Blue By Ninety - "The guys are ready" I Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng Joins the Show

Episode Date: September 2, 2026

Stadium & Main is back for season 2! Strack and Worm preview the upcoming season, then they welcome Sophomore LB Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng to the show!

Welcome in. It is Stadium in Maine with Big Worm and Strack. It is season two, episode one. We are so thankful. You're joining us. Worm, you are, let's first just get out the personal news for you. You've hung them up officially, right? Like you're officially retired now from the NFL. There's no chance you're going to ditch us this year and go back to the league. Is that that's not a thing? No, I have lost too much weight. I have not worked out hard enough. And yeah, I'm retired. I am, my new job is podcast, podcaster, and I feel pretty good about it. Podcaster, dad, husband, that stuff, that takes up enough of your time right now. Sure does. Sure does. Absolutely.

Listen, man, we're so pumped like it's here. It is time to kick off the college football season. We do have a new day, as you'll notice for this thing dropping every Wednesday. There will be new episodes of Stadium in Maine here from the Blue by Night. We are teamed up with them this year. And there's all sorts of good new programming here on Blue by 90 this season. It's cool to see this day. The scene just keeps growing a little bit, man.

It's nice. Justin's doing some pretty big things over there, man. Obviously they got the tailgates on Saturdays, which I'm probably going to stop in now that there's eight home games. And I don't have to hear about eating right all the time. And it's going to be a fun football season. Man, I can't wait to be around the city and be around the town and watch boys go to work. It's going to be a lot of fun. Absolutely. Make sure you follow us on

Instagram, Stadium and Main Pod. Tell all your friends about it so we can keep building this thing up. You'll notice on the screen as well. A new sponsor this year, we appreciate that. You know how much we love living in Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan, but you know who else loves it? Pests.

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All right, worm, let's get into this thing. It's the season opener, Michigan and Western Michigan, Saturday, 730, inside the big house. It'll be on NBC. It has been a crazy offseason to say the least. It is nice to finally just talk about football. There's no more off-the-field stuff. We don't have to worry about any. it's just going to watch actual grownups coach it's going to watch football and not worry about any of the other stuff

I'm excited about it a year ago they went nine and three with all of the garbage happening off the field they went nine and three in your mind just big picture what's realistic for this year do you think i mean i think 10 and two you know if a lot of guys came back bruce is in year two jordan marshals here they're going to have a top five offensive line Obviously, like you said, we have some real deal coaches as the head coach, some amazing coordinators, the best offensive line coach in the country and Coach Harding. I'm excited to see these coaches go to work. But they have a gauntlet of a schedule, right? Indiana, Oregon, Ohio State, Oklahoma in two weeks.

So it's going to be tough, but I think 10 and 2 with, you know, a playoff birth, which is something they haven't had in the last two years, I think is very doable. They're going to have to squeak out, you know, out of those four wins of those four, you know, got one of the teams, they're going to have to speak out wins, and I think they can. It'll be interesting to see how they get that done. Yeah, I'm with you. I think, to me, if you're able to win nine games with everything that happened a year ago, like there's no reason to think that nine, ten wins isn't achievable this year.

I think there's, you know, there's so many things that people don't even realize. lies were happening that happened last year. I think this schedule, though, is brutal. I mean, this schedule is as tough as I can remember. It's going to be, it's going to be challenging. There's no question about that. I don't think anybody's going to, you know, you can't really run from that. It is what it is. But I think, you know, if you win the games, you're supposed to win, and that means you can't drop one of the games, you know, that you're favored to win. You can't drop any of those. But if you go nine and three with this schedule, I don't know if it's in the playoffs, but we're going to see, you know, I think it's interesting.

Let's go, you know, Kyle Whittingham didn't officially give us a depth chart for week one, but he did leave us some breadcrumbs sprinkled along the way to kind of give us some ideas. So let's go through this thing. We're going to go position by position. We'll go game by game. And then later in the show, we'll be joined by linebacker Nathaniel Ousu-Botang. But let's start at the top. It's, it's Bryce Underwood's show.

and I think there are a lot of people that sit in chairs like this with podcast mics that are probably too inexpensive that everybody gets an opinion nowadays, including me. I'm an idiot. What do I know? But what I think everybody is kind of putting this thing all on Bryce. Do you think that this team goes just as far as 19 goes? Is that kind of where you're at? I am, but I want to hear your thoughts. I think if I would have to put like a percentage on it, right? I think I would say 80 to 85% is on Bryce. Just because he's the quarterback, he's going to have the ball in his hands every single play. He's going to be the one going to be taking the press conferences every single, whether it's a win or a loss, you know, Tuesdays after practice. He's going to be the face of this program. And guys are going to look up to him. Guys are going to be seeing how he responds to things, whether it's good or bad.

So it's not even so much, obviously it's a lot about his play. But him leader, now as a captain as a sophomore, is something I've never seen, which I think was, I think it says a lot about who Bryce is. But that's a lot of pressure. And I think pressure is a privilege, especially for a guy who seems to want that type of pressure and wants that responsibility. But when you look at the roster, the roster is, I mean, I'm going to say it's stacked, you know. They got a guy like Andrew Marsh coming in for year two who's going to look to be the first 1,000-yard receiver in Michigan in the last almost maybe two decades, something crazy like that, maybe 10, 12 years, top five offensive line, Jordan Marshall coming back, Savion Heider, everything seen about him has been off the charts. And then some really solid tight ends. And then you look at the defensive side of the ball.

There's a lot of guys returning, some really good transfers, especially like John Henry Daley's coming in. and he was a double-digit sack guy last year. Zeke Barry, Jair Hill, Nathan O'Sulose, Boutang, who we're going to speak to a little bit. These guys are going to be the guys that are going to carry this team, but at the end of the day, the buck starts and stops with Bryce. I'm with you. And did you get to see the clip from Jordan Palmer, by the way, that came out yesterday?

I didn't catch that one. Okay. So Bryce went out to California and worked with Jordan Palmer this offseason. who's a quarterback guru. And Jordan Palmer, the stuff he was saying about Bryce was kind of staggering how good he was talking. And it was one of those, all right, well, let's, this is going real good right now.

Let's pump the brakes just a little bit. But everything he said was this is a completely different guy. This looks like a dude who's ready to take that next step. And the video looks good. The mechanics, obviously, the mechanics are the mechanics and he's got to get those things fixed. It's also about the decision making. You know, one thing that Jordan Palmer was talking was talking about layering that

throw and not throwing that 95-mile-hour fastball all the time. And sometimes having to be able to throw a change up and be able to layer some throws and make good decisions. There was a lot of really good stuff that came out of that. And, you know, I don't think we paid attention to it nearly enough last year, the fact that, you know, Bryce didn't have a quarterback coach. We've heard about that ad nauseum. Coy Dettmer Jr. in Jason Beck's offense, I think there's just a lot of reasons that this thing should work for Bryce.

Here's why I'll say that I think Bryce has a breakout year. While I think he's the most important piece, I don't think it's all on him in this offense. And that to me is why he has success. A year ago, Utah was fourth in the NCAA in points per game and fourth in total yards. that's pretty good. We'll take that, okay? And a big reason why is because they were able to run the football. And that was, I mean, that was a,

and you look at what they were able to do running the football a year ago in Utah. And now you're going to have Jordan Marshall and you're going to have Savian Hyder and you're going to have Bryce Underwood being able to run the football behind that offensive line. There's a lot of recipes for success in all of this in my mind, right? 100% and that's why I think when you look at that especially in the office side of the ball right like all these things are working in Bryce's favor so it's obviously he has to take a big step in year two obviously he's going to be the one that's going to be leading this team but he has all this this help all the exceptional pieces around him for him to be successful so that's that I'm putting

a lot of you know I gave that 85% of this kind of falling on Bryce not but not because he has to do it all but because if he doesn't do the things that he's supposed to do as a quarterback it it doesn't allow the rest of the team to flourish and i'm excited for this to happen i have i have a faith in price you know when when harbaugh and those guys were here in 23 and won the national championship j j j mccarthy was a top 10 pick based off of just being a game manager you know obviously he did some spectacular things throughout the season but with the offensive line they had and with with quorum and Edwards they were able to do some special things and and jj didn't always have to to win the game when it was time he made those plays and

stepped up in big ways and i think that's kind of what bryce is going to be like and i'm excited for that challenge yeah i think there's a day where bryce will be able to take over games and um i think he's going to be exceptional there that's going to come i don't think he needs to do that now though. I just don't. I think the defense will be good enough and I think he's got a running game that they can grind with and I think he's going to make enough throws.

I mean, listen, we have, I know people say this all the time and it's a drinking game at this point. The kid is 18 years old. We have to take a step back at times and say two things. One, he's still 18.

He's not going to turn 19 soon if he hasn't already whatever. But also like we have to start we have to give people room to grow we do this thing in society where we see someone as a freshman or a sophomore for the first time and we just assume that's who they are but we can't get better we refuse to allow them to get better as a society and I I don't get that I heard somebody say something similar to that the other day and it's so true like we have to stop doing that thing where we just give, you know, here, that's the story. That's it. Kid, kid is who he is. It's like the NFL with J.J. McCarthy. Like, the dudes barely started in

the NFL and all of a sudden, all right, well, hey, that's who he is. He sucks. He's never going to play. Cut him. It's done. Like, it's, I don't know. I think it's kind of frustrating. Am I wrong? It's definitely frustrating. I mean, I think society now is very microwave ready. Like everyone, everything wants to be right now. Give it to me now. Give me the best thing now. Give me the best player. now, obviously with the transfer portal now, you can kind of do that. But it takes time to develop. It takes time to, to, especially a quarterback in college with how complex these defenses are these days and how complex these offenses are these days.

And then we keep going back to didn't have a quarterback coach last year, didn't have, everything was going against not just this entire team last year. And for them to still squeak out nine wins and head into this season. with everything kind of going their way and trending in the right direction. I think we're in for a treat for Bryce this year. Yeah. So let's go into the running backs a little bit.

We all know about Savian Hyder. We've heard all about him. We know about Jordan Marshall and having Bryce and Cousdell as your third back is a luxury that most teams would dream of. I don't think we're talking nearly enough about how good that room is. To me, I think it's the best running back room in America.

I think you've got an All-American and Jordan Marshall. I think you've got a future first-round pick in Savian Hyder. And Bryce and Cuzzle is a really serviceable dude who would be playing on a lot of teams. And then there's other guys in there. You know, there's some younger guys in there that I think you're going to be really good at some point. But when you look at Savian Hyder, that's a different human being. Freshmen don't look like that. Like, that's a different dude.

But I also don't want to overshadow Jordan Marshall. To me, he's an all-American. Michigan was a different team when he was healthy last year. How would you, if you were in that offensive room, how would you divvy up the snaps there? And how many carries per game are you given each one of these guys? Good question. I mean, I was running back in elementary school.

But at Michigan, I had a similar experience. Bigger's a kid, they wouldn't let you run the football? Like every other year I'd have to put the orange sticker on the back of my head and not be able to touch the ball or pick the ball up and run with it. My last year at Michigan, where Sean Gary was coming in as the number one recruit, five star, and he looked apart. He walked in, he was bigger, faster, and stronger me, and I was 22 years old, and he was barely 18.

And so I, I, I, I, I, I understood, and I started and played 85% of the stats and all that, but when you have that luxury of having two phenomenal running backs, I mean, I don't want to put that much pressure and that much hype on saving Hyder, but everything that we've seen, it sounds like he's going to be the next running back coming out of college. But then you also have Jordan Marshall, who is, I'm for a 12, 13, 1,400-yard rushing season. My biggest thing for him is, like, he has to stay healthy. You know, we had a couple of injuries last year.

that kept them out. And if they're going to rely on those two guys, they have to stay healthy. And also, like, okay, let's not give them 40 rushes a game, you know, dealing that up, how they do it, 25 and 15, 20 and 20. Let's not do that unless you absolutely have to. And there's going to be times we're going to do that.

We're going to need to bleed the clock out. They're going to have to, you know, bully guys at the line. But I think that's what's going to complement this team. Is it all those two running backs? and then having Cousdell has that third back, but then Bryce using his legs a little more, not taking the hits and stepping out of bounds, him progressing and getting better in the past game.

All of those things are working in Michigan's favor, and now they actually have a solid receivers. You know, Injum Marsh is going to be a star, and the guys that they brought in, J.G. Buchanan, Zach Marshall has a real true tight end. I'm excited to see what they can do. let's transition right now to the wide receivers you brought it up perfectly um i think this is the room we're going to see the most improvement year over year the what like let's just put it out there

the wide receiver room was not good enough the last two years that that's just that's not hurting anybody's feelings it's just a fact that's just how it is Bryce needed more help last year didn't get it this is the best wide receiver room we have seen at michigan on paper in a while I think there's depth there. Not only is their depth, there is really good high-end talent at the top of this thing. And it's been a minute since we've seen this. Andrew Marsh and JJ Buchanan are a legitimate one-two big 10 punch.

They are legit. Whether it's going to be Channing Goodwin at the third wide receiver spot, like Witt said, or it's Jamie French or Travis Johnson or Celessi Moa, who's a freshman, regardless of who, how that all shakes out in order. There is more talent there, and that is something that they've been devoid of the last few years. There just hasn't been enough talent to push guys to get onto the field.

And I think this is the room where you're going to see the most growth year over year of any room in that locker room. Yeah, I mean, I would definitely, I would agree with that, that and maybe the linebackers, because they're all fresh and they're all going to be new starters this year. but when you look at those that receiver room has compared to what like you said

they didn't have over the last two years it's going to look completely different and that's going to also allow Bryce to not just have to focus on throwing the ball to Andrew Marsh who was a freshman at the time he's going to be able to go through his progressions the field's going to open up for

Andrew Marsh and for everybody else because there are more than just one option for Bryce to throw to so that's exciting JJ Buchanan I think is going to be like you said that one two punches going to be unreal. His size and range that he has, his catch radius is off the charts. And for Bryce to have more than one option, I think is going to make all the world of a

difference for him. Watching those crucial third and longs, those got to have it plays, it's going to look like a different offense. And because it is going to be, especially on paper and scheme-wise. Yeah, I think so. Maybe the strength of this team, though, is going to be that offensive line. I think this could be a top three offensive line in all of college football. And I think that for a couple reasons. A, there's depth.

There's a lot. I think there's eight or nine guys in there that could play. And I don't think you miss much of a beat, honestly. They've got a couple backups that would be playing in most places around America. Now, I would love to see Andrew Babble. a Lola get healthy and get back out there. I think he's a future NFL guy. But I think they're good.

You look across that line. It's probably going to be Blake Frazier, Evan Link, Jake Guarnara, native phobia, and Andrew Sprague across that offensive line from left to right. Guarnara and Sprague were guys that Jim Harding had to go into the portal and pull them back in and did that successfully. I think there's some talent there, man. I think this is a team or a spot on this team where they're good.

Brady Norton should be playing and he can't get on. I don't think he's going to be able to get on the field. Babelola is not, he's banged up, but he's probably not going to be able to get on the field right away. There's some dudes there that aren't going to get to see the field right away that probably should in a lot of places. Having too many offensive time in that play

is probably one of the best problems you can have besides maybe, like an exceptional running back room like we're going to see. So I think that those two position groups are going to complement each other so well. And it's it's going to be fun to see, especially if all those guys can stay healthy. But back in Springball, when we had Coach Harding on, he talked about how at Utah, they used a sixth-low offensive lineman more than anybody in the country. It was like, yeah, they give me said three or 400 snaps is unreal when it comes to an extra old lineman package.

I think you're going to be, you're going to see that a lot. this year too because to have some of those offensive linemen who aren't going to be starters not play, I think it's going to be a disservice to the whole entire team. Obviously, you want to get the reps and you want to be able to progress as an offensive lineman. But when you can put those guys in a package and you could run the ball, how I think we all think that these Wolverines are going to be able to do, there's going to be a lot of offensive linemen that are going to be able to play. It's going to serve this team very, very well. I'm excited to watch that because I'm a guy.

I respect the offensive linemen, you know, going up against them for my whole entire career and knowing what that takes to have the right calls, have the right adjustments. It's, you know, a lot of those guys, especially like Jay Guanera, who's moving to center, he's going to be the quarterback of that offensive line, you know, making the checks, making the calls,

pointing out the mic, flipping the protections. I think that also serves Bryce pretty well, too, in terms of being able to take some of that, you know, mental load off of Bryce and let him focus on being a quarterback, instead of, you know, making all these checks up the line and stuff like that, the offensive lineman, I think this is going to be, when we look at it into the season, like you said, top three, Joe Moore Award finalists, semi-finalists, they have that potential. Yeah. All right, let's flip over to the defense. That D-line,

I think the D-line's deeper than people think. I think they've got some guys there that are going to be impact players. I thought it was interesting. I don't know if you caught this in Kyle Whittingham's press conference. He talked about Nate Marshall, and he said he had some off-the-field issues that he wasn't really happy with, but he seems like he's got those figured out,

and now he might be the best past rusher they've got. He's a guy who came in as a really highly regarded recruiter year ago. Carter Meadows is very similar to that, who's a true freshman, who I think has a really high ceiling. But you brought it up. You bring over John Henry Daley. There's some guys in that, and I think along that front, Pierce, you know, Ida, I think there's some guys in there, maybe not an Aidan Hutchinson right now,

but enough that I think the depth is going to be really good. And one thing I think that there has to be improvement in, you have to see some improvements at that D tackle spot. Michigan got beat up in there a little bit running the football, I think, at the end of last year. That's got to be a spot where they're better. You don't have to be Kenneth Grant and Mason Graham, but it's got to be better than what it was a year ago. What do you think about the D-line?

Yeah, I think it will be better. When you look at Coach Blackstone in, I know his track record, he's a guy that prides him on having really good defensive tackles. And when you look at this schedule that's coming up, they're going to have to be able to stop the run. And then when they get those teams in the third long, they're going to have to be able to get off the pass. And they didn't do that as much as I was like last year.

You got a guy John Henry Daly who's coming out, coming from Utah, who is a double-digit sat guy. That's going to improve the pass rush. You talk about Nate Marshall coming in. You know, maybe it took him a little bit. It took him a year to figure things out, put some more muscle on, figure out the college game a little bit. I'm excited to see him work. Obviously, Carter Meadows is coming in as a highly-todd recruit.

I'm excited to see him work and see what he can do, especially in the past rush. I feel like a lot of guys, it takes a while to learn how to play the run because you're still figuring out your body as a young guy, but for him to step on the field and contribute in the past rush game, I think is going to is something that he needs to hone in on a little bit. Because there's opportunities there. There's opportunities for somebody to emerge as that third down pass rusher, that guy that is going to win games for teams on the defensive side of the ball. I was going to ask you, you're a guy, you know, the defensive line as well as anybody. What are the challenges for those youngsters coming in in your freshman year to be able to come in and play right away?

what are those defensive linemen going through right off the bat? A guy like Nate Marshall a year ago and a guy like Carter Meadows this year. I mean, when you're in high school, you don't, I mean, defenses maybe have like 10 plays, you know, and you get to a defense, especially like where Jay Hill is going to be running this year. They're going to have between the different combinations and adjustments and all that. They're probably going to have 200 different plays, you know, easily. And so when you're a fresh headspin and you're trying to figure out,

all this stuff and you're going up against the D-Tackle, you're going to be taking double teams on all the time and you're probably not going to be your body's not going to be physically strong enough to do that on a consistent basis. And, you know, you have to learn taking this. People think that D-line is like the easiest position to play.

Maybe when you're, you know, third and fourth year because those first years you're trying to get stronger. You're trying to figure out how to take on double teams. You're trying to figure out all these things that it looks easy on paper, but to have the technique to take a double team or to shed a block and make the play, it takes more than just being strong. And you made a whole life out of it.

All right, let's move on. Let's go to the linebackers at second level there. I think, and I hate, I don't want to say, you know, Nathaniel Wusu Boutang, who's going to be on this show, could, you know, beat me up if he wanted. I think this is my biggest question. question mark on the team. And he's not going to because he's a really nice guy. But I think this is probably the biggest question mark. I feel good about the secondary, really good about the secondary. We'll get to that in a moment. The linebackers are probably the

question though, right? Like you bring in Nate Staling from North Dakota State. You've got Troy Bowles. Chase Taylor came on in a really good spring and everybody's talking about how great he is. Nathaniel Wusu Botang is maybe the fourth linebacker. Like I don't know. I just need to see it, I think, before I can, like, totally buy in. Do you think that's the biggest question mark on the position groups? I mean, definitely the biggest question mark, not because we expect them to be bad or we expect them to drop off. But they just, there's, there's not a starter on the team yet, right? Like, there hasn't been a, none of those four guys that you just named were starters for Michigan last year.

And when you have a whole entire new, uh, starting, you know, two or three linebackers, and it's a new defense. Yeah, that's the biggest question. You know, everybody, every other position has at least one returning starter, maybe two. So when you look at that linebacker group, young guys, transfers, who's going to step, who's going to prove to everybody, including us too right here talking about it, that we got it. Don't worry about the linebackers.

We're going to be just fine. And, you know, one of those four guys, maybe they all play, maybe they all rotate. There's going to be at least two, hopefully three of those guys step up. up in a big way. And that's what it's going to take for this defense to be successful. On the other end of the gamut, the secondary, I think, is, I think is one of the strengths of this entire team. You look at the corners and Jihir Hill and Zeke Berry are your corners.

One, two, there's no question. Smith Snowden is the nickel. There's no question. You look at a young guy like Shamari Earls who came in as a really high four star, five-star kind of guy. I think he's your next in line there at the cornerback position, obviously. But you look at the safeties. I, listen, I love Rod Moore.

I love what he's brought to the Michigan football program. He's a three-time captain. He has made history. I want Rod Moore to have the best year ever. I don't know what it's going to look like. We just don't know. He's missed a lot of football, and he's dealt with some bad injuries.

I think the good news is that, there's depth at the safety positions. You bring in Chris Bracey from Memphis. You've got Jordan Young. You've got Mason Curtis who saw a ton of time last year. The good news is there's a lot of depth back there. The other side is like, I just, maybe there's, I don't know what you're going to get from Rod Moore.

I don't know what you're going to get from Chris Bracey. By all accounts, the early returns are that Bracey's looks great. But the corner position to me, you have to feel really good if you're Michigan with the way that cornerback room has shaped up. Yeah, I mean, when you look at, and especially as this, as defenses have evolved, and the nickel position has become so valuable, when you've got a guy like Snowden, I think that that makes,

that makes those other two cornerbacks, Barry and, and Hill's job that easier. Yeah. But those two guys are studs no matter what. But that's the biggest question. Obviously we saw is safety is going to be the biggest question. I'm right there with you. I love Rodmore. What he's done, the interception against Ohio State a few years ago.

He's a captain. He means much to this team. But, man, knee injuries suck. I've had him. It takes a long time to get back. And you can't replace meniscus. You can't replace cartilage. You can't replace whatever is going on in his knee that has continued to sideline him in a major way.

You know, he's had now a year and a half plus to come back. and hopefully that time off has done him some good. But I like Mason Curtis last year. Tall, lanky guy, isn't afraid to hit. Then those young guys too, Jordan Young, I think in a defense like Jay Hills, he can move around a little bit. Him and Shamar Ours, I think, can move a little bit on the defense,

come down and come off the line in different blitz patches, disguise in different ways that are going to give some, offenses, some fits. But yeah, you talk about this secondary. They're loaded. And, I mean, I'm trying to think of who I would put my foot down as, like, the best, the best position group. They got to be up there.

You know, one, maybe two, you know, top one, top two. They look good. And I'm excited for them to prove that and to come out and do this thing. All right. We've gone through all the position groups. We talked about the tight ends a little bit. Maybe not enough. But let's look through the schedule because that's a fun thing to do to put ourselves out

out like this and then look like idiots 12 weeks from now because we screwed the whole thing up. What the heck? Right. Let's go game by game here just because it's fun. Western Michigan, I think we can both comfortably say that Michigan better handle business and come away with a win. week one, correct? Yeah, week one at home, night game against, you know, they won the Mac last year.

Yeah. No disrespect to Western. They got some really good running backs. They're rushing the ball really low last year, but this is Michigan. They got to take care of business. Nobody loves Maxon more than I do. Let's be, I mean, I watch it. I love it.

No disrespect to Western. I know how good they are. Michigan should win the game. Week two to me is the most important. week of the entire season. I think week two against Oklahoma in the big house is the most important game on the schedule. I think it sets the tone for everything you want to do.

I think it sets the tone to tell people you're for real. I think it most importantly lets the dudes in that locker room know that they're for real. I think Michigan is going to beat Oklahoma at home. And I think that is going to set the tone for the real. rest of the way, what do you think? You said it. If they get this win, it's for the next 10 weeks. You look at the schedule coming up after that.

Some tough teams coming up. Nobody really tough until, what is it, looking at it, until Indiana in mid, in the end of October. So they get that win against the Sooners. Last year, it was a close game until it wasn't, you know, midway through the third quarter. It looks good last year for, you know, two and a half quarters. Now they're at home.

It's at the big house. That's exciting. But like you said, this sets them up for success for the rest of the season. The biggest thing is it's a confidence booster for that team. Screw everybody else in the country. That's going to be watching that game. Yes. If they can get this win, that's a confidence boost.

That's a morale booster. That's letting everybody on that team know that, hey, we're for real. 100%. And then you go to UTEP. They're going to beat UTEP. That's not a. Shouldn't be a worry. Iowa sneaky,

a sneaky tough game at home. I think, you know, there's, always sneaky. Yeah, you just, you know,

playing Iowa sucks. Like, it's just not fun. Um, that you know it's going to be low scoring. You know that they're going to do everything right. Like, there's not,

like, they just, they're just not fun to play. I, I was a kind of a gross one. Um, but I think Michigan wins that one, I would assume,

right? Yep, yeah, yeah, I'm marking it down as a win. Yeah. So we're both, you and I are,

both at 4-0. And then comes the first road trip of the year up to Minnesota. I think it should not be a difficult football game. I think it's a game Michigan should win. On paper, they're going to be a double-digit favorite. That's a win for me. Michigan's 5-0, right? 5-0. All right. Come back home now with Penn State. Here's a tricky one for me. I was over in state college last week when oversaw Matt Campbell and all those guys and got to watch their scrimmage. And I'm telling you, there's a little buzz right now, man.

They feel pretty good about that group. I think, though, Michigan's bigger. I think Michigan's stronger. And I think Michigan will wear them down. I don't think Matt Campbell in year one has his full. roster that he's going to have eventually. I think this is a time to get them. I think Matt Campbell, you know me.

I'm the biggest Matt Campbell fanboy there is, and I'll admit that forever. I just, I think Michigan's probably too much this year. That should be 6 and 0. I agree. I mean, obviously, Matt Campbell, he's going to have that team ready to always play hard, tough, physical, going all the way back

in his days at Toledo. You know, there's, when you, when you put on the tape, you look, okay, that's a Matt Campbell team. But like you said, a lot of guys left with James Franklin last year. He doesn't have his guys that he's going to be recruiting over the next few years. I think it's just going to be able to much for them this year. Yeah. Then it comes Indiana.

You get Indiana at home. I think it's a total toss-up. I really do. I think Indiana, Indiana has to take a step back. They're the defending national champs. There's no way they're going to be as good as they were last year. Maybe they will and I'm crazy. They've got to take a step back in my opinion.

They have to, a little one, at least. Are they getable? I don't know. I think that's one of two games on this schedule where I just don't know what's going to happen. I feel pretty good that I know what's going to happen most weeks. I don't know what's going to happen. I need to see Indiana. As of right now,

on September 1st, I'm going to say that's one of the games Michigan drops. Yeah, that's tough to, that's tough to say it on a Michigan podcast, you know. But we're trying to be, we're trying to be, you know, truthful and kind of say how we feel. I feel the same way. Cignetti has, has forever done more with less and has, obviously they had Fernando Mendoza last year. And now he's starting to get more and more. He's getting those five-star guys. Yeah, you're right.

You're right. He is. And what I'm hearing, the guy out of T.C. That transfer of the quarterback is the real deal, too. And I don't know. I don't know if Michigan's going to have, look, it's at home. This is, I mean, this is me going back and forth on my own head. You know, it's at home.

Michigan always plays better at home. But I don't know. I'm going to go, this might be their first loss season. I think so, too. And then you have to go to Piscataway on Halloween at Rutgers. I don't love it. To be honest, I don't know. I don't know why.

Just something about going to Rutgers and on Halloween. And I don't know, there's something. There's like a weird feel, weird vibe there. You might be down a little bit. You got Michigan State coming up the next week. I think it's probably going to be uglier than you think. But Michigan all squeak out of win. Little trap, little trap.

Just a little bit. You know, you're bouncing back. I think they take care of business. I do too. they take care of business. Yeah. And then they come home, and I think they're going to bludgeon Michigan State this.

I do. I think Michigan State's going to be bad. Like, yeah. I think Michigan is going. And God, somebody's going to clip this and save it. And if Michigan loses them,

I'm going to get just destroyed on Twitter. But I just think Michigan, I think Michigan will beat them up. Yeah. Yeah, they're going to be rolling up to the point, you know, what, 8 and 1, 9 and 0 potentially, or 8, 0, 7 and 1 potentially.

And, yeah, I, you know, I like Pat Fitzgerald as a coach. I just think Michigan state's just not going to have a firepower to deal with Michigan. And it's at home, like I said, Michigan plays home. They're 8 and 1. The next one, November 14th, you have to go out to Eugene. I am more confident in this pick than I am, any pick on the thing. Michigan is not winning in Eugene.

Like, I'm sorry. Listen, I will watch. I want it to happen. Michigan is not going out to the West Coast and they're not going to win at Oregon. So it's so hard to win on the West Coast. Dude, it's brutal. Number two, they're number two in the preseason right now. And it's, yeah, not only you're going out to the West Coast.

Yeah, you're not going to just doing out there. I mean, there are five stars all over the field. Dan Lannning is really, really good. Oregon's really, really good. yes you've got probably the number one pick at quarterback maybe number two whatever Oregon's loaded I feel more confident in this pick than any of the other ones I've made and that sucks I hate that okay I hate yeah I can't I'm not going to be as confident as you are to you are to lose this game I think I think there's too many things that stack up

against the Wolverines in this in this game at this week you know going out west. It's always hard. It's probably going to be a night game to us on the East Coast. Yeah. Their quarterback is so good. They have great receivers. Go to offensive line. Her D flies around and it's super fast. Yeah, I'm, you know, I'm going to go 8 and 2. That's right. Taking the loss on this one, yeah. Yep. I think 8 and 2. I do think they bounce back against UCLA at home, and I think they get to 9 and 2. I think you're probably pretty confident there too, yes? Yeah, oh, yeah, yeah. Okay.

So 9 and 2 going into the game. I think Michigan's beaten them. I don't know if this is in just stupidity on my part or whatever. I think Michigan goes 10 and 2, and that's what I've said since the beginning of the thing. Now, could they go down to Columbus and lose? Yes, obviously, Ohio State's really damn good. Like, they're really good.

Yeah. Of course they are. I think Michigan goes 10 and 2. And I think they make the college football playoff because they win that game. The thing that I recently that makes me more confident that they can win this game is that Ryan Day switch their senior day to which is usually the last home game of the season, which would be this game to the first game of the season against, I don't know who they're playing. But the first game of the season is a ball state where you, yes, that's going to be a 75 to nothing game. that gives me a little more confidence. Not that Michigan can't go in there and win without a senior day,

but the mindset of your head coach to be like, hey, boys, we're going to switch the senior day to Ball State the first game of the year. If I'm a senior on the team, give me Ohio State or give me, give me Michigan on senior day so I can say I beat Michigan on my senior day. That's how I'm thinking if I'm a senior on the Buckeyes. Yeah.

But this one, this one out of all the other kind of gauntlet games we've been talking about, this is the one that I'm 50-50. You know, I'm, Michigan, we saw it two years ago when they beat them when they had no business to be them. Obviously last year was a different story. I think for now it's going to be kind of a back-and-forth rivalry game. Yeah. Oh, man, I don't know.

I'm going to agree with you finally. I'm going to go 10 and 10 to-Doh, Ohio State. Listen, we can do a lot of things on this podcast. We can't pick Ohio State to beat Michigan in a preseason poll, okay? Like, you can throw some objectivity out the damn window on that one. I don't care. Yeah. All right.

Cool. So we're both on board there like 10 and 2-ish, maybe 9 and 3 if we waffle in this thing. Very, very good. All right. I want to also, we got to thank our sponsor again one more time. Frames pest control. We really appreciate them. Now, let's get to.

to our guest. All right, let's welcome in our guest this week. Nathaniel Ousu Boutang, Michigan linebacker joining us. We saw you earlier this summer in Toledo for the Wormley Celebrity Softball game. I want to talk about damn, man. So your softball skills, like, there's some work. There's some work there. What do you think of your performance in that game, man?

Yeah. It could have been better. You know what I mean? But obviously, that's not the point. Obviously, it's to get back and helping any way I can. But definitely to work on my softball skills. So this opposite is, that's what we're working on. There it is.

Listen, we appreciate it. We'll hit the bat in cages. Yeah, yeah, we got to. We got to. Yeah, we appreciate you coming down for it. That was awesome. We appreciate you joining us now. We're just a couple days away from kicking this thing off now.

Yeah, yeah. For a sport that you're really good at. How excited are you guys just to get this thing? going and hit somebody wearing a different jersey. Yeah, I mean, you know, just the whole fought camp, you know, playing the same people over and over again, seeing the same schemes over and over again. So the guys are ready, you know, it's time to rally all the troops and it's time to go against Western Michigan, which is a team that were not over sleeping because we know that,

you know, they won their Matt Conference Championship and we're excited for it. When you look at that team, since you talk about the Broncos, what do you see that they do well on the side of the ball. Yeah, I mean, you just look at all the stats. Their last two games, they were rushing the ball for over 300 yards. You know, they want to run the ball. And that's how they're thinking they're going to win the game, right? By running the ball.

So defense has to stop the run and then force them into third of lungs so that they have to pass the ball. All right. I want to ask you, you have a brand new defense. You guys are learning a new system. What has that been like kind of walk us through what we can expect to see from this year's Michigan defense? Yeah, you're going to see a lot of, a lot of versatility, you know, in our different fronts and in our different schemes. So sometimes you'll see two linebargers on the field. Sometimes you'll see five delamble on the field.

Sometimes you might see three linebaggers on the field, right? So there's a lot of different schemes and there's a lot of different fonts of physical. defense that the fans are going to see this year. You're going to see playmakers, you know, in the back field, you know, on the line of scrimmage. So there's, you know, so there's a lot of things that fans are going to be really excited to see on Saturday. So, I mean, the linebacker group is going to be completely new. Obviously, you were there last year, but got, you know, put in Staps, Rolder and Sullivan and Houseman, they're all going out. What can we expect out of the linebacker group that has a lot to prove, but I think a lot of people are excited about.

Yeah. I know in my group, I know very excited to just show the world, really, you know, because you hear in the media, I mean, obviously not from us, you know, inside, but from the outside in, you hear, you know, as Michigan linebackers are going to be this and the third, but obviously inside the facility, we know what we can do, you know, we know our skill set. So it's not something that I'm worried about in particular. And obviously, you'll see on Saturday day when we shut the run and pass. Oh, yeah.

It's not just a new defensive coordinator. It's a whole new staff. What has it been like with this new group? What's Coach Witt been like? What has Fall Camp been like? Just kind of walk us through behind the scenes. What this whole new experience has been like for you guys? It's been great from the moment Coach Witt walked in until now, honestly, right?

with the new strength and conditioning staff, them installing consistency within the program, but them instilling accountability and discipline. And you can sense that ever since Coach Will walked in, right? The way we practice is different. The way we lift is different. Just the way we eat is different. You know what I mean?

You know, so it's been great so far during fall camp, having that regiment of, you know, playing new guys, of, you know, playing in a new different scheme. It's been great. And I'm excited for it. There's been so much talk about the weightlifting and all of the differences. Has it been that dramatic in your mind the differences? Yeah, it has. It has. Why is that? So, um, just a little. example, on Monday we had gassers, even before we even lifted, right? Normally, you would think guys would just come in, lift, and go, no, we conditioned first, then we ran, and then we lifted.

Man, the coaches has been pushing us to just different limits that you wouldn't even think about, right? You know, doing 70% of your max, going into game prep, right? Going into game week, right? still lifting heavier amounts of weights that frankly you know last year we didn't have the the opportunity to do so so yeah and what does that like in terms of i know you're just getting into a game week we talk about running gashes is that something that you guys are going to do moving forward is like gasters on mondays because when i played for harball we would do the michigan mile on uh on monday mornings or monday a year we'd all come in we'd run around the outdoor fields and they call it to Michigan Mile.

And it was a way to have a little bit of conditioning, but also to get the lactic acid out of your body from kind of that buildup from the game before. So is that something that you guys are going to continue to do is that continuous conditioning? Yes, it is. Yeah. I love it.

I love it. Also, your brother, what have you learned from him, especially now in this NIL era, in this NIL era, in terms of saving your money, how to handle it, who to trust, who not to trust. What has he been able to instill in you these last couple of years? Yeah, I think one thing that I would say is make sure everybody on your team doesn't know each other, right?

You don't want your financial advisor to know your lawyer or you don't want your lawyer to know your financial advisor. Obviously, there has to be a standpoint of trust, right, to know that, hey, if I'm not here or if I'm not there, there can be somebody who stands for me. So really just trust and just knowing that everybody in your team can work together because you have to have a team that is cohesive. Because if they're not cohesive, then you're not going to grow. Because at the end of the day, having the opportunity to make name, image, and likeness money, it doesn't last forever. So just making sure that you have to people on your team that can make it, you know, spread for those next 40 or 50 years of your life.

And, yeah, and you've been one of the guys that seems to be kind of on the forefront of what, what that NIL saved looks like you talked to, I talked to at the golf outing a couple, you know, a month ago and you were talking about just how you save your, talk a little bit more about that. Not going into too deep of details, but what have you been able to do with that IOM on it besides just blowing it? Yeah, of course. First of all, I just want to shout out to John Rashi and the Empower Program. Michigan does a great job with that. And just to instill in all the athletes really here at Michigan that, you know, hey, there's internship programs that you can actually do through this Empire program to make sure that you know and that you're updated about your finances. And if you want to go out and learn about business or about real estate, these programs are out there to do that. It's on you, obviously, right? So you have to take that extra mile, that extra step to do that. I know this past summer I did five internships, actually. I went to Traverse City, Michigan, and I interned at Westford Bank.

So through that internship, I just got the ability to meet amazing people. That's another thing I want to say being a Michigan Wolverine, you meet great people like Chris Warrenly. You know, so you just meet a lot of great people and you want to use your network to the opportunity. So, yeah. I want to get back and ask you a couple more football questions here. There's a rumor that Coach Witt had turned the temperature up a little bit in Sambachler Hall. Is that true? I don't know who told you all that.

It is true. It is true. What did that look like? What did that look like? Yeah. If I recall, it was last week. You know, Coach Fitt has a thing. He's like, Michigan isn't hot enough.

You know, so we turned it. So we turned up the indoor to maybe 85, 90, humid. Like, so it felt like a sun in there with pads on. Imagine full pad of practice. So it felt like a son of it. It was, it was toasted. It was so. Camp wasn't good enough for Coach Whit.

He wanted it to be hotter. Yeah. Yeah. Well, listen, it's going to be hot on Saturday, Worm. so got to get these guys ready. I'm saying, but Michigan, Michigan summers are hot, you know, and then you got camping. I used to do two days, and there's no way in the sauna after a two a day, you know,

that's something. I love it. I love it. I want to ask you about your work off the field as well. Kind of walk us through all the work that you have done, going back to going to Ghana. Tell us everything that you have done off the field as well. Yeah, just going back to what I said earlier. right maximizing that Michigan network even before I committed to Michigan just Michigan like

connecting me to guys like Johnson guys like this you know that have been in your shoes and that want to help right it's it's it's really all about that because everybody that you look into they're there and they have been in those positions right so just gaining that experience and that knowledge from them but off the field um man And going back to Ghana, it was a great experience. It was a wholesome experience for me. Going back to a country that my parents were born at, I haven't been back since I was two years old, right?

So it was the first time for me consciously, you know, just to, you know, see my people and to, you know, greet my people and to hug my people and to help my people because my purpose in life is to, you know, build something that outlives me, you know, build something that outlives the game. and that is service, you know, and I'm big on serving others because it's the only thing in life that truly makes me happy, you know what I mean? Obviously, the game of football is great, bad at the end of the day, it is a game and it is going

to end out one day. So just making sure that you have something tangible, right, after the game that you can continue to do that fulfills you, you know, day in and day out. So, yeah. Beautiful. I mean, I couldn't say. I mean, you know how with my foundation and to be able to give back in a certain, in a small, big way, any way is important into, to be able to use the platform, to be able to use your network to get things accomplished.

It's a beautiful thing. So I commend you for that. That's amazing. So thank you. That's awesome. All right. Last thing is we get you out of here. Walk us to some guys that have maybe surprised during camp a little bit that we haven't seen yet.

We know we haven't been able to watch it. walking through some guys that maybe have surprised you a little bit that are going to look really good on Saturday. Yeah. I'm sure y'all know that we have a great pair of freshmen. Tyreek Boni from D.C., Celessi Moa, obviously, that you guys know. I'm trying to think of some more names. What's it been like tackling that young freshman on the other side of the ball,

Sabion Heider? man, y'all see, y'all will see. Saturday, y'all see. He's a talented back for sure. Obviously, me going to, me going to IMG and, you know, me going to all these top schools and playing top backs, he's definitely going to be one of the top for sure. I love it. I love it. Listen, we really appreciate you doing this. Good luck this week. Good luck this year. Stay healthy, and we appreciate you doing this. Yes, sir. Thank you. All right, that's Nathaniel Ousu, Boutang.

Go blue, brother. Go blue. All right, we're ready to go, man. How excited are you just to kick off football season and see all those people in the big house and get this thing going? I mean, we waited all year. You know, last year was ups and downs

and they still kept nine and three, and now everything is new in terms of the coaching stuff and the schemes and obviously some transfers and some new players. And there's been a lot of hype and a lot of buildup. and you get a little snippet here and there of spring ball and into camp, and now it's like, it's here.

You actually get to see some real action. And I think these boys are going to do some damage to these brought coming to town because it's been a long time and they've got a lot of pent up aggression and anger and they're ready to prove some things. It's Michigan and Western Michigan coming up Saturday, 7.30 p.m. on NBC in the big house. We can't wait to get this thing going. Make sure you tell all your friends about the pod too, stadium in Maine and check us out on Instagram and all the good things.

Spread the words so we can keep growing this thing. Worm, we'll see you next week. Go blue.