Blue By Ninety - THE GAME

Episode Date: November 23, 2023

https://x.com/bluebyninety/status/1727530832108138792?s=20

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

Touchdown, Wolverines! All right, welcome back to Blue by 90. I'm Justin, joined by Tanner and Kaitlin today. And my light went out just like that. That's not a good sign, boys. It's not a good sign. All right, we're going to restart that because we can't have a start just like that. That was not a good mojo.

All right. All right, welcome back to Blue by 90. I'm Justin, joined by Tanner and Kalen today. It's the game week. We got, what, three days? Three days left until the game. Probably by the time you guys are listening to this two gate two days left uh holy smokes i mean this is by far the biggest game i i feel

like the pressure is just on both sides is is insane and everyone on twitter is feeling it everyone in the the michigan and ohio state atmosphere is feeling it. Everyone in the Michigan and Ohio State atmosphere is feeling it. How are you guys feeling? The game. We're talking about Michigan versus Memphis. Battle for Atlantis? Battle for Atlantis. Exactly. Yes.

That's a big one. I saw the boys at the water park in the Bahamas yesterday. Yeah, hopefully they can get it up. No, of course. The game. The game. Yes, so excited.

Yeah, man, I've had a pit in my stomach. I try to distract myself as much as possible with whether it be work or playing some Call of Duty. I've been watching a bunch of movies. I watched a Barry Sanders documentary on Prime today, which is incredible. How was that? Really good, man. I mean, you know, nothing groundbreaking, but it was just really, really cool to hear from him

and, you know, had Eminem and Jeff Daniels and Tim Allen and a lot of teammates and stuff. So it was just cool to kind of get their perspective. But, yeah, man, just trying to keep myself busy. You know, we've got Family Thanksgiving tomorrow up in Mount Pleasant on Thanksgiving. So I'm going to be watching the Lions hopefully go to nine and two. But yeah, man, I've just I get nervous. Right. I mean, I feel this way the week of big games, but none like this. Right. Like the Penn State game. I'm a little fidgety, I guess.

Is that a word? Right. I'm just like, yeah, I'm ready for it. But this one, man, is just something different different it is the greatest rivalry in all sports you can throw out any pro sport league any collegiate sport in north america any other continent any other country like there's nothing that compares to this game so it's going to be an incredible atmosphere on saturday and i'm excited i'm excited for it to get here man i'm like chomping at the bit it's going to be an elite tailgate, I feel like. The tailgate is – I can't explain how good the tailgate is about to be. I have had so many people hit me up already that are telling me that they're coming. And, I mean, just putting that tweet out, there was like 20 random people

on Twitter. I'm not going to say random people because they're followers, a.k.a. they their friends and blue by 90, but they, everyone's like, yeah, I'm stopping by. I'm coming. So, uh, I can't wait. I will be there legitimately pulling into the parking lot. I'll be ready to go at 5 45 AM. Uh, it's going to be like probably 19 degrees. I won't care even in the least bit um we'll be cracking a beer uh pre 7 a.m for sure um and it's i i really just think that like judging judging by what the feeling was like two years ago it was i don't know if if you as a listener if you guys have been around the stadium for a michigan ohio state game even in the past when we really didn't know that we were going to win

or we didn't think that we were going to win, it's a different vibe. It's a different vibe for this. Just, you know, the atmosphere is different. You can feel everyone's a little bit like, you know, just feeling it differently. And 2021, I felt like so confident before the game. I don't know why. It was just like some aura around it that was just incredible.

And so I have this same exact feeling right now going into it, and I can't wait for the vibe once we all see each other and everyone's just drinking, listening to music, getting jacked up at the tailgate before the game. I am like dying for that feeling right now. Dude, I, yeah, I feel we've talked about it. I'm sure we'll do a little bit more in depth on the game itself and the preview. But we talked about this on our Bleacher Report livestream that we did.

And I just feel good, man. I just feel a certain way about this game. And I feel a certain level of confidence that I don't know that I've ever felt. Right? Because last year, you go into it Blake's hurt Donovan's got a banged up knee and his hands messed up and JJ didn't look great against Illinois and the year before that well we hadn't beat him since 2011 and so it's like well can you really do it and so now too you think about all the big time matchups in this game with the playoffs on the line you know in 2021 you

finally get one in Ann Arbor but this time you finally get one of those 11 and 0 matchups in this game with the playoffs on the line you know in 2021 you finally get one in ann arbor but this time you finally get one of those 11 and 0 matchups in ann arbor the previous two were in columbus so you finally get the game of the century type feeling at the big house in ann arbor everybody's fired up we don't need to talk about why but we're all fired up if you're a michigan fan you you have some steam to blow off man and and i know we all feel that way right now so i am ready to get after to the tailgate i'm ready to do it everything i can inside the stadium to help cause a false start a delay of game miscommunication i mean how many times there was a couple times where last year in 2021 where there was like an errant snap right

oh yeah shroud so like let's i can't wait to try to be a part of the environment and really just try to help the boys out there on the field in between the white lines man i always feel like this week leading up to the game like i'm in my head i'm reading the stats i'm like listening to all these different takes and i'm like kind of nervous and then you know i show up to the tailgate, have a couple blue by nineties, have a couple of hails, music starts pumping. Then I'm like, okay, I'm around my people. I'm starting to feel pretty good. Maybe I'm at a watch party. If it's a way game, if it's home, you know, we're, we're definitely in the blue lot. Then once that game is broadcast on the TV,

then I'm like, okay, like it's happening. It's real. And that's when it just like all really hits me for the first time. And I, so I'm still kind of in that spot right now where I'm like, okay, I'm feeling you exactly. I was actually just texting with Swanky, the man himself being like, man, I've got the jitters already, man. Like I'm nervous a little bit. Like I just don't know how to feel about this game. There's obviously, you know, outside of it being the, you know, one of the biggest games that is so meaningful just from where they stand at 11 and 0 and 11 and 0,

there are all these implications outside of the game itself, right? There's Harbaugh is not, you know, not on the sidelines. Ryan Day is, you know, fighting for his life. I feel like for that job, if he doesn't win that game on Saturday, you know, he could be out of a job. There's all the, you know, the scandal, all the stuff, all the allegations, allegedly, obviously it's all alleged. But I just think that there's just like so much going on. And I agree with you, Kalen. I just want to get to Saturday where I walk into the stadium and then I'm surrounded by all these Michigan fans. And I can't wait for that moment. I'm going in early, to be honest. If you're coming to the tailgate, come to the tailgate

early. And we're going to wrap the tailgate up early because I encourage every fan to get in there for pregame for everything get to your seat be loud not to quote Manny Diaz but we got to be there early be loud and have this place going crazy because I think I really do think that if we're able to give this team a home field advantage like they've never felt before. Kyle McCord and that team is not ready for that. That's really how I feel about it. Yeah, and I think real quick to your point about getting there early, and I didn't even think about this until just now as you were speaking,

but we get to send off Mike Sanderstel, Mike Barrett, Blake Corum, Trevor Keegan, Zach Zinter, all these guys, man. We get to send them off on their senior day. Give them their flowers, right? Get there early. Show up. Be loud when everybody's introduced, man. I know those cheers for Blake and Mike are going to be probably pretty loud, right? So show up, potentially.

Last game for number nine in Michigan Stadium. A lot of guys. Donovan, maybe. You never know. lot of guys, a lot of guys, you never know. Yeah. There's a lot of guys. Roman Wilson's a senior. There's a lot of players that are never going to step foot in Michigan

stadium again. And to your point, Justin, we owe it to them to get there and just be as loud as possible to just give as much of a home field advantage as we can, because they've earned that they've gone. We talked about it last night, man. They've gone 12-1 in 2021.

They went 13-1 last year and they're 11-0 this year, man. They deserve every bit of accolades and just endearment from the Michigan fan base that we can throw at them. So I think we owe them that to get there early. I plan on doing the same thing. I'd like to get in there around 11, depending on when we wrap up the tailgate, because I want to be there for all the pregame stuff. I want to show my love to all the guys that are going to be seniors

and are playing their last game at the big house. And some of those guys have been there for a while, right? I'm thinking Mike Barrett throwing that fake punt against Army in 2019. Well, he's a class of 2018 guy. So, yeah. It's wild, yeah. Ory diving out in nebraska right like playing my receiver these guys have done a ton for this program so yeah definitely i feel like i feel like number 19 mikey and number zero mikey are two different people i really do feel like you could like if you had those two guys and those

he has a number 19 career and a number zero career, both those careers are pretty good on their own, let alone it actually being the same physical person. He was number five on offense. Five. No, he was 19 at first. Was he? Was he 19 and then five?

He started at 19. You're right. He was 19, yes, because against Notre Dame he had the bowling ball touchdown. You're right. So he was 19 and then he went against Notre Dame he had the bowling ball touchdown. Yes. You're right. So he was 19 and then he went to five. And then zero. Yeah, because Giles Jackson wanted five and couldn't get it. Either way, yeah.

He has had a hell of a career on both sides of the ball. He had a great game against Maryland, man. You got to feel like he's going to have a big play in this game. He always does. Same with Mike B, dude. I feel like these guys, I mean, this is where, you know, it's kind of like you look at it in the NCAA tournament. Once it gets to March madness, you want the team that has the most experience, that team that has eight seniors on their squad, right. Is are the ones that usually make a deep

run. Like that's where we are with this Michigan football team. We have a way more experience than them. Kyle McCord has never played in a game like this at all, right? J.J. McCarthy has. He went to Columbus and got it done last year. These guys have played in a ton of big games over the past three years alone. And I feel like that's going to come to our advantage when things get tight and everything goes crazy. I feel like we've got the advantage of that and i love that um one other thing going back to the tailgate to getting there early and everything i was texting with the north peak owner north peak brewing shout out them and he's like how much beer do you have like i want to make sure that you have plenty and i went like down into my garage i was like i have 400 beers in here and he just texts back that's not enough come so i'm literally going to pick up more like i'm pretty sure i will have like over

a thousand beers on saturday and i legitimately want every single one of them to be drank so you need to please stop by come enjoy a hail ip North Peak Brewing, a Blue by 90 beer. We'll crush them. I need everyone to be a little extra juiced, a little extra juiced for this one just to give us that advantage. Dude, so today we went to Ann Arbor, my wife and I, and I was just driving into town, and I just was like, I could feel it, bro. I was just getting amped. I don't even know if I was listening to any music or if there was anything on the radio, but I just, you could feel it, bro. I was just like – I was just getting amped. I don't even know if I was listening to any music

or like if there was anything on the radio. But I just – you drive through campus. You drive past Michigan Stadium. You're just – you're in Ann Arbor and you can just – there's just a certain feeling in the air that you – this energy that's not there all the time. And I like went to get out of my truck and I was just like, like, whoosah.

Like, let's calm down a little bit here. Thank God. We've got three days until the game. Thank God none of us have to play in this because we're literally just going to watch, and we are just in total panic mode already. Can we talk about the experience watching this game and how tiring it is? Because it's like, dude, like the last two years, like 2016, 2017, like when it's a close game, you're just like, oh, my God. Like you feel like you've gone through battle

and you're sitting there watching the game. Like I get into coach mode when I watch it on TV. Like I'll just be bent over, hands on my knees, like watching the TV, like calling shit out. Do you remember when we were, hands on my knees, watching the TV, calling shit out. Do you remember when we were at Pretzel Bell watching the Penn State game, how exhausted we were at halftime? Dude, I can't do this.

I was legitimately like, oh my god, I need a fucking nap or something. But it's going to be a hundred times more than that I feel like this week because I will be screaming my head off on every single play. That's for sure. And I just, you know, I go back.

I posted one of the, our first drive from the 2021 game at home and just seeing the pom-poms in that hearing the crowd noise from that, it gives me goosebumps because it's just, like I said, it's something different, man. And I feel like this crowd is going to be insane. And from the get-go, like, I want to go down, score, and then have the place going nuts for Kyle McCord's first play out there and have him shitting down his leg as he steps onto the field. That's what I'm looking for on Saturday. Yeah, you can, you know, we talked

about it, man, with the environment and how raucous it's going to be. I mean, it's, it's, I don't think it's hyperbole to state that this will be the loudest that this place has ever been. Like, I think that you will be able to hear the roar of Michigan stadium for quite a while around Ann Arbor, as far as like how far away you are. Like, Oh, something must've happened at the game. Cause you could hear it all the way, you know, on the other side of town. I need, I need one of those like blimp things where you can, you know, the, the camera from angle from that,

where you see the crowd and hear them from, you know, a mile away. I need that angle for sure. Yeah, so like you said with McCord, first time in this environment. Look, Notre Dame is a really nice venue, historic place. I don't know if it's going to compare to what Michigan Stadium is going to be on Saturday. And Michigan Stadium historically is not, as we know, we get a lot of crap for how quiet it can be.

But I just don't think there's anybody that's going to this game that's not going to be just juiced, just straight jacked, right, full of energy. So that and also real quick on McCord, first time playing in this game, hasn't played great on the road. I think you can trick him. I think you can do some things to confuse him, and I'm excited to see what Jesse Minter has for him because Marvin Harrison is great. He's a stud. He's going to be a top five pick in the NFL draft

in April but if your quarterback can't get you the ball then what does it matter so I'm really curious to watch what Jesse Minter does on Saturday because I think that's going to be very telling and I think that's going to be something that can can lead to a Michigan victory and on that note of the crowd I, have we flipped the script in terms of allowing Ohio State fans in Michigan Stadium during this game? There's been a lot of times in my youth where it was pretty heavily red, right? Yeah. I definitely think that that's different now.

You know, I hope – I pray to God. Even in 2021, I mean, we still hadn't beaten them in a decade, right? So there was still a lot of, a lot of scarlet and gray in the stadium for that game. Not by the end of it though, there was a sea of maize and blue on the field. And so I do think that, you know, the, the vibe is different now of not selling your tickets as much, you know, we're, we're obviously still in this game. So I think that it's going to be a very, very big crowd for us on the home side. But I want to go back to talking, you know, actually getting into the Michigan did the past two years, is you make Kyle McCord uneasy. You can't let him get comfortable, especially from the get-go.

We have to get to the quarterback early and often in this. And even if that, that doesn't have to mean you're getting a sack, but you've got to get pressure. You got to make him move around in the pocket, not feeling like he can sit back there and wait. If you let Marvin – that's when it hurts you. If you let Marvin Harrison, you know, take five seconds to get open, he's going to get open. He's too good not to, right? So you have to get back to him.

You have to try to get to McCord and even just throw a hit on him after he throws the ball too. Make him feel like it's not going to be his day back there. Yeah, I mean, when you if you look at PFF statistics from the Michigan Maryland game, Michigan got 26 pressures on 31 dropbacks for Talia. Now, I believe that that's not each that they didn't get pressure on 26 passes, but it was different defenders getting multiple pressures on the same play maybe a few times to get that number.

But that's a really, really good number. And when you look at the grading from PFF, Maryland and Ohio State are around six or seven spots away from each other. So pro football focus is not gospel. Hell, we have a show dedicated to maybe talking about why it's not. When they talk good about us, it is, right? Yeah. But I think that paints a picture that, man, this defense,

you know, and the edges have – look, there's no Hutchinson or Ojabo on this defense, right? But when you look at this defensive line, Kenneth Grant had a big sack where he crosses the dude's face. I mean, 6'5", 330, crosses his face. Just like throws Tangabalolo down. Mason Graham had a big sack. Mason Graham on, like, a twist where he's opening up just a Mack truck lane for his edge rushers to get home.

That opened up a sack for him. I don't know if that was Harrell. I can't remember who got the sack. But, like, this defense is playing so good. Josiah Stewart, I believe, is third in the country on pressure rate at like 22%. So every four snaps, he's getting a pressure on the quarterback. This defensive line is elite. This whole defense is really good.

I mean, you know, we had probably some concerns Saturday watching some of the things that Tonga Vailoa was able to do. But I would take Talia Tonga Vailoa as maybe the second-best quarterback in the Big Ten, to be truthful. So it's going to be interesting to see how McCord handles it. You know, he's not going to be a guy that's able to get away from a lot of pressure. I mean, he's already playing on a bum ankle, I believe, and I think he kind of hurt that a little bit against Minnesota.

So, you know, Tonga Vailoa was able to get away from a sack and throw the ball away when Chris Jenkins and I believe Mason Graham were chasing him down. And I don't know if the court's gonna be able to do that. So at Ohio State's offensive line, they're weak spots really in the interior too, right? Like as far as pass blocking goes, the tackles haven't been great in the run game, but they've been better in pass pro. So man, it's just all this, all this stuff that I look at, just, it has me feeling confident that if Michigan goes out and plays their game they're going to win like i don't i just i keep envisioning it and i'm like going

through the scenarios i'm like man i just this is the same ohio state team that needed notre dame to not have an 11th player on the field that player number 11 that should have been on the field would have been a lineup over the tackle right he would have been lined up over the tackle on that play they still barely got the touchdown it's the same team that couldn't run the ball against Penn State it's the same team that got ran for over 200 yards on Rutgers like I just I just see all these things and it's like I just don't see a way that Michigan loses unless they just completely drop the ball well and the good thing about Michigan too I mean and drawing from that Maryland game is that when you needed the defense to make a stop, they were there and able to make a stop. And so that speaks a lot to what their capabilities are for the upcoming game.

Now, I think what does scare me in terms, I guess we are talking a little bit of Ohio State offense, so maybe I'll save this for their defense. But, yeah, we'll need to see Minter dial up some blitzes. I would expect to see guys like mike barrett maybe in the backfield a little bit this game so that would be a great send-off for another senior that we all love right yeah i definitely think i mean the one area of concern that i have for this uh is you know we really haven't seen a healthy travion henderson in the past two years right you know i think on the flip side ohio state hasn't seen a healthy Travion Henderson in the past two years, right? You know, I think on the flip side,

Ohio state hasn't seen a healthy Blake Corum in the last two years. Even Donovan Edwards was playing with a club on his hand last year, right? Like cast on his hand. So, but I think that, you know, Travion Henderson, you know, if he's able to, to break some open, then, you know, I think this could be interesting because the last two years, they had to do it all in the air. They could not establish the run on us, and that was the difference. And it's the last 21 matchups, right?

The team that rushes for the most yards wins this game. So I do think that still favors Michigan in this, but Michigan's going to have to stop the run for sure. And then on the flip side, let's flip to Michigan's offense. They have to establish the run, right? Yeah, absolutely. And Michigan needs to establish the run. And like you said, healthy Blake Corum, that's going to be huge for us.

What does worry me is one stat I've been looking at all year has been offensive defensive efficiency, right? And interestingly, Ohio State's defensive efficiency is better than ours so what does that really mean that just means that they're better at getting three and outs ours is has a more bend don't break kind of style right so to me that that can you know that makes me nervous yeah like I said right I'm nervous early in the week leading up to the game. Well, and I think, like, I went back and just watching that, even just that first drive for Michigan in 2021 where they converted multiple third and twos

where they just lined up Hassan Haskins and pounded it down. That is key. You have to get those third and shorts. And to get to third and shorts, you have to get to third and short, right? So you can't have negative plays on first and second down. And then on the opposite side of the ball, you want to put them in a third and seventh, third and eighth situation. So I do think we're going to have to be able to –

we're going to have to be able to, even though I hope we throw the ball a little bit, we're going to have to be able to play like we did against Penn State in that second half where it's like they know we're running the ball and we still have to get a push off the ball a little bit, we're going to have to be able to play like we did against Penn State in that second half where it's like, they know we're running the ball and we still have to get a push off the ball and be able to get a positive yardage from it. I'm going to say it again. You're probably sick of hearing it, Justin, but I've said it multiple times this year. Now, when Michigan comes up against a good rush defense, they play their best ball on the, on the ground. Like they just have. I called it before Penn State.

I said they'd run it for over 200. They ran for 230. I'm thinking Michigan runs for over 200 again against Ohio State because you're going to have JJ in the run game. And I know he's been a little banged up, but reports are that he's been looking good in practice physically. He didn't have a limp going to the presser earlier in the week. And he's a kid that's going to let,

he's willing to lay it on the line, right? Like he is a kid that is, is for the team and is going to say, I'll do whatever it takes to win. So having him thrown into the run game, having a healthy Blake and Donovan coming into this game. I just have a feeling that they're going to be able to put together a really

great game plan with the ground game and be able to move the ball in decent sized chunks. I mean, last year, there was a lot made about Michigan not being able to run the ball, you know, the first half, which obviously they're bringing eight guys down in the box, maybe nine, you know, maybe having a safety come down, you know, four yards off the ball. But there were a couple couple plays if you guys remember cj stokes might have had a lane and i think the the lights were a little too bright for him you're not gonna have that problem with with blake or donovan i expect a big play out of donovan i think donovan's gonna have a big time play that's really gonna solidify his status at michigan i just feel like he's due right right? Big game, Dono. Big game, Don, for sure. Yeah, man, I agree with you.

I think that, you know, when I look at Michigan's offense, I mean, we joke about that it was more than just the five big plays last year. But when you have the opportunity, that big play is open, you can't miss them. You know, I looked at what JJ did this past week against Maryland and CJ had that exact, Cornelius was wide open on the exact same play that he ran against Ohio State. And you can't miss that one this week. When you get a chance for a wide open touchdown like that, you have to hit it. And so that's where, you know, Michigan did that last year. And that was the difference in the game. There were a couple of times when Ohio

state had a chance for it, didn't convert or Michigan made a play. I mean, think about Mike Sanders stills past breakup at the end. That's a for sure touchdown 99% of the time, right? Mike's Mike makes an incredible play and that's the difference in that ball game at that time. So I agree. I think, you know, listen, the kid is unbelievable, and I don't want to be the guy that's putting pressure on him, but the pressure's already there. It's not going to be a difference in what I say.

J.J. McCarthy has to win us this ball game, in my opinion. The better quarterback on Saturday, I think he's going to win. And it's not because we're not going to use the ground game or not, but like I just said, when the plays are there, you have to make them. And so I think if MSU JJ or earlier in the season JJ is playing, which he was playing really, really well, then we're in good shape. But if he makes some mistakes then that's where we could get into trouble here so my whole thing is like we kind of had to scrap

the Penn State game right eight attempts complete seven passes and then the Maryland game is like yeah I mean and honestly I've seen some stuff that you could potentially put that on CJ on that on that long that should have been touchdown you know so he doesn't look right away when he beats his defender which is kind of a tell for the quarterback of like hey I'm gonna get this to you so but yeah I mean even you know the Purdue game he was still you know he wasn't the the MSU JJ that we had seen but you know still 335 I think like nine or ten yards an attempt like really efficient really good so i just have a feeling that this kid's gonna come ready to play and i just think that the maryland game they looked a little bit flat to be honest you know kind of kind of hard trap game right like it's trap game in between two insanely big time competitive games right you

might want to say something about that game too you get out i think what it was it was 23 23 to 3 i feel like once they were there that's when they took the took their foot off the pedal a little bit which is like very common in that scenario right it's like all right we feel good we're rolling all right we don't need to just keep in and maybe they were trying to keep guys healthy. They were trying not to show, you know, show their tells, uh, put a lot of film out there, blah, blah, blah. And that's what happened. And then, you know, it is, you know, people talk about the big 10, you still have to go out and win those games every single week. So, um, that's kind of what I, how I felt about that. Um, I don't think there's going to be any question that the guys are ready this week, right? There's, you know, sometimes you worry more about these guys being too tight than too

lax in this game. You have to be a perfect balance of dialed in, but you're not clenching and you're not making mistakes because you are just too tight in the, in the moment as well. Yeah. Another part I think that needs to really be dialed in is pass protection. I think we've seen some guys get beat by good edge defenders in the last couple of weeks. Right. Not to call anybody out, but yeah,

Ohio state's going to bring it all right. So I think, I think you have to have a short leash, right. In that scenario. Yeah. Well, to me that, that also brings into like, if you're coach more, you got to see that kind of stuff and say, Hey man, we're just getting beat by this edge defender. Let's bring a tight end over. Let's do something right. so that goes into some coaching decisions too um which i actually think coach moore should be ready for this game if he's ready for any game he's ready for this one so well look man here's here's the thing right when you look at the

defensive side of the ball josh wallace doesn't have a great game so what do they do they bring in mcborough's of the nickel they move mikey to the outside right so you have to have the same mentality on the offensive line i'm sorry you have to have the same mentality on the offensive line. I'm sorry. You have to. This is the game, man. This is what, like Trevor Keegan said, if we don't win this one, it doesn't matter. Nothing else matters. So you have to have a short leash, and I'm sorry, and it's difficult to do, but in college football where it has become this massive business, you have to have a short leash in that scenario because Trenta looks good. Ladarius is going to be back. They said Miles Hinton is going to be back.

I find that hard to believe, but if he's ready, you have to be ready to make some sort of change if it comes to that. You can't just sit on it for two quarters. I agree. I mean, yeah, you don't have possessions to give away because of that stuff. No. Right? Every possession, every play counts in this one. I mean, yeah, you don't have possessions to give away because of that stuff, right? Every possession, every play counts in this one.

So I think, you know, I agree with you, Kalen. I trust Jerome in that, especially when we're talking about the offensive line. I trust him in either having that short leash and making that decision or making an adjustment in how they're, you know, going to line up or something as well. But I guess last thing I want to talk about here is Coach Moore. There's no Jim Harbaugh on the sidelines. We all know how important that is and how much of a hit that is to this team. What's your guys' confidence level in Jerome Moore to step up in what is no doubt

the biggest game of his life? And Tanner, I said it on Bleacher Report yesterday. There's a chance that Sherone Moore has a 20-year head coaching career after this game, and this still is the biggest game that he's ever coached in his life. That's true. So what's your guys' confidence level right now? In Coach Moore is what you're saying?

In Coach Moore, yeah. I don't know it's it's kind of in between right i just for me i'm like coach more has a lot on his plate and that jakes it's super tough now he's coached three games now and he's won them all um i feel medium plus. I like that. I mean, listen, I think that he's doing as good of a job as you can possibly ask for given the scenario. There aren't many guys that have never been a head coach before

that could step into what he's done and go out and beat a top 10 team on the road by running it 32 fucking times in a row and be ready for this game which is the biggest game of the century for michigan football so before you know I do want to say before, regardless of what happens, obviously if he wins on Saturday, then he's a king. There's no doubt about that. But, you know, you have to understand the scenario that he's been thrown into.

It is a near impossible situation. And so give him some, you know, leeway on that. He's going to do as good of a job as he possibly can and i'll be honest here's how i feel i don't i wouldn't take anybody else there's not another oc in the country or assistant coach in the country that i'd say i want in that situation i love this man that he died for these guys these guys would die for him and i i'm really confident with him going into this game i feel good because jim is still in the building jim is there until saturday morning when they when those buses leave for the stadium right so i if if jim harbaugh has faith in sharon

moore and i know he does obviously he's look he's the coach in waiting right like we understand that that's i think that's kind of known at this point like he's the coach in waiting, right? We understand that. I think that's kind of known at this point. He is the coach in waiting at the University of Michigan. He was hand-selected by Jim Harbaugh. He's a guy that's been around the program since 2017. He's been in this game as a coach. He played at Oklahoma. He's been in the Red River shootout, right?

He's been in big games, big moments. And I just have a feeling that, look, the last couple games, the instructions are clear, man. Get in, get out, get a win, stay healthy, right? Like there's nothing else there. This game is different. This game is going to be played different. It's going to be called different.

It's going to be different tactically. It's not going to be the same thing as Penn State where it's like, well, let's just make sure we keep JJ healthy, right? Like that's not what this game is. So the playbook is there. It's open. I know he's got a lot on his plate as the o-line coach in the oc that's the only thing like if it was just him sliding in

and we could have somebody working with the o-line like an additional like analyst come up to be the 10th assistant sure but outside of that like i'm he's been the guy all year man like he's been the guy that's been putting together one of the better offenses that i've ever seen at michigan maybe you know maybe the best. We'll see what happens on Saturday. That'll solidify that for me. I have a lot of faith in Sharon Moore. Michigan, even when they've been

John O'Cornick quarterback, they came ready to play with a game plan. The only two games that this really got out of hand was 2018-2019. Jim Harbaugh, his staff always come correct for this game outside those two instances so i feel good i'm extremely excited for this game man um one thing i wanted to mention about the the game and just like how tiring it is to watch. Like a couple years ago, my Apple Watch was like, hey, do we need to call 911? Are you okay?

Your resting heartbeat is 58 beats per minute. Now it's at 150. So that's how my body reacts to this game. So we'll see what my Apple Watch tries to do in the big hours. We are, what, 72 hours before the game, right? No, no, no, no, no no no no you you you were not paying attention because i saw you on your phone i'm talking about during the game in 2021 okay sorry yeah yeah no right now my my beat per minute was like was like 68 so yeah i i'm not gonna lie to you i'm sweating

currently like i'm actually sweating. So I, you know, anybody that's like trying to talk to me at Thanksgiving tomorrow about just like random shit. I'm just like, yeah, I'm just going to let me, I have to go to the bathroom. Then I just go straight to the cooler or the fridge to grab another beer.

And then like avoid all conversation. If it's not about this game, that's really what it's going to be. Hey, tomorrow on Thursday, if you're listening to this on Thursday, really what it's gonna be hey tomorrow on thursday if you're listening to this on thursday hey man we're gonna watch the lions get a dub friday maybe do a little shopping you know do whatever you know get some leftovers in you saturday we're getting after it man it's gonna be one hell of a conclusion to the regular season either way

i can't wait man it's gonna be so much fun i love love it. I'm rocking my anti-Bucca social club hoodie right here. Grab it from the blueby90shop.com. I mean, this is it. This is it, boys. Everyone knows what's on the line, but whoever wins this game is off to the races in terms of where their program is. Whoever loses this game, their program is at a serious crossroads. That is legitimate.

So there is so much pressure on both sides of the ball here. I don't know a game before where there's so much pressure that whoever loses their coach might be fired. And it's not because both teams are bad. It's because both teams are so good and the standards are so high that you can't lose this game. That's an insane thing to think about. So with that, we'll let you guys go.

Wait, I have one last thing. Have you guys ever been to St. Elmo's Steakhouse? Yes. Are we going to rendezvous Saturday, December 2nd for some shrimp cocktail? Maybe a ribeye at St. Elmo's? I might. Just wanted to throw that one out there. See you in Indy, boys.

Knock on wood there. Don't clip that but um i i would love nothing more to be an indie the following weekend with the boys again all right is that are we good now that was it that was i just wanted to put it in there i thought i was being slick like i wasn't like saying anything but yeah i like that i like that all right 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. We appreciate you. Go blue,

go blue, go blue.