's never taken a sack. Like it's just like there's too many things in Michigan's favor in my mind to pick Iowa here. Now, is there a scenario where they make a play at the end of the game and something crazy happens?

Absolutely. That's why I picked it close. I don't want any more crazy end-of-play games. Dog, I've been on this beat for too long. Unless I get an extra second, I don't want no crazy. Yeah. Yeah. So I just, this is a scenario where I think that I've seen it happen too frequently where the talent discrepancy just is the thing that decides it for Iowa. That's why they've struggled to win against ranked opponents until they beat Vanderbilt in that in that bowl game this last year.

So I have Michigan in a low scoring game, 1713. What about you, Darno? I've been going back and forth on this. That Vegas line just sniffs that this is going to be a cover for Iowa. I don't think Michigan covers the spread. I think it's up to six. Sharp's better down in four. I think it's more of a three-to-four-point game.

And I'm with Elliot. I got it 2017. Maybe it's 2010 going into the fourth. Iowa scores and that Michigan has come up with a stop. but I just think I think people put it in the chat like Michigan is going to have to come out and express their will on a defense line that's not as experienced right and so we're going to get the chance to see this early because I do think that Phil Parker is up there if he's not top five he's definitely top 10 defense he's top five yeah he's going to give Bryce some things that Bryce has to think about kind of like a brick minerals and so he's going to have to keep the ball safe while running it. I think you're going to see a lot more of them trying to run and establish it. And the other way you can run the ball on this Iowa team is you're going to have to be,

you're going to have to outfiscal. And it goes to what Elliott just said. Your Joe's and jimmies are going to have to show up against their players. We've looked lethargic and two of the three games. I didn't think that we look lethargic against Oklahoma. So I'm worried about a playing down type thing. is this is going to be a big game. You remember Trevor, the last stripe out we had at Michigan Stadium was USC.

That game was a back and forth, wacky game. The whole year sucked. Yeah, I just think it's going to be similar. So I have a 2017. It's not true. With Michigan winning but not cover. I'm on the heavy Michigan optimism side. I've noticed with this.

My concerns are, Michigan struggle with running the ball, which we never talk about in recent years, right? Even in the more era with the struggles that were there, they could still run the ball. He just brought up Mowlings, putting the team on his back against USC, right? It's been offensive linemen getting to the second level. So with Iowa, when you talk about what you talked about when it comes at linebacker, if he's playing free, his ability to impact the run game is going to be high. And that scares me.

I like the progression we've seen from Bryce, but I think turnover battle is going to matter. And what were you going to say? I'm sorry. I don't mean to interrupt. No. One thing that I had heard is right tackle for Michigan got hurt. You guys are playing a little bit of musical chairs up front too, right?

Yeah. And it's been a weird thing and there's been some comments about it. So since you, Brigh wasn't going to bring it up, but not like you did anything wrong with the weird. Sorry. No, no, no. I wasn't going to bring up the weird stuff. So you've actually done a great.

great thing for me. I appreciate it. There's nothing weird with Andrew Spratt, guys. There's nothing weird. He is dealing with an injury. It was just he had been cleared and it looked like he was going to play and then come Friday, now he can't. And that just kind of caught people off guard. He's been listed as questionable on the initial report, which is a positive sign because Whittingham basically was like, yeah, we could get him back quickly or it could be weeks. We don't know like this. So fortunately, they've left the door open with some vagueness and there's nothing fans love more than filling that void with I mean darn out without saying it we've heard some pretty crazy conspiracies about what's wrong yeah what's wrong with no uh but yeah to your point what they did last week in response is evan link who was the left tackle last year and had been playing left guard moved to left tackle and Blake Frazier who had been playing left tackle moved to right tackle to replace Sprague. Surprisingly, it worked well.

They both had really, really good games, but like not something that had been done during the season or practice. So it was kind of interesting. Michigan's had some vulnerabilities at Guard this year. So it was kind of an interesting answer. So yeah, if Sprag's healthy, I don't know if that means Frazier goes back to left tackle and link goes back left guard i don't know how creative they're going to get yet i haven't heard yet from practice what they're practicing but yeah it it's kind of an interesting situation with elan

and they've been rotating guards all year too with um brady norton and nathan a phobia so that that is an interesting piece of it you know for the run game i i like what they are going to be able to do in pass pro because they have been better and iowa doesn't have or may not have the typical strength that defensive end, but I am concerned about next level running ball. But anyway, I'm glad you brought that up. Thank you. Yeah, for me, it's turnovers because if, you know, Bryce can hug the ball like he was doing on that last U-TEP run and not reaching out and making it vulnerable.

And if he can have only one turnover worthy play in the last two games versus five against Western, right, if Michigan can limit turnovers, I think this defense, to your point with Hank, in the road environment and facing some pressure. sure, I think Jay Hill is going to be hunting for a turnover. So if Iowa wins the turnover battle, whether it's one or two, and they have an opportunity to run the ball and limit possessions and run some clock, then, yeah, I think we are getting into one of those sloppy games. But right now, I'm confident in Michigan's offense having a better game,

not turning it over. And I see it like Michigan, it's a race to 20, and I think Michigan gets over 20. That's where I'm at. But how do we get wings? Oh, yeah. For those that, so I made a bet if Michigan scored 50 points against Utah, I would eat hot wings on the podcast yesterday or other show Michigan Weekly. Sure.

No, no, they, they top 50. Oh, they did? Oh, I thought it was 4517 for a lot of. No, 28 points in the fourth quarter. And then Tommy Carr to the corner, solicimo, hot wings. So both myself and Nick were kind of. coming off illnesses yesterday and we're like dude I can't do the way so we welched a little bit

so now if Michigan covers against Iowa not only do we have to eat wings but we have to get like Reaper whatever the hottest wings possible are during the show so I've been betting against my own

interest all week because I've had Michigan covering but guess why I'm in the stadium I'm going to be hoping that we cover now because I mean I had to eat wings by myself. Yeah. Off camera.

So, look, I love eating wings. And even the hot ones, I mean, I'm going to be sweating and it's going to be gross. That'll be an audio show to listen to for sure. It's, it's, it's the later regret that I'm worried about. Yeah. So I'm 40 and that's going to make me suffer very badly. So Ripstar, to answer your question, Michigan, right now the line is sitting at five and a half. Is it five and a half now?

Yeah. So Michigan will have to. win by six in order for them to have to give them. So it had to be a 2014, 21, 15, 21, 27 type game. Yeah. Depending on when you get there, Elliot, if you want, I can send you the information. I won't be there, but Dernel and Justin, everybody else, if you want to swing by, Blue by 90 Tailgate and say hi. Yeah.

I'll have you stop by. That'd be great. Sorry, I won't be able to see it. But thank you for coming on. Seriously, it was good to see it. Absolutely. Like I said, whenever I do the. kind of preview shows you've always been one of my favorite cross rival you're just you're really

knowledgeable about the team and you and you give straight um information and i needed somebody to talk me down from how excited the iowa fans have been this week so thank you that's disgusting rip star i'm not putting that up um so uh we do have like i said an iowa native in here But in all seriousness, if you're a 24-7 sub or, you know, if you're looking for Iowa information, follow Elliot on Twitter. He said he's fantastic, great, especially basketball coverage too, right? Like, you're a great follow if you're looking for reliable information. Your Twitter handles just your name, right?

Yep, yep. First and last name. Perfect. I don't think I have anything else. Are you good? You know, I'm going to have to do a shameless quick plug. No, it's full of shit. Guys, make sure you get over to the Blueby-90 webs.

site that promo code rise is still active i would definitely i told you guys on all 22 show i would definitely take advantage of this before it is no longer offered trevor and justin has some pretty sweet things that they have lined up for you guys and you will have to be a member to be able to take part in it so i would go ahead and use that code it's a free 30 days if you like us it's nine dollars a month 90 dollars for the year saved you two months um but we're really building up that that community. Trevor is no longer going to be there this weekend. So you know, Trevor is going to have the game chat going. That thing gets up to like three, four hundred entries during game. So make sure you guys are totally reasonable takes live game.

Oh, no, I don't be reasonable. Do doom and gloom happy. It's like an emotion. Actually, I will say, and a lot of people commented, this was one of the best live game threads I've seen. Like, only one person said we should fire the OEC during the game. Okay. It was pretty reasonable. compared to most, you know, pitchfork, whatever. So, promo right now for Club 90 subscribers that's over there as well. Actually, you can get half off the Dinard Robinson autograph signing that we'll have over at Hopcat on Friday. So if you're interested in meeting Dernard, getting a signature, Blue by 90 members, if you go to the Club 90 message board, the promo is on there for you to get half off to come hang out with us in Dynard on Friday.

So, all right, that'll do it for us, guys. We will be back tomorrow, another episode of Rise to the Victors. OG Blue By 90 show with Joel and Justin and myself this time. We just recorded it, so I'm not sure if it's up already, but we'll be up shortly. And then Dennis will be live again tomorrow as well with his show on Friday. So make sure you're liking, subscribing, notification bells so you know when we go live. Elliot, thank you again for joining us and for the rest of you. We'll see tomorrow on Rise to the Victors.

Thanks for joining us here with Blue by 90. Go boom.