MGoBlog: The MGoPodcast

1 Hour and 8 Minutes

With David Nasternak and Alex Drain

This Podcast Has a Sponsor: Michigan Law Grad Jonathan Paul is the guy with the C you want skating next to the ref and pleading your case. He's also a good guy to sit next to at the hockey games.

Segment 1

Michigan hockey talk starts at 11:50.

Michigan’s lackluster Saturday showing at Ohio State. The team never played very well and didn't show any signs of life until late in the second period. They got closer in the game but were never able to dig out of the hole. Odd man rushes and turnovers were a problem.

Segment 2

The Sunday game was better, but still not great. Very eventful on special teams and an all-time Michael Hage performance. Should we be mad about these two games? Then a review of the scores around the conference, including more dirty play by Notre Dame. Michigan is on bye next week and then will resume against PSU
 

MUSIC

NHL on ESPN Theme

"Last Dance"--Donna Summer

Ice Hockey (NES) Theme

2 hours and 11 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, Radecki Oral Surgery, Long Road Distillers, Applied Fitness Solutions, The History of Michigan Football, an online course by Greg Dooley, and Venue by 4M where recorded this.

1. Offense vs Rutgers
Starts at 0:54

Football was played in a football stadium with not many people in it. Pat McAfee is a little baby man who can't take a little ribbing. It was hard to summon emotions for this game. It's weird seeing Rutgers when you see them every three years instead of every year, why are they in this conference?? It used to be the nice, easy game in an otherwise difficult schedule. Did it look like Jason Beck made any adjustments against a terrible defense? Michigan could throw to wide open receivers, but couldn't run against a team that has been giving up 6 YPC to everyone else. The rhino is here to stay, it was deployed on a 3rd and 15. Tommy Carr got to observe erosion from the pocket. He didn't get pressured and if everyone was covered he could just run it, it was like the Spring Game. You just wanted to see them consistently push guys around for 5 and 6 yard rushes and they couldn't do that. If Rutgers knew Michigan was going to run the ball on every play you should still be able to rush for 5 yards. They're still trying to find anything that works. Jordan Marshall has to be broken, right? Tommy Carr long-term things - arm strength is an issue right now. You can't run power with Tommy Carr, you can run it with Bryce. The offense sucks so the best thing you can do is just toss it up to JJ if he's in one-on-one and see what happens. Jake Guarnera might still be hurt. There is a disturbing trend of not knowing what the snap count is. 

2. Defense vs Rutgers
Starts at 42:05

It was like two big plays that were very annoying and then not really anything else. For the longest time the score bug annoyingly said 3/8 for 135 yards. Don't fall over! But also there was no deep safety on that play. Mason Curtis had a pretty bad game with missed tackles and not being put in positions to succeed. The Rutgers offense is better than their defense but they're still bad. Benny Patterson really explodes off the ball. There's still a decent rotation of guys that you're hopeful for that aren't checked out. Chris Bracy had another good performance despite bouncing off a guy. He'll be in the NFL next year. Their gameplan against Duff was the same gameplan against Becker (Indiana). Zeke Berry had a nice game and looks better at corner than nickel. Chase Taylor looked pretty good pending charting, he has all the skills you need in a linebacker. Troy Bowles looks like a senior now. 

3. Hot Takes, Special Teams, and Game Theory
Starts at 1:05:29

Takes hotter than JJ Buchanan on contested catches. The special teams should make field goals. Some of these field goals are a bit out of range, the 35 yarder is a thumbs down. Punting was... fine. No kick returns, woo. What was the actual plan at the end of the first half? If you can't figure out that situation you're not figuring out anything. Are they just trying to get stats? Would you rather have a 40+ yard field goal or go for it on 4th and 6? Roughing the passer on the first play, the QB got hit in the thigh not below the knee. Some other weird holding calls. The kick catch interference call was valid. 

4. Around the Big Ten with Jamie Mac
Starts at 1:32:53

USC 30, Ohio State 18
Ohio State outgains USC 464 to 338 but have to settle on field goals and don't get a touchdown until the last two minutes. USC hurdled a fool. Fahey would be under pressure and then chuck it hoping Jeremiah Smith was out there somewhere. USC's run game is what Michigan's should be (without the rhino). There are injured QBs everywhere, everything the rest of the season is on the table. 

Indiana 23, Minnesota 16 (OT)
This game goes into OT after teams exchange 60 yard field goals in the last minute. This is like chaos team Indiana except chaos team Indiana always lost this game. Indiana outgained Minnesota 419 to 215 and keeps escaping these close games. In the last three games, Indiana has only scored one touchdown where the ball started in their own territory. Josh Hoover is out either due to injury or performance, hard to say. Cignetti let way too much time come off the clock before the last Minnesota field goal. 

Oregon 34, Northwestern 26
Yards are Northwestern 456 to 441, this was a fun game all around. Northwestern scores on the L-formation! 

Washington 17, Nebraska 10
Demond Williams (Washington QB) is benched for Elijah Brown. Nebraska was winning 7-3 with 1:31 remaining. They were down 17-7 with 1:15 remaining. Nebraska fans are the most stoic fanbase in America. Matt Rhule is 2-12 when Nebraska is sitting on 5 wins. 

Illinois 20, Maryand 17
Maryland gets their dead cat bounce. Illinois is one win away from bowl eligibility! They play a Nebraska team sitting on 5 wins next week. 

Iowa 30, Wisconsin 0
Just a slow motion Iowa strangulation. The second straight year that Wisconsin has been shut out by Iowa. Fickell was just off the hot season, is he back on it? Iowa is 6-2, is there a playoff path?

Penn State 31, Purdue 17
Yards were Penn State 457 to 175, it should have been a lot worse than a two touchdown game.

UCLA 27, Nevada 0
This was a show up and win game but that's a new concept for UCLA. 
 

MUSIC:

"Just Another Moment"—Michael Kiwanuka

"Far Rider"—Still Corners

"Side By Side"—The Meltdown

“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, Applied Fitness Solutions, and The History of Michigan Football, an online course by Greg Dooley, and SignalWire, where we are recording this.

Featured Musician: Great Lakes Myth Society

THE VIDEO:

[After THE JUMP: The show notes.] 

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

1. Rutgers Preview: Offense
starts at the top

This is the better side of the team, mostly because they managed to hold onto 1st round WR KJ Duff, who may not play—he's listed as Doubtful. Starting QB Dylan Lonergan, the BC transfer, had one too many concussions and is sitting out, but AJ Surace is playing instead. He's a popgun arm but it's enough to loft it to Duff. Their OL is actually pretty decent; Kwabena Asamoah started against Michigan in 2023, and Tyler Needham (listed as Doubtful) moved in from left tackle; he wasn't the worst. Alex likes their RB room: Antwan Raymond was on the questionable list last week but played; LaTech transfer Clay Thevenin is another little rascal.

2. Rutgers Preview: Defense
starts at 17:59

Alex gave zero dangerman stars. The punter is the dangerman. Secondary is a mess; Sage Clawges is a linebacker trying to play quarters field safety, Chris Joines is a Mercer transfer, JJ Conyers and Devonte Anderson are true freshmen rotating on the left side, Kevyn Humes lost his nickel job to another safety. DL is okay, but Keshon Griffin is questionable for this game. Get-right game and easy afternoon for Tommy, we hope.

3. Gimmicky Top Five: People Doing Better than Jason Beck
starts at 32:53

Reid McCarthy from Ann Arbor Elder Law joins us for five people not doing a great job right now, but doing a better job than poor Jason. Mine were Dylan Larkin, the owners of Plex who fired the entire staff that runs the thing they do over Slack, our felonious donation pickup driver, Wayne the root programmer, and Warde during his convalescence.

4. After Further Review: Indiana
starts at 52:31

Offense: Even worse than we thought. The Rhino is your worst player; there's no reason to be playing him. Tommy had some good things but not seeing anything from him that's better than sticking with Bryce except Carr will throw to other receivers. OL had big problems ID'ing their blocks, as did Eli Owens. When it's holistic it's on the coordinator. They didn't practice for the thing Indiana does.

Defense was spectacular, which only makes us madder at Jason Beck. Hate doing the "I told you so" thing with Jay Hill because I get why they went the other way around, but Zeke Berry is a corner and Smith Snowden is a nickel. Jyaire Hill wasn't perfect (zone issues) but I saw the CBs change their approach to contested balls, watching the receiver instead of the ball, which you don't usually see but prevented them from getting pushed around. Benny Patterson's first start went well, still some things to clean up. Saw Palepale go upfield on Stretch. Other backup DL got pushed around; why are we still putting Cam Brandt out there?

Featured Musician: Great Lakes Myth Society
The band I meant to introduce you to was The Original Brothers and Sisters of Love, until I learned they broke up right after I got their 2003 album, then reformed as The Great Lakes Myth Society minus one member. One or the other this band that used to tour with Saturday Looks Good to Me is as Pure Michigan as a fish fly wearing a LIONS GRIT t-shirt under a Mike Hart jersey while reading a book about the Edmund Fitzgerald and floating on a can of Vernors over a pothole watching Escanaba in da Moonlight. They're indie, folkie, and very Ann Arbor, even if they formed originally in Brighton. Like, their Wikipedia page has a photo of them playing at the Half-Ass.

Songs:

"Across the Bridge"

"She's Come Home to Steal Her Rainbows"

"The Salt Trucks"

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:

Beck'd. When he wasn't fired on Sunday it became a Whittingham problem.

Best playcall: Counter Draw in redzone, but the OL can't pick up a stunt. That's something IU does all the time.

What was different at Utah? They had a base, and their players were prepared to run their base against all sorts of tricks, so their opponents had to play them honestly.

Stretch? It works against stunting—you can see that when Michigan stunted—but Michigan didn't teach how to deal with other counters, so when they ran it and got something other than stunts they were defeated by all the little tricks of a team that prepared for it.

Offensive coordinating is not pressing the right playcall button, and it's not chess either. In chess you don't have to teach the pawns how to execute an en passant. Beck's job is to put together a gameplan based on what the other team does and you do, and then have the assistants prep to that gameplan.

Rhino: was a disaster in this game, because Beigel is a German DT who's been out for weeks, and doesn't know what he's doing.

No, we didn't talk about anything else. What else is there to talk about (unless it's basketball or hockey, but we ran out of time, sorry).

1 Hour and 44 Minutes

With David Nasternak and Alex Drain

This Podcast Has a Sponsor: Michigan Law Grad Jonathan Paul is the guy with the C you want skating next to the ref and pleading your case. He's also a good guy to sit next to at the hockey games.

Segment 1

A discussion of great buzzer beaters in sports history. Recap of the WMU game talks about power play woes, good goaltending, the early 3rd period surge, Horcoff’s blunder and then his heroism. This was a big game to win.

Segment 2

A look around the former opponents including Denver’s clash with BC, MSU’s struggles with UNH, a surprising weekend from Minnesota, and more lackluster B1G results. Then a preview of Ohio State. The Buckeyes are controlling play well so far but finishing and goaltending issues have led to a poor non-conference showing so far.

Bonus segment:
A division by division look at the NHL season so far

 

MUSIC

NHL on ESPN Theme

"Bloodsport"--Sneaker Pimps

Ice Hockey (NES) Theme