January 9, 2024 • 33 mins
Congrats to Michigan fans everywhere, the Wolverines are the 2024 college football national champs. In this college football podcast episode, Ty and Dan give their reactions immediately following Michigan's 34-13 win over the Washington Huskies. How did the Wolverines hold down Michael Penix, Jr. and his trio of talented wide receivers? How did the Michigan game plan look compared to pre-game expectations? How does the looming controversy around the program shade this achievement for Jim Harbaugh, if at all? And, of course, some closing thoughts on the craziest year of college football yet.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the solid verbal hell that for me.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I'm a man, I'm forty.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
I've heard so many players say, well, I want to
be happy.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
You want to be happy for day Edith State is
that woo woom?
Speaker 4 (00:14):
And Dan and tie.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Dan Rubinstein, Michigan Wolverines.
Speaker 4 (00:22):
You're twenty twenty four college football National champions. They knock
off the Washington Huskies by thirty four to thirteen margin.
We did a very long live stream throughout the course
of this game. We had a chance to chat with hundreds,
if not thousands of Verballers throughout the course of the evening,
all of them celebrating the game that was the college
(00:44):
football national championship. We get to do this again for
another season. It was a pleasure as always to do
it with you, and of course with the verballer hood
going out to Apple, to Spotify, to whatever podcasting app
of choice is in your life.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Make sure you hit follow or subscribe. How are you,
my good friend.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
I'm good, still piecing together my thoughts on the game itself,
which we're going to talk through together. But good, I
mean it's I don't know what the correct adjective to
use in this moment is for Michigan's season for the
college football season as a whole, for this playoff, I'm
grasping at the moment, ty if that counts as a
(01:24):
good answer to your question.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
Michigan won this game in resounding fashion down the stretch.
It was a game that in my eyes, was defined
by two big plays early, two big running plays in
the first quarter by Donovan Edwards, which set Michigan up nicely.
Outside of the first three drives, Michigan sort of stalled out.
They had moments late where they padded the lead, but
(01:50):
this was a game that very much was defined by
what happened in the first quarter. After that point, Washington
felt at times like they were getting some of the
moment meant to back, but in the end, Michael Pennix
reached back for the pixie dust, and frankly, I don't
know if he could reach back for much of anything.
I think he hurt his ribs. He was not right
for a good chunk of this game, and as the
(02:12):
game were on, Michigan was able to do what Michigan does.
Michigan got two interceptions. Michigan was able to change the
game with its defense. Michigan was able to play the
style of football in the end that I think we
expected they would try to play. They ended up running
the ball like thirty eight times, didn't try to do
a whole lot through the air in the end, they
(02:33):
didn't have to.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Yeah, it was It was a fascinating game, and we
had talked about this coming in that Washington is going
to have to play at a certain level, especially on offense,
because honestly, over the course of this game they improved defensively.
You know, it started out as a sprint, and then
it became kind of a distance race, right that just
sort of like picking your moments to speed up, slow down.
Washington did a good job adjusting to the Michigan rushing attack,
(02:57):
keeping the Michigan offense largely in front of it. The
problem is Michigan had more ways to win, something else
everybody has spoken about because of the defense and what
that affords a team when they're able to generate pressure,
when you have corners as sticky as you know, Mike Sandrastill,
Josh Wallace and of course Will Johnson on the Washington
(03:18):
Winter wonder Ride wide receivers. That was pretty good by me,
by the way, to knock that out in one and
a half takes. It was. It was an a rhythmic
game for long stretches. But certainly, if you're going to
point to a single thing that decided the game, it's
the Michigan defense. And if you zoom in even more,
it's probably the Michigan front for completely overwhelming the supposedly
(03:42):
very strong Washington offensive line. But I really especially look
at the inside of that Michigan line. They overwhelmed them.
Once again, they overwhelmed the Washington offensive line, and that
that's the major difference. You can look at Dylan Johnson's entry,
which is a worthwhile thing to look at. You can
look at Michael Pennix and some overthrow and some just
miscues going downfield. But ultimately, what Michigan did in building
(04:06):
this team and developing this defense was the difference.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
Yeah. I mean, we tweeted out a stat earlier in
the game from our account that at whatever point in
time we sent it, Mike Pennix was one of seven
on throws of fifteen yards or more. He finished the
game two of twelve on throws fifteen yards or more.
He had the longer throw, the forty four yarder di
(04:30):
Roma Dunesday late when the game was I think pretty
much settled. Yeah, but that to me really signifies where
this game was won and lost one on the Michigan
side to prevent that style of play from the Washington offense.
We know that's how they got a lot of success
against the Texas defense right and on the Washington side,
(04:52):
that is something they have leaned on all year, that
that pinpoint accuracy that we talked about in the preview
that Michael Pennix has has shown.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
I don't know if he was hurt.
Speaker 4 (05:02):
I don't know if it was the Michigan defense just
stepping up in a really big way because of the
sticky corners.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
My hunches it was some combination of both. But he
wasn't right.
Speaker 4 (05:10):
He wasn't right, So whether it was the defense changing
his rhythm, whether it was an injury that was preventing
him from being as accurate as he wanted, there were
some really big throws in this game that he missed,
and there were a couple early in particular, there was
a surefire touchdown I believe the Roma dunes early in
this game that he flat out missed. Throws like that
were ones that Washington would have needed to get back.
(05:33):
They would have needed to complete all of them, frankly
in order to contend with Michigan here and to end
up winning this football game. So not having that at
their disposal, Dylan Johnson got nicked up on the very
first play. It was good to see him out there,
but he got nicked up on the very first play. So,
whether it was Dylan Johnson, Michael Pennix, the line having
to contend with the Michigan front, it just seemed like
(05:54):
as the game wore on, a lot of what Washington
wanted to do was at a supreme disadvantage when up
against Michigan.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
And so for me, that was it. For me.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
It was, as you said, the Michigan defense that changed
the game, The Michigan defense that held the wide receivers
in check on the Washington side, The Michigan defense that
maybe injured Mike Pennix to upset his rhythm. I don't know,
but I think it started there for the Wolverines.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
They won the game in sort of an ugly way,
but exactly the way that they wanted. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
No, Look, and how many points does Washington score in
this game?
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Thirteen?
Speaker 3 (06:29):
So Michigan essentially beats them with their performance almost immediately
scoring those fourteen points via Donovan Edwards long run and
some Washington miscues on defense, not filling lanes, not filling gaps.
And it's not quantifiable specifically, but this is the third
straight playoff for Michigan. This is the third straight year
(06:49):
in which they were able to overcome a streak of
losses to their biggest rival. And so when you have
that kind of seasoning, not just as older players go fourth, fifth,
six year players, but the fact that they are tested
with this kind of spotlight for this kind of moment,
whereas this is year one for Washington in a spot
(07:11):
like this. Now they rose to that occasion against Texas,
but this is an even bigger stage. And with how
Washington came out on both sides of the ball and
with how Michigan came out on both sides of the ball,
I sort of sense that Michigan was better prepared to
meet the moment. Immediately Washington settled down, which really strong
teams do. But those fourteen points were enough to beat
(07:34):
this Washington team. And whether those are mental errors, whether
it's you know, players getting a little bit over jumpy
and you know, overrunning a play, whatever it was, Michigan
was ready. Michigan was ready to take care of business
from the jump, and even with their own mistakes, even
with their own stretches of inconsistency and weird play calling
and going away from tight end play, going away from
(07:56):
you know, merely catching balls and not dropping them some
of those big, big moments in this high leverage moments.
Michigan was pretty bad for most of this game on
third down, but not to borrow Washington's exact line, but
winners win. And what Michigan proved is that even in
a game with a down, you know, middle two thirds,
(08:18):
it's the fast start, it's the ability to close and
that that seemed to be the mental difference in this game.
Speaker 4 (08:24):
Yeah, it was fourteen to three at the end of
the first quarter.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Washington chipped away a little bit.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
It was seventeen to ten going into halftime, but again
a seventeen to three spread throughout the duration of the
second half in favor of Michigan. They scored fourteen points
to close things out in the fourth quarter.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
This is a really.
Speaker 4 (08:47):
Interesting season for the Michigan Wolverines. I mean to put
this in context. The Connor Stallions thing was the story.
I'm not going to sit here and say that they
won because of cheating. Okay, it may have helped, but
this is a good team. This is a good team
coming into the season, and I hope that this is
(09:09):
not one of those deals where you have people writing
columns now that the team won because it cheated. I
don't think that's why Michigan won. That being said, this
is a cloud now that is going to persist over
the Michigan program until the NCAA gives some clarity. My
(09:30):
hunch is at the NCAA tries to take this away. Okay,
they go the vacation route and they scrubbed this one
from the record books. You know, we watched it, we
saw it happen, so it's really semantics to remove it
from the record books altogether. But this program's going to change,
(09:51):
I think a fair amount, not just with a bunch
of guys going off to the NFL. Jim Harbaugh sounds
like he's also headed to the NFL. If the NCBLEA
comes down with the hammer on this program, things are
gonna change a lot. That's maybe something we could talk
about in the off season. I know just from doing
the streams. I know certainly from doing the podcast all season,
(10:13):
people were very mixed on how to feel about Michigan.
It was a very polarizing subject in college football, and
I'm curious what your take is now on how we
view Michigan through that lens or through the lens of
the twenty twenty three season, knowing what we know.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
I don't have any more information than anybody. I honestly
didn't think about it that much during the game, like
I'm going to watch every single Michigan play and say
they knew what was coming. They knew what was coming,
they knew what it's not like I don't know. It
doesn't seem like a very fun way to watch the sport.
So we'll see what happens. I assume there's going to
be further attention and for their news stories, and we'll
(10:54):
see what happens with Jim Harbaugh. It certainly seems to
be a lot of NFL smoke. But the way I
watched this game coming in was basically very excited to
see what this Michigan defense can do against this Washington offense.
Because I don't care how much or how little you
know about what or what is or is not coming.
You have to tackle Roma Doonesa. You know, you have
(11:14):
to get through this Washington offensive line, which has protected
Michael Pennock's very very well. You have to bring down
Dylan Johnson. You have to actually physically do the things
that leads to winning. And so to me, it was
going the big story to me was can Michael Pennix
be perfect against this Michigan defense. Because whatever the story
(11:34):
is with the off field stuff, whether it's overblown, whether
it's underblown, with whatever it comes out, you still need
to make plays. And Mason Graham won a lot of
hat on hats, Kenneth Grant won a lot of hat
on hats, And whether there were drops, whether there were overthrows, whatever,
it's also something that Michigan can't fully control. And so
the game was a fascinating one because you have the
(11:55):
like immovable object against the unstoppable force. I came away
thinking going into the game thinking Washington's very very good,
but also flawed in that they were able to win
some losable games, whereas I thought Michigan was able to
prove a little bit more over the course of the season.
I picked Washington. I picked against Michigan because in the
off chance we get nothing but perfect Michael Pennix throws,
(12:18):
which is kind of what we got last week. Then
Washington's gonna win if Washington is had I think they
had three drives down twenty to thirteen that ended in
a punt. Right, This was not a game that Michigan
controlled comfortably, especially after it seemed after Donovan Edwards's second
long touchdown run that Michigan was about to slowly in
our term is crockpot Washington right, that it was just
(12:41):
going to be a slow thirty seven to ten bludgeoning
that was never in question. This game was very much
in question in the fourth quarter, and it was Michigan
building the defensive roster to hang with and dominate Washington's offense,
something that teams weren't able to do this year. And
so as much as we can question what Michigan was
(13:02):
doing off the field or what Michigan was doing on
the field, to me, Michigan was a better coach team
with better players that didn't necessarily rise to that many
more moments, but they won the moments that mattered more
often in this game. So yeah, I don't know what's
going to come of the the off field scouting thing
(13:22):
for Michigan, but I didn't get any more information about
it during this game.
Speaker 4 (13:27):
Yeah, And I mean I bring that up not to
rain on anybody's parade.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
I know, if you're a Michigan fan, you should.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
You should very much celebrate this, And if you're a
Big ten fan, maybe outside of Ohio State, you should
celebrate it too, because it's an accomplishment anytime a team
from the South doesn't win the title, right. It is
also I think the first thing that many of our
listeners think of when they think of Michigan. The reaction is, ooh,
they cheated. Sure, and so it's it's a very very
(13:57):
interesting fork in the road for a college ball fan.
I think I stand with you on the Michigan side.
And it's not just because I picked them in the preseason.
What we saw out there was not so much the
product of a Connor Stallion's thing, a sign stealing thing.
They were very good. They're very fundamentally sound on defense.
(14:18):
We saw a lot of this last year. So this
has been building for a while and as you've said
time and again, a lot of arrows were pointing to
this season for the Michigan Wolverines.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
If you want to rain on Michigan's parade. What you
should say is Alabama both won and lost this season,
right that, Like Alabama beating Georgia was the best thing
that could have possibly happened to anybody in the college
football playoff. Alabama is a more flawed team than Georgia,
but won that game. And if you were to give
(14:51):
Jim Harbaugh or Sharon Moore or Jesse Mint or any
of these guys truth saram they were thrilled to get Alabama,
not Georgia. And maybe that's conversation for another day. That's
how if I were to choose to raign on Michigan's parade,
is thank God for Alabama that day in Atlanta, because
they were the more beatable team that happened to beat Georgia.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (15:13):
I mean, things are funny the way they work out. Yeah,
but Michigan was pretty solid here. This was not any
kind of offensive explosion. This was a couple big plays
early that set the tone. This was a defense that
was for the most part impenetrable. I mean, only gave
up thirteen points against a really good Washington Huskies offense.
(15:33):
Definitely a lot came down on the arm of Michael
Pennix Junior again twenty seven to fifty one, two fifty
five and a losing effort. I won't play the sound.
It'll feel like I'm rubbing it in because he was down.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
I don't think it was.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
That's not even that impressive a number.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
Yeah, no, I mean that's just pure attempts, right.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
That was just a lot of bites at the apple
for Mike Pennix, And this was a Michigan defense that
got the job done. Short of two really nice pass
plays in the second half for the Michigan offense. JJ
McCarthy had like seventy yards passing. This was not a
game they were ever going to go out there and
try to air it out to win.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Unless they got down.
Speaker 4 (16:11):
This was Blake Korum is going to be the stake
and he's going to get most of the rushing attempts
and two touchdowns, which he did. Donovan Edwards ended up
being the sizzle. Two long touchdown runs early that set
the pace obviously for where this game ended up. So
thirty four to thirteen was your final. Michigan finishes the
year fifteen to zero. A lot is going to change
(16:33):
next season, not just on the Michigan side. With players
and coaches and NCAA stuff. But sure, both of these
teams are obviously going to be playing in the Big
Ten next season. The playoff system as we know it
is going to be retooled. There's going to be twelve
teams next season. There's conference re alignment going on elsewhere
(16:56):
around college football. There was some scuttle but out there
that we might even get a preview for the upcoming
int CAA video game that turned out to not be true,
but a lot I think to look forward to as
you go into twenty twenty four. The exciting bit for
the rest of us is that's starting right now.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
I love this joke. Everybody is undefeated.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
Everybody's undefeated, Dan, It's yeah, it's sort of the end
of the end and the beginning of something. As you mentioned,
a twelve team playoff, and the amount of movement in
the sport and the realignment of the sport that's fully
going to take hold this coming season. I guess officially
all of these teams enter into new conferences on like
(17:38):
June thirtieth or something, or July first. It does definitely
feel like the end of something. It's the end of
the four team playoff it's the end of the regional
nature of the sport, and it sort of ends with
one of the more familiar powers, one of the more
familiar champions, winning it all. And so I don't think
(17:59):
we're ever go back, but there is that sense of,
like the college football you grew up with, the college
football you've enjoyed these past few years, whatever that looks
like in your brain, it's time to reboot. It really
seems to be like the end of the end and
doesn't mean that what's coming can't be great, but it's
(18:22):
kind of a mystery about what it's going to feel like,
what the unintended consequences are good and bad. But I
did end the game and Michigan Washington thinking, man, something
new is about to start in this sport. Hopefully I
am going to try to be optimistic that there's gonna
be a lot more good than bad with what is coming.
(18:42):
But there did seem Maybe it's just because I'm a
West Coast dude and there's some now finality enclosure to
the PAC twelve, PAC ten Pack eight experience as we
know it, But yeah, felt a little bit different with
the way this game ended. I don't know what the
TV ratings are. I don't know what the end energy
is going to be like moving forward with this Michigan win.
(19:02):
You know, with a coach as recognizable, in a program
as recognizable, I'm sure it's going to get a lot
of attention. It's going to stir a lot of debate,
but I don't know. At the end of the day,
a bunch of defensive linemen made a lot of plays
to win a college football national championship, and that is
nothing new at all.
Speaker 4 (19:21):
I'd welcome feedback from the verballerhood. I mean, you know
where to find us out on social media. You can
always email us Soliverble at gmail dot com. If you're
on verballers dot com as one of our patreons subscribers
where you get the bonus content and the at free
episodes and the like. I'd welcome to hear in our discord, frankly,
what people thought of this game. I haven't had a
(19:43):
chance to check it yet we were doing the stream.
But you know, not just this game, but where they
come down on Michigan. What will the history books say
about this team, How will people judge this team. It's
a really really interesting story and truly the likes of
which we have not seen in the time we have
been doing the show. It's just such a unique scenario
that we find ourselves in, not just at this weird
(20:06):
cusp in the sport where things are about to change
very drastically, but one of these controversial moments in the
sport that we almost never see, and that team goes
on to win the national championship. A lot to really process,
and I think we're kind of doing it in real
time here, even though we've had a lot of chance
to think about it.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
Yeah, it was basically a Shawshank win for Michigan, right,
chipping away, chipping away. That's exactly right, improving, improving finally. Nope,
not Georgia, Nope, not TCU.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Chipping away.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
They get Bama, they get a high flying offense, they
finally break through and crawl through the what was it
like five miles a shit or whatever. That's the story.
Speaker 4 (20:42):
I'm curious to get your thoughts on the Washington side
of things, because we had fashioned Washington as a so
called LRO team many moons ago. Yeah, and that was
the source of the comparison to TCU. TCU felt a
(21:03):
little bit the same way. Now these are not apples tapples.
I get that people have been tweeting me and emailing us.
I get that it's not apples to apples, but purely
from the standpoint of hey, Washington was in a lot
of close games.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
We're not really sure why.
Speaker 4 (21:17):
They had that in common TC was there a year ago.
Washington defied some odds here this season, given how they
played in games against Arizona State, games against you know whoever,
there are many opportunities for Washington to lose, and they
kept finding ways to win. And so the fact that
(21:38):
they got to this game, the fact that they were
undefeated going into this game, the fact that they were
as exciting as they were on offense, I think was
a super cool story. What does the next version of
Washington look like now? After Michael Pennix, after Roman Dune Day,
after this incredible contingent of skill, talent on offense goes
out the door.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
I think they're gonna be fine. I think they're gonna
be a good team. There's not much about the Big Ten,
even the new look Big Ten that does a lot
for I think many people. Michigan obviously, their excellence is
self evident. Ohio State will be very good they added
quin Shawn Judkins. Right as the game ended, Quinshon Judkins
announced his commitment to Ohio State. Penn State just sort
(22:19):
of seems to be the same team year and in
year out. They reach a certain ceiling, but they can't
quite break through. Oregon should continue to get better, but
we'll see if they can perform in those big games.
And then you have a morass of teams that I
think Washington will be largely better than they had Will Rogers.
But look, Kaylyn Deibor is a very very good coach.
He wins constantly wherever he goes, whether it's Fresno, whether
(22:40):
it's Indiana's offense, whether it's lower levels. He is going
to field good teams at Washington that they're going to
win much more often than not. I think this was
a special year that they were They were able to
figure out moments in a way that other teams weren't,
whether it was those close calls, whether it was the
Texas game holding on in that one. Washington isn't a
(23:00):
healthy as long as Kailin de Bor is the coach
and as long as they can continue to improve. I
know recruiting is on an uptick right now. For twenty
twenty five and beyond. The outlook is very when you
have the head coach in place, when you hire well,
the recruiting still needs a minute. They're in a really
great spot. I don't think they're going to careene off
a cliff like TCU did this year. I think he's
(23:23):
going to constantly find quarterbacks and help to develop quarterbacks
and find skill talent, find offensive linemen. But they're going
to take a step back. I think they're going to respond.
I think they're going to be in a good place.
The story to me is still Michigan is still whatever
happens with Jim Harbaugh, whatever happens with leaving a succession plan,
(23:44):
deciding to come back JJ McCarthy's future. But this was
the year for both of these teams in terms of
circling twenty twenty three, and it all comes down to
this year, given the number of upperclassmen, given the COVID
extension years, and Michigan was much better built to win
this championship because they could win in more ways.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
It was a talent thing in the end, Yeah, it
was a talent thing. In the end.
Speaker 4 (24:09):
Michigan was much more of a complete product, especially on defense,
especially on defense. We will talk about that momentarily as
we get into our dood alerts, especially on defense. The
way they were able to change that game, whether it
was guys in the secondary making plays, whether it was
guys up front along the line beating the Washington offensive
(24:32):
line pretty continuously throughout the course of this game. This
was a talent advantage for Michigan across the board. So
kudos to the Michigan Wolverines. They finished the year fifteen
to zero. Thirty four to thirteen was your final if
you took my Houston, we have a parlay. I made
the mistake that I made a week ago, frankly, with Alabama.
(24:54):
I thought they would get over twenty points. Washington only
scores thirteen. Alabama over time only made it to twenty. Yep,
and again this was a lower scoring affair forty seven
points in total. They don't quite get to that over
under which closed that fifty five and a half points.
Speaker 3 (25:13):
I don't know that there is any defining characteristic of
this Michigan team, depending on what happens with the off
field stuff beyond, they had really strong players that played
better than their opponent. You know, the Washington defense over
the course of the year left some to be desired,
and this was the year for a team like Michigan
(25:34):
or whether it was going to be Alabama or whoever
was in the playoff it was. It was a more
not wide open, but I think a little bit of
a softer landing spot with what you could do against Washington,
with what a number of teams against Washington.
Speaker 4 (25:46):
And just the fact that Washington did not have its outpitch.
They could not get the ball in key moments to
their best wideouts. No, they couldn't do it.
Speaker 3 (25:59):
There were moments. There are moments Kirk highlighted, you know,
up the seam, or that Michael Pennix was looking to
his right because that's where he was starting his his look.
And then you know roma Duneesay springs open on the
left hand, like you can't see every receiver at the
same time at all moments. There were moments Michael Pennix
has risen to that moment. The offensive line. I honestly
(26:21):
don't put a ton of it on Michael Pennix. I
just Michigan whipped Washington up front, and.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
They whipped him.
Speaker 3 (26:26):
There's only so much you can do in that case.
So yeah, It was a very strong year from Washington.
But Washington, as I think we all thought on a
certain level, was not of the caliber of the best
in the sport when you look at a team holistically,
when you look at a one hundred percent of its roster,
but winners win, and Washington was able to win moments
(26:49):
at a much higher clip than quote unquote better teams.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
Some players are good, some are great, and some are
just dudes. Welcome to dood Alert, presented by Pristine Auction.
Speaker 4 (27:06):
I didn't mean to cut you off, but I thought
it was a perfect segue to talk.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
To was dudes holistic roster? Holistic roster.
Speaker 4 (27:13):
I've got dudes from three different levels of this Michigan
team that I think I want to call out place.
Mikey Sandras still Dan. He had a game, a bunch
of tackles, a bunch of key tackles, had the interception late,
ran the ball damn near into the goal, ended up
flipping the field, putting Michigan in a position to get
(27:36):
this game on ice. He had a really, really nice game.
The Michigan secondary as a whole was awesome, but I
think he was the headliner from what we saw, even
had a smart interference call earlier in this game where
it just made sense to grab a dude.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
He did it in a really big way here.
Speaker 4 (27:54):
Yeah, and I think was sort of the torch bearer
for this Michigan defense also up front. We called them
out on the broadcast, but just felt like Mason Graham
was everywhere on the Michigan front, just like I think
a sophomore like young talent that Michigan has that they
have the building, yeah, yeah, have built in as part
(28:17):
of their longer term plan. The fact that they were
able again to pull one over on the Washington front.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
And the manner that they did was damn near impressive.
Speaker 4 (28:27):
Definitely, So whether they're changing the complexion of the run
game of the Washington Huskies or the passing game and
the rhythm of Mike Pennix, Mason Graham was a big
part of that. And then I got to give a
shout out to Donovan Edwards. Man, oh my god, sorry
about Donovan.
Speaker 3 (28:42):
Edwards does nothing all year long, jumps out and wins
the National championship right away.
Speaker 4 (28:46):
Yeah, I mean truly stepping on the gas and the
manner that Michigan did early we were on the stream
and We're like, dude, this is over, this is this
is this is probably over right now, given what we
know this Michigan team and how they want to take
the air out of the ball.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (29:06):
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(29:27):
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Speaker 1 (29:42):
Again.
Speaker 4 (29:43):
Given a special shout out to Mikey, Sandra Still, Mason Graham,
and of course.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
Donovan Edwards had two big runs start things off.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
Dan agree.
Speaker 4 (29:55):
I also wanted to give a shout out to a
few of our for ballers who won big in the
Winter Wonders Bowl. Confidence pool, and we'll be getting an
email from me about how they can claim some of
their prizes, the most exciting of which come from our
friends over at pristineauction dot com. Our big winner, wax
(30:16):
On wax Off thirty one to twelve, finished with seven
hundred and fifty seven points, narrowly edging out Taffe Nation,
Eric Carlson, Number Cruncher nine and Roger Stallbach. I don't
think the real Roger Stallbach. Everybody who finished in our
top eleven will be getting an email from me for
(30:37):
how to claim their prize again Grand prize winner and
then the next ten qualify. We had over eighteen hundred
and sixty five participants in this pool. It was the
best Winter Wonders Bullpool we have ever run. We've got
a bunch of people here that I think are going
to be excited to get an email from me, most
(30:58):
of which picked like thirty games right this post, which
is nuts. Great job, absolutely crazy bull Confidence Pool. Congratulations
everybody who played in one, and big thanks to everybody
who played just to support the show and you know,
compete against us. I have not actually looked up to
see how you and I did. I'll wait, I'll wait,
until I'm feeling a little bit more spry to do
(31:20):
that because we didn't do nearly as well as these
ver balls. But big thanks to everybody who supported what
we did and got in on the Winter Wonders Bullpool
this season.
Speaker 3 (31:29):
Man, congratulations to Michigan all their fans, huge moment.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
Been a rocky year, been.
Speaker 4 (31:37):
A tough year, but it's been an important year to
have those message boards. Oh my god, to have that
support never been more fortunate. Yep, if you're a Michigan fan,
this is a crazy year on about a thousand different fronts.
That's why we've got the off season. We've got the
off season to help us decipher all of that and
figure out what it means and put it in context
(31:58):
and get everybody ready for the dolgence of the off
season and the excitement of the twenty twenty four season ahead.
We did get questions about what does our off season
recording schedule look like. Our plan is to still go
Tuesday Thursday, as we have for gosh, each of the
last fifteen seasons. So going out to solid verbal dot
(32:21):
com that's our website, make sure you hit subscribe, make
sure you find out more about downloading our content and
learning about forballers dot Com, where you can get bonus stuff,
ad free content, be part of the community in a
way that you aren't from the outside in great.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
It's a great time.
Speaker 1 (32:38):
That does it, Dan, another season in the books. We
made it.
Speaker 3 (32:42):
I love this year, Ty, I really did. From the
highs and lows of what the Big ten, the PAC twelve,
the sec ACC Big twelve. We're getting a bunch of
new LOTK conferences next year, a bunch of great performances.
This year we got hirings, firings. Jimbo Fisher is a
billion air now, ty, I don't know if you actually
saw the latest report. It was great. It was a
(33:05):
terrific year. Loved spending it with you, Love spending with
all the reballers as always. Can't wait to take a
breath and start to make sense of it.
Speaker 4 (33:14):
Reballers, stand up and give yourselves a round of applause
doing it here. We would not be here without all y'all.
It is always fun. We are going to take a
breather of the rest of this week.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
We will be back next week.
Speaker 4 (33:29):
In the meantime, For that guy over there, my good
friend Dan Rubinstein, for myself, Tie hilden Brandt to the
Michigan faithful that have supported this show and have listened
for years and years and years on end. Finally, finally,
it is your moment. Congratulations.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
We'll talk to y'all soon. Stay solid, peace,
Welcome to the solid verbal hell that for me.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I'm a man, I'm forty.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
I've heard so many players say, well, I want to
be happy.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
You want to be happy for day Edith State is
that woo woom?
Speaker 4 (00:14):
And Dan and tie.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Dan Rubinstein, Michigan Wolverines.
Speaker 4 (00:22):
You're twenty twenty four college football National champions. They knock
off the Washington Huskies by thirty four to thirteen margin.
We did a very long live stream throughout the course
of this game. We had a chance to chat with hundreds,
if not thousands of Verballers throughout the course of the evening,
all of them celebrating the game that was the college
(00:44):
football national championship. We get to do this again for
another season. It was a pleasure as always to do
it with you, and of course with the verballer hood
going out to Apple, to Spotify, to whatever podcasting app
of choice is in your life.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Make sure you hit follow or subscribe. How are you,
my good friend.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
I'm good, still piecing together my thoughts on the game itself,
which we're going to talk through together. But good, I
mean it's I don't know what the correct adjective to
use in this moment is for Michigan's season for the
college football season as a whole, for this playoff, I'm
grasping at the moment, ty if that counts as a
(01:24):
good answer to your question.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
Michigan won this game in resounding fashion down the stretch.
It was a game that in my eyes, was defined
by two big plays early, two big running plays in
the first quarter by Donovan Edwards, which set Michigan up nicely.
Outside of the first three drives, Michigan sort of stalled out.
They had moments late where they padded the lead, but
(01:50):
this was a game that very much was defined by
what happened in the first quarter. After that point, Washington
felt at times like they were getting some of the
moment meant to back, but in the end, Michael Pennix
reached back for the pixie dust, and frankly, I don't
know if he could reach back for much of anything.
I think he hurt his ribs. He was not right
for a good chunk of this game, and as the
(02:12):
game were on, Michigan was able to do what Michigan does.
Michigan got two interceptions. Michigan was able to change the
game with its defense. Michigan was able to play the
style of football in the end that I think we
expected they would try to play. They ended up running
the ball like thirty eight times, didn't try to do
a whole lot through the air in the end, they
(02:33):
didn't have to.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Yeah, it was It was a fascinating game, and we
had talked about this coming in that Washington is going
to have to play at a certain level, especially on offense,
because honestly, over the course of this game they improved defensively.
You know, it started out as a sprint, and then
it became kind of a distance race, right that just
sort of like picking your moments to speed up, slow down.
Washington did a good job adjusting to the Michigan rushing attack,
(02:57):
keeping the Michigan offense largely in front of it. The
problem is Michigan had more ways to win, something else
everybody has spoken about because of the defense and what
that affords a team when they're able to generate pressure,
when you have corners as sticky as you know, Mike Sandrastill,
Josh Wallace and of course Will Johnson on the Washington
(03:18):
Winter wonder Ride wide receivers. That was pretty good by me,
by the way, to knock that out in one and
a half takes. It was. It was an a rhythmic
game for long stretches. But certainly, if you're going to
point to a single thing that decided the game, it's
the Michigan defense. And if you zoom in even more,
it's probably the Michigan front for completely overwhelming the supposedly
(03:42):
very strong Washington offensive line. But I really especially look
at the inside of that Michigan line. They overwhelmed them.
Once again, they overwhelmed the Washington offensive line, and that
that's the major difference. You can look at Dylan Johnson's entry,
which is a worthwhile thing to look at. You can
look at Michael Pennix and some overthrow and some just
miscues going downfield. But ultimately, what Michigan did in building
(04:06):
this team and developing this defense was the difference.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
Yeah. I mean, we tweeted out a stat earlier in
the game from our account that at whatever point in
time we sent it, Mike Pennix was one of seven
on throws of fifteen yards or more. He finished the
game two of twelve on throws fifteen yards or more.
He had the longer throw, the forty four yarder di
(04:30):
Roma Dunesday late when the game was I think pretty
much settled. Yeah, but that to me really signifies where
this game was won and lost one on the Michigan
side to prevent that style of play from the Washington offense.
We know that's how they got a lot of success
against the Texas defense right and on the Washington side,
(04:52):
that is something they have leaned on all year, that
that pinpoint accuracy that we talked about in the preview
that Michael Pennix has has shown.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
I don't know if he was hurt.
Speaker 4 (05:02):
I don't know if it was the Michigan defense just
stepping up in a really big way because of the
sticky corners.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
My hunches it was some combination of both. But he
wasn't right.
Speaker 4 (05:10):
He wasn't right, So whether it was the defense changing
his rhythm, whether it was an injury that was preventing
him from being as accurate as he wanted, there were
some really big throws in this game that he missed,
and there were a couple early in particular, there was
a surefire touchdown I believe the Roma dunes early in
this game that he flat out missed. Throws like that
were ones that Washington would have needed to get back.
(05:33):
They would have needed to complete all of them, frankly
in order to contend with Michigan here and to end
up winning this football game. So not having that at
their disposal, Dylan Johnson got nicked up on the very
first play. It was good to see him out there,
but he got nicked up on the very first play. So,
whether it was Dylan Johnson, Michael Pennix, the line having
to contend with the Michigan front, it just seemed like
(05:54):
as the game wore on, a lot of what Washington
wanted to do was at a supreme disadvantage when up
against Michigan.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
And so for me, that was it. For me.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
It was, as you said, the Michigan defense that changed
the game, The Michigan defense that held the wide receivers
in check on the Washington side, The Michigan defense that
maybe injured Mike Pennix to upset his rhythm. I don't know,
but I think it started there for the Wolverines.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
They won the game in sort of an ugly way,
but exactly the way that they wanted. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
No, Look, and how many points does Washington score in
this game?
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Thirteen?
Speaker 3 (06:29):
So Michigan essentially beats them with their performance almost immediately
scoring those fourteen points via Donovan Edwards long run and
some Washington miscues on defense, not filling lanes, not filling gaps.
And it's not quantifiable specifically, but this is the third
straight playoff for Michigan. This is the third straight year
(06:49):
in which they were able to overcome a streak of
losses to their biggest rival. And so when you have
that kind of seasoning, not just as older players go fourth, fifth,
six year players, but the fact that they are tested
with this kind of spotlight for this kind of moment,
whereas this is year one for Washington in a spot
(07:11):
like this. Now they rose to that occasion against Texas,
but this is an even bigger stage. And with how
Washington came out on both sides of the ball and
with how Michigan came out on both sides of the ball,
I sort of sense that Michigan was better prepared to
meet the moment. Immediately Washington settled down, which really strong
teams do. But those fourteen points were enough to beat
(07:34):
this Washington team. And whether those are mental errors, whether
it's you know, players getting a little bit over jumpy
and you know, overrunning a play, whatever it was, Michigan
was ready. Michigan was ready to take care of business
from the jump, and even with their own mistakes, even
with their own stretches of inconsistency and weird play calling
and going away from tight end play, going away from
(07:56):
you know, merely catching balls and not dropping them some
of those big, big moments in this high leverage moments.
Michigan was pretty bad for most of this game on
third down, but not to borrow Washington's exact line, but
winners win. And what Michigan proved is that even in
a game with a down, you know, middle two thirds,
(08:18):
it's the fast start, it's the ability to close and
that that seemed to be the mental difference in this game.
Speaker 4 (08:24):
Yeah, it was fourteen to three at the end of
the first quarter.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Washington chipped away a little bit.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
It was seventeen to ten going into halftime, but again
a seventeen to three spread throughout the duration of the
second half in favor of Michigan. They scored fourteen points
to close things out in the fourth quarter.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
This is a really.
Speaker 4 (08:47):
Interesting season for the Michigan Wolverines. I mean to put
this in context. The Connor Stallions thing was the story.
I'm not going to sit here and say that they
won because of cheating. Okay, it may have helped, but
this is a good team. This is a good team
coming into the season, and I hope that this is
(09:09):
not one of those deals where you have people writing
columns now that the team won because it cheated. I
don't think that's why Michigan won. That being said, this
is a cloud now that is going to persist over
the Michigan program until the NCAA gives some clarity. My
(09:30):
hunch is at the NCAA tries to take this away. Okay,
they go the vacation route and they scrubbed this one
from the record books. You know, we watched it, we
saw it happen, so it's really semantics to remove it
from the record books altogether. But this program's going to change,
(09:51):
I think a fair amount, not just with a bunch
of guys going off to the NFL. Jim Harbaugh sounds
like he's also headed to the NFL. If the NCBLEA
comes down with the hammer on this program, things are
gonna change a lot. That's maybe something we could talk
about in the off season. I know just from doing
the streams. I know certainly from doing the podcast all season,
(10:13):
people were very mixed on how to feel about Michigan.
It was a very polarizing subject in college football, and
I'm curious what your take is now on how we
view Michigan through that lens or through the lens of
the twenty twenty three season, knowing what we know.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
I don't have any more information than anybody. I honestly
didn't think about it that much during the game, like
I'm going to watch every single Michigan play and say
they knew what was coming. They knew what was coming,
they knew what it's not like I don't know. It
doesn't seem like a very fun way to watch the sport.
So we'll see what happens. I assume there's going to
be further attention and for their news stories, and we'll
(10:54):
see what happens with Jim Harbaugh. It certainly seems to
be a lot of NFL smoke. But the way I
watched this game coming in was basically very excited to
see what this Michigan defense can do against this Washington offense.
Because I don't care how much or how little you
know about what or what is or is not coming.
You have to tackle Roma Doonesa. You know, you have
(11:14):
to get through this Washington offensive line, which has protected
Michael Pennock's very very well. You have to bring down
Dylan Johnson. You have to actually physically do the things
that leads to winning. And so to me, it was
going the big story to me was can Michael Pennix
be perfect against this Michigan defense. Because whatever the story
(11:34):
is with the off field stuff, whether it's overblown, whether
it's underblown, with whatever it comes out, you still need
to make plays. And Mason Graham won a lot of
hat on hats, Kenneth Grant won a lot of hat
on hats, And whether there were drops, whether there were overthrows, whatever,
it's also something that Michigan can't fully control. And so
the game was a fascinating one because you have the
(11:55):
like immovable object against the unstoppable force. I came away
thinking going into the game thinking Washington's very very good,
but also flawed in that they were able to win
some losable games, whereas I thought Michigan was able to
prove a little bit more over the course of the season.
I picked Washington. I picked against Michigan because in the
off chance we get nothing but perfect Michael Pennix throws,
(12:18):
which is kind of what we got last week. Then
Washington's gonna win if Washington is had I think they
had three drives down twenty to thirteen that ended in
a punt. Right, This was not a game that Michigan
controlled comfortably, especially after it seemed after Donovan Edwards's second
long touchdown run that Michigan was about to slowly in
our term is crockpot Washington right, that it was just
(12:41):
going to be a slow thirty seven to ten bludgeoning
that was never in question. This game was very much
in question in the fourth quarter, and it was Michigan
building the defensive roster to hang with and dominate Washington's offense,
something that teams weren't able to do this year. And
so as much as we can question what Michigan was
(13:02):
doing off the field or what Michigan was doing on
the field, to me, Michigan was a better coach team
with better players that didn't necessarily rise to that many
more moments, but they won the moments that mattered more
often in this game. So yeah, I don't know what's
going to come of the the off field scouting thing
(13:22):
for Michigan, but I didn't get any more information about
it during this game.
Speaker 4 (13:27):
Yeah, And I mean I bring that up not to
rain on anybody's parade.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
I know, if you're a Michigan fan, you should.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
You should very much celebrate this, And if you're a
Big ten fan, maybe outside of Ohio State, you should
celebrate it too, because it's an accomplishment anytime a team
from the South doesn't win the title, right. It is
also I think the first thing that many of our
listeners think of when they think of Michigan. The reaction is, ooh,
they cheated. Sure, and so it's it's a very very
(13:57):
interesting fork in the road for a college ball fan.
I think I stand with you on the Michigan side.
And it's not just because I picked them in the preseason.
What we saw out there was not so much the
product of a Connor Stallion's thing, a sign stealing thing.
They were very good. They're very fundamentally sound on defense.
(14:18):
We saw a lot of this last year. So this
has been building for a while and as you've said
time and again, a lot of arrows were pointing to
this season for the Michigan Wolverines.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
If you want to rain on Michigan's parade. What you
should say is Alabama both won and lost this season,
right that, Like Alabama beating Georgia was the best thing
that could have possibly happened to anybody in the college
football playoff. Alabama is a more flawed team than Georgia,
but won that game. And if you were to give
(14:51):
Jim Harbaugh or Sharon Moore or Jesse Mint or any
of these guys truth saram they were thrilled to get Alabama,
not Georgia. And maybe that's conversation for another day. That's
how if I were to choose to raign on Michigan's parade,
is thank God for Alabama that day in Atlanta, because
they were the more beatable team that happened to beat Georgia.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (15:13):
I mean, things are funny the way they work out. Yeah,
but Michigan was pretty solid here. This was not any
kind of offensive explosion. This was a couple big plays
early that set the tone. This was a defense that
was for the most part impenetrable. I mean, only gave
up thirteen points against a really good Washington Huskies offense.
(15:33):
Definitely a lot came down on the arm of Michael
Pennix Junior again twenty seven to fifty one, two fifty
five and a losing effort. I won't play the sound.
It'll feel like I'm rubbing it in because he was down.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
I don't think it was.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
That's not even that impressive a number.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
Yeah, no, I mean that's just pure attempts, right.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
That was just a lot of bites at the apple
for Mike Pennix, And this was a Michigan defense that
got the job done. Short of two really nice pass
plays in the second half for the Michigan offense. JJ
McCarthy had like seventy yards passing. This was not a
game they were ever going to go out there and
try to air it out to win.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Unless they got down.
Speaker 4 (16:11):
This was Blake Korum is going to be the stake
and he's going to get most of the rushing attempts
and two touchdowns, which he did. Donovan Edwards ended up
being the sizzle. Two long touchdown runs early that set
the pace obviously for where this game ended up. So
thirty four to thirteen was your final. Michigan finishes the
year fifteen to zero. A lot is going to change
(16:33):
next season, not just on the Michigan side. With players
and coaches and NCAA stuff. But sure, both of these
teams are obviously going to be playing in the Big
Ten next season. The playoff system as we know it
is going to be retooled. There's going to be twelve
teams next season. There's conference re alignment going on elsewhere
(16:56):
around college football. There was some scuttle but out there
that we might even get a preview for the upcoming
int CAA video game that turned out to not be true,
but a lot I think to look forward to as
you go into twenty twenty four. The exciting bit for
the rest of us is that's starting right now.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
I love this joke. Everybody is undefeated.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
Everybody's undefeated, Dan, It's yeah, it's sort of the end
of the end and the beginning of something. As you mentioned,
a twelve team playoff, and the amount of movement in
the sport and the realignment of the sport that's fully
going to take hold this coming season. I guess officially
all of these teams enter into new conferences on like
(17:38):
June thirtieth or something, or July first. It does definitely
feel like the end of something. It's the end of
the four team playoff it's the end of the regional
nature of the sport, and it sort of ends with
one of the more familiar powers, one of the more
familiar champions, winning it all. And so I don't think
(17:59):
we're ever go back, but there is that sense of,
like the college football you grew up with, the college
football you've enjoyed these past few years, whatever that looks
like in your brain, it's time to reboot. It really
seems to be like the end of the end and
doesn't mean that what's coming can't be great, but it's
(18:22):
kind of a mystery about what it's going to feel like,
what the unintended consequences are good and bad. But I
did end the game and Michigan Washington thinking, man, something
new is about to start in this sport. Hopefully I
am going to try to be optimistic that there's gonna
be a lot more good than bad with what is coming.
(18:42):
But there did seem Maybe it's just because I'm a
West Coast dude and there's some now finality enclosure to
the PAC twelve, PAC ten Pack eight experience as we
know it, But yeah, felt a little bit different with
the way this game ended. I don't know what the
TV ratings are. I don't know what the end energy
is going to be like moving forward with this Michigan win.
(19:02):
You know, with a coach as recognizable, in a program
as recognizable, I'm sure it's going to get a lot
of attention. It's going to stir a lot of debate,
but I don't know. At the end of the day,
a bunch of defensive linemen made a lot of plays
to win a college football national championship, and that is
nothing new at all.
Speaker 4 (19:21):
I'd welcome feedback from the verballerhood. I mean, you know
where to find us out on social media. You can
always email us Soliverble at gmail dot com. If you're
on verballers dot com as one of our patreons subscribers
where you get the bonus content and the at free
episodes and the like. I'd welcome to hear in our discord, frankly,
what people thought of this game. I haven't had a
(19:43):
chance to check it yet we were doing the stream.
But you know, not just this game, but where they
come down on Michigan. What will the history books say
about this team, How will people judge this team. It's
a really really interesting story and truly the likes of
which we have not seen in the time we have
been doing the show. It's just such a unique scenario
that we find ourselves in, not just at this weird
(20:06):
cusp in the sport where things are about to change
very drastically, but one of these controversial moments in the
sport that we almost never see, and that team goes
on to win the national championship. A lot to really process,
and I think we're kind of doing it in real
time here, even though we've had a lot of chance
to think about it.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
Yeah, it was basically a Shawshank win for Michigan, right,
chipping away, chipping away. That's exactly right, improving, improving finally. Nope,
not Georgia, Nope, not TCU.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Chipping away.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
They get Bama, they get a high flying offense, they
finally break through and crawl through the what was it
like five miles a shit or whatever. That's the story.
Speaker 4 (20:42):
I'm curious to get your thoughts on the Washington side
of things, because we had fashioned Washington as a so
called LRO team many moons ago. Yeah, and that was
the source of the comparison to TCU. TCU felt a
(21:03):
little bit the same way. Now these are not apples tapples.
I get that people have been tweeting me and emailing us.
I get that it's not apples to apples, but purely
from the standpoint of hey, Washington was in a lot
of close games.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
We're not really sure why.
Speaker 4 (21:17):
They had that in common TC was there a year ago.
Washington defied some odds here this season, given how they
played in games against Arizona State, games against you know whoever,
there are many opportunities for Washington to lose, and they
kept finding ways to win. And so the fact that
(21:38):
they got to this game, the fact that they were
undefeated going into this game, the fact that they were
as exciting as they were on offense, I think was
a super cool story. What does the next version of
Washington look like now? After Michael Pennix, after Roman Dune Day,
after this incredible contingent of skill, talent on offense goes
out the door.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
I think they're gonna be fine. I think they're gonna
be a good team. There's not much about the Big Ten,
even the new look Big Ten that does a lot
for I think many people. Michigan obviously, their excellence is
self evident. Ohio State will be very good they added
quin Shawn Judkins. Right as the game ended, Quinshon Judkins
announced his commitment to Ohio State. Penn State just sort
(22:19):
of seems to be the same team year and in
year out. They reach a certain ceiling, but they can't
quite break through. Oregon should continue to get better, but
we'll see if they can perform in those big games.
And then you have a morass of teams that I
think Washington will be largely better than they had Will Rogers.
But look, Kaylyn Deibor is a very very good coach.
He wins constantly wherever he goes, whether it's Fresno, whether
(22:40):
it's Indiana's offense, whether it's lower levels. He is going
to field good teams at Washington that they're going to
win much more often than not. I think this was
a special year that they were They were able to
figure out moments in a way that other teams weren't,
whether it was those close calls, whether it was the
Texas game holding on in that one. Washington isn't a
(23:00):
healthy as long as Kailin de Bor is the coach
and as long as they can continue to improve. I
know recruiting is on an uptick right now. For twenty
twenty five and beyond. The outlook is very when you
have the head coach in place, when you hire well,
the recruiting still needs a minute. They're in a really
great spot. I don't think they're going to careene off
a cliff like TCU did this year. I think he's
(23:23):
going to constantly find quarterbacks and help to develop quarterbacks
and find skill talent, find offensive linemen. But they're going
to take a step back. I think they're going to respond.
I think they're going to be in a good place.
The story to me is still Michigan is still whatever
happens with Jim Harbaugh, whatever happens with leaving a succession plan,
(23:44):
deciding to come back JJ McCarthy's future. But this was
the year for both of these teams in terms of
circling twenty twenty three, and it all comes down to
this year, given the number of upperclassmen, given the COVID
extension years, and Michigan was much better built to win
this championship because they could win in more ways.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
It was a talent thing in the end, Yeah, it
was a talent thing. In the end.
Speaker 4 (24:09):
Michigan was much more of a complete product, especially on defense,
especially on defense. We will talk about that momentarily as
we get into our dood alerts, especially on defense. The
way they were able to change that game, whether it
was guys in the secondary making plays, whether it was
guys up front along the line beating the Washington offensive
(24:32):
line pretty continuously throughout the course of this game. This
was a talent advantage for Michigan across the board. So
kudos to the Michigan Wolverines. They finished the year fifteen
to zero. Thirty four to thirteen was your final if
you took my Houston, we have a parlay. I made
the mistake that I made a week ago, frankly, with Alabama.
(24:54):
I thought they would get over twenty points. Washington only
scores thirteen. Alabama over time only made it to twenty. Yep,
and again this was a lower scoring affair forty seven
points in total. They don't quite get to that over
under which closed that fifty five and a half points.
Speaker 3 (25:13):
I don't know that there is any defining characteristic of
this Michigan team, depending on what happens with the off
field stuff beyond, they had really strong players that played
better than their opponent. You know, the Washington defense over
the course of the year left some to be desired,
and this was the year for a team like Michigan
(25:34):
or whether it was going to be Alabama or whoever
was in the playoff it was. It was a more
not wide open, but I think a little bit of
a softer landing spot with what you could do against Washington,
with what a number of teams against Washington.
Speaker 4 (25:46):
And just the fact that Washington did not have its outpitch.
They could not get the ball in key moments to
their best wideouts. No, they couldn't do it.
Speaker 3 (25:59):
There were moments. There are moments Kirk highlighted, you know,
up the seam, or that Michael Pennix was looking to
his right because that's where he was starting his his look.
And then you know roma Duneesay springs open on the
left hand, like you can't see every receiver at the
same time at all moments. There were moments Michael Pennix
has risen to that moment. The offensive line. I honestly
(26:21):
don't put a ton of it on Michael Pennix. I
just Michigan whipped Washington up front, and.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
They whipped him.
Speaker 3 (26:26):
There's only so much you can do in that case.
So yeah, It was a very strong year from Washington.
But Washington, as I think we all thought on a
certain level, was not of the caliber of the best
in the sport when you look at a team holistically,
when you look at a one hundred percent of its roster,
but winners win, and Washington was able to win moments
(26:49):
at a much higher clip than quote unquote better teams.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
Some players are good, some are great, and some are
just dudes. Welcome to dood Alert, presented by Pristine Auction.
Speaker 4 (27:06):
I didn't mean to cut you off, but I thought
it was a perfect segue to talk.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
To was dudes holistic roster? Holistic roster.
Speaker 4 (27:13):
I've got dudes from three different levels of this Michigan
team that I think I want to call out place.
Mikey Sandras still Dan. He had a game, a bunch
of tackles, a bunch of key tackles, had the interception late,
ran the ball damn near into the goal, ended up
flipping the field, putting Michigan in a position to get
(27:36):
this game on ice. He had a really, really nice game.
The Michigan secondary as a whole was awesome, but I
think he was the headliner from what we saw, even
had a smart interference call earlier in this game where
it just made sense to grab a dude.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
He did it in a really big way here.
Speaker 4 (27:54):
Yeah, and I think was sort of the torch bearer
for this Michigan defense also up front. We called them
out on the broadcast, but just felt like Mason Graham
was everywhere on the Michigan front, just like I think
a sophomore like young talent that Michigan has that they
have the building, yeah, yeah, have built in as part
(28:17):
of their longer term plan. The fact that they were
able again to pull one over on the Washington front.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
And the manner that they did was damn near impressive.
Speaker 4 (28:27):
Definitely, So whether they're changing the complexion of the run
game of the Washington Huskies or the passing game and
the rhythm of Mike Pennix, Mason Graham was a big
part of that. And then I got to give a
shout out to Donovan Edwards. Man, oh my god, sorry
about Donovan.
Speaker 3 (28:42):
Edwards does nothing all year long, jumps out and wins
the National championship right away.
Speaker 4 (28:46):
Yeah, I mean truly stepping on the gas and the
manner that Michigan did early we were on the stream
and We're like, dude, this is over, this is this
is this is probably over right now, given what we
know this Michigan team and how they want to take
the air out of the ball.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (29:06):
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(29:27):
It's a great site. I'm excited to be working with
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Speaker 1 (29:42):
Again.
Speaker 4 (29:43):
Given a special shout out to Mikey, Sandra Still, Mason Graham,
and of course.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
Donovan Edwards had two big runs start things off.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
Dan agree.
Speaker 4 (29:55):
I also wanted to give a shout out to a
few of our for ballers who won big in the
Winter Wonders Bowl. Confidence pool, and we'll be getting an
email from me about how they can claim some of
their prizes, the most exciting of which come from our
friends over at pristineauction dot com. Our big winner, wax
(30:16):
On wax Off thirty one to twelve, finished with seven
hundred and fifty seven points, narrowly edging out Taffe Nation,
Eric Carlson, Number Cruncher nine and Roger Stallbach. I don't
think the real Roger Stallbach. Everybody who finished in our
top eleven will be getting an email from me for
(30:37):
how to claim their prize again Grand prize winner and
then the next ten qualify. We had over eighteen hundred
and sixty five participants in this pool. It was the
best Winter Wonders Bullpool we have ever run. We've got
a bunch of people here that I think are going
to be excited to get an email from me, most
(30:58):
of which picked like thirty games right this post, which
is nuts. Great job, absolutely crazy bull Confidence Pool. Congratulations
everybody who played in one, and big thanks to everybody
who played just to support the show and you know,
compete against us. I have not actually looked up to
see how you and I did. I'll wait, I'll wait,
until I'm feeling a little bit more spry to do
(31:20):
that because we didn't do nearly as well as these
ver balls. But big thanks to everybody who supported what
we did and got in on the Winter Wonders Bullpool
this season.
Speaker 3 (31:29):
Man, congratulations to Michigan all their fans, huge moment.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
Been a rocky year, been.
Speaker 4 (31:37):
A tough year, but it's been an important year to
have those message boards. Oh my god, to have that
support never been more fortunate. Yep, if you're a Michigan fan,
this is a crazy year on about a thousand different fronts.
That's why we've got the off season. We've got the
off season to help us decipher all of that and
figure out what it means and put it in context
(31:58):
and get everybody ready for the dolgence of the off
season and the excitement of the twenty twenty four season ahead.
We did get questions about what does our off season
recording schedule look like. Our plan is to still go
Tuesday Thursday, as we have for gosh, each of the
last fifteen seasons. So going out to solid verbal dot
(32:21):
com that's our website, make sure you hit subscribe, make
sure you find out more about downloading our content and
learning about forballers dot Com, where you can get bonus stuff,
ad free content, be part of the community in a
way that you aren't from the outside in great.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
It's a great time.
Speaker 1 (32:38):
That does it, Dan, another season in the books. We
made it.
Speaker 3 (32:42):
I love this year, Ty, I really did. From the
highs and lows of what the Big ten, the PAC twelve,
the sec ACC Big twelve. We're getting a bunch of
new LOTK conferences next year, a bunch of great performances.
This year we got hirings, firings. Jimbo Fisher is a
billion air now, ty, I don't know if you actually
saw the latest report. It was great. It was a
(33:05):
terrific year. Loved spending it with you, Love spending with
all the reballers as always. Can't wait to take a
breath and start to make sense of it.
Speaker 4 (33:14):
Reballers, stand up and give yourselves a round of applause
doing it here. We would not be here without all y'all.
It is always fun. We are going to take a
breather of the rest of this week.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
We will be back next week.
Speaker 4 (33:29):
In the meantime, For that guy over there, my good
friend Dan Rubinstein, for myself, Tie hilden Brandt to the
Michigan faithful that have supported this show and have listened
for years and years and years on end. Finally, finally,
it is your moment. Congratulations.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
We'll talk to y'all soon. Stay solid, peace,
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