MGoPodcast 18.3: Okay Guys I'll Do The Thing

2 hours and 26 minutes The Sponsors Thank you to Underground Printing for making this all possible. Rishi and Ryan have been our biggest supporters from the beginning. Check out their wide selection of officially licensed Michigan fan gear at their 3 store locations in Ann Arbor or learn about their custom apparel business at undergroundshirts.com. Our associate sponsors are: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, The Sklars Brothers, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, Radecki Oral Surgery, Long Road Distillers, Applied Fitness Solutions, The History of Michigan Football, an online course by Greg Dooley, and Venue by 4M where recorded this. 1. Offense vs UTEP Starts at 0:54 Well eventually that's what it should've looked like. UTEP had a lot of their yards on one drive but negative yards in the second half. If the events of this game had happened in a different order, it would've felt better (Michigan's win % on ESPN only got down to 92.7%). Beck made some nice technical decisions, the offense adjusted a lot to what the defense was giving them. From experience, Brian thinks Sprague has Norovirus. This would've been a nice game to give Babalola a chance. Michigan simplified things to reduce the frippery in the run game. UTEP tried to be Oklahoma on defense and it worked for about a drive and a half. Michigan saw a stacked box and started throwing it. Travis Johnson saw his first real play time and looked nice. Even when Bryce's throws aren't perfect his receivers are night and day from last year so let them go and make a play. Is some of the blocking a result of Playbook-Itus? Andrew Marsh wouldn't have been practicing sweeps much last year. Is stretch also an under-practiced play? The Marshall-cat worked all three times. How much of Hiter's fumble was his fault? It was helmet to ball but his posture was high. Bryson Kuzdzal came in after the fumble because Jordan Marshall was dinged up and on a pitch count. There was an Owens cat! Beigel does move people but doesn't combo. They were eventually so good at stretch last year and it feels a little bit like they threw away its development. Their best lineman isn't utilized in power. It seemed pretty clear that they were intentionally trying to give Andrew Marsh the ball, he's not been targeted much in the first two games. Catch and run slants could be a dangerous tool and help out the rest of the run game. We're seeing the extent of the wide receiver depth chart and getting more guys involved. Poor Ffrench. Tommy Carr probably would've started on either Sherrone Moore team.  [The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP]  2. Defense vs UTEP Starts at 56:43 Defensively that was what you would've wanted to see. There were a couple big plays and other than that UTEP didn't do anything. Michigan's defensive line got held up a bit in the first two drives and then after that the defensive line had free paths to the quarterback. They run into Tariq Boney twice and he blows up the play. Is he more like Josiah Stewart than Josh Uche? Cam Brandt is a defensive tackle now?? Suddenly the defensive ends are like seven deep? Lea'ea touchdown because he back-tracked on a screen! We will still be complaining about Wink Martindale 20 years from now. The Mouton comp of Troy Bowles is prevalent. The linebackers had a slow day since the defensive line was having their way. Zeke Berry was injured so Shamari Earls started, he's almost there. You can see why Snowden was a star. Was the second UTEP touchdown supposed to be Bracy's guy to cover? Give Tommy Carr a number that looks like Cam Brown's so you can do a fake punt. 3. Hot Takes, Special Teams, and Game Theory Starts at 1:20:15 Takes hotter than Michigan's offense in the second half for the first time all year. 49 yard field goal feels good