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.
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.
Pay no attention to the background noise from the drag show at Venue. This game was vanilla and we like that. Bryce Underwood had a fabulous day despite losing about 50 yards from drops. There seems to be a big difference between Road Bryce and Home Bryce. Michigan didn't take many deep shots because the short stuff was working great and Washington has tall corners. The remaining road games shouldn't be nearly as threatening as the previous three. The game is over but they have a designed run for Bryce? Jordan Marshall isn't Justice Haynes but he gets a lot of yards after contact. He's still working on re-gapping but overall an excellent first start for him. Jasper Parker looked fine. Under Harbaugh not much changed between offensive coordinators, but with Chip Lindsey a lot has changed already. He was dealing in the first touchdown drive. When's the last time we came out of a game thinking "oh wow they nuked the defensive coordinator?" How do we feel about going for it on 4th down and passing it to Mr. Dropsies? Running it up the middle is probably a 70% conversion, throwing it to Semaj is also a 70% conversion but for different reasons. Evan Link looks to be done for the year. Bryce's first scramble was Frazier getting knocked backwards, he seems fine but doesn't quite have the oomf that Evan Link does. Zack Marshall had a great game, what happened to the starting tight ends? Overall the offensive line was fine.
2. Defense vs Washington
Starts at 34:40
The defense only gave up seven points but everyone is still a little mad. Michigan runs a pretty vanilla defense and it works nicely because college quarterbacks are going to make mistakes. Oden did intercept the ball but uhh... it was not because of his performance. Washington shot themselves in the foot but also Jaishawn Barham was much more responsible. Wink is not forgiven but it was nice that this game plan was simplified and it was fine. A lot of defensive tackle rotation but not everybody is a play maker. Is Lou Esposito the one rotating the tackles so much? Maybe part of the chaos on defense is you don't get used to playing next to the same guy every snap. This will not be a -33 RPS day. Jyaire Hill is not getting targeted very much.
3. Hot Takes, Game Theory, and Special Teams
Starts at 58:19
Takes hotter than the bangin' drag show going on during the recording of this podcast. Brian apologizes once again for changing "AHHH YOU PUT IT THROUGH THE UPRIGHTS" and disrupting the cosmic balance. Zvada misses another field goal but gets the game sealer. Punting was a 35 yarder and then a rocket. No major complains about Semaj on punt returns except that he hit the spin button at the wrong time. The 4th and 1 drop to Semaj was unfortunate. What about the 4th and 2 on the 6? The whistle blew too early. Max Bredeson's holding call is the worst holding call since that Northwestern holding call. Stadium vibe: some people could actually use their phones! It should not take nine minutes to get a $9 coke, the athletic department doesn't pay close attention to the small things. Apparently concession people at Yost don't get paid but the athletic department can finally install cell phone towers at Michigan Stadium after 11 years under Warde.
4. Around the Big Ten with Jamie Mac
Starts at 1:26:57
Iowa 25, Penn State 24 The nicest thing you can say about Penn State is that a lot of big programs are in collapse. Drew Allar's career is over, Ethan Grunkemeyer throws for 93 yards and throws two interceptions. Iowa threw for 68 yards but ran for 245 yards, Iowa should just run the triple option!
UCLA 20, Maryland 17 You gotta respect Maryland's commitment to one Army drive and then not doing a thing after. UCLA looked like the better team all game. This was a Big Ten [wild wild] West game. This is Maryland's third straight heartbreaking loss, they can't finish games with a freshman QB. There's still a path to a bowl.
Indiana 38, Michigan State 13 Shout out to everyone who listened to this on Spartan Radio. Indiana's offense was extremely efficient. Fernando Mendoza was 24/28 for 332 yards and four touchdowns. Indiana football fans were mad that they weren't winning by more. Did Indiana give up enough passing yards to be concerned with playoff implications for the Hoosiers?
Northwestern 19, Purdue 0 Northwestern gets one 76 yard scoring drive and that's about all the scoring in this game. Don't let the score fool you into thinking that Northwestern has figured something out.
Notre Dame 34, USC 24 USC takes a 3rd quarter lead followed by Notre Dame getting a kickoff return. Then USC just falls apart in the 4th quarter. This was frustrating to watch as a Michigan fan.
Ohio State 34, Wisconsin 0 134 total yards for Wisconsin and that's generous. Oh god they play Oregon next weekend.
Minnesota 24, Nebraska Dylan Raiola is sacked nine times, that's too many times. Nebraska had just entered the top 25 and has now exited the top 25. A left tackle was ejected for targeting! Shout out to Minnesota fans for really filling the stadium on a Friday night.
Oregon 56, Rutgers 10 14 different Oregon players went for at least 10 yards on a play. Oregon was very upset about their Indiana game. Somehow there wasn't a rutger. Oregon had 233 breakaway yards, Rutgers had 202 total yards.
MUSIC:
"Brand New Second Hand"—Peter Tosh
"It's Not Easy"—Ofege
"Plain as Your Eyes Can See"—Jim Sullivan
“Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra
Massive respect for their skill positions, not so much their offensive line, which means this game will mostly be a test of whether Wink learned anything from last week, or cares to now that he's put his football career on life support.
2. Washington Preview: Defense
starts around 12:15 PM
Not the offense. D'Anton Lynn is on the Ravens tree but he's not having the same success, mostly because they can't seem to get the defensive line up to size. Devan Thompkins is 290, Jide Abasiri is 295. Edges were highly ranked (Anthony Lucas was a pre-Elston Michigan target) but sophomore Kameryn Crawford isn't panning out like a top-100 is supposed to. They added Portal #25 Keeshawn Silver from Kentucky and a 5-star freshman, but they haven't changed that math, and are getting pushed around. We do still like Kamari Ramsey, who came with Lynn from UCLA and has been playing nickel this year. Cornerbacks are tall.
3. Hoops and Hockey Check-In
starts around 12:30 PM
Hockey is off to a hot start after a two-game road sweep of Providence, though having to come back against Robert Morris last night put the first little damper on it. Basketball starts tonight with an exhibition against Cincinnati at Crisler that will be our first look at the transfers. Question #1 is how physical will they be up front, because Cincy has a brawler. Will they try three bigs?
4. USC After Review
starts around 1:00 PM
I had three RPS-3s, two for screens and one for the Power after the 3rd & 26 and TD, which were both Power, when Wink ran an exotic that had no chance against Power. If they can cut out half of their shit and get their best players (read: seniors like TJ Guy) on the field, they should be able to get righted.
Offensively it was a better performance than 13 points. There weren't that many drives, and Bryce struggled. His passes might be flat because he's getting sped up (Gardner has been in that position). Marshall missed two big cuts that Haynes makes. OL was okay; El-Hadi's return wasn't great, there were some mistakes from Guarnera, but USC's defense didn't ask Sprague to do too much and he did well, and Link had MAs but wasn't straight-up beat. Brian doesn't blame Bryce for the interception—once the WR wins inside he's going to win the route—but the throw to Marsh could have put him in the endzone if Bryce is feeling confident in his throw. Maybe give him some max pro to
Featured Artist: Rawhide (formerly Girl Fight)
Last May someone was carrying a tom into Ziggy's with a bumper sticker that read if "If you don't like Motörhead Fuck you" with American and British flags on it. My one friend snapped a photo and sent it to our group for commentary from the guy who founded (and sold) an MGoBlog-sized site about metal music. This thread of college roommates/bandmates/best friends is like 10% Michigan sports, 20% Xennial parent shit, and 70% music shit, meaning music prompts can result in 42-message threads that the college football guy in the middle of writing a college football preview magazine might not get to until he's trying to clear unread notifications many months later.
This is how I found I had missed the group discovering a new genre/EP called Michigan Fuzz Punk by Rawhide, a two-piece (Ellen Cope and Jacob Bloom) Michigan band formerly known as Girl Fight. What I know about them comes from this column. The EP is pay what you may ($13.10 is fair). Anyway this is me talking about Michigan Fuzz Punk, which is both an excellent description of the genre and the EP's title. I am a total tourist in this genre so I'll refrain from talking about it like I know shit about shit, except I'm super intrigued to see what this is actually like live since the recordings only hint at it. I'll say the song Reach Me kicks and it's hilarious that "Greta is a Punk" and "Paige's Song" are the same song.
Songs:
"Stone Cold"
"Reach Me"
"Clocked In"
Also because Across 110th Street will get our Youtubes taken down, the opener and outro:
Is it coaching or players? I say coaching, because there's no point in running the stuff, even if it's good stuff, if you don't have the coaching points down, and the #1 coaching points are not in.
They're going to have to simplify, stick to some basics until they can run all of this stuff.
Hillman: Unplayable at this bust rate, but too good of a player to not coach the bust rate out of him.
Players going off-script? If it's seniors you gotta ask why they think they have to.
Wink Shit: Never drops a DT into a screen. Plays three DTs. Expected long passing and got short. Had no way to defend power. It was all so easy; the only thing that stopped USC was a bad call and 2 redzone turnovers. Worst coaching performance since Rich Rod made Greg Robinson go 3-3-5 vs Purdue in 2009.
Offense is young but you can see what they'll look like post-mistakes.
Found a WR2 in Marsh, might want to try some max-pro to get BU confident.
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: Friday Beatdown
Opener
Back and Forth Opening Period
Second Period Drubbing
Shutdown Third Period
Segment 2: Saturday Sweep, Non-Con Shockers, What's a Bobby Mo?
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.
Seth reads off an ominous message from Brian from earlier last week. USC's success rate was typical of a good offense against a MAC team. This was the dumbest game plan we've ever seen a Michigan defensive coordinator execute. Wink Martindale coaches like he looks down on college and Brian is officially done with him. Is Wink just Charlie Weis?? What happened between The Meeting from last year and this year? Mike McDonald made a lot of the same mistakes in his first four games but he was able to adjust to what was around him, Wink can't change. Would things be better if they fired Wink Martindale and just made Rod Moore the defensive coordinator? His answer to the question "are you spilling or setting the edge" was "it depends on the playcall" which raises a red flag. How much actual player development is being done? They're playing their subs in the first quarter, Brandt had more snaps than Derrick Moore. USC was running a lot of really easy stuff but they may legitimately be one of the best offenses in the country. Why are they subbing so much against such a good offense? His buyout is head coach money to be one of the worst defensive coordinators in the Big Ten. It's not just younger guys making mistakes, it's older guys, too. At some point you gotta think "maybe this is a tunnel screen?" USC had a 66% standard downs success rate.
[The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP]
2. Offense vs USC
Starts at 40:07
There was a limited number of drives in part because USC ran the clock a lot. Bryce Underwood just wasn't quite up for it in this one. His deep passes were too flat but he had some good moments too. Denard talked about how in big games we was so amped that he couldn't hit his targets, maybe Bryce is still a little nervous in big games. USC's nickel is nicknamed "the angry giraffe" because he's so tall. Andrew Marsh is getting better rapidly and is becoming the next best option #2, maybe that's why the tight ends got fewer targets. The pieces of a solid offense are there, they're still developing. The tackles weren't getting whipped consistently. Despite the issues, Bryce is developing as expected for a freshman, he has a lot of added pressure when the defense can't stop the opposing offense. Based on limited snaps of Jadyn Davis, maybe you can't run Bryce as much to risk injury. El-Hadi was back and looked fine.
3. Hot Takes, Game Theory, and Special Teams
Starts at 1:04:56
Takes hotter than the eternal flame in the Los Angeles Coliseum (which does get put out at the conclusion of the game). The game might've been going a bit fast which caused the false starts. The OPI was a bad call. Michigan drew a holding call!! A lot of extracurriculars went uncalled. Hollenbeck's punting started promising but eventually resulted in a 28 yarder. Do you punt or try for a 60 yard field goal? That two point conversion is apparently the thing you do now? The USC cheerleaders were on the field when Michigan was running a play!
4. Around the Big Ten with Jamie Mac
Starts at 128:41
NOTE: This was recorded just before James Franklin was fired.
Indiana 30, Oregon 20 This was a defensive masterclass from Indiana. This is how 2023 Michigan would've beaten Oregon. How the hell does Indiana have one of the best defenses in America?? This was really the first game all year where Dante Moore was under pressure and didn't seem to know what to do. Indiana has signs of... a championship winning team?!
Penn State 21, Northwestern 22 Drew Allar is out for the season. This wasn't a fluke, Northwestern just outperformed Penn State. Linebacker U has completely fallen apart and Jim Knowles doesn't seem to know how to be aggressive with this roster. Will... Penn State win a Big Ten game?? James Franklin was fired immediately after this recording so there's still speculation on what to do with this situation. The situation at Penn State just seems toxic all around.
UCLA 38, Michigan State 13 Michigan State scores on their first drive and then that's all, folks. October UCLA is the opposite of October Maryland. Michigan State can't move on from John Smith for stability reasons... can they? What do the Spartans do well? What Big Ten teams would swap their QB with Aidan Chiles?
Nebraska 34, Maryland 31 Nebraska had control of this game down-to-down but Dylan Raiola threw three interceptions. October Maryland can't get out of their way again. Raiola isn't quite there yet but has a shot at it next year.
Ohio State 34, Illinois 16 Ohio State was never really threatened. Illinois outgains Ohio State 295 to 275 but three of Ohio State's first four drives started in Illinois territory.
Iowa 37, Wisconsin 0 Sim to basketball season. This wasn't even an Iowa offensive explosion, Wisconsin threw two interceptions and lost a fumble. You can't fire Fickell but you also can't afford not to?
Washington 38, Rutgers 19 A fun first half but Washington blows the doors open in the second half. Total yards were 590 to 493. Rutgers is 0-3 in the Big Ten but had a halftime lead in each of those games.
Purdue 20, Minnesota 27 Minnesota is outrushed 253 to 30 rushing yards but Purdue throws three interceptions and loses a fumble. If you rewatch this game, we will have to call 911.
MUSIC:
"Au Pays do Cocaine"—Geese
"See You Again"—Tyler the Creator
"Havin' or Not"—LaRussell and Lil Jon
“Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra
Maiva is getting 12 YPA vs blitzes, so maybe don't Wink so much in this game. They're using a lot more 12 personnel and splitbacks this year as well so it's not just your standard Lincoln Riley spread. It's still Lincoln Riley though, and it's been murder on a mostly bad offense. A big reason is the All-American slot/flanker Makai Lemon. There aren't as many outside guys as last year but they kept their two favorites; Ja'Kobi Lane is back and huge, but freshman Tanook Hines is getting most of the snaps at the other side. You do have to be wary of tight end Lake McRee and JUCO RB Waymond Jordan. OL might be better than they were against Illinois, when they had some significant injuries; we expect LT Elijah Paige to be back but not center Killian O'Connor, so they'll have to play 7th year senior J'Onre Reed.
2. USC Preview: Defense
starts at 19:15
Not the offense. D'Anton Lynn is on the Ravens tree but he's not having the same success, mostly because they can't seem to get the defensive line up to size. Devan Thompkins is 290, Jide Abasiri is 295. Edges were highly ranked (Anthony Lucas was a pre-Elston Michigan target) but sophomore Kameryn Crawford isn't panning out like a top-100 is supposed to. They added Portal #25 Keeshawn Silver from Kentucky and a 5-star freshman, but they haven't changed that math, and are getting pushed around. We do still like Kamari Ramsey, who came with Lynn from UCLA and has been playing nickel this year. Cornerbacks are tall.
3. Wisconsin After Review
starts at 36:56
Underwood is coming along, the RBs are elite, and Andrew Marsh is happening. Still have McCulley the #1 with a bullet, and it's nice to see they're giving him leapy chances now. Not sure where PFF (and Sam apparently) are getting the bad pass protection grades for the tackles, because we thought they were fine. The young OL have mistakes but they fix them, and they all have the talent.
Fire blitzes were the order of the day. Weird seeing this defense spill but that's what they do sometimes I guess. Rod Moore's return was a bigger deal than you think. Seth's not as mad at Wink as you think.
4. Around the Big Ten
starts at 52:45
There are some pretty big games this weekend (and that's more interesting than hockey vs Mercyhurst) so we previewed each of them.
Indiana at Oregon: "…is a top-ten matchup" means Okay grandpa let's get you back to a home. Oregon by 7. If IU's OL is legit they can win and if they can beat Oregon there's no ceiling on this team. I can't believe in Indiana!
Ohio State at Illinois: They'll lean.
UCLA at Michigan State: What's funnier: MSU losing at home to UCLA or UCLA immediately losing by like 60 after beating Penn State? MSU fans are already saying Jonathan Smith doesn't have That Dawg in him. He seems like a normal human being, not an angry little dwarf.
Nebraska at Maryland: Interesting game with what happened with Maryland last week. They are throwing many screens.
Rutgers at Washington: Expect a high-scoring game. Would like this game on the opposite coast but Rutgers's offense is hit or miss and three time zones suggests miss.
Northwestern at Penn State: PSU fans are already salty after the Eagles and Gavin McKenna/PSU hockey just lost to Clarkston. If you have one punt there could be a riot; OTOH Penn State fans respect Northwestern's big win over a tough UCLA team.
Iowa at Wisconsin: euugh. Special teams malfeasance by Wisconsin will ruin them.
Okay reader who keeps asking: this is when I'll do Syd Burnham (now Osten; she got married this summer, but kept the performing name). Syd is an indie rock musician and graphic designer from Detroit who mixes a bunch of genres (jazz, singer-songwriter, etc.) to come up with a unique sound. She made an impact with her debut EP "The Yellow Album," at the age of 16, followed by her album "Timeline" at 19. She has since released hit singles like "Summertime," "4 A Grl," "Milky," and "By Then" but her live performances are what carved out a dedicated audience in the Detroit music scene. Syd goes up there with just a guitar and her voice but has a magnetic stage presence who incorporates her modern art into the music, and incorporates local themes into the artwork. Links: IG, YT, FB, Spotify.
Songs:
"A GRL"
"Best Friend"
"By Then"
Also because Across 110th Street will get our Youtubes taken down, the opener and outro:
Happy Yankees Elimination Day to all who celebrate, and Guardians Elimination Week to the celebrants.
What do we talk about when we're off-air? K-Pop.
Pass protection vs Wisconsin: Michigan thought they could do it—Brian and Sam/PFF disagree whether there were pass pro issues from the tackles. There were stunt issues on the young guards, but 15% pressure rate is fine, thought for the most part they handled the DEs pretty well.
Offensive design was great. Stick and move: Wisconsin was ready to defend stretch and Michigan hit them with a stretch beater for a that big early gain. We like that they set up explosives because Haynes can pay them off.
Michigan will also test man coverage with back shoulder fades, something they refused to do under Harbaugh. Right thing to do with McCulley, and you got one from Marsh.
Things holding them back are youth: Bryce can't check out of a call like he will when he's not a true freshman, Efobi (eff-Oh-bee) and Sprague have mistakes but can hack it physically. Really impressed with Guarnera (g'wahr-NAYR-ah).
Haynes for Heisman or Bredeson? Bredeson holding call was garbage. Michigan won't get a holding call this year; it's a problem across college football.
Defense: I'm not mad. Fire blitzes were the way to attack the power run game and wound up getting a 2023 game: 1 TD drive, 1 FG drive and a whole lot of nothing. They gave up some chunks when they didn't get a guy covering where they blitzed from. Don't do that against USC—Maiva has 12 yards/dropback when blitzed.
USC: They run our system but they don't have the DL to play how Michigan does. Offense is #1 to SP+ but only defense they've faced is Illinois. Think Michigan can push them around on offense, need to get to the QB with four on defense. Illinois ran the football.
Are they playing to spill? Sometimes—it depends on the call. Barham isn't holding the edge, but sometimes maybe he's not supposed to. Maybe play spill? You've got speed at LB for it.
Want to see less rotation on the DL. Derrick Moore should not be getting the same number of snaps as Cam Brandt; he should be on the field 67% to 75% of the time. Don't want to see Brandt over Guy against USC.
Also a big drop between Benny/Pierce and the rest of the DTs. They will get their gaps, but they won't get 2 gaps every play.
Rod Moore—not just the big plays (killed the screen and the reverse). He created the interception. He got guys lined up. It was like 2023.
Hillman could play less recklessly, but he's still valuable. Brandyn Hillman is a dangerous safety.
Jayden Sanders is a revelation. Doesn't make the same mistake twice, has the mind for Rod Moore stuff.
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.
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.
Are Michigan fans turning beet red or was it just hot? This game looks better on rewatch and followed the preview fairly closely. Bryce Underwood took a leap forward in this game, he has the occasional accuracy issue and isn't testing the middle of the field, but he's starting to hit guys downfield. Andrew Marsh and Donaven McCulley also took a huge lea. This is encouraging considering Goodwin was barely targeted, Semaj has been having catching issues, and Frederick Moore is off the team. You can rotate most positions but not the wide receivers. Russel Bellamy has been getting unfairly judged for the receivers. Wisconsin has a very good rush defense and Michigan put up pretty good numbers. Underwood needs to get the ball out a little quicker. Sprague will grade out negatively but he generally does it well when he knows the right assignment. The offensive line is young, they need some time to get better. Lindsey plays off the screen game really well. Has Michigan gotten a holding call all year on defense?
[The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP]
2. Defense vs Wisconsin
Starts at 39:33
10 points from the opposition but three came from a sad field goal. They barely got to 200 yards of offense until "kill the clock mode". Rod Moore being back instantly makes this defense much better. Don't rotate him and just keep him on the field all game? Zeke Berry is back from injury, he missed a tackle but was otherwise fine. This defense seems like they miss a lot of tackles but we're comparing it to the best defense in recent school history. Jimmy Rolder was in his element, one time he almost picked up a fullback and threw him. Michigan goes cover zero in a situation that makes no sense. Everyone in the stands keeps turning towards Seth when this happens. Brandyn Hillman is reckless which is helpful sometimes, sometimes it hurts you. Please don't be weird against USC.
3. Hot Takes, Game Theory, and Special Teams
Starts at 1:05:20
Takes hotter than Michigan Stadium this Saturday. Michigan missed a 27 yard field goal, was it the hold? They did (just barely) block a punt and almost blocked a second one. Hollenbeck was blasting them in this game. What is up with Semaj's punt returns? Is he being told not to take any chances? Should you run a QB sneak on 4th and inches near your own red zone? Luke Fickell is Brady Hoke. They weren't trying to win the game in the 4th quarter, you can't have a six minute field goal drive in this situation. Seth is about to start charting an umpire's spatial awareness.
4. Around the Big Ten with Jamie Mac
Starts at 1:34:02
UCLA 42, Penn State 37 UCLA has been awful all season but they looked like the #7 team in the country in Pasadena. James Franklin partially blamed the travel. Coming into this weekend, UCLA never led in any of their four games. In this game they never trailed. Tim Skipper has as many wins over top 10 teams as James Franklin. Penn State was a playoff team but now they have to beat Ohio State to have a chance, Was this the biggest Big Ten upset ever?
Nebraska 38, Michigan State 27 In most weeks this would be the funniest game of the week. Michigan State ran for 2.3 YPC and Chiles threw two interception into Nebraska chests. Their backup looked pretty good so is there a QB controversy?
Washington 24, Maryland 20 Maryland took a 20-0 lead but road Washington dominated October Maryland. Washington is still without their best defensive end, linebacker, and defensive back. Mike Locksley is 0-10 coming out of bye weeks.
Illinois 43, Purdue 27 The Purdue offense is actually functional. Each QB threw for over 300 yards.
Northwestern 42, ULM 7 One day we'll have something to say about Northwestern, but not today.
Ohio State 42, Minnesota 3 They let Julian Sayin cook.
MUSIC:
"Cobra"—Geese
"God's Country"—Thomas Dollbaum
"How To Kill Houseplants"—Spacey Jane
“Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra
Hiring Phil Longo was one of those WTF decisions that destroyed what remained of Wisconsin's identity. Without one they're just a Big Ten team, even if they did hire Jeff Grives to run the old Wisconsin offense. Billy Edwards is hurt—one drive against Maryland showed he couldn't go—so they're playing Danny O'Neil, the SDSU transfer who's basically Nick Sheridan. OL is a mess, with Riley Mahlman coming in under expectations, Ryan Cory hurt, and RS freshmen starting at three positions. Not impressed with their skill position players either. Need to get pressure with four—blitzing them just allows them to dink it.
2. Wisconsin Preview: Defense
starts around 12:15
Mike Tressel was the LBs coach under Dantonio and runs something akin to Dantonio Quarters, though his guys can't run it well. They do have a decent front four, with two good DTs protected by heavy LBs Christian Alliegro and Tackett Curtis (not good). But those guys can't cover, and you can run by Matthew Jung, the SS who adds himself to the run, and their corners are just guys. Want to see Bryce rip these guys apart.
3. Jason Sklar Around Ann Arbor
starts around 12:35
The Sklar Brothers are hosting the Letterwinners homecoming event tonight and doing two shows at the Ann Arbor Comedy Showcase tomorrow night, where you can come up afterwards and give your Hot Takes. We just shoot the shit on Ann Arbor and talk about what comedians get offered to sell out to the Saudis.
4. 2025-26 Hockey Preview
starts around 12:50
They have plenty of blueliners—perhaps too many—but not enough forwards. Got more of a mix in the top lines in age, but they're also a lot shorter. Plenty of centers, need TJ Hughes and Michael Hage to continue scoring at a high pace while they bring along some freshmen. Expect Cole McKinney to center a scoring line immediately. One of them (Hughes or Hage) gets Horcoff on the wing after half a young season with him last year. He's one of the best passers and we expect his line to be the top scoring one. Defensively they have depth! And a top four! But there's going be a lot of questions about playing time for the six guys vying to be the third pairing, including a senior captain, two guys who returned that didn't have to, and two freshmen who came to play. As for the backstop, they've got a draft pick freshman again, but he's not Portillo-sized.
The last time we featured reader Kevin Watts's postcore band on this show was right before the last time Wisconsin played before fans at Michigan Stadium. Shea Patterson kept on an arc read deep in Michigan territory to break the game open, and Michigan played Jump Around in the 4th quarter. It's been seven years, but Marcus has a new EP for us.
Kevin formed Marcus: the Apex Predator in 2015 with his former drummer from Float Here Forever, Nick Marko. For FHF fans, this is like when Jonah started One Line Drawing to keep making Far songs, except Nick Marko is a drummer whereas Jonah's percussionist was an R2D2 unit.
Marcus is a cat.
Songs:
"Lo-Fi"
"The First Summer"
"Newborn Fossil
Also because Across 110th Street will get our Youtubes taken down, the opener and outro:
