MGoBlog: The MGoPodcast

The Sponsors
We want to thank Underground Printing for starting this and making it possible—stop by and pick up some gear, check them out at ugpmichiganapparel.com, or check out our selection of shirts on the MGoBlogStore.com. And let’s not forget our associate sponsors: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, Radecki Oral Surgery, Long Road Distillers, SignalWire where we are recording this, and introducing Applied Fitness Solutions, and The History of Michigan Football, an online course by Greg Dooley.

Featured Musician: Jacob Givens

THE VIDEO:

[After THE JUMP: The show notes, eventually.] 

---------------------

1. Oklahoma Preview: Offense
starts at the top

John Mateer is back; we got to see the Real Mateer last year—they ran him 15 times—before he got banged up, and that unfortunately is probably happening again. Still have Isaiah Sategna, the graduated slot who's going to be a handful no matter what, and three other WRs they like plus a rising sophomore who's going to be a star eventually. Run game is no longer hampered by the old RB coach, but they've got a lot of new cooks in the kitchen, and it's not clear who's running the show. There was a lot more under-center, they've imported blocking TEs and FBs, and they're playing 3 of them at a time. Last year Arbuckle ran his Wazzu RPO-heavy passing spread; this year the linemen are going downfield. Their OL situation is messed up right now with a lot of injuries clouding things at LT, C, and RG, and insiders are skeptical about the program's report that two of their ~6 starter-caliber guys will be fully back. So...true freshman center against Trey Pierce, eh? If Oklahoma turns this into a blowout it's because they are winning the TE vs Michigan LBs battle, which is a real concern given the LBs have to respect Mateer's legs and arm.

2. Oklahoma Preview: Defense
starts at 18:45

Last year Michigan tried to ease Underwood in by doing the things you do with freshman QBs and Venables was sitting on them. You know he can coach a defense because he took over a Lincoln Riley/Cale Gundy outfit and made it an elite outfit. Took him a few years to do that of course, because he had to raise his own elite recruits. But yo: Cole Sullivan isn't even starting. They've made him the more linebacker option at CHEETAH, the VIPER equivalent. Secondary are all returning starters, front are all experienced guys. Alex was surprised however how much the UTEP run game worked on them, especially on Stone, the DT expected to be the first taken in the Draft. That was a Rich Rod 2008 effect somewhat: UTEP spread out and ran the QB and did interesting things to mess with the way Oklahoma defenders get upfield quickly. Michigan can't do what they did last year: NEED to hit some deep shots on 1st down.

3. WMU After Review: Offense
starts at 38:04

4. WMU After Review: Defense
starts at 55:24

Not great, actually. Big mistake scores in the LBs, John-Henry Daley was JAG. Did find a lot of +1 or +0.5 events for Dominic Nichols, including playing AROs well, and think Bowles is exciting in a Don Brown death marmot kind of way if they can have him not blow Day 1 things. But want more at 3rd DT than Lea'ea being a supreme effort guy—got two plays from Palepale in six snaps so there's upside here. Cam Brandt getting crushed is bad news for all of the young DEs. Nate Marshall had a young guy mistake so you see why they preferred the senior, but these guys are going to have to get a lot better. Secondary not much to say: they were fighting screens but not a lot downfield.

Featured Artist: Jacob Givens

I'm only barely on Instagram, but when I'm on there I'm usually sharing music stuff with my besties, who were all in an Ann Arbor band that tried to "make it." Jacob Givens is us, minus the Michigan football text chain. He also was making music around the same time as my friends, and finally shared it online. He's not as good at singing, but the composition and lyrics are so good I want to make a Jacob Givens video of me and my friends listening to Jacob Givens for the first time. Probably of Fluorescent.

If you've got music and won't issue a takedown notice on YouTube, I'd love to feature it on future episodes.

Songs:

Tabula Rasa

Fluorescent       

Pendulum

Also because Across 110th Street will get our Youtubes taken down, the opener and outro:

“The Employee is Not Afraid”—Bear vs. Shark

“Ruska Vodka”—Motorboat

Things Discussed:

Offensive line: one guy issues. Disappointment high, recalibrating, but not 3-9 bad.

Bryce had a hand in everything that was wrong. Staring down the receiver isn't just a problem; he shouldn't even be looking there. Making decisions before the snap and not coming off them.

Why is there a State Street/Main Street discrepancy? Don't know.

Sam: They didn't have a plan for Bryce to be that bad, which tells you they didn't think he would be?

Brian: Last year he was very up and down. Look at him like RS Fr Vince Young. He wasn't the Rose Bowl winner until that Rose Bowl. Guys like this don't come fully formed. Not writing him off. You need to do what he can do now and lean on it. Run the Dampier offense.

Seth: We set up the expectations, Bryce and the program and the system did too, and maybe that's just wrong.

What to do vs Oklahoma? They're a next-evolution Don Brown defense built to suffocate a QB run game (Cole Sullivan at CHEETAH sometimes). Hit them deep: slot fade, JJ down the sideline.

Hockey hazing lawsuit: Not surprised because that was widespread in hockey and at Michigan in that era. Seth points out it was a massive historical success that we conquered that culture 25 years ago. It was brutally hard to do that. Open that can of worms. See how ugly things were. People should know we can fix this.

Not naming Mel and Red in lawsuit: Figure UM will settle, if you add them they'll fight to preserve their reputations.

2 hours and 13 minutes

The Sponsors

Thank you to Underground Printing for making this all possible. Rishi and Ryan have been our biggest supporters from the beginning. Check out their wide selection of officially licensed Michigan fan gear at their 3 store locations in Ann Arbor or learn about their custom apparel business at undergroundshirts.com.

Our associate sponsors are: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, The Sklars Brothers, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, The Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre, Radecki Oral Surgery, Long Road Distillers, and Venue by 4M where recorded this.

1. Clocks and Vibes
Starts at 0:54

Brian left early. The clock said zero so he left the building. Spiritually the result of this game doesn't matter, they lost the game spiritually. After Zapruder Film Analysis, either NBC showed the wrong clock or the clock in the stadium is bad. The seconds weren't the same length?? Does college football need tenths of seconds? Was this the most disappointing game you've seen as a Michigan fan? The plays don't look coherent, it doesn't look like players are running the same thing. The run game was disappointing and Bryce Underwood does not look like he's improved from a year ago. 

[The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP] 

2. Offense vs Western Michigan
Starts at 19:30

Bad. Bad in ways that make you scared about where the program is. Bryce is still zeroing in on one receiver without seeing the field. Manuel Beigel is not one of the best eight offensive linemen, why is he on the field as the rhino? He can't block. Half the line ran stretch and the other half didn't. They didn't try to just run power down their throat. It felt like they were trying to run frippery without establishing the basic stuff first. The coaches are from Utah and BYU, programs that have been established for 20 years. Are the coaches running plays like Michigan has the stability and continuity of Utah and BYU? We were hearing that Bryce's footwork was improving, is he just not learning/processing fast enough? He's got the talent but if he can't read a defense then it doesn't matter. Age-wise, Bryce is still a freshman. Why did Bryson Kuzdzal start the second half, the other two RBs barely had any plays. JJ Buchanan is pretty good! Jalen Hoffman looked good, put him out there instead of a rhino. Evan Link came a long distance last year but was disappointing this week.

3. Hot Takes, Defense, and More Vibes
Starts at 54:57

Takes hotter than the internet at about 10:30pm Saturday night. Can't be too mad at the defense because functionally they only really gave up six points. You can see things happening on the defense, the young linebackers have talent but they're making mistakes. On the ground game there's a huge difference between the starters and everybody else. They don't think they have a 3rd defensive tackle. Pierce and Etta looked pretty good. Too much Brandt. Salesi Moa didn't look terrible out there, he's an... interesting player. Defense tried to be heroes too many times. Punting was really good, Zeke Berry was an excellent gunner. Let's talk 4th downs and clock management. Nine penalties is concerning. The uniforms have got to go. The stadium volume was really low, the music wasn't deafening but you also couldn't hear the refs. The stadium experience felt "very generic". They replaced the Rose Bowl logo with a Google Gemini ad. They had to put the corporate logos on the banner that had the national championship logos on it. It feels like every year that you go to the stadium the experience gets worse. This is important to us and not to the people who are selling it. There's nothing about it now that wouldn't be materialistically different than if Dave Brandon was currently the athletic director. It looks like Michigan didn't let Western bring their band. Fans rushing the field might've been the most organic thing to happen during the game but players wanted nothing to do with it. 
 

4. Around the Big Ten with Jamie Mac
Starts at 1:46:06

Lightning round:

Indiana 52, North Texas 16
Nebraska 49, Ohio 21
Ohio State 56, Ball State 3
Penn State 45, Marshall 0
Iowa 40, Northern Illinois 0
Maryland 62, Ham 0
USC 39, Fresno State 0
Minnesota 59, Eastern Illinois 7
Northwestern 34, South Dakota State 18
Illinois 42, UAB 23
Purdue 44, Indiana State 19

Washington 24, Washington State 10
Sadly this is probably how the Apple Cup will go from now on. Washington really struggled to move the ball but Wazzu has no offense. 

Notre Dame 41, Wisconsin 13
Wisconsin's uniforms looked like Rutgers. This was not the blowout that the score suggests. Neither team could really run the ball. Wisconsin looks like a team that could make a bowl game again. 

Oregon 34, Boise State 27
Oregon almost doubles Boise State in yardage. Remember Seth's hot take about the Oregon offensive line? Dan Lanning is not building strong up front. 

UCLA 42, Cal 24
Could UCLA maybe be 7-3 when they come into Ann Arbor? They rushed for over 8 YPC. 

Michigan State 30, Toledo 20
This game was funnier Saturday morning. Toledo had some explosive plays. Doesn't move the needle on Michigan State much. 

UMass 37, Rutgers 21
UMass rushing rutger'd Rutgers. 
 

MUSIC:

"Too Much Time On My Hands"—Styx

"Against All Odds"—Phil Collins

"Walking On A Thin Line"—Huey Lewis the Names

“Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra

The Sponsors
We want to thank Underground Printing for starting this and making it possible—stop by and pick up some gear, check them out at ugpmichiganapparel.com, or check out our selection of shirts on the MGoBlogStore.com. And let’s not forget our associate sponsors: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, Radecki Oral Surgery, Long Road Distillers, SignalWire where we are recording this, and introducing Applied Fitness Solutions, and The History of Michigan Football, an online course by Greg Dooley.

Featured Musician: The Unsustainables

THE VIDEO:

[After THE JUMP: The show notes, eventually.] 

---------------------

1. WMU Preview: Offense
starts at the top

It's a Walt Bell offense! They're going to put the WRs and TEs at the sideline to draw the secondary away from a running game that goes tempo, shifts late, and has a great backfield to punish any mistakes. Big OL includes a returning all-MAC guy and two 6'6" heavies at guard. Expect the WR screens to be the main passing attack, and if it's 3rd & long they dead.

2. WMU Preview: Defense
starts at 15:27

The front seven got raided. They're finally out of Lou Esposito defensive linemen, went to the portal for an OSU walk-on and a weird DT/LB hybrid from LIU. Linebackers were formerly blitzy types, now 5th years. Secondary has one star in Joshua Franklin, the corner who returned when he could have gone to Ohio State or something, and another decent returning starter in former UConn/CMU CB Jarvarius Sims. Turner's been moved to nickel however and they're starting Presbyterian CB Willard Ferrell, who's listed at 6'1"/155, which: I believe you if you say you've gotten bigger but if that's your starting point woah. Ditto for returning free safety Joey Pope, and former Michigan walk-on, who also started for WMU last year.

3. Upon Further Preview
starts at 28:41

Things we learned while doing the previews. One is that people are calling Bryce Underwood a bust: uh, too early folks! Linebacker panic in spring was probably because they saw nine walk-on caliber players with three young guys and zero Nate Staehlings. Also Chris Bracy's arrival was like Dani Rojas.

4. The NCAA's Eligibility Crisis
starts at 53:32

Is LSU trying to corner the market on most unlikeable coaches? They are pushing this thing so hard it's turning people in favor of the NCAA. Such an incredible own goal from the NCAA to not grandfather this properly, because there were guys waiting and they drew a harsh line. Because they gave everybody the 2020-21 season for free it's really only those two classes—2021 and 2022—that didn't get a free fifth year, and all they had to do to make this make sense was extend it to players who 1) Didn't do anything pro after this rule was an option (read: not the guys LSU tried to sign, who were trying out on NFL teams); and 2) Would have eligibility under the new five-for-five rule (read: only recent grads who played four in four). Michigan would like them to play anyways because Roddy Gayle is now crucial with the McCoy injury, and it would be nice to bring back Ernest Hausmann as well.

Featured Artist: The Unsustainables

From MGoUser TxWolverine44:

My band is The Unsustainables and we're based out of Chapel Hill. We're a rock-steady ska group and recently released our first album Every Broken Heart Will Mend (we have sent out the opening title track as our unofficial single). Worst case, I hope you enjoy it! The loose Michigan connection is that I'm an alum (c/o 2012) so tenuous

Best case, I enjoy it, listen to it a bunch while writing the previews this year, and use it for our first MGoRadio episode this year. They say rock-steady ska, but if ska is a confluence of jazz and pop-punk, the jazz influence here is a much bigger part of the mix. Seeing them live up here probably isn't an option, but they have a couple of EPs that preceded this album so you can turn this on and leave it boppin' while you go through a bunch of linebacker film or whatever it is you do during the day. I used three thematic songs but the Chesterfields song was my fav when I had this on.

If you've got music and won't issue a takedown notice on YouTube, I'd love to feature it on future episodes.

Songs:

Every Broken Heart

Friday Nite

Honeydrippers   

Also because Across 110th Street will get our Youtubes taken down, the opener and outro:

“The Employee is Not Afraid”—Bear vs. Shark

“Ruska Vodka”—Motorboat

Things Discussed:

Smart, old secondary. Can play those Fangio games where you recognize patterns in how they align and switch coverages. Going to be special to watch that.

DTs: Lea'ea and Etta are not doubles-eaters, so we may have to play differently than we have in the past up front. Can you play 3-4? Sure but that will wear out Pierce. Would love for Palepale to come online

Utah best offense in Whittingham's tenure last year with Dampier, who is not remotely accurate.

Bryce: Surrounding cast much better (28 drops last year!), his legs included. Dante Moore at UCLA was the comp to last year.

Okay gets you to 20th in SP+, better than that needs Bryce to step up. Can he? Yeah, think Gardner is too low on Bryce's ability to read a defense and hit tiny windows.

DB on Marsh was scared and that gave breathing room.

WMU: Not the kind of offense you expect to see from a MAC team. Big offensive line, Walt Bell runs a complicated run offense that really tests how well your defensive rules work inside.

WMU Defense: I love their nickel, but they have some tiny guys in the secondary who are just not going to be able to handle JJ Buchanan. Expect Bryce to look better in this game than he will most of the year.

Roddy Gayle litigation: NCAA shot themselves in the foot, but not certain how the court will rule. TRO is a good start, next step is a preliminary injunction it's important to win so he can keep practicing, but the emergency ruling will be the ballgame, and it's not certain the judges will side with him. Sucks because the McCoy injury means they need Roddy now.