Blue By Ninety - The Game, Michigan Basketball is Dominating, and Thanksgiving

Episode Date: November 27, 2025

Justin and Tanner talk more about The Game and Michigan basketball’s dominant week. (Filmed before win over Gonzaga)

All right. Welcome back to Blueby 90, present to my Feldon Chevrolet of Highland. I'm Justin joined by Tanner, and we are, I'm not good at math, but what are we like, 72 hours, 96 hours, something like that. You know, we're, it's Wednesday. So this week is always hard to keep track of the days because you're just kind of, you're working. I mean, it's a holiday. It's a holiday. It's hard to know. Like, I'll be. honest. I mean, if you're a Michigan fan out there and you've done much work, I applaud you. But for me, it's been mostly just watching highlights of the last four games. So that's what you should be doing this week. But we are, we're hours away from the game on

Saturday. I don't know how many hours, but technically we are hours away. We're always hours away from something. That's true. That's true. Yeah, I'm excited. But, I mean, you know, shout out Nolan. He's been sending all the graphics and, like, recap videos, highlights from the past four years in our group chat. And I've just been watching every single one of them. I'm ready. It's here, baby.

It is, it's so here. What's your, where is your head at? You know, now there's been a little rivalry banter going on all week on social media where, yeah. I still feel, you know, on the previous podcast we did, I feel that Michigan's going to win. I just, I don't have a, I mean, I have some reasons. They're mostly vibes based, but I just feel like they come to play in the biggest games, and this is the biggest game, right? You know, one thing that, you know, last year they got, they got beaten a couple of big-time

matchups, right, in Ann Arbor against Texas and Oregon. but I just felt that at the end of the year, Sharon coached his best, the team played their best, winked coach his best game, called his best game. And so now you have, you know, Chip Lindsay as the office of coordinator, I assume going to kind of follow suit with those guys.

I just got a feeling, man, and I feel good, and I could be completely wrong, you know. But I just have this sense that teams are going to come ready to play. They're going to tighten the rotation on defense, get their first. I mean, that's, that's the only explanation for the rotation all year long is that you have fresh legs for Saturday at noon, right? It is. It is. And so for me, I just want to let you know, I'm setting the tone now.

I'm setting the tone now for Saturday. You know, a lot of people are asked if you go in, you know, if you go into the facility into Schaembeckler Hall, it's up there all year long, but it's definitely up there this. week of what are you doing to beat Ohio State today? Well, today I'm going to crack open a little blue by 90 beer right here on the pod. Yeah. If you can hear that crack there. Nice crisp. I'm going to start drinking out.

I think I, you know, it's Wednesday night. Are you keeping it going? I, maybe we just keep it going until Saturday. I mean, I think that in order for this team to, you know, to perform at its highest level, I have to perform at my highest level. level. And that means I got to get up, get early, get after it early, you know, and often. And we're going to just get it going right now. Look, I'll tell you, I've had some text of like, what are you doing? Blackout Wednesday. I'm like, brother, I'm 30. You know what I mean? And I'm like,

I don't really drink like that anymore except Saturday morning. Yeah. Like, I keep telling people like, oh, man, I'm past that. I'm, you know, I don't do that that much. Like, We didn't talk about it because we had conflicts and stuff the week after the Northwestern game. But you guys all went to Sluggers. I don't know if Nolan told you. We were in line two minutes. And I was like, brother, I'm out of here. Right.

It was too much for me. So I always say I'm past my prime. But when it comes to tailgating and tailgating for this game, I'm back in my problem. Also, by the way, that line literally took five minutes. It wasn't so much that. It was just there was a million people. And I just was like, bro, I got it. was it was chaotic for sure um i i will say that like i yeah it's wednesday night right now

we're recording this right before thanksgiving um so washed by the way so washed i five years ago be out drinking running i would have been texting every friend from high school to be like all right where are we going tonight you know i'll uh we're going to stay out i'm going to feel like absolute shit tomorrow morning um you know try to just make it through a thanksgiving dinner Watch the Lions lose. That was 10 years ago. You know, now things are different. Frank, Frank is back.

Frank is back. I don't know if he's playing tomorrow. But if he, I mean, if he just comes back tomorrow, like, it comes out of that tunnel, that will be the most electric thing of all time in four field. Well, and, you know, you got to think, too, like, these guys are a different breed. You know, we see Chris Wormley. Shout out, Stadium and Main Pod. But we see Chris around, and I'm like, this guy, still play, man.

Well, he literally is. He's with the Colts right now. Wait, did I miss that? Are you serious? Dude. I, how did I, you didn't get the memo? Wow. No, I never saw that that officially happened.

This guy's still putting out content, man. This guy's a grinder. He's, I mean, they're, they're recording tonight with, uh, let's, I, you know. I missed it. I didn't see it, man. That's embarrassing. So I knew that was a possibility. So shout out to Big Worm, man.

Uh, obviously he's been in a, he's been in a, he's been in a, hotel and indie for like two weeks now. Oh, my gosh, man. So shout out to Worm. I believe, hopefully it works out tonight, but the plan is to have Brandon Graham on the stadium and made pod with Worm and Strach. So that will be an electric episode if they were able to snag him. But yeah, man, to get back to it, my plan is not to do a blackout Wednesday.

So when I say I'm going to start drinking now, that means I'm going to have like a handful of beers, you know, throughout each day to get to Saturday. And then Saturday morning, this is my plan. So I'm going to get there. I'm going to try to hold off as long as possible to like really start drinking, which has been my strategy lately, which I think helps because come like 1030, 11 o'clock, you can guarantee. I will have a bottle of Woodson Whiskey in my hand, and I will be trying to get everybody that's within like a 100-yard radius of me to take a shot with me. That will be my whole plan.

You got to make sure you keep that radius small. We're very close to the stadium. We don't want to get it. You know what I mean? Well, you can get it up in the club level, you know? So, yeah. Yeah, I got my ticket, man. I ordered it during our last podcast on Sunday.

I'm so stoked and, you know, the weather. I love Ohio State fans who are like, oh, they're just begging for, no, dude, I think football in the snow is awesome. We don't get snow at the big house a lot. We had the Indiana game. And even the 2021 game was like flurries, kind of sleet, you know. I mean, come on, you can't tell me that when Cornelius Johnson, even if take away Michigan, Ohio State, just Cornelius Johnson making that catch right before

half sliding and you could just see where his body was. that was awesome that snow games are the best like the lions when they played i think it was the eagles in like 2013 and calvin johnson's face mash has oh that's the that's like the greatest video of all time and the lions lost that game don't care it was awesome so yeah i want the cold you know i ordered uh like a little uh like a hood like an under armor you know cold gear hood i'm soft man i gotta be warm kind of you know a little bit it pulls up so you know no I think to your point with that, too, like, I think there, two things can be true. Like, we can just want snow football because snow football is awesome.

I also think, like, I'm not ashamed to say that the snow gives us an advantage and I want that for my team. That doesn't make me soft and, like, that I don't want to just play them no matter what. But if I can get an advantage, I want an advantage. Why would I not want that? Yeah. Like if Michigan had natural grass, I hope that they would, you know, keep it very tall. Yes, exactly. And I think that just in general, like, it's like, you know what?

Get tougher. You know what? Both teams have to play in the same conditions, right? Like, try to run the football, man. I don't know. I'm not like, I saw Mr. Ohio who I like Mr. Ohio. I think he's a normal human being. And like, can he can dish it and take it and like have fun with it without like, you know,

I don't know, doxing somebody or like being a psychopath like some of those Ohio State fans. And Michigan fans, I'll be honest. Like everyone's got them, right? I see some stuff a lot and I'm like, bro, we got to relax. Yeah, yeah.

But I will say, I did laugh. I don't know if you saw, but Dave Portnoy at Presd tweeted straight at him, which was fucking awesome. That's got to be pretty cool though, right? Like regardless of the rivalry, like, you know, somebody of that stature, you know, tweeting at you over some banter's got to be pretty pretty fun yeah so good um all right um so i think that uh i think that you know i'm ready i'm just i'm just ready for saturday i think that

the snow the cold i was out in it today it was for i was i drove by the stadium and it was like there were flurries for sure and the wind was whipping and i just want to tell everybody be ready it is like I'll say two things. One, it's not very enjoyable to just like, you know, it's not 70 and sunny. Like if I'm talking of just like enjoying the, you know, standing there, not that enjoyable. But you get football into it and I'm like, fuck yeah, I love it. You don't think about it. Like when you're there in the cold, like you just deal with it.

I mean, as long as you have like, you know, because like cold games always wear gloves. I got the three of Michigan gloves from the MDN one year because the gloves I had were just not waterproof and got soaked from the Nebraska game when it was like snowing, but it would melt on your glove. It was awful. But as long as you got all that double-layered, you know, I'm ready to lose my voice, you know. There's a different intensity as a fan in this game when you're at the stadium too, because you yell with a little more like raspiness and you're like, yeah, I'm going to lose my voice. That happened to me in 23, fully expecting that to happen. And I hope that, you know, there's a lot for Michigan fans to be excited about and cheering and yelling and

just being loud on every down when, you know, you said it's not 70 degrees in the sunny. That's the average weather, I think, of Carlsbad, California. So, you know, I know it's funny how we talk about Ohio State, by the way, where it's like, they have snow and stuff, but it's like this built-in advantage of Michigan. It's like three hours away of a drive. Yeah, but, you know, Michigan's quarterbacks from Detroit from Belleville and their quarterbacks from Carlsbad, California. I think it's not, it's not about, like, what they endure or, like,

like where they're from or whatever it's a mindset it is truly a mindset where i think you know i put out the the touchdown today in um in Columbus from 2022 um which actually that day was supposed to be like shitty weather all morning we got there like seven a m to Columbus and it was like 25 degrees everyone thought it was going to be like terrible there was snow and rain in the forecast. It ended up being literally like 50 degrees in sunny all day. It was super nice. I remember unbelievable. So that's that's another thing that makes me laugh when people talk about the weather. Anyways, I put out the touchdown where JJ just literally it was like the call was Denard left essentially. You know, JJ left. He runs right by Trevor

Keegan and gets in. And it's just like that to me was like that's still the mantra of Michigan and where it's just like, we're not going to be sexy. We're not going to do anything crazy. Yeah, there might be some tricks up our sleeve at sometimes. And we, you know, we're going to throw the ball. I'm sure the McCulley or the Underwood to Marsh connection will be moving this week too. But like we can just run through your face if we want to.

And I think that's going to be plan number one on Saturday, no? I think so. I mean, Ohio's defense is, you know, the top. top five in college football, right? Their front seven's really good. And obviously, you know, the talk about Caleb Downs is one of the best players in college football.

That's 100% true. Dude's a stud. Yep. But I think when it comes to Michigan in the run game, I think the offensive line, even though there's three redshirt freshmen that are starting, and you've got a couple fifth year guys in there with Alhadi and Crippin,

I think the thing about them being freshmen is that physically they're still developing, you know, as an offensive lineman. It just takes a different level of physicality. And so they've been so good with their assignments that they've been able to move guys pretty easily throughout this season, especially as like we got to October. I really, and even against Nebraska, too,

you kind of started to see it. I think the physical limitations might show up a bit in the run game, but I do think that with how they've been able to just play, mistake-free, get to their assignments, I'm hoping that that's going to be enough for Marshall to be able to bust some runs. And, you know, because he can break a tackle. If he's one-on-one and you block it right, he breaks a tackle, he might be gone, right? So, you know, obviously we know no Justice Haynes this week, which is unfortunate.

I would love for, I mean, especially in this game, like the ability of Justice Haynes to break one is so awesome. Especially because their red zone defenses, I mean, they talk about it all the time, but it's true. It's super damn good. like they they tighten up when you get goal to go so that's the one thing with chip that he's got to have some stuff that he feels really comfortable with and Bryce feels comfortable with in the you know the red zone and as you get inside the 10 you got to find ways to pay off drives you can't you know have to either go forward and forth or kick a field goal that's how we've beaten them outside of last year like which was just an anomaly of a game but every other

year it's been we score touchdowns and hold them to field goals that has been in how we you know because it's definitely a bend but don't break situation right like the reality of ohio state's offense is you're probably just not going to you're not going to just like completely lock them down unless you're mason graham and you just you know bully them uh even though they won the national like the the national championship offense like we had like four guys just bully them all day for 60 minutes it's still the funniest thing to ever happen in the history of sports yeah it's up there um I also think Michigan State having 14 wins over three seasons vacate is pretty funny, too.

Also, so, like, that's a tough toss-up. Very funny. But, yeah, I mean, to your point, though, like, there's, and that's what everyone always says. When I, this week I'm talking to people or, you know, people are asking me how I'm feeling. I'm like, no, I feel pretty good. They're like, well, you don't have Mason Graham and Kenneth Krantz. Like, yeah, no, Michigan doesn't. But I think what they've done throughout the season and if it pays off, then I'm going to take back everything I said about, like, the rotation.

But if they're able to just have guys go 95% of snaps, their best players, you know, I feel, I would feel really good if we could get Derek more on the field for, you know, 65 to 70 snaps or whatever it's going to be on Saturday. Same with Barham and Guy and, you know, Houseman, I don't know, seems like that's, he's going to play. So I don't, I have no idea on that situation and the tweets make it all the more interesting and weird. I'm just like, what is going on. I got Cole Sullivan and, you know, and Jimmy Rolder have been. able to, you know, step up because at the beginning of the year, it was Barham and

Hausman and Roller was kind of rotating in. And then, you know, Houseman or Barham went down to the edge. He's kind of a hybrid player. And so you have Roller get more snapped and has played really good this year. And Cole Solvin obviously kind of coming into his own as a redshirt freshman. So thank goodness for those guys. Yeah. And so, I mean, I actually, oh, the one thing I wanted to bring up for earnest was did you see the one tweet reply to his tweet where he you know he did his whole thing where he was talking about his faith and whatever which is cool and I don't want to like I'm not trying to like make fun of that but the one tweet replied to it was like do you I got to pull it up because it was it the message board post

no it was we got to talk about that too it was somebody I think it was Michigan Wings. He responded and he was like, do you think that you have faith to run through an Ohio State Buckeyes chest on Saturday? It was just it was the perfect reply.

I got to find the one and I'm looking on message board geniuses, which is just a fantastic follow. There was here. So earlier this week somebody from the Bucknuts 2,4,

seven page, which is always, I really hope I go on. If I visit that website Saturday, about 3.30, Justin, that means some good things that happen. Let me just say that, but I just had it up. So, recently starting Teton, Teton, linebacker, Houseman, misspelled, has come on and said that he has miracle powers and that people can't necessarily see it. It's taking questionable step back from football the last couple weeks as well.

This has been around the same time that Smith and Tata become mysteriously injured. Do we think this is just a coincidence? Or did one of their players, he's put if instead of above, did one of their players put a magical curse on our star receivers? Now, in their defense, at the time of the screenshot, I had 14 down votes. But that is one of the funniest things I've ever seen. Oh, that is, I mean,

it's got to be a troll, right? I was just going to say, like, is that somebody that is so, like, so in the message boards that they're actually being dead serious? or is it like actually probably is who it is um there's also a funny one that gets bumped every so often um where there was uh it was before 2021 and it was something about michigan fans saying that ohio state had their signs and all the ohio state commenters were like who cares just beat us blah blah blah blah very very funny uh message board over there at bucknots man they got and their staff is you know we're big fans of dave biddle over here i mean is that check due yet

Justin, I don't know. Like, at some point, you, like, I mean, I guess he's probably doing it to get the like rage bait clicks too from Michigan fans or just even like, you're so okay with Michigan fans like making fun of you because you just are a whore for clicks. He doesn't even have Twitter blue, brother. He just shitposts for the love of the game. He's not even getting paid $12.17 a month off of it. That's crazy.

That's crazy. but um okay so hold on i found the earnest one it was are you from michigan wings shout out michigan wings solid solid account are you wearing a helmet and pads next saturday to drive the spirit of the lord right through a buck eyes chest that's a pretty good that's a pretty good great response great response um no that was good um yeah i mean ohio state like i got to almost like give their media members like credit of like to still stand up and talk some shit and like and say like oh this is you know this is the year like I I hate to even give him the light but um big F was on the on the show with Dave today and they asked him like big cat was talking to him

and everybody, they were asking them, like, okay, well, you can't, like, say, like, there's zero chance that Michigan wins this year because, like, last year, there pretty much was zero chance and they still won. So you, like, you can't go ahead and say, like, you're not nervous at all. Or, like, there, because, like, there has to be

in the back of their mind, like, again, I'm with you on, like, I feel somewhat confident, but I have no idea what's going to happen. And, like, there is plenty of, nervousness and doubt in my mind for Saturday. There's no doubt about that. For them, like how, after the last four years, and specifically the last year in 2024, how do they sit there and still say, like, no, we're going to kick the shit out of them.

It's a guarantee, like I have zero doubt my mind about it. Well, yeah, I mean, look, at some point, Ohio is going to beat Michigan football, right? At some point in the future, it's just going to happen. And so then it's like, Dave Biddle's going to take a victory lap because he finally, it's like you tweeted the same thing for four straight years. Like, do you get a cookie for that?

So the other thing I question specifically when it comes to Big Ev, who after last year's Michigan, Ohio State game, posted a video, I think it was he was probably visiting his family, she's probably his parents' house in like in front of a driveway, just dead inside. Like, might have crossed.

might have, his tear ducks might have been dry at that point. And then when they won the national championship, he switched up and was like, oh, that little scrimmage. So do they care about it or not? I don't know. I can't tell if they care about this game or not, because they're talking a lot about this game this week. Yeah, it didn't matter.

It didn't matter after they, you know, want to, you know, basically the NIT. That's what college football is now, Justin. It's just the NIT. It's just, yeah, they won a few games. Well, and also a lot of them called it the greatest run in college football history. Yeah, you're going to four games. Winning those four games in the playoff.

It was the longest run in the playoff history because the playoffs started last year, the extended playoffs started last year. But to call it the greatest run right after you lost to the worst Michigan team in quite some time. I just there's a lot of conflicting things I mean I can think of a better run 23 Michigan beat Ohio State they beat Iowa who probably is equivalent to Tennessee and they beat Nick Sabins Alabama and they beat Washington so they beat number two at the time whatever Iowa was ranked number four and number two in a four week span I mean correct me if I'm wrong I didn't hear any law

in that role. No, sorry. You got to throw a fit after they plant the flat. Like, it's a whole thing, man. We wouldn't understand. Okay. Okay. Sorry. I forgot. We, uh, yeah. We got to protect the turf, though, man. So this one means a little bit more. We do have to protect the turf. Are we going to get out there on the field and risk, you know, getting arrested if that goes down? That's a great question. Um, I do think that that's something that I haven't fully thought about yet. Um, because I haven't really comprehended a Michigan lost yet. No, I just meant, like, if Michigan wins, are they still going to try to plant the flag to get their get back?

Because, like, normally they don't do anything in the 60 minutes, you know, in the game. True. So then it's like after the fact that's when they want to rip a lot of Justin on. Does Jack Sawyer just like pop out and he's like, I've got the flag and try to play. I mean, you know, I think they got a home game against, I think the bills in Pittsburgh. That's not a, that's a quick little flight, right? So you could probably be there.

Yeah. I will say what's, okay. in this this is a bad scenario for us so i'm going to just preface it with that in a possible loss for michigan and you know that they're going to try to do something they're going to try to plant but it doesn't mean that much do something they act like they've been there before too jocelyn you got remember that correct so they're going to do that then that video is going to be reposted by every big account from ohio state and they're going to like they're going to flaunt it in the same breath as when they literally cried about it last year. Like, literally we watched

an Ohio State player cry about it. Actually, an Ohio State legend, according to some. Yeah, that's kind of great. But no gold pants. No gold pants legend. Um, yeah, man, you know, all right. I feel like we've got off the rails here, but I, this is what this game's, but this is stupid shit that makes this rivalry amazing. Yeah. And there is a mutual respect, I think, between fans at least i hope there is that like we're gonna be a part of it right like all that iron bowl i don't care i saw people who were like oh national champs in the iron bowl in the last 15 years eight yeah no shit Alabama had seven of them don't care about cam newton's mickey mouse run camden was a god that year by the they can have that one but it doesn't mean that it's like

that's like you know the the funny things where they're like me and michael jordan combined for you know a thousand points in this year it's like michael jordan had 999 i got one yeah it's like when they do that with kobe and quami brown right yeah this is also this podcast is exactly what happens and i'm going to crack my second beer this is what happens and it will happen on saturday when you start drinking and you start talking about uh michigan ohio state because it just gets very petty honestly if you were to follow more so you but either one of us around the tailgate you're just pulled in so many different directions you just have like a thousand different conversations and that's kind of what our podcast is truly it literally we just you know from

sometimes i am michael scott where i i just start a sentence and i just see where it goes i have no idea where it's going to end um yeah jordan's track sent me his pdf of like their prep and i was like brother what is this never seen this before uh and then i used it for our like one of our podcast that week because it was, you know, a lot of the stats around the game. And I was like, this is super helpful, but I'm not going to do this. I'm just going to wing it and look at, you know, this is amazing. This is

awesome prep. I'm not going to do any of it, actually. Yeah, this is fantastic. Good for you, man. All right. Let's pivot for a quick second before we can get back to talking about the game. But Michigan Hoops, Dusty May is, I mean, a wagon.

They're a wagon. A legit wagon. Dude. Yeah, I mean, so Monday night, 1030 tip, I'm a cranky old man, and man, was I happy to watch that game? I mean, I think I finally put the iPad down with the bed at the U4 timeout in the second half. But man, they just, their defense is just ridiculous. And, you know, they beat tennis or Auburn, excuse me. They beat Auburn last night, 102 to 72. They were up 59.31 at half.

and I think kind of started to take the foot off the gas a little bit because that game, I mean, that thing was out of hand, dude. I mean, it was, I never, I don't know the last time I've seen the Michigan team do that. Like, I think there were some times with the 2012, 2013, team almost in the final fourth, the championship game. There were times that they did that to, like, rank teams. Like, I remember going into Minnesota, beating the shit out of them. Yeah.

But that was crazy. Well, I will say this. like my um my thought process while watching that game last night both nights really was like anywhere you looked on the court for michigan and i'm i feel like auburn felt this is like who are you going to attack like you're not going to attack yaks you're not going to attack morris johnson you're not going to attack ade mara like where are you turning to like i and then switch everything man like they're just they're so athletic that like almost everybody can switch.

I just, yeah, I mean, you know, in Kempom, they jumped all the way to number four. I think they were 15th before the game on Monday against San Diego State. And so now they're fourth. They're number one in defensive rating, number 19 in offensive rating. I think that the three big lineup,

they're starting to figure out how to play together because you're starting to see a little bit more cohesion with that unit because they went away from that. And then for this tournament, they've gone back to it. So, yeah, Yaxel is a stud. I mean, that dude is... We finally saw him put it all together. Like, I think we all knew that that was going to come.

And it's, what, game six or seven? Yeah, these guys, like never... I mean, outside of the off-season, they've literally not played real games together, you know? So that's, like, obviously part of what happens when you put together essentially a portal team. But it's the world of college basketball today, right? And, and yeah, Yax is, he definitely put

all together last night, like just drilling threes outside, got to the rim. The thing that I noticed with both him and Mores is like, those guys just absorb contact. Like it's nothing. They go to the rim, absorb the contact, and it's almost an N1 every time. Yeah, I mean, Yaxel, he had that a couple times last night. But, dude, just listen to his stat line in 27 minutes. by the way. So 17 points, five boards, four assists, two steals, one block.

I mean, Mores Johnson had 15 points. He only missed one shot. He had five boards, three assists, a block. Like, dude, yeah. And they started, you know, started to hit some threes last night, too. I mean, they shot 40% from three. Trey was three to six. So, like, you just started to see some of these guys.

Can we shout out Roddy Gale, by the way? I mean, what a redemption story. Like, I want to give him, give him his props for, like, you know, not just, just turning it in, you know. He was, he had it rough, you know, early last year, ended up playing well down the stretch for Michigan in some big moments. But yeah, go ahead. I mean, dude, I just, I'm looking down.

I mean, Namari had a great game. Things kind of started to, you could tell it was going to happen for him soon. We've seen too much of him at Michigan to know that he's going to be able to get his. But also, shout out LJ. Kason, because he had a rough, patch against San Diego State that kind of let them back into the game. He had some turnover, some his shots. Dude, you knew it was Michigan's night when he shoots the three. It hits off the, like the, in between the backboard and the, like, the flat part of the

rim, it just sticks in, right? Like, you know you're like, all right, that's, I'll take that lucky bounce. So, yeah, man, I mean, just defensively, the effort, these guys are physical. The rebounding, I mean, Michigan had 35 defensive boards. That was as many offense and defensive boards as Auburn had, and they had 16-0 boards. Like they just were out efforting them all night. I think, okay, a couple funny things about it. Obviously, like Bruce Pearl being literally on the call when he was the coach.

I watched it on mute, man. Three months ago. It was insane. It was a wild thing that they did. How was that? Because, again, I watched it on mute. I watched it on mute as well, which is funny. Because I, yeah, we had a shout out stranger things.

We had stranger things going on. On the big TV, I was watching it on the smaller TV on mute, but just wild that they had that going on. And so, but I think people, like, I know it's obviously now his son is coaching, so it's not Bruce Pearl anymore. But that Auburn team, like, they, I know they don't have Janai Broome, but they were in the final four last year. Like they were, they obviously beat Michigan to get there, but like, they were unbelievable.

I'm just saying that's no like that Michigan just like put them away like they were a mid-major team in an early non-conference game. Well, did you see the clip Ant posted of Pettiford talking trash or I think over the off season saying how they beat every Big 10 team by 40? That was kind of nice to see that. I love that. Because he, I mean, he killed us in the 3-16, right? So, you know, fair play to him. But, yeah, man, I mean, this team, I'm excited, man. So this will go out Thursday morning on Thanksgiving, so we have no idea if Michigan is going to win.

We could, like, copy part of my take and be like, oh, hey, Michigan won or, oh, hey, Michigan lost, right? Like, that kind of thing. So I don't know much about Gonzaga. I know they've always been a really good program in my life under Mark Few. So this should be a fun game. It's only at 930 tip, Justin, so I'm not going to be as cranky. And, you know. And Thanksgiving.

You don't have to pull it. I got to get up and throw the bird on the smoker, though, man. So I got to get up early. But then, you know, maybe I'll crack a cold one. Maybe I'll crack a blue banana beer. It is. I love that. It's a day that, like, it's never too early to start drinking for sure.

That's true. I will say this. Like, whether Michigan wins or loses this game, I still think that, like, I mean, what a job already by Dusty May to, to, um, to, put this together i want to give our our friends at champion circle a little shout out too i know um i won't name names over there but they uh there've been a couple guys who've been like working their ass off in the off season to get the nil money to make this happen and like i'll tell you what it wasn't cheap to go get a yaxel lendebore i'll i'll say that uh and you know and the rest of these guys like

they they put together in after dusty had been on the job for 12 months, you know, and obviously it went well in year one, but like they, they have an unbelievable lineup and went and got guys in the portal, like only 12 months into his, into his coaching job. Yeah. Well, I think this thought, I had this thought last night as I was watching Michigan, there's absolutely smoke. I mean, it's just not even close. But, like, at a certain point i was like oh this is like fully like weaponized michigan with nil like and the coach actually wants to use it right because we talk with jared about you know the difference between charon and jim now in college football it just takes a little bit more time right like you can't just go

buy these guys in the portal there's a hundred some guys on the team yeah right so but it's like okay this is like you know and it's early in the season and they're different sports but it's like no this is like this is how michigan can compete uh consistently and be at the top of the conference and in the country is with the ability to go and get the best players through name, image, and likeness. So that was a thought that popped across my head last night. I love that. And I also want to say, too, here's where, like, yes, Michigan is a, Michigan has a lot of

alums and influential people that want to, you know, give to NIL, where I'll give Dusty May and the Champion Circle guys on the hoop side, the props. it's not that easy to say no give to Michigan basketball instead of Michigan football right like it is that's not the easiest ask and you have hockey too right like that's a different i think different than some other schools where and you have women's basketball too right so you know for Michigan you have four pretty major sports that are kind of jockeying for those donations and so you it's all to Michigan but it's like how do you figure that out. So I think Champion Circle's done a great job with that. You know, obviously had an opportunity to speak with some of those guys in Chicago and just the work that they're putting in, knowing they're doing

everything they can to keep Michigan at the top is awesome. And in Dusty May's case, in Michigan basketball's case, get them back to the top because there was a rough couple of years there. And what he did last year with that team, I'm just super excited. I mean, the turnovers have already cut down

quite a bit. I'm sure that's been an emphasis. So, you know, Last year, they never cut down, Justin. Like, they never were, like, under 19 a game, it felt like. And so, you know, I think they had nine last night. I think they had 12 against San Diego State. Like, those are, you can do something with those numbers. So, yeah, man, I'm excited for this Gonzaga game tonight, though.

A moot point for people listening to this, because it'll already have happened, but I hope they won't. But I also, two shoutouts I want to give out, Feldman Chevrolet of Highland and Woodson whiskey. Both of them are contributing to Michigan's NIL. And so, you know, Feldman has helped out a bunch of guys with cars and more and, you know, partnered with a lot of these Michigan student athletes. Woods and whiskey, on the other hand, also contributing because if you go get the champion circle bottle, a limited edition bottle of what's and whiskey, you know, a portion of that goes to the NIL. So you need to drink bourbon. I mean, literally a win-win. I mean, literally a win-win. I don't know.

If you're a Michigan fan, there's not more of a win-win that you could have. The warm, time and you're cold. All right. Let's wrap this up by turning our attention back to this game on Saturday because I just can't stop talking about it. But where is this game one slash lost for you on both sides on Saturday? Yeah, I think for Michigan it's – mistake-free football.

It's paying off drives in the red zone. And then it's just trying to limit Ohio State as much as you can in between the 20s. And then when they get inside the 20, just trying to do what they've done the last few years and force them to a field goal attempt. And we've seen some misses from them over the years, too, when it comes to that. So just find a way to get off the field, any means necessary. I think in terms of where Michigan loses, it's the turnovers. it's Jeremy Smith going for a buck 50 and two touchdowns.

And it's maybe an inability to stop the run. We've talked a lot about Ohio State's ability or lack there of this year to run. But if you let them get going, you've got to fight a way to stifle the run game. Otherwise, I think it just opens so many things up for them. And it's going to be really tough. It's going to put your linebackers in a lot of pressure and conflict. So, yeah, those are kind of both ways where I see this thing kind of shaping out. yeah i've got a couple things as well i think both of or most of them are like right along the

same lines as you um one is when ohio state gives you opportunities you have to take advantage of them like if they fumble the football anywhere you know i watched that ruckers game last last week they've you know ohio state fumbled on the one yard line and ruckers went three yards total and three and out right like you can't do obviously that but when they do make the very few mistakes that they make, you have to take advantage. And also the same thing on the opposite side. Like you can't shoot yourself in the foot.

We cannot have special teams mistakes, which has obviously been an issue all year long. And I think that, so that's a big one for me is just like something that Michigan struggled with. up until the Maryland game really you know it was like okay teams would give you opportunities and then you didn't take advantage of it so that's a huge one the other thing to your point is you know you have to get to them early whether it's getting to Julian San hitting him you know getting them off his off his kilter you know you can't let you got to stuff them on a third and two when they try

to run it up the gut one time you know you have to get them early because I want them to feel the pressure that they've felt in this rivalry for the past four years where if we go up 7-0 in this game, they're going to start feeling it. They all get tight on that sideline. It starts with Ryan Day and it continues on. And then it's Julian Sand who's never played in this game before. And guys start getting tight. That's where Michigan can win this game.

And it doesn't even need to be Michigan up, right? like you were there in 22 you probably felt it when it was 10 to 3 and they weren't moving the ball and Michigan was getting off the field and they started the tense up right so um yeah i'm with you in terms of the getting there early i think if michigan's able to get some hits or maybe even get a sack or two in the first quarter uh on saying which can be tough because they haven't given a lot of sacks but if you can have a guy make a make make a play in the game right that type of play and we've seen that over the years um from michigan players from ohio state players like you're just elevated, your play is elevated, right?

Your effort is up there. So if you could just, you know, a Derek Moore or Barham can find a way to hit saying just speed up his internal clock a little bit, get them off rhythm. Like that's going to be important, in my opinion. So, you know, that was something that happened to Will Howard last year, right? Like McCarty Page comes down, hits him, he's maybe a little dinged up, his shoulders hurt, whatever. Like that affects the way guys play football.

Yeah, and like obviously I want to make sure, make it clear that we're not trying to injure guys like i no no i'm just talking about clean hits i know i know i know that you are i'm i'm just i'm making it clear here in case this gets clip somewhere but maybe yeah it's football you want to hit him get him you know get him off his off his game i think that makes a huge difference for a young guy i mean he is very very accurate if you can just break up those things by half a split second that changes things right um and so i'm all about that um i yeah i i I think that the same thing on offense, if we can just get a little, like, push. You know, I go back to, I go back to Joel Honingford telling us in 2021, after the

2021 game, where they lined up after a certain point in that game, and he could see it in their eyes that they didn't want to be there, that they were just going to, they were just going to be able to push them around. And that was, like, that's the difference, right? that's the mental part in this game. And so if Michigan's offensive line and defensive line can get that where it's like, I think their defensive line has had pretty much nobody pushed them around all year, right? If you can get a little bit going and just, you know, that's where Max Brett is in, you know,

he did it to Caleb Downs actually when he was at Alabama in that game in the Rose Bowl and just like pancake him, like those little things where guys are like, oh shit, this team is here to play. Like that, those little mental advantages are where I think Michigan has had the advantage over the past four years, and you have to have that on Saturday. Yeah, man. I think over the last two or three years, a guy that now plays for the Lions, Ty League Williams is one of the biggest parts of what they did defensively.

And I know they've got some guys, you know, Kate McDonald, I think is a kid that Michigan recruited pretty heavily. You know, Caden Curry, he's the kid that after he committed, right after the game of 21 said Michigan that won't happen again. It's happened three times for him. So, you know, let's see if they can make that a fourth. But they've got some guys up front for sure. Like they, I mean,

look, it's Ohio State. They're always going to get talent. So, yeah, I think for Michigan, it's just trying to win the mental game, win that edge. And just execute, man. Like, we've seen it, we've seen bits and pieces. I think we saw a lot more of it come together against Maryland. Now can you do it against Ohio State, right?

When it comes to the offense. And defensively, can wink call another fantastic game that's going to be my two biggest things i'm thinking about going into the game i mean he's he did it last year and um i mean just unbelievable right uh yeah nobody nobody predicted it um last thing i'll say here where this game is won or lost this one is on us this crowd i think if if this michigan crowd is like it was in 2021 and 2023 that i think it gives me michigan a significant advantage. We talked about it. Going into the game in 2021, it just like, shit felt different. And then in 2023, it was like, I mean, we felt like we were confident. And I don't think that

we felt that pre-2020, right? Like even at home, you never felt like you had the advantage. You were just hoping for something to happen that day. And so, you know, the moment AJ Henning scored in 2021, you just kind of new. And I feel like you need the crowd to be in it and to give Michigan advantage in that way as well. Yeah, yeah. I'm just ready for the game, man. You know, I see all the all the talk and stuff, but I don't really engage in that anymore. Like I went through my Twitter. Like I don't tweet much anymore. Like I just kind of read Twitter and that's about it. Yeah, man. You used to be active. And then, you know, people like tweet me my job and stuff. I was like, all right, that's weird.

So I'm just going to keep it, you know, if I ever have anything to say, I always tweet it from the blue by and idea of council. Sometimes that's me talking shit on there, and you don't even know it. You think it's Justin, but it's me. But I'm just ready for this game. I'm ready to watch the boys. You know, like I said on the last podcast, if you didn't hear that, like go early, go support the seniors.

This is our last time, you know, in the regular season at Michigan Stadium. And maybe there'll be another game in a few weeks. But this is their last time at the Big House, man. That's something special guys that have spent four years, five years. you know won a national championship go support them uh go go cheer for them and uh yeah man that's that's that's about all i've got i've got one question for you uh if if you have anything else but this is kind of off topic but on topic with the time of the year that it is go for it what is your like if you had to pick like a starting five of thanksgiving food what are you going with um all right

well we went with sides the other day right yep um just like a plate you get five choices is and you know what we'll consider gravy and like if you want cranberry sauce on that into that but if you want that that's not going towards your allotted five items okay um i mean i feel like this is a little bit going against the grain because people even us on the last podcast talk of a little bit of like um like against turkey you know but i'm definitely going turkey number one i i think i think it's it's a staple it's a tradition I definitely do that are we going to snake draft

you go on now or do you want me to No no it can be the same Just put together your Your five Okay My five is So turkey Definitely mashed potatoes and gravy

I said cheesy potatoes the other day For sure I think I would definitely I would grab that green bean casserole A 100% I'm not going crazy I'm not into that either. So I don't know. I'm not into that either. So I don't know where like I've really like that's never been a thing. I don't know. I'm trying to think. Definitely stuffing. Okay. So is that four? I think that's five. Right. Turkey, turkey mashed potatoes. Stuffing. Green meat casserole and cheese potatoes. Yeah, it's five. Okay. All right. So I'm also going turkey. I'm not with the turkey slander to be. honest like i but i'm going to douse it in gravy because it's a little dry like i might be looking

like clark griswold out here trying to drink the gravy with it so i'm i might you know what this might be boring because i might go similar to you but i'm going turkey mashed potatoes and gravy stuffing with the gravy on it the green bean casserole and i was going to do a dessert but i didn't tell you that so i was going to go pecan pie okay that's fair i like that that's a good plate that's a great plate uh my wife who's listening from the other room just text to me also with a great addition a good roll like a really like a warm roll with butter during that like I I don't even know where my mom gets the rolls but they're like we only get the rolls for Thanksgiving. This is also a funny thing of holiday food where it's like

if we like it so much like why do we only eat it once a year? Well because then I think it's like it's like the game like you would just ruin. right you just you know you don't you have it so many times like nah it's not you know like that's why the yankees redsox rivalry to me doesn't mean much i don't care unless it's in the playoffs right because it's like gap and 18 times at home in a way um hey man you know maybe she's got a deal maybe she's going to like gordon food service i know that's uh you know maybe she's hit up texas roadhouse i don't know if they're like you know they're they're not there's very specific role okay um i actually think that you might be right with the gordon gordon food service

Yeah, that's a lot of, like, that'll answer a lot of questions people have about, like, where does food come from? Like, probably GFS. In Michigan, for sure. That's for sure. All right. Well, that's a good plate. Yeah. I mean, we've got, let's see, Thursday, Friday, we wake up Saturday morning.

I might not sleep Friday night. You never know. And the game is here. So I'm pumped, man. This is going to be, this is going to be fun. You know, honestly, here's another thing. Last thing I'll leave you with, too. is just like, I think this is something that we take for granted a little bit as Michigan fans

is like, it's pretty freaking awesome that the whole country watches us on Saturday. Every like that cares about this game. It is the main focus at noon on the last weekend, you know, of November every single year. And so I think that that like, you know, to your point, even in the Iron Bowl, like I'll be honest, like, I, I watch it when it's huge, but it's not like I got to dial in. Meanwhile, in 2023, I think this game had like 19 million viewers. Like, that's absurd, right? So I think it's just pretty cool that like, you know, it's an all or nothing game, right?

Most of the time, it, you know, it's something that is like, it's just, it's an awesome tradition. So I'll leave you with that. Anything else that you want to add? No, man. Just ready to watch the Lions, ready to be in the big house, ready to be at the tailgate. Just one last time this year, maybe, maybe, maybe December 19th or 20th. There's something going on. Who knows?

Maybe. You never know. Last guaranteed time in Ann Arbor this year for football tailgate. And it always goes so quick, but always a blast. I love just doing the podcast the last, you know, what, three, two years. years, three years, whatever it is now. I think it's three seasons now. It's just been a blast, man. And I love this thing, and I love Michigan football, and it's just been a lot of fun. So let's hope they go out there, play their ass off. I know they will. And let's just, you know, see what happens.

I love it. All right. For us, you can follow us at Blue by 90 on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, at Blueby 90 podcast on YouTube and Blueby90.com. We appreciate you. Go Blue.