Blue By Ninety - Some Michigan Legends Are Playing Their Last Game in The Big House

Episode Date: November 21, 2024

Justin and Tanner talk Michigan's final home game in 2024.

All right. Welcome back to Blue by 90. I'm Justin joined by Tanner today. It is November 20th and we've got a marquee matchup coming to Ann Arbor this weekend. The Northwestern Wildcats. four and six uh versus the five and five michigan wolverines which is honestly just tough tough to say out loud if i'm being honest yeah hey look i've said this you know whenever if i'm talking to somebody at work and you know it comes up that i'm a michigan fan uh you know they're like oh you know tough tough year and look if you go back to august 2023 you know we're excited about last season right you know it's kind of the final the last dance if you will and they're like hey you know your team's gonna go 15 and 0 but the next year it's not gonna be as much fun well i take that bet every every time that's a damn good bet i mean there are there aren't that many teams that have gone 15 and 0 so, there's only a handful.

So for Michigan to do that last year, in the last year, the college football playoff. Also, I just want to say, is Michigan cursed by the video game? True. You know, Jim Harbaugh comes a year or two after the game comes out, and, you know, they're 10-win consistently for the most part, and then they go on their run the last three years, and then the game comes back and they stink again.

So it's very, very true. that might be the issue honestly um but uh i don't know i mean to be honest just this weekend alone i think have you been less excited for a game than this one um last time you were i mean covid obviously but like, you know, that doesn't really count. Even 2019, though, like, I know, you know, it wasn't an amazing year, but I felt still excited for games at that time. I, unfortunately, just, like, I don't know. Yeah, I mean, I still love it. You know, we're going to be out there tailgating. I know you're not going to be able to join, but we're going to be out at the Chrysler lot, blue lot on Saturday morning, getting set up with the tailgate.

So like, I'm, I'm excited. I'm thinking about maybe trying to go to the game. We'll see him in his senior day. And there's a lot of guys that have attributed to massive moments in this program's history over the last, you know, two or three seasons that are going to be celebrating their last time in the big house. And, you know, I know there's just, as I'm saying, this is just a guy that comes to mind is Donovan Edwards, you know, hasn't had the last, you know, two seasons of

football that he's wanted to have, but I'll tell you what, he's going to go down as somebody who made a lot of important plays for Michigan football. So I want to be there to celebrate those guys, him, you know, Bredesen, you Bredesen you know Davis Warren uh you and then obviously a bunch of uh juniors that are probably not coming back to in Kenneth Grant Mason Graham Colston Loveland Will Johnson um I mean you think about it like some of these guys that have been you know maligned by the fan base this year like Makari Page Makari Page uh was an extremely vital part of the last couple of Michigan teams. So I want to go – I think I'm talking myself into going to the game now. I mean, it's probably going to be cold, but whatever.

I want to go and celebrate these guys that have made huge plays. Think about Quinton Johnson. Think about the plays he made last year. So I want to go and celebrate these these guys you know miles hitton is a guy that was a part of a national championship team and stepped in in big moments so you know that's the way that i'm looking at this one is yeah it's been great thank you for bringing the vibes back up i caleb what i'm sure he's gonna yell at me uh for you know starting the pot off with uh with bad vibes um but uh you know it's it's tough out here you know, starting the pot off with bad vibes. But, you know, it's tough out here.

You know, when you have to get yourself up for, you know, a 5-5 team every week, it's tough. But I like your outlook here. I like your perspective. And you know what? Like, we are, you know, however many days away from Ohio State. And, you know, you never know what's going to happen in that game. You never know.

I don't think it's going to go very well for us, but you just never know. So I, you know, I'm hoping as much as like, yeah, you got to go beat Northwestern. I'm really hoping that we're spending most of our time prepping for Ohio state right now. Absolutely. And I mean, Northwestern is a team that multiple times this year has scored, you know, single digits. If you look at how they've performed this year, it's very interesting. Like they beat Miami, Ohio 13 to 6 in week one. You know, they lose to Washington and they score five points. They lose to Wisconsin and they score three points. You know, they lose to Washington and they score five points. They lose to Wisconsin and they score three points.

You know, they keep it somewhat close against Indiana. They only lose by 17. They put up 24. You know, they smoke Maryland. How do they smoke Maryland 37-10? That is a terrible loss for Maryland. Right. And, like, you know, Maryland gets, you know, kind of a late blowout against Oregon.

But, like, that game was 14 to 10 late in the first half against the the number one team in the country for for maryland so yeah northwestern's weird they looked really good the first i don't know 20 minutes of the game against ohio state they had the lead they had fumbled close to the red zone or maybe they were in the red zone and at one point when they put the yardage graphic up it was like 150 to 30 in favor of northwestern over over oh Ohio state. Who's the number two team in the country. So, you know, they're, they're kind of which, okay. I want to, yes, I want, let's,

we can talk more about Northwestern, but why is it that that's how every Ohio state game goes at every single one? Like, I mean, there's like a screenshot of the first quarter where Ohio State is just struggling so bad and a terrible team is leading them and like out, you know, outdoing them just in terms of stats and everything. And then what happens usually is that bad team fucks up like one time, like, you know, throws a pick, fumble, whatever.

They don't score. Two weeks in a row. Yeah whatever they don't score two weeks in a row yeah they don't score on the on you know from the one yard line aka nebraska like these why is it that that's how every ohio state game seems to go yeah i don't know man i mean they're they're fortunate to not be sitting here at six and three um when you or seven and three when you think about ohio state so um yeah man it's it's interesting with how they start they're gonna come through you for that for that comment by the way what that is if nebraska and state had coaches that were worth their you know paycheck you know it might it might be might might be said there were three losses i mean it's just i watched the

games um and yeah credit to ohio state because they pulled them out but james franklin is a moron and this is a good segue because i wanted to talk about that rule is a loser uh a dork not a very good football coach i think he's probably closer to what he was with the carolina panthers than what he did at baylor or which i the funny thing is is two years ago i was was like, I like Matt rule. I think I was like, that's a good hire for Nebraska. I, you know, he seems to be like a guy's guy type of, you know, person. And I was like, this is, you know, Nebraska is going to be good.

Then they get Ryola. I'm like, okay, this team is like, Nebraska is on the up and up. and then i think it's like he is like the excuse maker of all excuse makers like it feels if i was a nebraska fan i'd feel like okay is this you know it's not as bad as scott frost but it it is you know it feels similar it's going down that path well i you know and you always hear like oh you're gonna coach the the stink off of them right referring to the previous regime i think matt roll is just continuing to coach stinky i i think that's it's like it's not a like he needs to go out there and be like no excuses we need to be better like you know we need to to to get off of that train but instead it seems like

he keeps making excuses he did i did see from his presser on monday that he did say there's there's you know we're not cursed blah blah blah but then he goes and makes this comment i'm going to read it verbatim so no no interpretation needed so he's talking about one of his players on defense, Deshaun Singleton. And he last year, college football rule, if you play in four games or less, you can redshirt. If you play in more than four games, you cannot redshirt. So he played in four games last year. Their fifth game was against Michigan.

He gets hurt on the first play of the game. So I'm going to read what Matt Rule says, and then we're going to talk about how ridiculous this comment is obviously everything that happened against michigan last year seems like there's some cloak of you know whatever he got cracked on a run play did they know it was a run play is that game going to count in a couple of years i thought he shouldn't get penalized for one play in a game that's in my mind is not even a real game but the n the NCAA disagreed. So first off, Matt, if you go back and watch the film,

Michigan does know that it's a run play because they're on offense and they called the fucking play. They were on offense. They did run the play. It was a read option, and he gets cracked back on by Roman Wilson, who is $1 buck 80 soaking wet. Sorry. Why are you bringing this up now?

It's crazy to me that, that like, I don't know if you want to be in the spotlight. You know, one thing, if you want to say like, yeah, I'm fighting for my guys or something like that. Like we know how those comments have come off from our own head coach lately. But, like, to still be bringing that up in the year 2024 when your team is having plenty of its own issues is crazy to me. Do you know what Matt Rule's record is with five wins

trying to get to a bowl game in the last two seasons? What is it? It's 0-8. That's crazy. They started 5-3 last year, it's 0-8 that's crazy they started five and three last year finished five and seven this year it started five and one they're five and five with with bad losses mixed in there and they've got two more games against wisconsin and iowa teams that i don't know the last time nebraska beat either yeah that's i, they're looking at – to go 5-1 and possibly not win a bowl game is – that is a bad coaching job. Yeah, that's – he is today's Ron Zook.

If you remember in 2011, I don't know why I know this, Ron Zook's Illinois team started off 6-0. They proceeded to lose seven straight games, including the bowl game. That's what you are. You are Ron Zook, Illinois at this point. And you don't have Juice Williams. No. Unfortunately.

Right. So are Nebraska fans content with just missing bowl games? That's what I want to know. Yeah. I just thought that was ridiculous. I would. Okay. So I have a Nebraska friend who sent me this tweet.

It was there. This is the most insane stat ever most most one score losses in one season is nebraska at eight in 2021 most one score losses in two seasons nebraska 21 and 22 which is 13 three seasons 21 to 23 which is 18 nebraska four seasons 21 to 23, which is 18, Nebraska. Four seasons, 21 to 24, 22 losses in four seasons. Five seasons, 2020 to 2024, 25 losses in five seasons. Six seasons, Nebraska. Seven seasons, Nebraska. Eight seasons, Nebraska.

Nine seasons, Nebraska. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16. nebraska nine seasons nebraska 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 so they have the most losses most one score losses in every from one season to 16 seasons it so from 2009 to 2024 they have the most one score losses in 16 seasons at 55 i mean that is at some point like i don't you i think you're cursed man i think something happened i don't either that or you got the worst in-game coaches of all time yeah well i mean they're you know their their success in the 80s and 90s is predicated upon taking walk-ons and just juicing the shit out of them that's why i like when nebraska fans talk about michigan's uh scandal my brother i've lived in nebraska for 10 years i've heard a lot of

stories about why they were so dominant in the trenches that's it wasn't just corn it wasn't just growing up on you know there definitely is something to that but uh yeah they they weren't just they weren't just breeding walk ons that just happened to become you know six five two ninety but to that point on Nebraska football then we can move on um you know I think well the one thing that has kind of uh you know not allowed them to be as successful as they were in the past is because those types of players that they used to get in the 80s and 90s, now they're going to South and North Dakota State. They're going to Kansas and Kansas State.

They're going out of state, and they're going to play at the FCS level where they're going to play in the, you know, the Big 12. So, yeah, I just – I don't know. Are Nebraska fans content with just not making a bowl game? And I want this to be known. My wife is a nebraska alum i have rooted for nebraska i have nebraska shit in my closet i will not i i will be a dick about this now because i think matt rule is a loser i don't think he's a very good football

coach and i think he just makes a lot of excuses and he likes to whine and this is now how many times he's talked about michigan dude michigan i was at that game last year it was 28 nothing in the in the first half three of those touchdowns like we talked about pre-show one was J.J. McCarthy throwing it up to Roman Wilson who made a ridiculous catch the other was J.J. McCarthy scrambling for a touchdown and the last touchdown before half was J.J. rolling out to his left extending the play and finding Roman in the core of the end zone none of those were based upon oh we knew that Nebraska was running cover too so we did this it was all just Michigan has better football players and better coaches last year they didn't have a single person that could keep up with anybody on Michigan's

team anybody um also that was Peytonton o'leary's uh first touchdown so shout out it was beautiful from jayden denigal from jayden denigal what i heard i listened to that one on the radio i was out of there at that point because it was such an ass kicking matt because your team was bad and you're a bad coach sorry and they owe him 60 million dollars still listen what yeah all right i we don't we don't need to waste more breath on nebraska no no it's far not worthy even though we're five and five i'm fine with that they're still not worthy of us talking about them um okay i want to uh let's touch on ohio state for a second before we uh go back to nebraska which i i really if i being honest, I don't have a whole lot to say about the Michigan Northwestern game this weekend.

I just said Nebraska. But before we talk Northwestern. How much do you respect Northwestern? Yeah, sorry. Sorry. Well, the other, I mean, I guess let me talk about Northwestern for one second. I think that they're cursed as well from firing Pat Fitzgerald. I know that that's like a, I guess it can be a touchy subject and stuff like that.

I feel like he, you know, I feel like he was a very good football coach. He's the perfect guy for Northwestern. You know, there are a lot of things that happen that we probably don't know the full story of, right? But anytime I see the players, like, and other coaches supporting their coach that was just fired, then I feel like that the university was in the wrong. That's just how I feel. You saw it with Biff Poggi this weekend. He's fired, shows up to practice the next day and the team goes crazy over him so um who was it that actually that uh showed up uh to like the walk on the

way to the stadium this weekend as well or this past weekend um there was a coach there was a coach that got fired that like uh right before game, and then he showed up to, like, hugging each player on their walk to the stadium. But anyways, I think that Northwestern, like, they're just going to be a bottom-of-the-barrel Big Ten team. There's no way that that program can be, you know, elite, you know, with – I don't know if they're gonna have nil money they should because they should have a shit ton of rich alums because it's a super smart school um maybe the new stadium the new stadium does look sick i'll say their practice facility on the lake is awesome

the new stadium looks like it's gonna be awesome um yeah i mean i don't know it's tough like you see schools like i mean northwestern had had has had some runs and it's history to be awesome um yeah i mean i don't know it's tough like you see schools like i mean northwestern had had has had some runs and it's history you know you look at the 90s when they went to the rose bowl you look at the the 2010s with pat fitzgerald when they were pretty competitive uh for a number of years and there was a year where um you know they took ohio state down to the wire uh in evanston and you know i think they ended up losing a lot of games that year because of some injuries and things like that but you know they had i mean they had trevor simeon they had clayton thorson um oh there's another there's another quarterback that was pretty good um

so they have had the ability to kind of be like a you know an average to above average team in the big 10 but yeah i i think I'm with you. Like, I think it's just really tough with all the teams that are in the Big Ten now. And it's such an arms race too, right? Like, the big programs are always going to have an advantage, even more so than they have in the history of college football, just because of money. And when you think about – I made this joke about Larry Page,

and I don't like to spend other people's money. But, you know he's a michigan alum founds google and doesn't care about football like there's a story out there that i've seen where he like was at a super bowl party and he had to ask like what the rules of football were and that's all of northwestern's donors which is probably also why like he was able to found google yeah if i like took my love of football towards like anything to be like an entrepreneur and be loaded uh but that would be that would be as fun as uh knowing ball as as much as as much as i would love him to you know really like be a diehard michigan football fan he did a decent thing by founding google and like you know things worked out well for him yeah can you imagine

an il deal deals with google though you just pump up your your players like they just go to the front of like every search that's like oh have you thought of bryce underwood when you searched whatever on google that'd be sweet like it's it just like it automatically came up as like negative brian kelly and lsu articles all day long brian kelly is a clown by the way yeah all over the place with this pot but like do you guys really want us to break down northwestern yeah let's let's talk underwood for a second i mean let's do let's do it man they they lose uh to catholic central uh which is surprising i mean they hadn't lost that early since bryce underwood had been there but yeah there's a lot of i don't know man i don't know

anything dude i just i'm just you know i just i read the message boards like yeah i'm just a guy i read the message boards uh i just you you know, I'm like, oh, hey, that's interesting. Yeah, it seems like it's over and then it's not. I feel like it's a classic just, you know, 18-year-old in this day and age. This is how it seems a lot of recruitments are going. Like, you know, A, a commitment means nothing these days. It means less than it ever has at this point you saw that with Ivan Taylor flipping uh from Michigan to Bama um you know honestly like in the past that would phase me right I just don't think it phases me anymore because

a you can go get guys in the portal right b it does you know michigan's working on flipping certain people so that doesn't faze me but i think that with bryce underwood it feels like you know a there's a ton of numbers being thrown around i would say basically zero of them are accurate um and then i just think that you know he doesn't know what he wants because he's 17 or 18 years old. At that point, I didn't know what I wanted. Right. And when you have all these people in your ear, it's really difficult. So I think that the what I will say is like LSU is doing as good of a job for Michigan as Michigan is doing in recruiting this kid, right? LSU falling apart right before our own eyes is probably the best thing that could happen to this. And it doesn't hurt that while they're falling apart on the field, Brian Kelly's on

the sideline, just cussing kids out. And it's like like i think that there are probably some people saying to bryce underwood or him seeing it himself being like do i really want to be that kid that's on the other end of that you know earful from brian kelly um and then you add in the oc part where it sounds like uh what is it joe sloan right uh joe sloan is you know rumored to take another job uh and if i'm ecu which is the job because he's an ecu alum i'm watching this offensive i don't know man and if i'm lsu like yeah you want bryce underwood but like it's often like i've watched you know i watched a lot of that florida game They look like Michigan with more talent. They have more talent on the offensive side of the ball.

They have actual receivers. They have Jason Taylor's son, who's a really good tight end. Is there any – let's actually, like, you know this, but is there anybody on LSU's offense right now that wouldn't start for Michigan? Probably not. Probably not. I mean, I don't know. Probably not. I mean, and I was going to say maybe Colell,

but, like, he struggled the last three games. I mean, there are guys I think that would, like, rotate in probably, a.k.a. Colell. I think that, like, maybe. Other than Colson Loveland. Colson Loveland. I think that goes without saying. I didn't even think about that because it's so obvious right yeah and then I think that like maybe a prebe right or you know

or a Hinton I don't know would get some run but ultimately to your point like they have a hundred times more uh talent and they are struggling against a florida team who like they're 10 days ago 14 days ago having to put a statement out there that they're keeping their coach because of how bad it's been right they got smoked by texas like it was it was like 49 10 or something and then they come and then they i like dj lagway by the. If we're talking about quarterbacks and, I mean, obviously, you know, his coach is staying. But, I don't know, he made some plays where he stepped up in the pocket, found a receiver.

Like, he's – I really like his game. I think he's going to be a really good college football quarterback. But, yeah, I mean, LSU is sitting at six and four, man. Like, yeah, Michigan is five and five. LSU is sitting at six and four. Michigan has had the opportunity to win some games. um you know we talked about the iu game that one still stings you know the oregon game could have could have kept it a lot closer you never know what happens in a one possession game obviously the the illinois washington games are still kind of tough to

stomach but so you know lsu's sitting there and you know they beat their their best win is either you know old miss is certainly their best win but then when you look at when they played South Carolina South Carolina got screwed in that game if you guys remember all the way back uh early in the season uh they had to pick six get overturned uh for South Carolina and that might have been a game I think that would put them up two scores and that would have been a game that they could have lost. So they could also be sitting at 5-5 here. So it's not been a great year for the Tigers. Right.

I'll say this. I think if LSU was even 10-2 right now, I think that this recruitment is probably over. If they're 10-2 with the offense looking decent, I would say that this this recruitment's probably over but i truly believe that lsu's ineptitude is like is that a word yes ineptitude is a word okay cool i wanted to make sure there um i you guys english on this on this podcast is great i'm sure i'm sure our viewers and listeners knew that that was a word. 100%. I think that they're keeping Michigan in it because it doesn't look like

they don't have their shit together. And I know that Michigan doesn't have their shit together, but right now, like, let's be honest, Tanner. Michigan's not going to fire Sharon right now, but Sharon's going to fire some people. Sharon is probably going to make some changes uh and for like this is kind of crazy to say with charlotte and with michigan being at five and five and but michigan almost has more stability than lsu because brian kelly just like is brian ke LSU is LSU.

They're never afraid to pay that buyout. Never. And so, like, if they struggle in these last few games, like, I don't know. I think that it just seems like there's a ton of uncertainty down there. And as sick as it is, I'm sure, to be the quarterback at lsu when they're really good aka joe burrow like it and jayden daniels i i think it's not that fun to be there when it's when things aren't going well and well yeah and i'm with you man i think you know you when it comes to bryce you know you watch last year jayden daniels just balls out wins the heisman i think what we're seeing with his success in the NFL and you know

they have a new coordinator from last year Joe Sloan was promoted from quarterback coach to officer coordinator when uh Denbrock left LSU to go to Notre Dame and be their OC this offseason uh you're seeing that Jayden Daniels is is the reason that that offense went the last two years it was not anything that Brian Kelly or Joe Sloan had to do with um and you're looking at Garrett Nussmeyer who, you know, coming into the season was projected as a top five quarterback in this draft class and has just not been good. And he, he struggles in the pocket. He doesn't have any, any, you know, pocket awareness.

And so you, you, you watch this, you're like, well, do I want to go there and also be berated by Brian? Like Brian Kelly looks like a clown all the time, but this Florida game was even worse like it was it was not great he's he's screaming at kids kids are coming up at him screaming at him when are people gonna understand that he's a shitty person like i don't know he's a good football coach he's a terrible human being but like he's a good football coach in the way that urban meyer was a good football coach that like without the success right exactly like he but he loses games right like but it's the urban culture right and it's hard for us to on urban because of what he you know the success he did have but

brian kelly's the same way where he's just going to like he's going to break kids down until they you know don't know any better and then they try to play but like i don't know urban somehow made that work and guys did like him i mean i'm sure a ton of guys didn't but it seems like more players don't like brian kelly than they do um so yeah i don't know i just there's so many things about brian kelly obviously what happened in notre dame when he was first there that's just despicable and um you know just an unfortunate thing that nobody really took accountability for and why why does that not like that should be brought up at every it's like it's almost like uh it's almost like a uh like a deep cut for some reason like people like diehard cultural fans know that and remember that, I feel like that

should be just out in the open more. Like, he made the decision to send the kid up in the scissor lift with 60 mile an hour wins, and that kid's no longer here. He should have been fired that day, honestly. Well, Notre Dame, you know, they have, you know, morals and that relates to winning football

games. Crazy. I also, this is obviously not on that level, and that's a serious subject, and we're not trying to make light of it at all because it's again disgusting um but i think it's hilarious that he broke newt rockne's record and then left immediately and notre dame fans hate that he's the most winning football coach in notre dame's history they loathe it i mean that is true that's really funny actually because it's like oh our our most winning uh coach in history like we hate him he didn't win us shit actually and he's a shitty person and and then he took like he immediately left for you know because because Notre Dame fans for sure think that

they're still like the premier job, right? Like somebody saying that LSU is a better job than Notre Dame. That's gotta like just perk every Irish fan ever. Right? Yeah. Notre Dame's a fantastic job, but I think LSU is a better job. Just because I think it's, you know, you're, you're a tougher conference, but you have more resources and you have less restrictions on recruiting and who you can recruit but yeah i i don't know man i i just couldn't imagine wanting to play for brian kelly you know if it were if it were a you know handful of other schools i would

totally understand you know i would totally get it but with it being lsu you you know, LSU without Brian Kelly, I get it too. Like if this was, you know, Hey, this is, but also the sec is like, it's the same as the big 10 now, right. Where it's like, okay, I know LSU, I'm sure, you know, would be a top whatever school in the sec, but it got way harder once you added Texas and Oklahoma. I know Oklahoma is struggling right right now but i'm sure they're gonna be back uh you know i think i'm just saying like it you know five years ago you're like oh yeah lsu is like you know it they're they're the top of the sec but it just it's that much

harder so i don't know man i i do see it a little bit like if Underwood does go to LSU, it feels like Jaden Daniels where they really don't win anything of importance and he's kind of running for his life a lot, making crazy plays. That's kind of how I see it. So, I mean, Bryce, if you're listening to this you know we do have we we have the answers for you yeah and bryce i'm not i'm not a reactionary michigan fan so don't worry about it i won't freak out at any drop of that you know what i mean i'm pretty even keel yeah well nobody like you definitely along with a lot of other people are like you know scrolling the message board

every day just for a little bit and oh, and not even every day, really. I'm on there like, oh, I did a, you know, 30-minute, one-hour long meeting. Let me go back and check 247, see what's going on, see what the boys are saying, you know. But that's just because I love recruiting. I do that regardless of who Michigan – Michigan could be after the worst class in history, and I'd be like, what's going on?

You know, what's going on with this two-star? You know's going on with him i'm a sicko all right talking about ohio state since we've got that game in 10 days now uh i so seth mcclaughlin uh tears his achilles uh ohio state center if you remember that name that was the alabama center uh from the rose bowl who couldn't get a snap up because he was so scared of michigan's defensive line um i'm not gonna clown on him for this this sucks for them like i hate injuries um you know we went through it with zach's interior last year it's obviously just when you're trying to win a national title and something like that like this happens it is devastating so um not trying to clown on them or on him for any you know reason but just trying to evaluate what that means now for Michigan in this game in 10

days uh so now Ohio State is down you know essentially their two best linemen that they started the year with right yeah i mean josh simmons goes down against oregon their left tackle who had been playing really really well uh seth mclaughlin uh had also been playing really good football and so now this is where it tests your depth right like this is what we talk about with ohio state like do you have the guys up front? And, yeah, you can have a good starting five, but it's football. You could. I mean, you see it with the Lions, right?

And in college football, you can't go make a midseason trade, unfortunately. So, you know, you may have a lot of good, talented players up front, but, you know, an injury here or there, and it really is going to test, you know, how you built your roster. So I don't know what the depth looks like for Ohio State, but it's a big loss. It's a really big loss. Well, I think especially, you know, if you're talking specifically

for the Michigan-Ohio State game, it's a big loss because that's obviously Michigan's strength is the D-line that's lining up right across from them, right? Absolutely. So I think that, you know, when you are going to now have strength is the d-line that's lining up right across from them right so absolutely um so i think that you know when you are going to now have a backup center in that with only 10 days of of uh you know of experience essentially as the starting center and a lot of that is trying to last second game prep for indiana is I know Indiana's defense is not

you know their strengths but you have a top five matchup this weekend right so it's not like he has 10 days just to focus on Michigan so uh you know all of a sudden he's got to prep for Indiana then on Sunday turn around prep for Mason Graham and Kenneth and kenneth grant and ray sean benny and and so i i don't know like i just think that that you know is a real blow to ohio state and it's uh you know i guess unfortunate to say this but it's an opportunity for michigan to you know make a huge impact on that game which you know before this and still does like it it michigan wasn't looking like they had a chance in that game against ohio state right now it opens up a window i don't know if it increases you know from five percent chance to 15 chance or what like you know

obviously it's going to be an uphill battle but but if Michigan can take advantage of the backup center on the D-line and get pressure and stop the run, you know, we know from this year what the importance is in having a good center, right? And so they're going to have to figure that out really quickly. Well, and as we know, we talk about football, we talk about offensive line play. The center is the guy making the calls up front. So when you, you know, 12 weeks into the season have to replace that guy who is a very experienced football players, played a lot of football in the SEC, he's played a lot for Ohio State this year.

When you have to replace a guy like that, that's going to that's going to stress, you know, your offensive line's ability to pick up blitzes to pick up stunts um it's not like i think that that's what people don't fully understand and i honestly think that that's been the bigger issue for michigan's offensive line this year is yes are they under talented they're not nearly as talented as last year but it's been more uh communication issues right like the the times that that davis warren is sacked or a hole doesn't open up for a run it hasn't been guys getting completely blown up i know evan link has on a number of times for sure but it's been more so

you see two guys not blocking anybody you know and they're two guys you know their two defenders are behind them getting to the quarterback so yeah and we've been spoiled the last three seasons with with with our boy andrew vistardis shout out andrew vistardis what a human being i mean he comes up to me at the tailgates i'm like dude i i mean it is it is pretty awesome to have vistardis just casually come to the tailgates and we need to get him on the pod and just talk yeah like because he's a he was really smart guy. Like, he had – I believe he walked out of Michigan, but I think he had an offer from Northwestern, if I remember, from his recruiting days. So, you know, very smart guy.

He's going to medical school. But, like, you think about your center, you want him to be extremely smart. That's what Olu was, and that's what Drake Nugent was. All – I mean, dude, I mean, just think about those three guys right indra stardust is in medical school currently oh the team he started at the naval academy and drake nugent comes from stanford and so those three guys were all extremely good football players but they were even better at just communicating picking up things understanding the game like olu he's starting with the seahawks now i mean

honestly not because he's a big strong dude right he's a very good run blocker but if you were just to take olu smarts and put him on the current center like i think it would be a night and day difference honestly and that's not to disparage anybody that's on this team but it's just a different level and not even just smarts but you mentioned it earlier it's the experience it is knowing what what you're seeing at this time and what that means you have to do. Right? Just like anything you do in life. You know, those are just work.

Like the more times you do something, the more you're able to understand, okay, this is probably what's going to happen. Or this is probably what this person is looking for. It's the same thing in football, right? You pick up on tendencies. You see see something you're familiar with the situation and you know you've got a really good chance of being correct if you you know because you've seen it so many times yes agreed agreed 100 i think that uh it's um yeah i i don't i don't know man i think that uh it just it opens up a window of opportunity for Michigan, is all I'm saying.

And, again, very, very unfortunate for the kid, I feel, for him, because, you know, obviously Michigan ended his season last year and things did not go well for him. I'm sure he had this Michigan game circled since that Rose Bowl as like, hey, I got to go back and beat these guys and redeem myself. And now he doesn't get a chance to, so, you know, I'd rather him get the chance to, but I think now if you're wake Martindale, you have to like, look at this opportunity and say, all right,

how are we going to go and attack this backup center? Because I know, go for it. You put Mason Graham at the seven tech. Yes. All right, how are we going to go and attack this backup center? I know. Go for it. You put Mason Graham at the seven tech. Yes. You just put him at the nine. Don't let that center. Please, Wink, I am begging you, please do not do anything but line Mason Graham and Kenneth Graham up front.

You're going to run stunts. That's totally fine. You need to take advantage of this unfortunate situation. I think you, especially at the beginning of that game, just have those guys. The whole goal is don't even let that center lift up his head before he's getting mauled. He is getting murdered before his head even gets up.

And that's when those guys like i the center position first of all incredibly difficult it is so hard to point at you like to think to have to think about the snap as you're you're the one directing you're you're calling the the essentially the play at the line um you're calling the formation, the shift, all that. And then you have to think about, all right, I got to get this snap up and, you know, immediately block somebody. It's really, really hard. Hence why Seth McLaughlin struggled last year because Michigan's D-line was just like they had their ears pinned back

and he couldn't even think about the snap because he was thinking about trying to block Mason Graham and Kenneth and kenneth grant which is very fucking hard to do so absolutely so yeah so we'll see um obviously you know i again i have no idea what ohio state's backup center looks like but it can't be as good as seth mclaughlin because they had to go get somebody in the portal aka him right so um they felt that that was a need. So, yeah, opens up an opportunity for Michigan to see what they can do. I wanted to touch on Mikey Sanderstil for a second in the pro. I mean, just like Mikey Sander still is finally getting –

not finally, but he is already getting recognition in the pros. He's a captain midway through his rookie year. Have you considered the signs, though? I just want to make sure. Yeah, he's playing really good football i mean he's he looks like he did at michigan playing playing the nickelback position like i mean just uh just really good just really good football player and just really happy to see him playing well um you know just any time a michigan you know guy is playing well in the pros uh you're excited so

um yeah that's that's phenomenal i mean just a great leader just a great kid um and just was really glad that he played at michigan and really glad that they decided to switch him from receiver to to slot corner because that was that was the national championship move right there right like literally i think if you don't have him there i don't know if michigan gets it done and he was kind of that piece last year. He was the leader of the defense. He was the glue. And probably, honestly, the best player.

Like, just pound for pound. All around, he did. Yeah. I mean, there's guys that are probably going to – there are certainly guys that are going to be drafted higher than him on that defense. But he just made that thing go around and was just – again, I mean, you know, had the interception at the end

of the national championship. It was very fitting. So I got a lot of love in my heart for number zero. He still should have scored on that. I'm still mad that he didn't score. Well, Braden McGregor just, you know, didn't block. I mean, you got to block, Braden. Come on, dude.

But, yeah, he's just a great, great representative of the program. And, yeah, I got a lot of love for for zero man he's just a just a great football player seems like a great dude great dude super smart i think that just like he is a lot of people have said it online but he is like on the mount rushmore i think if you like you know saban calling him pound for pound uh the best cornerback in college football or in the draft and uh like i mean everything he did everything he did for the program he he truly is like he's up there with hutch in terms of turning it around culture wise you know was there when it was shitty right i like got through it did whatever the team needed to um you know, I think that if I was a coach, if I was Sharon,

if I was any coach in college football, I would literally look at him and be like, we need to find our Mikey Sander still like that's every year. Like who's going to be our Sander still this year. And that's like, if I'm Sharon, that's what I got to go look at in recruiting and the portal, whatever. Yes. You need talent, but Michigan one off of talent for sure in 2023, own that's what I got to go look at in recruiting in the portal whatever yes you need talent but Michigan won off of talent for sure in 2023 but they won because of guys like Mikey being Mikey

and it's there is like you know it's it's honestly hard to explain right because I think you you don't know what that guy looks like until you until it, right? It's hard to, like, you know, put it into words what all he does. And so that's what I – I just wanted to touch on that because I think that, like, we're missing that this year. You know, I think that there are a lot – like, I think Max Bredesen is a guy that has stepped into that role in terms of leadership. It's hard to do you know on an offense

that struggles i think just in general um but you need guys like mikey sainer still and i think that that's what michigan should be focused on more than anything moving forward um you gotta have a good mix right you gotta have guys like mikey who you know is just a complete diamond in the rough i mean i remember when sam webb started talking about him this might have been in 2018 dude like I didn't even met my wife like this is that long ago and he's talking about you know this kid Mike Samer still and I couldn't I was trying to figure out how to pronounce his name and he was committed to Virginia Tech and you know he was supposed to flip in uh the summer of 2018 and then he doesn't. And then he flips, like, during the season. I was like, oh, I forgot about that guy.

You know, he's an athlete, plays both ways. You know, he starts at receiver. He has a big touchdown against Notre Dame. 2020, he has some nice catches. 2021, he has huge plays throughout the season at receiver. And then they switch him to – you know, because that time, Michigan had depth at receiver. So, like, like hey let's try this crazy yeah like shout out josh gaddis for that at least and then they flip him to defense and it's like it's just crazy to think about his his

trajectory at michigan and just again just i remember his recruitment like and it was so long ago and i just remember like oh he's you know he's probably a good football player and man like shout out to don brown for that by the way because he's a mass guy you know i think don brown gets a bad rap um it certainly didn't end it didn't end very well in the last two ohio state games but he brought some dogs in from the northeast man well and speaking of don brown and biff pogey how about both of them getting fired this week? I think that, yeah, you know, Don Brown, if Don Brown just like adapted. Strayed a cover two a couple times a game.

Literally adapted a little bit, he would still be the D.C. at Michigan probably. You know, or at least he would have not been fired in what was it 21 whatever he did 2020 um worked out for obviously it worked out for michigan jesse minter is incredible um i once again ask have you considered the science mike mcdonald's incredible the chargers are seven and three in the nfl and yeah you know you can say they haven't played anybody but i don't care it's the nfl it's the same. And, yeah, you know, you can say they haven't played anybody, but I don't care. It's the NFL.

It's the same thing with the Lions. Oh, you beat the Jaguars. You don't score 50 points in the NFL. Just like you don't do what the Chargers are doing a year after being one of the worst teams defensively in the NFL. They are the best team defensively. That is Jesse Minter, my friends, and he is going to be a head coach very, very soon.

And Jim Harbaugh just, like, being Jim jim harbaugh which is he's got the charter singing jolly good fellow it makes me sad i just oh i feel like i'm watching my ex-girlfriend on like instagram stories and she's just like partying having the greatest time of her life and i'm sitting in my house i'm squidward in the meme and j jesse mentor jim harbour i spoke to roman patrick running around correct um yeah i think i mean i i wouldn't mind i don't know about don brown don brown probably just he's probably time to retire i would say um but i did see i don't know if you saw this his wife put out a tweet that they have like they had like 36 000 total in nil money and the combination of teams that they played this year was like 36 million or something like that um so there there was something that she said there uh but i honestly what they need to do is bring the pokey back.

That is like if I was shown, I mean, let's be honest, Harbaugh's probably already called him and he's like on a plane to L.A. If we know anything about he's done enough. Jim, he has done it. Stop it. Stop. You're good. You're good. You're doing fine. You're doing fine. But like Sharon needs to make that a priority because it's obvious that that i mean biff i like if you don't know this by now biff was an incredibly important piece to michigan turning in a row there's no doubt about that i mean yes they got good players but it was the it was the leading by example he's the only guy that. I mean, yes, they got good players, but it was the leading by example.

He's the only guy that Jim Harbaugh would listen to. Jim Harbaugh is a stubborn man. Jim Harbaugh knows a lot about football, knows a lot about building culture and building teams. He was the only guy in 2020 and leading into 2021. Biff was the only man that Harbaugh listened to. And in my opinion, the biggest reason for the turnaround because Jim Harbaugh had, for the first time,

I think in like his career, did some looking in the mirror and like, hey, what we're doing is not working instead of being like, no, what we're doing is, you know, is the way I've done it before and we can keep doing it. And he completely changed in the fact that he made it a player's program instead of a Jim Harbaugh program. And that was what changed. And yes, it was Jim Harbaugh still leading it and doing what he did.

He was still the same Jim Harbaugh, as we heard players say years, you know, time after time again um but for the first time in a long time it was the players idea to leave not Jim Harbaugh's idea and that was all Biff Poggi and so I think that hiring Biff as like an associate head coach would be the best move that Sherell Moore could make yeah I would I would love to see Biff come back in some capacity as the associate head coach. I think it would be a great move and give him some more help. I think what's going to probably need to happen, at least for the time being, is that Sharon's going to need to bring in coordinators who can kind of just spend on their own and he needs to truly be a CEO and take a lot of his plate. Be a CEO and help with the offensive line and i think we're cooking with some with some oil here so um yeah i would

love to see biff come back and uh i wanted to make a comment on your point about umass football marcus can't be like football maybe he got some nba money he can use for nil like i julius irving played there too you know dr j i don't know i feel like crazy thirty six thousand dollars did you find the tweet no but that's just crazy uh it was um let me see this is great podcasting by the way this is fantastic podcast we should we should probably end here soon once we get this from don brown's significant other but um yeah i mean you know come out to the tailgate. We're going to have some Suncruisers, some Truly, some Hale IPA, some Blue By 90 Ale, Game Day Ale. We're going to be there Saturday.

We're going to set up around 8 in the morning, the last game of the year at home. Crazy to think football season's gone by so quick, man. Thankfully, the NFL is going to run for another three months, and the Detroit Lions are going to be playing for another three months. But, you know, it's sad. Even with the rough season, it's sad. Because then you've got to wait again until next year.

All right, I can't find it. So this is a really good podcast. This is great. No, this is great. I'm sure nobody's even listening at this point anymore. Yeah, I agree. I mean, most people have tuned out, which I don't blame you. The background noise. This is five and five podcasting.

We had a lot more fun, a lot more fun things to talk about last year at this. Think about, you want to know what's crazy is think about, we had, we still have five more games left last year. We had from November 20th, we had two months of football left yeah yeah all right I'm done all right all right I'm done I'm that it's depressing me so um thank you to uh to Truly and Sun Cruiser thank you to to North Peak and Hail IPA go get yourself a Hail IPA this weekend and drink. I mean, you're probably, you know, that's probably the best move this weekend

is what I would say. Michigan Northwestern at 3.30. Come out to the tailgate. Say hi to the boys. For us, you can follow us at blueby90.com. Wait, did I fuck it up? For us, you can follow Blue by 90. Oh, no.

Oh, no. I've lost it. For us, you can follow us at Blue by 90.com. Blue by 90. Oh, my God. Blue by 90 podcast on YouTube. And for us, you can follow us at Blue by 90 on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, at Blue by 90 podcast on YouTube and Blue by 90.com.

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