2 hour and 34 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, The Phil Klein Insurance Group, Winewood Organics, Human Element, Venue by 4M where we recorded this, and The Nose Bleeds, which is the Sklars Bros’ reboot of Cheap Seats on UFC Fight Pass.

1. Offense vs Rutgers

Starts at 1:00

Traditionally, this podcast has always started without Lou Holtz, but we challenge him to come here. JJ kept the ball a lot, it felt like Michigan took this game seriously. We’re starting to get worried about Donovan Edwards’ run game, he’s leaving yards on the field. Blake Corum looks like he’s all the way back, though, the offensive line will probably grade out well overall. LaDarius Henderson was playing on and off. It feels like we’re at the floor at tackle as far as preseason expectations go, we’re in game four and don’t know who the starters are. JJ’s first few throws were questionable or inaccurate, but then he leveled out. When’s the last time they threw a tunnel screen? Semaj Morgan looked good but he’s small out there. We think the cyan worked? The flea flicker was from Super Tecmo Bowl. Get Trente Jones the ball! The amount of times JJ ran felt about right also, good that he always got out of bounds. Max Bredeson’s blocking has been great. 

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

2. Defense vs Rutgers

Starts at 39:34

Rod Moore lets a 69 yard touchdown get by and then gets benched for a bit, Quentin Johnson came in and looked pretty good again. Rutgers got the edge a couple times. The only other time they were able to move the ball was when Wimsatt was possessed by the ghost of Unstoppable Throw God Trevor Siemian for half a drive. Rutgers couldn't move the ball against the starting defensive line but were able to push the backups around. Linebackers played great, Mike Barrett looked like a fully weaponized middle linebacker. Haussmann had a really good game, Junior Colson is just not making mistakes in the run game. Mike Sainristil absolutely dump trucked Junior Colson during his interception. Everyone thinks the play is dead except Mike Sainristil and Kenneth Grant, who is impossibly fast for his size here. Michigan defeats the number one thing Rutgers had, which was a running back lead block for the quarterback. Rutgers felt like a much more functional football team this year. 

3. Hot Takes, Game Theory, and Special Teams

Starts at 1:00:38

Brian's Hot Takes voice was actually just a Ryan Day impression this whole time. Aussie punters are annoying, we don’t like it. Thaw needs to get to that ball, someone else should be spotting it. Tommy Doman kicked a punt that still hasn’t landed yet. The officials had a day, good thing it was a Ref Day in a game where it didn’t matter. The Loveland first down was really bad, they marked a clear 3rd and 1 from Donovan Edwards short, they called a pass interference after a receiver gave up on the route. Why do you hate Michigan, KYLE?! They’ve been slow out of the huddle and had to call timeouts twice. Kalel Mullings could very well be the starter next year, and maybe even take some carries away from Edwards this season. 

4. Around the Big Ten with Jamie Mac

Starts at 1:27:45

Ohio State - 17
Notre Dame - 14

Defensive battle with a lot of drives that end on 4th down. Notre Dame bottles up Ohio State’s passing attack and short yardage runs. Sam Hartman throws every possible 4 yard pass en route to 175 yards. The ending was wild and is discussed. JTT and Sawyer look like they haven’t developed at all but Notre Dame has two great tackles. Notre Dame puts 10 guys on the field for the final two plays. The way Ohio State runs this game is how they lose to Michigan. The bad half Ryan Day was referring to was not even the one we were thinking of. The Lou Holtz thing is even funnier in context. 

Nebraska - 28
Louisiana Tech - 14

Nebraska’s QB had more rushing yards than passing yards. They’ve discarded the forward pass, as God intended. Nebraska has a 330 lbs defensive tackle that wears zero. This next game will be a test for Michigan’s rush offense, Nebraska may give Michigan some answers about where they are. 

Maryland - 31
Michigan State - 9

George Blaha said what?? Michigan State turned it over FIVE times, even though they outgain Maryland. There were some positive signs that they might be able to hang with some of the middle to lower tier big ten teams but we also saw what happened against Washington. It might be a worse sign for Maryland. 

Penn State - 31
Iowa - 0

Cade McNamara, 5-14 for 42 yards. Iowa’s running backs combine for 27 yards. Penn State runs almost 60 more plays. It’s about if Kirk Ferentz is getting fired at this point, not just Brian Ferentz. Four first downs to four turnovers, the stats just keep getting worse. Not sure you can extrapolate much from Penn State’s defense in this. Penn State ground game was bottled up, passing game seemed fine.

Indiana - 29 (4OT)
Akron - 27

Indiana’s safeties are terrible. Akron outgains Indiana 474-282. Indiana has combined for 8 rushing first downs against three FBS teams this season. Akron is a bad MAC team. 

Illinois - 23
Florida Atlantic - 17

Illinois outgains FAU 510-353. Still a little skeptical of this Illinois team but they looked a lot better in this game, even got out of a scoring hole. They’re not good but they don’t seem dire. 

Northwestern - 37 (OT)
Minnesota - 34

Northwestern comes back from a 21 yard deficit and gains 492 yards. AJ Henning has a game tying touchdown. These are the games Minnesota usually takes care of and helps them eek out 8 wins. Doesn't look like that will be the case this year.

Wisconsin - 38
Purdue - 17

Tanner Mordecai had 13 rushes that weren’t sacks. Wisconsin is probably going to sleepwalk to the division title because nobody else is even trying in the West.

MUSIC:

• “Bug Like An Angel”— Mitski
• “Rock 'n Roll With Me”— David Bowie
• “Let's Go Out On The Town”—  Cut Worms
• “Across 110th Street”

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