MGoBlog’s channel featuring the very professional, very visual, podcast with Brian Cook, Seth Fisher, David Nasternak, and Alex Drain, plus The Teams history podcast with Seth and Dr. Sap, The Michigan Hockeycast, the MGoBlog Roundtable on WTKA.
MGoBlog’s channel featuring the very professional, very visual, podcast with Brian Cook, Seth Fisher, David Nasternak, and Alex Drain, plus The Teams history podcast with Seth and Dr. Sap, The Michigan Hockeycast, the MGoBlog Roundtable on WTKA.
OFFENSE: Meh. Becht has been starting for Matt Campbell for four years, is decent at reading out a defense but his level of play has dipped as the competition surpassed his ability. He's not a Brock Purdy sleeper NFL QB. Both RBs are just guys. WR Chase Sowell is on his 4th school but has been ranked higher in the portal every time, is now their most important offensive player because downfield threat Koby Howard is injured. OL doesn't scare us; Malachi Goodman is not ready for Big Ten pass pro and the other guys don't move people. Their TE room is pretty okay—they did work by playing a bunch of them together.
DEFENSE: D'Anton Lynn is one of the Ravens guys, the safeties coach Baltimore hired when Minter left for Vanderbilt. After the system didn't take in SoCal he's brought it to Happy Valley, and brought along players from UCLA and Iowa State to run it. One difference: the HEAVY OLB becomes the END in their 5-2 sets, which effectively means they're adding a DE not a DT when they go out of nickel. For Michigan it might mean they can try to plow against a defense that is built to not allow that first and foremost. For PSU it means they've been a little sus against quick-hitting offenses. The Wing-T blew them apart. Experienced LBs make it work most downs however. Hope Beck's finally got his head out of his ass. All-Big XII safety Marcus Neal got benched, and might be moving to LB.
2. Hockeytalk, and a little Hoops
starts at 26:52
A 4-0 start for the icers goes on the road to the defending champions with the #1 ranking on the line; does their weird juju apply to the regular season as well? Most impressive performance so far might be that return game at Bowling Green, where they were outplayed for a period then roared back. Ivankovic has been better than anyone realizes. Jayden Perron has been outstanding. Landon Dupont everything advertised.
3. After Further Review: Minnesota
starts at 41:49
Unnnnghhhh. Jason Beck's offense is all counters, no meat, and does nonsensical things like pull a guard on a passing down. Avery Gach had a rough outing IDing his blocks, which is understandable since he was a guard until thrust into duty, and those blocks are unique to TEs. But everyone wants to know about the defense, right? Tackling was an issue because they got tired. Tariq Boney met his match in lengthy OTs who can grab at will and don't have to dropback pass pro.
4. Sklars!
starts at 1:04:41
The brothers are in town all weekend, with shows last night, tonight, and two on Saturday (they'll hold the start of Show 1 for people coming from the PSU game).
Featured Musician: Canada
They call themselves a "seven-piece chamber folk-pop band." I call them a perfect distillation of the kind of music coming out of Ann Arbor in the mid-2000s, when they put out the How Dare You EP, which I had in the band box. I think I actually bought this one when they opened for Saturday Looks Good to Me. Unfortunately it's scratched to shit, so I went on Spotify, found their 2021 album "Put Singing Birds Into Your Messy Hair," super dug it, and used songs from that. If you do want to check out their early stuff, start with This Cursed House, which includes some of the songs from the EP but better recordings. Fun story I found googling: They produced that album in a barn, using a soundboard that they presumably got from ILM, since it was used to mix the original Star Wars trilogy.
Canada got together with some other bands to create Quite Scientific (Qui-Sci) Records, so I still think of that whole group "Qui-Sci" (rhymes with Phi-Psi). They also have weird names. One of them is Aaron Saul, another is Aaron Shaul, and another is Ryan Howard (no not THAT power hitter for the Phillies). This isn't the first or last time I feature Qui-Sci bands—the label was pretty important in local music in my era—but I think Canada is their definitive act.
Songs:
"The Farthest Shore"
"Homes and Jewells"
"Half-Hearted Laughter"
Also because Across 110th Street will get our Youtubes taken down, the opener and outro:
Tactical issues: They run constraint plays without establishing the base, so they overreactions to what they're doing.
They don't punish the safeties being at 8 and 6 yards.
Two different OC types: Lindsay type attaches his stuff to what you're doing; RR/Beck types want to install their offense.
Watch Utah last year: Beck last year would not like what Beck does this year.
Feels like Jason Beck is on tilt; he's trying to win the game with every playcall, and he's not getting the homers.
You can put Max Bredeson on the field but he's got to be at least a little bit of a threat.
Alex Bauman? He's a blocking TE who makes good reads so he might be an answer. But Zack Marshall was that guy.
How many seams have we thrown this year? None. How did Purdue get a big run vs Minnesota at the start of the game, threatened the seam, safety steps back, blockers win.
They don't run Dagger. They don't throw to anyone but their first two receivers.
Brian got a QB running game and the monkey's paw curled.
This is probably the biggest disconnect between expectations and reality we've ever faced.
Hockeytalk: Michigan has an incredible concentration of talent, they're not the only ones. Heady time to be a college hockey fan because there are some great teams out there because CHL players are now in the Big Ten. Think the season will be less frustrating but the Tournament will be brutal because several schools (MSU, Denver) have their best team ever.
Hoopstalk: Not last year's team but pretty good. Trey is the star but he's a shooter; his offense should be shoot or go downhill. Expect them to do some shooting, work in Quinn Costello as a movement shooter, and OREB. Thiam has to learn better shot selection, develop a two-man game with Cadeau. He can't be taking the bad shots because the other guys should be taking those so Thiam and Estrella can put them back.
Thank you toUnderground 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.
Michigan beats Eastern Michigan in an exhibition game 87-62. Getting Elliot Cadeau and Trey McKenney back should form one of the best backcourts in the Big Ten. McKenney was a 6th man last year but was dripping with talent. Cadeau's room for improvement is suppressing the turnovers. McKenney you'd like to see improvement as a movement shooter and a finisher at the rim, it's okay for him to take mid-range shots (which aren't very prone to turnovers). The sky's the limit for the backcourt. Kenny Noland comes in from Columbia as a backup, he brings some Mike Smith vibes. His assist and turnover rates could've been better but you got to grade him on a Columbia curve. He brings beating full court ball pressure to the table as well as a structured offense. Roddy Gayle is your projected starting small forward, his 3rd year on the team. He's a glue guy and one of the better ones in the league. His three point shooting had a lot of streakiness to it. He can be aggressive going downhill, also he's an older guy who you can't intimidate. He shows his chest at the rim and makes his free throws. Brandon McCoy is out for the year. Ricky Liburd is most likely to get the backup 20ish minutes per game. He's projected to be a good 3 point shooter. Joseph Hartman might not be an impact player but he has a good bit of polish and is a play finisher. He has comparisons to freshman Isaiah Livers, maybe? Malachi Brown is just a little too small to be viable in conference play this year.
2. The Frontcourt
Starts at 28:08
Moustapha Thiam comes in from Cincinnati and was the anchor of one of the best defenses in America last year. This was a vital addition to the roster. He's an anchor and a rim protector and looks the part. He takes a lot of bad shots but somehow makes them while having a low turnover rate. He'll have a better offense around him this year to hopefully make better shot opportunities off of. Thiam's a good defender but he's no Mara. J.P. Estrella comes in from Tennessee as the projected 4. He played a lot of 5 overseas but didn't look the part. Estrella was a great offensive rebounder at Tennessee but has some defensive issues that you hope Thiam helps mitigate. Estrella has been very efficient offensively but what happens when he gets extended play time? There are a broad range of outcomes here and we don't really know what to expect. Freshman F Quinn Costello was an excellent shooter in high school, even as a movement shooter. Can he handle all the switches on this Michigan defense? Marcus Møller looked fairly promising overseas. He's a bit underweight but give him a year and his skillset could be really good. He had some Mara vibes. Jalen Reed comes in from LSU, where if he stayed he could've been a starting anything. He reminds us a little bit of Morez Johnson. He's got the muscle mass and the skills if he can just stay healthy. Oscar Goodman has a Will Tschetter vibe - good glue guy but just not quite an established player. He's a guy for a different age of college basketball.
3. Hot Takes, Season Expectations, and The Big Ten
Starts at 1:00:02
Takes hotter than the entirety of Michigan's 2025-26 basketball season. We are going to have to come back to earth a bit. They still look like a clear tournament team in the 4-6 range but it's not fair to compare them to one of the best basketball teams in the last few decades. There are a lot of Big Ten teams with high floors but not many that look like an amazing team (besides maybe Illinois). Michigan State is pretty much the same team from last year. The non-conference schedule is pretty brutal, including UConn, Marquette, Villanova, and Louisville. What will Boynton's coaching style be? The biggest conundrum is what does he do with Estrella? Last year's team needed to win a national championship, this year you need to just build a program. What's their Big Ten Tournament seed and NCAA Tournament seed?
4. Around the Big Ten with Jamie Mac
Starts at 1:34:30
Indiana 20, Nebraska 17 Nebraska outgains the Hoosiers 391 to 365, Indiana just couldn't run the ball. Nebraska Jim Knowles'd themself and it came back to bite them. The winning touchdown was a rhino play! Colandrea is an annoyingly good QB at Nebraska, he's always doing something positive. Nick Marsh had 57% of Indiana's yards.
UCLA 17, Oregon 15 Oregon only gained 265 yards of offense, 179 of that was on their final three drives in the last eight minutes of the game. Oregon has to feel disturbed that this is the way their season is going because of a dirty hit against USC. Oregon did their "go for 2" on their first TD but missed it and it came back to bite them. The Ducks had seven (7!) turnovers in this game.
USC 31, Penn State 23 Penn State's run game is absent, will the Michigan game be "who has to rush less"? USC does not believe you need to cover tight ends (this would work well againt Michigan). Penn State's running backs don't have a run greater than 8 yards, Rocco Becht is the only one with double digit rush gains. Their center looks like David Molk with one foot.
Illinois 38, Michigan State 37 Ref outrage!! Pat Fitzgerald flips off the field. Fred Moore is Michigan State's top wide receiver.
Purdue 41, Minnesota 13 Purdue ran for 305 yards, that feels bad! Minnesota ran for 27 yards. That also feels bad! When is the last time a Michigan team lost to a Big Ten team that didn't make a bowl game? Could Purdue make a bowl and be competitive against Indiana?
Iowa 41, Washington 24 It was 27-3 at halftime, this was a blowout. Washington had -3 rushing yards, and this was a home game.
Lightning Round Northwestern 45, Ball State 14 Ohio State 45, Maryland 16
MUSIC:
"Opening Night"—Arctic Monkeys, War Child Records
"Backseat"—Balu Brigada
"Crush"—Indigo De Souza
“Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra
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 What can we learn from two Anchorage blowouts? Power plays, shorthanded goals, Drew Schock, and more. Then a look at interesting early results in college hockey.
Segment 2 Previewing all other 6 B1G teams in depth and an early estimate on how the power rankings stack up,
Brian on the offense: The dysfunction is too great to be one thing. Media narrative that they're too perimeter-based isn't based in reality; they were an outside zone team last year. There isn't a one thing they can go to the lab and fix. Running base plays will probably help; too many constraint plays that are too easy to stuff.
Don't see Beck scheming up any explosives. Part of that is it's because he doesn't repeat things that work enough to get a reaction. #1 thing that's hurting them are those explosives.
Defensively they're fine. DEs were a little injured; Tariq Boney ran into an issue with long tackles if they get their hands on him because they don't call holding (except on Michigan) in this conference. A lot of the tackling issues were they were exhausted.
Responding to Devin Gardner's assessment: It's wrong to say Bryce can't make zone reads. He's getting these right, even when they're complicated, except when Hiter clamps down, which is not speculation.
Rhino: Gach is a 2nd year player who just moved here and doesn't know how to make the complicated reads yet. Sam: Teams are reacting to it belligerently. Lack of a counter. Seth: Problem is the Rhino is inviting safeties into the box to replace a linebacker who replaces a DE in complicated ways, and they don't have the experience yet to deal with that.
Why is Rhino their most effective in YPC/YPA? Because they're not getting any explosives.
Beck problem is he's not getting explosives. Ratio of meat & potatoes/fancy plays is totally out of whack—too much fancy and too many ways to diffuse them, so they're not getting guys in wrong positions. Michigan drives are stalling out inside the opponent's territory.
Bryce problem is he falls apart when he gets uncomfortable. The Bryce hit + Marsh drop, Hiter clamp, Delay of Game sequence rattled him and he wasn't reading after that. Not uncommon for a 19-year-old quarterback. If you go Tommy you're just putting another freshman in.
You can't bench Bryce right now. Sophomore Syndrome: Let's talk about Evan Link: he's a pretty good Big Ten left tackle now, and he was unplayable in Year 2. Bryce is Year 2.
If they do use the Rhino what can they do to punish defenses? Slants to Buchanan and Marsh
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 Memories from Bowling Green, Ohio. Discussion of the opening night lines and pairs. Then recap of the first game, including a Hurlbert breakaway, power play scoring, and a pretty convincing win
Segment 2 The worst first period in memory? Then Michigan got their feet under them and took over. Had to dig deep to win, but a good game to win. Few other teams in college hockey played real games but we talk about the ones that did. Alaska-Anchorage preview includes discussion of NHLers from Alaska
Thank you toUnderground 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.
We could just go home and not do this. Was this the least pleasant game you've ever watched? At least the last time Michigan lost to Minnesota it started the process of fixing everything. Young quarterbacks have big swings, you're fine one day and bad the next. The Marsh drop followed by a five yard loss followed by a delay of game followed by a gain of 13 that would've been converted if not for the five yard loss followed by the punt going into the endzone brought back shades of M00N. The numerous commercial breaks were the only break the defense could get. The offensive install continues to be a complete disaster. Teams are teeing off against the rhino that shouldn't be on the field. The Utah offense seemed like it would be a natural fit to install at Michigan, what is going on? They even have the players to run what they want to do. Is Kyle Whittingham washed? The assistants shouldn't be. Individually players are grading out fine but the whole is not working. Whittingham might not know how to coach a transition, he had so much continuity at Utah. Michigan couldn't get into a rhythm because they never had the ball on offense in the first half. When the game doesn't slow down for Bryce he goes into panic mode. The Western Michigan game scared them and now they're trying to build the airplane in the air and it's crashing. It's time for Jason Beck to do a little bit of soul searching. What personnel changes can you make on offense? Hiter has been costing drives, would you put Kuzdzal in over him? What's going on in the tight end room?
[The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP]
2. Defense vs Minnesota
Starts at 50:01
The defense is fine. They had a PI from Mars against them. The holding calls in these games all feel one-sided, Michigan can't draw any. By the second half they got sloppier because they had to play pretty much the whole first half. The defensive tackles were not dominating the line of scrimmage enough. These are all nitpicks for a defense that only gave up 20 points despite being on the field for 40 minutes. Staehling struggles with wheel routes but blew up some plays and had the pick six. Bowles is a nicely physical blitzer. Chase Taylor got hurt but came back. Aisea Moa had a fair bit of play time (as did everyone else). If the offense would have even played an average game would Minnesota have even gotten 200 yards of offense?
3. Hot Takes, Special Teams, Game Theory, and Hockey
Starts at 1:12:47
Takes hotter than the piss PJ Fleck drank out of the Little Brown Jug (Brian's words, not mine). Punting was fine but the first two needed to be downed. Kick returns - just don't do it. Kuzdzal wants to play but don't do it. Andrew Marsh shouldn't drop punts. Yay the blocked a punt. They took one good timeout. There were fewer penalties because the offense was barely on the field. Let's talk about hockey! They sweep Bowling Green 7-2 and 4-3. Bowling Green is not Mercyhurst, they're a real team. Michigan got punched in the mouth Saturday night (at Bowling Green) in a hostile environment and responded. Perron and Hage are awesome as predicted. Much like 2023 football, this team has a lot of players that didn't need to be here, but they want to win a championship.
4. Around the Big Ten with Jamie Mac
Starts at 1:46:24
Northwestern 34, Penn State 13 Northwestern ran for 413(!!!) rushing yards using a lot of the wing-T. Is this a legitimately good Northwestern team? Almost more shocking is Penn State rushing 22 times for 48 yards. Penn State just can't drive the field in the Big Ten.
Wisconsin 31, Michigan State 3 Michigan State throws the ball 34 times for 108 yards and lost the ball on downs five times. Their longest play of the game was 13 yards, Fred Moore was targeted 12 times. There might be some fool's gold here for Wisconsin, QB Colton Joseph was only 9/20 for 145 and was 141 of their 228 rushing yards.
USC 25, Washington 21 Both teams needed to pull themselves out of a rut and neither really did that. This was the battle of who can have the worse offensive line. Another poor performance from Washington QB Demond Williams
Nebraska 48, Maryland 23 Yardage was not that different but Maryland was only 1 of 14 on 3rd downs. At one point during this game, Malik Washington had thrown three pick sixes in four quarters (going back to last week). 28 penalties in this game, Rhule went off on the officials.
Iowa 14, Ohio State 31 Ultimately not very competitive. If you're Iowa and -2 in turnover margin you're not beating anyone. Jeremiah Smith gets over 200 receiving yards for the second straight week. Iowa's secondary might be a little too static this year. Better teams need to be bracketing Jeremiah Smith.
Purdue 24, Illinois 17 Purdue snaps a 19 game losing streak in the Big Ten. This is their first Big Ten win of the Curt Cignetti era. This was a low posession game, it feels like they sped up the game and now there's 20% less football. If you're not on it from the start you can get in trouble.
Indiana 47, Rutgers 15 KJ Duff might be college football's most loyal man.
MUSIC:
"Stilettos"—Victor Jones
"No Cameras"—VictoryLand
"She's Gonna Break My Heart"—Magnus Ferrell
“Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra
Fleck and Harbaugh (no relation, pronounced Har-Bo) have been rolling their system back towards pro-style, have an old fashioned 6'5"/230 arm who doesn't run in Drake Lindsey, was getting draft hype that we do not understand. They still run the #collegecrappe offense: RPO slants, Power/Zone with huge OL, and lots of WR screens, because Javon Tracy—an excellent returner—is good at YAC. Darius Taylor is beat up, and they're without their starting C, but big-ass Greg Johnson has shifted to C and will maul. Get them in 3rd & long and we should be okay; RT Daniel Shipp is a weak spot and backup LG Jaden Ball—who never saw the field at Purdue—is hurt as well as bad.
2. Minnesota Preview: Defense & Special Teams
starts at 16:54
One step forward, one step back for a defense that's been solid but can't quite get to elite. One thing you can expect is for them to be very responsible on the edges (and for Fleck to LOSE HIS SHIT) if they don't call holding on anything that breaks outside). Best guys are a giant DE, Anthony Smith, and a giant LB, Maverick Baranowski. Alex not super impressed with their Iowa CB John Nestor but Seth is. But their other LBs are pretty good. Have some issues with their Zone defense under 2nd-year DC Danny Collins, a longtime Fleck assistant who finally got the callup after serving under all the journeymen that Fleck's brought through. Defensive line is big but moveable, and a banged up Riley Sunram at nose may be the spot to attack them.
Special teams notes: Javon Tracy has been the best PR in the country this year; has two TDs and nearly had a third when he accidentally stepped OOB. Do not kick to him. Punter is an Aussie averaging 40/punt. They stole New Mexico's kicker and got him eligible for a 5th year. Until then they were going with Beckham Sunderland, whom we could have used on kickoffs. Gotta suck for him.
3 Iowa After Review
starts at 40:27
It was a very good day from Bryce, who was reading coverages, moving guys with his eyes. Beck finally dumped the Jet Motion stuff that opponents have downloaded and the run game started to move. But he's got to stick and move. Injury to Frazier meant they were heavily left-handed in the 4th quarter.
Iowa's offense was in "get it OUT!" mode. Zero dropback passes that weren't on passing downs or 2MD drives. First-look passing offense that just tried to clear out or space and throw to the first read, covered or not, which resulted in nerfing the pass rush and a lot of defenders getting their hands on the ball. Middle distribution was three, Michigan extremely unlucky not to come down with at least one of those. Lauck was as advertised. What would you have done for the last play, because going man-lock was not a "let's kill this" play at a "let's kill this" moment.
4. Jug Tales wsg Greg Dooley
starts at 1:00:27
The Professor returns to get us pumped for The Brown Jug. You know the story, but what was the context? Why was this such a big rivalry in the 1930s and '40s? I want to discuss Crisler, a former Minnesota head coach, Bernie Bierman, and the last time Michigan switched from a messy handpicked successor to a legend to an establishment oldster.
Featured Artist: Bump
Here's another band we played with—possibly in an earlier form—for this empty battle of the bands at the I-Rock in Detroit during the 2003 Michigan-Minnesota game, which was moved to Friday night at the last minute because the Twins made the playoff. The I-Rock didn't have TVs so all the bands were crowded into someone's band van with a 9-inch black-and-white TV to watch the ending. When I saw them again it was at The Pig in 2005 and they had demos for what became Incredible Consequence. The thing that really made Bump was lead guitarist Chris Sterr, who's now touring with Billy Strings for his Heartbeat of Eternia project. Sterr's been doing an Allman Brothers cover band, and playing around Traverse City, and I'm really happy this is happening for him because if he had any ego he'd be a big deal already.
When I met him he was with Bump, which was an early project Yorg Kerasiotis, a musician/filmmaker/unfortunate Sparty who's been going from one project to another in the Detroit-Ann Arbor music/arts/film scenes since the early 2000s. Bump wasn't his first project, but it's still my favorite, because they took the music seriously and nothing else. They were genre-benders, a sort of electronic funk garage that would have worked better in the 1990s Alternative scene.
The album is here on Spotify; the demos I have seem to be close.
Songs:
Don't Be the Sunrise
A Million Reasons Why
Wait a Minute
Also because Across 110th Street will get our Youtubes taken down, the opener and outro:
Craig: At least 20 plays. This was as bad as it gets. Three holdings that weren't holding, five really bad spots, block in the back on their return. Seth: The holds on runs that go outside are the outlier.
Bryce: INT he's expecting Marsh to stop. To go from someone who was staring down the play to someone moving defenders w his eyes was great. Throwing dots all game. Flea-flicker to Buchanan was great. Moving the pocket to get the Buchanan TD was a 30-yard throw on the move downfield; he flicked one that was incredibly catchable.
Two Duos in this game, Iowa does the Jet Kill thing on one, next time they don't do it and they get a good gain.
In the break: Kanka is a great development. He killed a power play, got that sack with Boney. His emergence means Lea'ea gets to be a specialty 3-tech not the backup nose.
Minnesota: Not impressed with their OL. Defense is one good one one bad one at every position.
Hoop preview with Noland/Gayle: will be a good team, not the defensive nightmare they were last year. Go watch this video by Jess Speight—who's got some directing chops apparently—about Rez for the part about building last year's team. They knew they were going to be special when they found lottery guys going underused at Illinois and UCLA.
Hockey: They're going to have a 1st rounder on the 3rd team, will have to scratch a good defender every night, M/MSU the top two teams again.
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 brief discussion of the US Open in-person experience. Then season preview part 1, running through all of the forwards. Returning stars like Hage, Horcoff, Perron, and new faces like Hurlbert, Nesbitt, and Sima dot a loaded group of scorers
Segment 2 Season preview part two looks at defense. Reid and DuPont join Mews, Robertson, Barnett, Schock, and DRM to form the Avengers. Ivankovic is back and somehow Stephen Peck is too? Discussion of lines and pairs + a brief look at the schedule. Is this the year?
