Things Discussed:

• Wake game: Brian thinks it counts as a road game for NET purposes so this will be a NET Tier 1 as long as Wake's in the top-75.
• A few moments of bad luck but the problem was Michigan's: they're not hitting the role man, way too much usage on Cason way too little on Goldin. Goldin himself has to be assertive. As a team they shied away from the rim when they saw length but the plays were there.
• Things working: Sam Walters looks like a real defender at the wing, which is a big development because you don't have to play Wolf at the four against teams with a lot of good scoring wings. Jones is everything we thought he was. Phat Phat is a defensive dude too.
• Playing games at LCA: Deacon-Wolverine Challenge? EMU game was a good atmosphere but if you're not playing them or Oakland what's the point? Seth: LCA is actually pretty terrible. They have great staff, but the design is 100% modern revenue-maximization and the cheap seats are extremely far away and extremely vertical.
• Hockey v Notre Dame: Not like most Michigan teams because the talent isn't there—Hage and maybe a couple of other guys are Power Play-worthy.
• CHL players now eligible, one CHL coach is mad about stuff, says people are gonna go play for Brandon Naurato.
• Hallum in a race for the puck: yay!
• Goalie plan? Friday/Saturday guys until you have to pick a guy. Stein's got a .934 save% right now so he's got the edge, but saw a couple of fantastic point blank stops from Korpi and you want to develop him.
• They're old (mostly juniors) so we might be pretty good. Craig uses the BGSU example. CHL route might be a way for Michigan to get talented and older.
• Football: Offense doesn't have their answers prepared, haven't figured out who their best players are—the Link thing, the Mullings thing.
• Think it's the end of the road for Kirk Campbell.
• Defensively they might be elite next year: Brandt came on, Benny is great, Guy is great, the linebackers might return? I doubt the NFL will let us keep Barham but Hausmann could use another year of weight training to see what he's going to be. Both had great games.
• Wink's getting a 'B'. No he's not Jesse Minter but Minter is going to be an NFL HC in a minute. Interception was a good gamble, and then Wink was ready when Indiana tried to test that behavior.
• IU was more the kind of offense this defense was designed to stop: Like Stroud teams they want to get 1-on-1 deep matchups. Quick-passing teams beat Wink shit, screen teams exploit our tackling issues.
• Paige's tackling issues are manifest.
• Secondary: They're playing Berry at CB and Paige at nickel but they have some young safeties so it's working as long as Berry can hack it. He had a good game: TD was a perfect throw.

1 Hour and 12 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: Domination that Needs OT 

• Opener
• A Tight Start
• Domination, But Goal for Each
• 5x3 missed chance, but OT Finisher

Segment 2: Early Goals Lead the Way 

• Goal Count
• Weekend Takeaways
• Old Friends and the League
• Looking Ahead a Couple Weeks

MUSIC

• NHL on ESPN Theme
• "Nancy Whiskey" -- The Town Pants
• Ice Hockey (NES) theme

1 hour and 39 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, the Autograph: Fandom Rewarded app, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, and Venue by 4M where we recorded this.

1. Offense vs Indiana

Starts at 1:00

When the head coach makes a completely obvious bad decision about something, that's when your patience gets especially broken. Let's talk bout Sherrone's game management. Sorry to Drake Johnson for catching strays in this segment. If he has the best players, would he even realize it? Why is Ben Hall coming in over Kalel Mullings? Davis Warren is just not good enough, he missed too many passes that should've been routine. All problems at some point go back to the offensive line. Kirk Campbell seemed to have a good gameplan for Michigan State but this was bad. How would you compare this to the Threet/Sheridan offense? Kalel Mullings' flea flickers are beautiful. 

2. Defense vs Indiana

Starts at 26:05

Defense completely dominated the 2nd half at least. They didn't give up 8 yards on the first play of a two-minute drill! Indiana turtled at the end of the first half and it almost cost them the game. Shout out to Zeke Berry for having a great game. Michigan ran blitzes but they weren't six man blitzes. Cam Brandt looked like Taco Charlton for a moment there! Michigan is in a reasonably good spot for next year's defensive line. Hillman came back from the dead on a MISSION. It gets Italian for a second. Indiana's punt return was a Jabrillian return. Special Teams have done worse than regress, they've become disorganized. 

3. Hot Takes, Men's Basketball vs Wake Forest

Starts at 49:39

Takes hotter than the flu fever that struck CJ Stroud in the 2nd half of the Lions game. Statwise, it was a very even game between Michigan and Wake Forest. Michigan is a team of passers without a total dude and they're still getting used to each other. Goldin was underused in this game and is getting shots that are outside of his game. It's a competitive loss against a good team at the start of the season so no need to panic. 

4. Around the Big Ten with Jamie Mac
 

Starts at 1:14:03

UCLA 20, Iowa 17
UCLA ran the ball, Iowa did not! Iowa is down to their 3rd QB since Cade has a concussion. There are six total turnovers in this game. Suddenly UCLA is eyeing down a bowl game!

Rutgers 26, Minnesota 19
Rutgers gets a safety. Greg Schiano has one of the most egregious uses of the word "literally". The Rutgers train horn grinds Seth's gears.

Oregon 39, Maryland 18
Oregon with only 363 total yards of offense. The ducks killed the clock with a 3(!) minute drive.

Penn State 35, Washington 6
This might mean something for Penn State because they completely dominated an offense that has been at least decent all year. Where was this Penn State offensive gameplan against Ohio State?? Washington kicked back-to-back sad field goals in the redzone.

Ohio State 45, Purdue 0
Nothing to see here. The Michigan Indiana game did raise some red flags for the Indiana Ohio State game. 
 

MUSIC:

• "Cruel To Be Kind"-- Nick Lowe
• "Favourite" -- Fountains DC
• "We Gonna Make It" -- Jadakiss
• “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, Champions Circle, Human Element, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Venue by 4M, Winewood Organics, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, Royal Oath Insurance Group, Community Pest Solutions, Autograph: Fandom Rewarded, who just launched an app where you earn rewards for things like reading MGoBlog and listening to our podcast, and SignalWire where we are recording this.

Featured Musician: Oren Levin

THE VIDEO:

[After THE JUMP: Things said.] 

 

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

1. Indiana Preview: Offense

starts at the top

High-flyin' kind of like Oregon in that they have a great backfield, great tackles, great receivers, and are just-okay in the middle of the line. Been sticking it to bad defenses. There's a cascade aspect to them though.

2. Indiana Preview: Defense

starts at 16:40

It starts with the run defense. Cignetti imported an Anchor and two great LBs to be the core of an excellent run defense. They're good at getting off of blocks, dodging OL in space, and tackling. Held the MSU backs to nothing. CJ West at nose is a very good run defender. Pass defense is mostly zone, mostly effective because they can stop the run on early downs.

3. Basketball

starts at 28:54

What negatives can we take away from a 101-53 trouncing of a Cleveland State team that was pretty good last year? Hard to know because Cleveland State was starting three transfers and a freshman, but Wolf vs their switchable center was eye-opening, and the freshmen, especially Cason, look like they can give you minutes. Especially cool they did it without Rubin Jones. Negatives: rebounding and turnovers, the latter which is part of playing fast. We also preview Wake Forest a bit because they play fast and Michigan might do well to adopt a Beilein approach.

4. Gimmicky Top Five Things We're Excited to Talk About

starts at 45:06

Star Trek, film adaptations and fan recuts of The Hobbit, Legos, and of course, The Lions.

About the Featured Artist: Oren Levin

Ann Arbor native, Michigan alum, and Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter and producer Oren Levin's music combines alternative pop with a folk lyricist’s sensibility. Through soft and delicate acoustic guitars, heartbeat-like drums, and dreamy synths, Levin’s music is like drinking hot chocolate on a cold night, something comforting in an otherwise uncomfortable situation—you know, if you're in need of something like that right now. Levin has made an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, winning the "Battle of the Instant Songwriters" segment. “Nothing happens as planned.” is Levin’s most recent EP, drawing upon Levin’s experiences with lost love, heartbreak, anxiety, and social pressures. Socials: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook. Website: www.orangelemonsw.com

Song choices:

• I Just Want to Love You Now
• Can I Ride It Out Alone?
• Until I Hit the Ground

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

• “The Employee is Not Afraid”—Bear vs. Shark
• “Ruska Vodka”—Motorboat

Things Discussed:

• Keep Bryce Home tailgate tomorrow at Belleville. Also Keep Avery Home as Groves faces Seaholm in the playoffs tomorrow.
• Oregon: Figured they'd get slaughtered when Jyaire was out but!!!
• Offense: Took awhile to learn not to run outside against the outside team. Mistakes are less important when you're a good team.
• Warren looked plausible in the 2nd half but you can tell they don't expect him to make 5 yards when they need him.
• Defense: Took them a half to realize they have to lean on their front four and spend a guy helping their CBs—they mostly helped Zeke so Hall got exposed. Uncomfortable for Wink to play the way this team was designed, also only works when you have your starters.
• Should they be more of a pass team? Craig: yes. Seth: play-action off what you do. Brian/Seth: They don't have constraints to stop teams from overplaying their runs.
• They have plays but they're one-offs. Used the example of the Orji at WR play where it shows they understand how the Lanning defensive checks work, and it gets them a 3rd & 5 on a screen. But there's nothing else off of that.
• Split zone should be their bread and butter,
• Indiana: They've had an easy schedule, they give up points, kind of built like Oregon in that they have two good tackles, a good QB and RB, may be a little soft on the interior. Defensively they imported Cignetti's JMU roster; CJ West at nose is a big pickup. They cascade. Stay disciplined and focus on your bread and butter, because the game runs away. Worried that IU is the kind of team that will really expose our coordinators' weaknesses.
• Officiating: It should be a guy with a DVR talking into the referee's earpiece.
• Basketball! The best opener you can ask for. Cleveland State was a good program but they had a lot of transfers and were discombobulated: throwing the ball out of bounds, missing threes. Still an awesome performance, especially from Danny Wolf. They were getting after it on D, playing upbeat.
• Used to be frustrated by Izzo teams that run out after you score, and Michigan was doing a lot of that.
• LJ Cason is a find! How was this a 3-star? He gets after it on defense, has length, is impossible to keep out of the lane.
• Roddy Gayle is faster than we realized, maybe smaller than we realized which could scare away the NBA an extra year.
• Tre Donaldson had a great game: zero turnovers as the primary initiator, 7 assists, looked like a real PG.
• Goldin: Not the best game, not reading much into it.
• Wake preview: Mostly road (Greensboro) against some names you'll remember from Michigan recruiting: Hunter Sallis the scoring guard, and center Efton Reid, both who came from Gonzaga last year to key a bubble team. Return 4/6 of their main rotation but struggled to score vs the team that was #360 in Kenpom.

57 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: Finishing Arrives Late 

• Opener
• Domination but no goals
• One PPG and not much else
• Here Come tthe Goals

Segment 2: Back and Forth and OT! 

• Goal Count!
• Weekend Takeaways
• Old Friends and the League
• Looking at the Leprechauns

 
MUSIC

• NHL on ESPN Theme
• "The Bomb" -- Pigeon John
• Ice Hockey (NES) theme

2 hours and 2 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, the Autograph: Fandom Rewarded app, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, and Venue by 4M where we recorded this.

 

1. Offense vs Oregon

Starts at 1:00

This was a Fetty Wapping at the hands of Oregon. Davis Warren didn't really have negative throws but he's missing receivers and not pulling the trigger on open guys. Oregon's linebacker said in the post-game that when Orji is in the game it's pretty simple. Michigan isn't running stuff that looks like the other stuff they run, it's more of a grab bag. When was the last time they threw over the top of a safety? They don't really have packages, they just have plays. Gotta talk about The Razzles. 

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

2. Defense vs Oregon

Starts at 35:15

Twitter had some harsh comments about Wink! But by the end of the game it was okay in context, especially with only one cornerback. Oregon has an extremely efficient offense that doesn’t have to attack downfield so they didn’t (much). You know it’s a good catch by the away team when they show the replay and the big screen and the home crowd goes “woah!” Linebackers/safeties missed some tackles but it was a much better performance than against Michigan State. You have to take this defense in context with all the injuries and transfers. 

3. Hot Takes, Game Theory, and Special Teams

Starts at 1:01:08

Takes hotter than Jason’s immune system which is working overtime to make him better. Accidental hockey segment! What is the point of video replay if you’re not going to use it, Big Ten?? Is Dan Lanning scheming some of these miscues that Michigan had? Did the boos from Michigan Stadium convince Sherrone to challenge the Loveland drop? Shout out to Joe Taylor on special teams.

4. Around the Big Ten with Jamie Mac
 

Starts at 1:29:51

Indiana 47, Michigan State 10
9Windiana has finally happened! Kurtis Rourke is back despite the injured thumb. They just played good, solid Indiana(??) football. Michigan State finished with -36 rushing yards. 

Ohio State 20, Penn State 13
We’ve seen this game before. A lot of weird things happened, though. There’s always time on the clock for Frames Janklin. What was that goal line decision making?

Minnesota 25, Illinois 17
Luke Altmyer didn’t put the ball into danger but didn’t add much. This was like the Michigan Illinois game but not stupid. 

Washington 26, USC 21
USC throws three interceptions, they’re 0-3 when they throw more than 50 times. Are they even going to make a bowl game?

UCLA 27, Nebraska 20
This came out of nowhere. Here comes the annual impending collapse of Nebraska. 

Iowa 42, Wisconsin 10
Before the season started, we thought Michigan was good Iowa. Turns out Iowa is good Michigan. Wisconsin had only a 5% havoc rate and their linebacker factory is dismantled. 

Northwestern 26, Purdue 20
Purdue gave up 302 passing yards to Northwestern!
 

MUSIC:

• "I Don't Love Anyone"-- Belle and Sebastian
• "Our Hometown Boy" -- The Hard Quartet
• "Mystified" -- Same Eyes
• “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, Champions Circle, Human Element, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Venue by 4M, Winewood Organics, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, Royal Oath Insurance Group, Community Pest Solutions, Autograph: Fandom Rewarded, who just launched an app where you earn rewards for things like reading MGoBlog and listening to our podcast, and SignalWire where we are recording this.

Featured Musician: Mark Zhu

[After THE JUMP: Things said.] 

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

1. Oregon Preview: Offense

starts at the top

They got a quarterback in the portal, they did. Jordan James was a backup last year, already broke out but now he gets the carries to show it. Two great OTs especially Conerly, and a squirrelly slot. They normally run tempo and pass around but against OSU they went max pro and tested whether the WRs could beat their CBs one-on-one (they could!) Several TEs if they can't get Ferguson back but he's a difference-maker as a blocker. Interior OL might be a little sketch—IU transfer Matt Bedford was supposed to be their RG but has been out all year.

2. Oregon Preview: Defense

starts at xxxx

Dan Lanning knows what he's doing; Michigan does not. They run a 3-4 Georgia system (Lanning was the DC when we faced them) and have a lot of talent. They went to the portal at DT and got a couple of good ones but the old DTs are beatable if you can get to them. Is Jordan Burch going to be available? He's a major pass-rusher, but they've been blitzing successfully to cover for his absence. Excellent in the secondary. LBs rotate through three good ones. Special teams: dangerous returners (Noah Whittington and Tez Johnson) but not great kickers—Ross James 100th in FEI, kicker Atticus Sappington has a career long of 48.

3. Seth's Hockey Segment

starts at xxxx

Big series with #5 BU starts tonight, and Big Ten on the docket. Better team defensively but looking for chemistry. Last two series Night 1 has been good, Night 2 has been the same game but nothing goes in the net and they blow it. Hage is their one skill guy, next most skilled player is Schifsky. St. Cloud State game was an extreme example of that but shows they really needed Rutger McGroarty. USNTDP game.

4. MSU After Review

starts at xxxx

Quarterback wasn't as good as it looked—only a few downfield passes, concerning play given State has no pass rush to speak of. MSU was playing Dantonio Ball against the run and this led to a lot of going nowhere even when things were blocked up well. Defensively they're fine until 3rd & long, when Wink tries to do something. Tackling is an issue because they've moved usage to Paige and it's exposing his issues there.

About the Featured Artist: Mark Zhu

Drawing from the pain of love and loss, Mark Zhu (pronounced "Joo") explores relationships, mental health, and identity through his songs rooted in healing and emotional vulnerability. A Chinese American artist from Ann Arbor, he studies data science at the University of Michigan by day and plays shows by night. As an award-winning pianist with three performances at Carnegie Hall, Mark leverages his classical training in his production, creating piano-driven ballads, synth-driven R&B, and fearless pop anthems. Links: Website. Instagram. Spotify.

Song choices:

• Dead or Alive
• Paint the World Red   
• Slayin'   

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

• “The Employee is Not Afraid”—Bear vs. Shark
• “Ruska Vodka”—Motorboat

Things Discussed:

• MSU: Craig is done playing them. Seth says that's crazy talk.
• MSU internet fans are off their rockers again. They've got their AD from RCMB adding up made-up malfeasances. They have beatwriters like Graham Couch and Chris Solari making up a stomp and when they're told it's not true they double down.
• The football: Played conservatively, Warren had three downfield passes. Oregon is going to have hard-triggering quarter safeties with better players. At least they ran Orji+1.
• Wink Talk: He brought back the thing that didn't work against Texas, and it didn't work, and didn't work again, and didn't work again. You know the Fry meme: Not sure if serious? That's his playcalling modus operandi. If you run the thing that looks obvious, you've got him. Mattison had a similar formation in 2012 to beat Northwestern, but it was a trap. Wink's bluffing when he has bad cards and slow-playing good ones, and once you figure that out you can wreck him.
• His results on 3rd and long are so bad that if he ran the same Cover 2/Rush 4 every play he'd be doing better. First of the long runs D-Mo was supposed to be in that gap but it's so wide that he wouldn't have been able to help unless he's slanting hard.
• Oregon? Their weak point is backup DT, but Michigan doesn't have the guys to 2023 Penn State them. Sam: only shot is their front four eat and M gets off the field. If you try to get exotic with these dudes. They went max pro and took shots because they thought they could run by Ohio State, and they could.
• Dan Lanning's a good coach. Reminds me of Michigan last year: You can come up with what-if-we…'s but they have answers for it. What if we're 2022 Illinois?
• Will Bryce Underwood be at the game? Does Michigan have a shot? Sam isn't committal.

1 hour and 56 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, Venue by 4M where we recorded this, The Sklars Brothers, Autograph: Fandom Rewarded, who just launched an app where you earn rewards for things like reading MGoBlog and listening to this podcast, Champion Circle, and returning this season Winewood Organics.

1. Offense vs Michigan State

Starts at 1:00

Introducing the MGoBlog post-game incident scale:
1 -- Kerfuffle 
2 -- Fracas
3 -- Brewhaha
4 -- Melee
5 -- Donnybrook

What happened after the game on Saturday was a kerfuffle. It felt like Michigan State came into the game with a solid plan while Michigan was struggling. Suddenly, Michigan was leading at halftime. Davis Warren's job was to not lose this game and he didn't, the ball wasn't put into danger and it worked. Donovan Edwards is no Tom Brady but he's got a perfect QB rating. 

2. Defense vs Michigan State

Starts at 35:15

Defense only gives up 17 points but it doesn't feel super great? But for the most part they did okay. Junior Colson set the bar for consistent tackling and now missed tackles are weird. They put Mason Graham at edge and got weird and then got beat by Michigan State 3rd down frippery. They're preventing their best players from making plays. Michigan State didn't put this game on Aidan Chiles' shoulders so we didn't get the full Chiles experience. Brian finally has a nice thing to say about Cal Haladay. Maybe Jesse Minter was just so good that no matter who was the defensive coordinator this year they would be perceived as bad. 

3. Hot Takes, Game Theory, and Special Teams

Starts at 1:01:08

We gotta have a brewhaha level of takes at least. Tommy Doman has continued to be inconsistent. Was State's on-side kick a good idea? The weird fair catch rule is something a lot of us didn't know about. Going for it on 4th down, tougher decision than last year!

4. Around the Big Ten with Jamie Mac
 

Starts at 1:29:51

Indiana 31, Washington 17
Yardage was fairly even but Indiana grinded it out very consistently. They're 8-0 for the first time since 1967. Kurtis Rourke had surgery on his thumb and might be back this weekend. 

Ohio State 21, Nebraska 17
Indiana beat Nebraska 56-7, JUST SAYIN'. Ryan Day has a meltdown on the field and then tells fans to be happy about this game in his press conference. Ohio State fans are comparing their tackle situation to Michigan's QB situation.

Penn State 28, Wisconsin 13
Drew Allar went out around halftime. It doesn't look like it's happening for Luke Fickell at Wisconsin. Penn State pretty much dominated down-for-down. 

USC 42, Rutgers 20
Pushed back til 11pm EST kickoff to accommodate the World Series?? How many of you sickos (me) watched this? 

Iowa 40, Northwestern 14
They benched Cade McNamara! Northwestern only had 163 yards of offense.

Oregon 38, Illinois 9
Eek. 

Minnesota 48, Maryland 23
Never competitive.
 

MUSIC:

• "Rubberneckin'"-- Elvis
• "This Is Why We Fight" -- The Decembrists
• "When They Fight, They Fight" -- The Generationals
• “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, Champions Circle, Human Element, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Venue by 4M, Winewood Organics, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, Royal Oath Insurance Group, Autograph: Fandom Rewarded, who just launched an app where you earn rewards for things like reading MGoBlog and listening to our podcast, SignalWire where we are recording this, and introducing Community Pest Solutions.

Featured Musician: Nadim Azzam

The Video:

[After THE JUMP: Things said.] 

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

1. MSU Preview: Offense

starts at the top

MSU goes as Aidan Chiles, which is in all directions. Some of those interceptions are freshman; some are just really not accurate. They're bringing him along in an interesting way, which is max protection and letting him look downfield. He has a threat in Nick Marsh who's really emerging in the back half of the season. Other targets are just dudes. OL has some big issues on the right side, look cobbled together. Alarming how well they were able to run the ball consistently against Iowa. Michigan needs to keep Chiles in the pocket.

2. MSU Preview: Defense

starts at 19:01

They're weak at defensive tackle but cover it up with their burly LBs playing downhill. Other than play-action pass, what can we do Alex? Probably need to get creative. Consider beefing up if they have Hinton back and can run out multiple OTs, but Evan Link as 7th OL? You don't have the dudes who are going to win those matchups as much anymore. They do give up a big long run per week so many we'll have a Mullings beastquake again. Or maybe just once we'll get an Edwards vs Cal Haladay throw.

3. Illinois After Review

starts at 34:30

Brian is NOT as mad at Kirk Campbell as he was before going over the film. There were a lot of good ideas in there that his quarterback just couldn't execute. Offensive line seems to be coming together—Gentry was actually *Good*. Priebe is rounding into a 2nd team all-B10 kind of player. Crippen eh but not terrible. Persi might just be what he is. Tuttle was BAD. The overturned interception was to a guy covering grass—it's not even *at* a receiver. Defensively, yeah, don't put them in a terrible situation. Barham had a great game, they covered a lot of the weird stuff that Bielema dumped on them, but were constantly starting drives at midfield or in Michigan territory. Dammit Wink things have largely disappeared save for 2-minute drills, where they're rushing high and playing soft man.

4. Hoops vs Oakland, and Toledo Preview

starts at 59:56

Exhibition showed what we wanted to see, which was not many bad shots against a tricky zone defense. The ball didn't stick: when you can see all of these former PGs together they can all get a little creative. It's not going to be no-turnover but they get very good shots, including free throws.

About the Musical Artist: Nadim Azzam

Says my friend Nadim Azzam, "You've got to hurt to heal." Through painfully honest self-reflection, Nadim Azzam addresses depression, addiction, and the dysfunctional realities of our times with his songs rooted in hope and connectivity. A Jewish Egyptian-Palestinian American born in Vermont, raised in Southeast Michigan and sent off to the Arizona desert, Nadim’s life is hard to pin down - as is his music. A singer, rapper, and songwriter who makes his own beats and plays multiple instruments on his tracks, Nadim's new single "$20 Gold Piece" is out now.

Nadim was voted Detroit's finalist in NPR's Tiny Desk Contest by WDET, performing at the Concert of Colors. He has opened for The Kid LAROI at Eastern Michigan University, Robert Glasper, Yebba,  Raheem DeVaughn and Bilal at the Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre. He has previously traveled the United States with Grammy-nominated reggae artist Matisyahu, on a unity tour to promote peace between Pro-Palestine and Pro-Israel students on American college campuses. Nadim's music video “The Come Up” won Best Hip-Hop/Rap Video and Audience Choice Award at the 2024 Michigan Music Video Awards.

Mystery Offer: Ope, there's an Autograph Mystery Offer in this article. Click HERE to open and claim your prize.

Song choices:

• $20 Gold Piece
• Revelations (LANDR gddt)
• Get the Money

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

• “The Employee is Not Afraid”—Bear vs. Shark
• “Ruska Vodka”—Motorboat