October 7, 2025 • 29 mins
Buckeye Weekly Podcast: Breaking Down Michigan vs. Wisconsin and Looking Ahead to Ohio State
Join Tony Gerdeman and Tom Orr in the latest episode of the Buckeye Weekly Podcast as they discuss Michigan's 24-10 victory over Wisconsin. The hosts express their frustrations with Wisconsin's football team and analyze Michigan's performance, focusing on the stand-out play of Donavon McCulley and Bryce Underwood. Additionally, they explore the potential implications of this game for Michigan's upcoming schedules and their significant matchups against USC and Ohio State. Gerdeman and Orr also touch on broader Big Ten developments and share their thoughts on the challenges ahead for both Michigan and USC. Don't miss this insightful episode where the hosts delve deep into the Michigan Wolverines' strategies, player performances, and prospects for the rest of the season.
00:00 Introduction and Podcast Welcome
00:10 Discussing Michigan and Wisconsin Games
02:21 Michigan's Offensive Highlights
13:21 Upcoming Michigan vs. USC Game
14:56 Michigan's Defensive Performance
28:48 Conclusion and Sign-Off
Join Tony Gerdeman and Tom Orr in the latest episode of the Buckeye Weekly Podcast as they discuss Michigan's 24-10 victory over Wisconsin. The hosts express their frustrations with Wisconsin's football team and analyze Michigan's performance, focusing on the stand-out play of Donavon McCulley and Bryce Underwood. Additionally, they explore the potential implications of this game for Michigan's upcoming schedules and their significant matchups against USC and Ohio State. Gerdeman and Orr also touch on broader Big Ten developments and share their thoughts on the challenges ahead for both Michigan and USC. Don't miss this insightful episode where the hosts delve deep into the Michigan Wolverines' strategies, player performances, and prospects for the rest of the season.
00:00 Introduction and Podcast Welcome
00:10 Discussing Michigan and Wisconsin Games
02:21 Michigan's Offensive Highlights
13:21 Upcoming Michigan vs. USC Game
14:56 Michigan's Defensive Performance
28:48 Conclusion and Sign-Off
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello, everybody, Welcome to the Buckeye Weekly Podcast. I'm Tony
Gerdaman here as always with Tom or Tom.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
How's it going, Tony get a chance to talk about
the Michigan and Wisconsin game. Can I be real honest,
I'm perfectly fine with watching the rest of the Michigan
games this year for the segment.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
I am so annoyed at the.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Fact that we have to watch and with at least
one more Wisconsin game because we're going to be in
Madison for the Buckeyes game. Like, I feel like I've
seen what I need to see out of Wisconsin football
this year, and maybe maybe we can just be done
with that.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Yeah, I think you're right about that. Did we even
did we even rewatch? Did we watching Ohio game in
preparation for the Ohio game? I can't remember, but I don't, okay,
I don't feel like there's a need to rewatch any
other Wisconsin games in the lead up for the Wisconsin game.
Speaker 4 (00:52):
We're gonna be watching Illinois.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
We watched, you know, all kinds of teams, but I
don't want to watch any more Wisconsin than we have to,
like this game on the Ohio State game and maybe
in preparation for the Big Ten championship game.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
That's it.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
I'm I'm perfectly fine with not even watching the Ohio
State Wisconsin game. We can just go up there, we
can get some cheese curds, we'll hang out, we'll spend
some time in Madison. Maybe if the weather's nice, go
hit the student union and then you know, get the
car head home. I think I think I can pretty
much do our postgame show right now. Tony Wisconsin wasn't
able to do anything on offense. Defense looked okay, but boy,
(01:31):
the Badgers really couldn't sustain any drives as Ohio State
wins thirty eight to nothing. That's how does that sound
about right?
Speaker 4 (01:38):
That sounds about right.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Although I will say, Tom, I know this is not
an Ohio State podcast. This is a Michigan Monday podcast.
The last time Ohio State went to Madison ranked number
one was twenty ten, and they left that town as losers.
So let's just keep that in mind. Anything can happen.
You know, we saw what happened with Penn State and UCLA.
(02:04):
I don't see any I don't see Nico Iamliava walking.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
Through that door or Jerry new Heizel walking through that door, or.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Anybody Franklin walking through the door on the Ohio state
side of the field.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
I don't think.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
I don't think so, Tony. We should talk, though we
don't want to talk about Wisconsin. I do. I am
kind of interested to talk a little bit about Michigan.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
In this game. So let's let's do that instead.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
And there's two points that stand out to me about
Michigan in this game, and the first is that we
finally saw the Donovan McCauley that was promised and he
is the wide receiver transfer from Indiana. Caught six passes
for one hundred and twelve yards and a touchdown. Nice
touchdown on a catch and run, broke some tackles, bounced out,
(02:49):
took it the distance, caught a nice long one I
think down the sidelines and had his foot and bounds
and the head to review it. The most important part
of all of this for me, seven targets, six catches,
because Donovan McCauley and quarterback price underwould have had issues
all season long in just being on the same page,
and this one they were finally on the same page
(03:12):
and you saw the results as part of the price Under.
What's two hundred and seventy yards passing on the day.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Yeah, they were on the same page, and they were
on the same page against a pretty decent defense. You know,
I said it earlier at the Wisconsin offense is just
garbage juice. But the Wisconsin defense is not bad. They're
not you know, this is not amazing defense. I think
FBI had there somewhere in the thirties maybe, but it's
a solid defense overall. And Michigan was able to throw
(03:40):
the ball against this defense, and that's something that you
don't really expect to see Michigan has.
Speaker 4 (03:46):
You know.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
And even after the game, I saw people saying, well,
Michigan still doesn't have wide receivers.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
It's like, don't.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
I mean, I feel like I saw more from Michigan's
wide receivers on Saturday against Wisconsin than I have pretty
much any other game. Because, yeah, Donovan McCully was really solid.
Six catches, one hundred and twelve yards, as you said,
one hundred, had the touchdown. You know, catches on seven
targets is solid, and eighteen point seven yards per catch,
that's solid. And then I think we also need to
(04:11):
talk about Andrew marsh because this is the most we've
seen from him.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
He is the true freshman.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Wide receiver out of Texas that they, you know, were
very high on. And you saw him early in the
season and he fumbled that he was a kickoff return
in the season opener, and you know, just you know,
you as a true freshman, you can play your way
out of the circle of trust pretty easily.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
And I think that was probably enough to do that.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
The fact that they had him returning kicks and the
season opener was sort of instructive in terms of what
they think of him.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
And then okay, you fumble, so then you don't play
for play much for a couple of weeks.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Then he was back and you know, he had he
had a really solid day. Four catches, eighty yards, had
a long, you know, the long of thirty two. But
four catches on four targets.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
That's that's all right.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
That is okay, you're getting open the throws there, the
throws on top. I'm you know, Bryce Underwood, you're seeing
more from Bryce Underwood.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
This is this was a little.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Bit like the Ohio State game where you had okay,
Julian saying, sure, Julian saying, is completing eighty percent of
his passes, but he's not throwing.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
The ball downfield.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
And then okay, now he's throwing the ball downfield. You
can see them sort of taking the training wheels off
a little bit. Michigan, Bryce Underwood is a true freshman.
Is not to the level where Julian Saye is right now.
I don't think even the biggest Michigan homer in the
world as would say that he is.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
But your your face says.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Maybe, okay, anyone outside of the you know, ninety eighth
percentile of biggest Michigan homers would probably not say that
he is. But he's a year younger, so you wouldn't,
you know. And he obviously can run the ball better
than Julian Saying can. But in terms of just the
throwing game, I don't think he's quite where Julian Sayne is.
But you work can see the progression for Bryce Underwood
(05:54):
week to week, and I feel like I can see
the progression for the wide receivers week to week as well.
That you know, for Michigan that has to be really
encouraging and we can get to smash Morgan later. But
you know, for the other two guys, it was you know,
those two guys, I feel like there's some stuff to
be really encouraged about for Michigan.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Well, Andrew Marsh was the other point that that I
took away from this game. Four catches eighty yards. He
has five catches for one hundred and ten yards on
the season. So this was his breakout game. We've seen
him flash. He mentioned the returns. He had a thirty
yard catchigin Central Michigan. But here he was finally fully
part of the offense, and you saw what happened. And
(06:35):
I think you're gonna continue to see that. He's not
gonna have four catches for eighty yards every game. Sometimes
at some point he'll have two for eleven and things
just happen. Happened to Marvin Harrison. I'm sure it'll happen
with the Marsh here as well. That not everything is
gonna be outstanding. But I will say, Tom, you mentioned
this Wisconsin defense. I'm just gonna go ahead and assume
(06:57):
and tell me if you think I'm crazy. This is
the first Big Ten defense in history, this Wisconsin defense
to give up back to back games of at least
two hundred and sixty five yards passing to true freshman quarterbacks.
They gave up two sixty five to Maryland and Malik
Washington gave up two hundred and seventy to Bryce Underwood.
(07:18):
So I know they've got some good parts, but that
pass defense for Wisconsin not great. And you even saw
the samas Morgan break a tackle on what would have
been an eight yard loss on a little inside give
end around on an outside linebacker.
Speaker 4 (07:35):
It's like, come on, you're like two.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Hundred and forty pounds and you're letting Samajge Morgan bust
you up. And that's not the first time Samos Morgan
has done that this year. Surprisingly, he's done it a
little bit of late. And so they're even getting stuff
out of Samaje Morgan. Now granted it's nine yards a catch,
and it's it's I do chuckle every time, like Gus
Johnson needs to call him down, anytime Bryce Underwood throws
(07:59):
the ball, or any time Samage Morgan gets to bother
like Samage Morgan out in space, it's like, yeah, out
in space four yards eight yards, it's not gonna be
generally a lot, and if it is, it's gonna be
the first time ever. And so I realize me saying
that they just guarantee it's seventy two yard catch and
run against Ohio State.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
I'll own it. I don't care.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Let's just let him do it first before we declare
him this masterful out in space kind of guy.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
He just for weeks and weeks and weeks, he'll have
his first catch the game and it's like, oh, look
at that, maybe they're gonna get him involved, and then
it just he finishes with four catches for thirty two
yards every week.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
I don't know how it happens.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
And he was, oh, sorry, he was five catches for
forty four yards this week.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
I was way off.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
So I apologize to Samage and the rest of the
Morgan family for that. But yeah, it feels like they've
got two wide receivers who like, look like, oh, these
are guys who can play and who can you know,
do things which Michigan has not had for you know,
long stretches. I can't remember the lost time they had
(09:02):
two wide receivers that you thought like, wow, these are
two pretty solid wide receivers who I think are probably
going to continue to get better. Like the trend line
there with those guys. It's not just their solid Their
trend line has been pretty good. When was the last
time you saw a Michigan passing offense look pretty competent
with the tight ends accounting for let's see three catches
(09:25):
for twenty six yards and the running backs accounting for
one catch for eight yards, So four catches for thirty
four yards for the running backs and tight ends together,
and Michigan had a perfectly competent passing offense that feels like,
you know it was, you know, throw it to Colston Loveland,
throw it to Donovan Edwards and one of those guys
(09:48):
is going to either have eight catches for eighty nine
yards or one catch for fifty four yards or something.
This was a Michigan passing offense driven by the quarterback
and the wide receivers.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
And even when Michigan did have two wide receivers twenty
twenty three with Roman Wilson and Cornelius Johnson at Coleston Loveland,
it was they all had the same number of catches
basically forty eight for Wilson, forty seven for Johnson, forty
five for Loveland. Then you got Donovan Edwards down there
with thirty a j Barner another tight end with twenty two.
So even when they had two competent wide receivers, two
(10:20):
pretty good wide receivers. They still involved everybody else as well,
and here this was a pretty dominating effort by the
Michigan wide receivers, which we haven't seen in a while.
So we'll see if that continues. I would hope for
their sake that it would. They might need it too
this weekend and at USC they're gonna need as many
(10:42):
big plays as they can get, so they'd want to
continue that, you know, along of thirty three for mccaullay,
along of thirty two for marsh if they can continue
to get explosives out of the the the passing game,
they'll take that.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
Tom.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
I expect them to continue getting explosives out of the
running game as long as they continue to give the
ball to Justice Haines Good seemingly for a forty yard
or two a week. He went for one hundred and
seventeen yards on nineteen carries and this one two touchdowns
along of forty three, Tom, they shot a graphic that
he was the first Michigan player since twenty ten to
(11:14):
have five one hundred yard rushing games to start the season.
That was Denard Robinson. And my thought is why not
find out who the last running back was, Like, let's
let's let's find that aspect of this because this is
it's even further back for a running back, right, So
let's give just the sayings more credit by looking to
find out who the last running back was, because it
(11:35):
may have been you know, maybe it's like John Vall
in nineteen ninety one or whatever, like who knows.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
I went back while you were talking, and I remember
Cornelius Johnson having that big of a year in twenty
twenty three?
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Twenty how many quick?
Speaker 2 (11:50):
How many touchdowns in Cornelius Johnson catch in twenty twenty three?
Speaker 4 (11:54):
Was it six?
Speaker 3 (11:56):
Was it one? He sure was.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
So that if you're wondering why I don't remember Michigan
having two really dynamic wide receivers in twenty twenty three,
well there are reasons anyway. Justice Hayes, Yeah, Justice Haines
is he's just kind of we I mean, really good.
My notes say Justice Haynes really good, which glad I.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
Wrote that down.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
But you know he will make guys miss has good
burst hits the corner, will hit the long one, not
not all the time, but hit a forty three yarder
in this one a couple of touchdowns. He is just
he is basically, you know, central casting good Michigan running back,
Like yep, that's what he looks like, good Michigan running
back right there and does what they need him to do.
(12:37):
And they don't need him to be a you know,
he had nineteen carries. They don't need him to be
the twenty five carrier game guy. And I don't know
that they really feel like, I'm a little surprised you're
not seeing more Jordan Marshall frankly nine carries forty four
yards for him, just not you know, it's it's been fine.
Four point nine yards of carry's fine, but he It
(12:59):
feels like there's a big gap between RB one and
RB two for Michigan this year. But a lot of
that is because RB one is pretty darn good and
you're seeing you know, he didn't have the impact in
the passing game that you typically see for Michigan running back.
But if they're able to get it out of the
wide receivers, then you just need to you know, just
need to be able to run the ball, and he's
doing that with great effect.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
I am you know, I am.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Very interested to see this Michigan defense or the Michigan
offense go on the road this weekend to go play USC,
because obviously the last time they went on the road
it did not go great, but that was against an
Oklahoma defense that's a I mean, like a really good
Oklahoma defense. This is a weekend when I am very
intrigued to see what is Bryce underwould look like because
it feels like he's taken several steps since that Oklahoma game.
(13:45):
So you know, what does he look like on the road,
and what are they able to do this weekend? How
do see offensive line hold up on the road? All
of that stuff, because you know this is this is
not a great USC team by any means, but it's
also one of the biggest tests that Michigan's going to
have between now in the Ohio State game. So this
feels like, if they could get through this, you're probably
(14:09):
legitimately having a college football playoff conversation about them all
the way through the end of the regular season.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Yeah, this is going to be a very interesting Michigan
USC game, certainly more interesting than Michigan Wisconsin. Michigan and
if they do get through this, USC has the number
one scoring offense in the Big ten, middle of the pack,
Big ten defense, Michigan middle of the pack, Big ten offense.
I think we'd say one of the better Big ten
(14:35):
defenses for the Wolverines. And I'm I don't this is
a three thirty kick? Is that correct? So we'll get
three thirty or seven thirty? No, it's a seventh thirty.
I think we'll be able to listen to it on
the drive home from Illinois and it's one that we'll
be locked in on for sure. And I'm just I
(14:59):
think the attacking of the Michigan secondary and we can
switch to the Michigan defensive side of the ball now
because there wasn't there wasn't a lot of standout defensively
because there's not a lot to stand out about when
you're playing Wisconsin really, I mean, it's just just a
bunch of mashing. It's like, ooh, that guy's a really
(15:19):
good demolition driver, Like did you see the way he
steers into the right side of the side panel of
that car? And it's like there's an art to it.
I'm sure, but we're I'm not nuanced enough to know
who is a good demo car driver. Like watching somebody
succeed against Wisconsin's offense. Sure, whatever you should. That's kind
(15:40):
of how I feel with Wisconsin going out there with
their third quarterback and Hunter Simmons doing actually not terrible
eighteen of twenty nine for one to seventy seven through
an interception to Rod Moore, who looks like he's fully back.
He covered about half a field to get to the
interception that was thrown into triple coverage. So good job
Rod Moore and catching that. Good to see him back,
(16:02):
presumably fully And even if he's not fully by now,
Tom by the time Ohio State gets there, there's gonna
be He's gonna be fully healthy. Bryce Underwood is no
longer going to be a true freshman. And it feels
like the sooner Ohio State could play Michigan the better
because there'd be less of Matt Patricia's defense. You can see,
they'd be like Rod Moore still working his way back.
(16:24):
The Michigan that Ohio State season November is uh should
be the best, the very best version of the Wolverines.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Yeah, if if everyone's healthy, then that's gonna be a
very very talented Michigan team by the time they get
to Ohio State.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
I do just.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Get real nervous every time I see Bryce Underwood running
the ball, Like, I know, he's a big dude, but
have they played anyone else at quarterback all season? I
feel like I can't, off the top of my head
think of anyone else taking snaps.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
They have, but he just okay, they're just handing the
ball off basically.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Okay, okay, yeah, I I every time I watch Bryce
Underwood take a hit, it's kind of like, I, you know, yeah,
yes he's big, Yes he is elusive. He doesn't take
a lot of real direct hits, but it just feels
like so much of their season hinges on keeping him healthy.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
And you know, it's different than when.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
We were watching Demon Williams for Washington and it's like,
you are so tiny, you should not take these hits.
Bryce Underwood is a big dude, big strong dude. You
still like boy. A lot of Michigan season hinges on
keeping Bryce Underwood healthy. So I kind of cringe a
little bit when he takes those big hits. But on
the defensive side of the ball, yeah, Rod Moore had
to be him written down where he just even before
(17:36):
the interception, I just I wrote down like he didn't
have a big statistical day, but you just kind of
felt him.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
He was just a.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Round the ball, just a really you know, he was
Rod Moore. He was exactly you come to expect from
Rod Moore, very very solid on the back end. He's
going to be a very very important part of the
defense when they play a more competent passing attack, you know,
such as this weekend. This is going to be a
big Rod More game this weekend out at USC. The
other guy I wanted to mention was Derek Moore. Felt
like he had a pretty good game coming off the edge.
(18:05):
Josh Unbaram had a little bit of a closer, a
quieter game, And you know, again.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
It feels like teams sometimes.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Are able to run at him in a way that
you might be able to. You know, if he if
he's coming off the edge, he is hell on wheels.
If you run right at him, you're gonna have maybe
more success than trying to just let him rush off
the edge. So it feels like that's maybe something to just.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
Kind of keep your eye on there.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
And the only other note I had is another missed
field goal.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
And I know this was a low snap, but you.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Know, you're getting just some weird wonky stuff out of
the Michigan special teams that you didn't in previous seasons.
This was, you know, I saw, I just saw in
the box score that Ida had missed another field goal
and it was like a twenty seven yard or a
thirty two yard or something.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
It was like, what the heck is going on?
Speaker 2 (18:53):
And you watch and it's it was a low snap,
so you know, okay, so that's not on him, but
just especially the field goals for so automatic for Michigan
for years, and it's just been one little weird thing
goes wrong and all of a sudden it's not automatic anymore.
And when you're going to play a game against a
team like USC where, okay, now you can't just out
(19:13):
talent them necessarily.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
That's the kind of thing.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
That you'd better be able to execute the basic stuff
like that because a field goal might be what decides
the game.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
And they also had a batsnap different different guy, the
center bat snap on a fourth down that was a
little bit low and had some hot sauce on it,
and Bryce Underwore dropped it and had to just dive
on it and they lost possession because it was fourth downs,
Just little things like that, Yeah, you can, you can
handle it at home against Wisconsin. I don't think it's
(19:42):
gonna be good news on the road at usc in
a sold out environment, Tom, but I'm gonna assume it's
probably might be closer to fifty to fifty than ninety
ten in terms of the crowd out there. I'm looking
forward to it. I this, if usc Is is good,
(20:03):
they should win this Michigan. I guess is it if
they do win, this is it time to start believing
in them? Or is this I guess it just depends
because if this is a game that us he just
loses and it's like, oh yeah, this was this is
one where I'm not gonna give Michigan any credit. Or
(20:27):
if they just go in and maybe suffocate USC and
and you know, harass Jade Marava Like I I think
they can get after Zeke Barry at Quarner. I think
they did get after Jarrah Hill at quarter a little bit,
but his pass interference was not called on the Rod
Moore interception. So we've been saying it all year, like
(20:49):
these quarters can be had. Rod Moore makes them better,
but he can only be in one place at a time.
So I'm very interested to see how this secondary gets
attacked by the USC passing game.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Yeah, it's definitely gonna be the best tests they have gotten,
probably at least since the Oklahoma game, and probably outside
of that all season. I mean, Nebraska was Nebraska was okay,
but Nebraska doesn't have great wide receivers that Barney I
think had a nice game in that one. But in
the past game, but that was kind of it in
that one, and you're gonna get You're gonna get a
(21:20):
better test this weekend. I am fascinated to see what
this game looks like because if Michigan wins this game,
here's the rest of their schedule. Yeah, Washington at home
at Michigan State, Purdue at home at Northwestern, at Maryland,
Ohio State before you get to Ohio State. Which of
those games is Michigan even like a thirty five or
(21:44):
forty percent likely to lose?
Speaker 3 (21:45):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
I would have them as a favorite of you know,
at least a you know, at least a four or
five point favorite at least in probably all of those games,
probably closer to a touchdown or more and most of them,
and you know, the thing really to me is your
road games are at Michigan State, which you know that's
a weird series and weird things happen, but it's an
in state game. You know, that's you're not going.
Speaker 3 (22:08):
You're not.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
You don't have to get out a big scary airplan
like James Franklin did last week. But then you're going
you play Northwestern at Wrigley, You're playing at Maryland, like,
none of these are you know, we were at the
Ohio State Northwestern game at Wrigley last year. That game
was ninety eight percent Ohio State fans, and I'm sure
it's going to be ninety eight percent Michigan fans at
that one this year.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
Maryland. That is not a scary road environment. You know,
it's there.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
If Michigan wins this game, there is a very good
chance in my mind that they enter that Ohio State
game eleven and one or ten in one and then
even if you just have a competitive.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
Loss, you're probably in the playoff.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
I mean, this is this is not quite a playoff
play in game for Michigan, but it's close ish. If
they lose this one.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
Then you've really got to run the table.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Probably you win this one, boy, that's they are maybe
gonna be playoff, you know, looking looking like you're kind
of punching your ticket to the playoff a little bit
at that point. And then if you can continue to
keep Bryce Underwood healthy and if he can continue to
grow with Andrew marsh and guys like that, this is
a team that might not be you know, I don't
(23:17):
want to spoil it.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
They're not winning the national championship this year.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
But I also if I'm you know, Tennessee or Ole
miss or something, I don't know that I want to
see Michigan lining up across from me and round one
of the playoffs, that that might not that might not
be a great matchup for some teams if they can
continue to progress the way that they.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
Have, Yeah, because there's enough there to do damage. Similar
to how like Treel Pryor got Ohio State to the
BCS and every year that he played college football, And
if there's a twelve team playoff in two thousand and eight,
how many teams would have wanted to play Ohio State
at that point in the season. So that's an interesting question.
But the later on in the season, the better they get.
(23:58):
I do wonder looking at this USC thing, you say,
if Michigan wins, they're pretty much in.
Speaker 4 (24:06):
USC.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
They need this one, and then they still need to
win at Notre Dame or at Oregon, and still also
need to win at Nebraska, and that's no easy thing
for them. So they've got a much tougher slate of
games just because of those road games and that that
rivalry with Notre Dame, which Michigan used to have.
Speaker 4 (24:27):
They said, we don't want it anymore.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
USC still still mainly enough to go ahead and want
that rivalry, want that smoke, and then they're gonna have
to handle it the week after the Michigan game on
the road. Hope it's not too chilly as the leaves
are changing colors.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Yeah, Lincoln, Lincoln Riley famously all about that smoke. That's
that is definitely what his career. That's why he's still
at Oklahoma. Not scared of the SEC. Didn't think you
know where I'm gonna go. I'm gonna go to the
Pac twelve and wait, what's that? Oh no, oh no, yes,
their remaining schedule uh Michigan, uh than than at Notre Dame,
(25:05):
then a week off than at Nebraska, Northwestern at home.
I'll give them that one Iowa at home, probably get
that one at Oregon. Boy, that's uh. I don't think
I will tell you. I would be have been pretty
surprised if you told me in in April that we'd
be here in October, and I'd be saying I am
way more confident in Michigan potentially making the College footballlayoff.
(25:27):
They certainly have a way better chance of making the
college football playoff than USC does at this point. And
you know a lot of that is schedule based, but
also Michigan, Michigan is a better team that I was
expecting them to be at this point in the in
the calendar again not you know, you can you can
go ahead and book whatever trips you want a book for,
(25:49):
Like MLK weekend season is gonna be over at that point.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
It's fine, but it's gonna be. It's gonna be a.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
More interesting back half of the season for Michigan than
I was I was expecting it to pay.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
I still fully expect USC to win this weekend, but
it's it's just there's still a low, a harder road
for USC to go. And I thought you were making
when I said all the smoke and you may you
talked Lake Kiffin or Lincoln Riley.
Speaker 4 (26:16):
I thought you're gonna make a brisket.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Joke, yes, And I thought about it. Didn't want to
want to derail us too much. We do that enough already.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
So yes, So there you go. Anything else that you
wanted to touch on about this game, please don't.
Speaker 4 (26:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
I think I think we've covered most of the most
of the big stuff that I had. And yeah, I'm
interested to see the Michigan the Michigan USC game. I'm
just gonna while we're while we're talking right now, I'm
gonna pull up SP plus and just sort of see, Yeah,
it has it has USC by like a field goal
(26:50):
thirty to twenty seven.
Speaker 3 (26:51):
I mean that's a yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
If Michigan scores twenty seven points, is that Is that
a good thing? If the game gets.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
Up to you know, the if the if.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Both the score in the high twenties, is that a
good thing for Michigan or a bad thing for Michigan?
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Probably bad. I think USC is more comfortable there. But
I kind of feel like this is going to be
high scoring, and since I like USC in this one,
that maybe that's good for for USC. But low scoring
is certainly better for Michigan.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
Right, Yeah, I would. I would say maybe. I mean,
no one, no one loves.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Rock fights more than Michigan, So outside of outside of
like the service academies, no one loves rock fights more
than Michigan. So yeah, I would, I would say the
higher scoring it is better for USC.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
Probably.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
I'm I'm, like you said earlier, fascinated to see what
the how these Michigan corners hold up against what will
be probably the best passing attack they've.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
Faced so far. Probably.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
You know, Oklahoma with John Matteri is solid, but you
know he's more of a dual threat type than a
pure pocket passer.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
So I'm on odd Shark looking at this, and the
opening odds for this had Michigan minus one and a half.
And so my question was, is are these opening back
in like July or August? Right now, it's USC minus
two and a half minus three. I wouldn't expect Michigan
to open as a favorite. That seems that seems more
(28:27):
like a summer line than a fall line. But you know,
it was quickly corrected by by the betters.
Speaker 4 (28:37):
But we'll see how it goes.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
By the famously skilled and knowledgeable gambling public. So there
you go, why bother even playing the game, certainly, and.
Speaker 4 (28:46):
Why bother even betting? So that will do it.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
If you're watching on YouTube, please hit the thumbs up.
We would appreciate that, and of course, if you're listening,
a five star writing and review on any podcast platform
for choice is always appreciated, and as always, you can
find us up buckehuddle dot com where we're talking about
Ohio State, Michigan a lot to talk about in the
Big Ten.
Speaker 4 (29:05):
Did you guys see what happened with Penn State? Talking
about that as well? Boy, no, no, listen, we gotta go.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
We don't need to like that's that's Penn State Pooh's days.
As Tom would say, Uh, did you want to throw
something at Tom?
Speaker 4 (29:19):
Did you No?
Speaker 2 (29:20):
I was just gonna say, Michigan's going out to Los Angeles?
What could possibly go wrong for a former Big ten
East powerhouse heading west to the city of Angels Tony?
What could possibly go wrong?
Speaker 1 (29:32):
I wonder if they're gonna get out there Thursday. The
good news is they can just go to the Detroit Airport,
which has runways long enough to get to California, unlike
the Penn State and Ndney Lions. They have to bus
to an airport to get on a plane with the
runways long enough. So thank you all forrtunity in as again.
Find us at buckeyehuddle dot com. Say hello to us
there on the Buckeyehuddle message board presented by jeff Ryby's Columbus.
(29:55):
Thank you opportunity again and we'll talk to you all later.
Hello, everybody, Welcome to the Buckeye Weekly Podcast. I'm Tony
Gerdaman here as always with Tom or Tom.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
How's it going, Tony get a chance to talk about
the Michigan and Wisconsin game. Can I be real honest,
I'm perfectly fine with watching the rest of the Michigan
games this year for the segment.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
I am so annoyed at the.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Fact that we have to watch and with at least
one more Wisconsin game because we're going to be in
Madison for the Buckeyes game. Like, I feel like I've
seen what I need to see out of Wisconsin football
this year, and maybe maybe we can just be done
with that.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Yeah, I think you're right about that. Did we even
did we even rewatch? Did we watching Ohio game in
preparation for the Ohio game? I can't remember, but I don't, okay,
I don't feel like there's a need to rewatch any
other Wisconsin games in the lead up for the Wisconsin game.
Speaker 4 (00:52):
We're gonna be watching Illinois.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
We watched, you know, all kinds of teams, but I
don't want to watch any more Wisconsin than we have to,
like this game on the Ohio State game and maybe
in preparation for the Big Ten championship game.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
That's it.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
I'm I'm perfectly fine with not even watching the Ohio
State Wisconsin game. We can just go up there, we
can get some cheese curds, we'll hang out, we'll spend
some time in Madison. Maybe if the weather's nice, go
hit the student union and then you know, get the
car head home. I think I think I can pretty
much do our postgame show right now. Tony Wisconsin wasn't
able to do anything on offense. Defense looked okay, but boy,
(01:31):
the Badgers really couldn't sustain any drives as Ohio State
wins thirty eight to nothing. That's how does that sound
about right?
Speaker 4 (01:38):
That sounds about right.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Although I will say, Tom, I know this is not
an Ohio State podcast. This is a Michigan Monday podcast.
The last time Ohio State went to Madison ranked number
one was twenty ten, and they left that town as losers.
So let's just keep that in mind. Anything can happen.
You know, we saw what happened with Penn State and UCLA.
(02:04):
I don't see any I don't see Nico Iamliava walking.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
Through that door or Jerry new Heizel walking through that door, or.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Anybody Franklin walking through the door on the Ohio state
side of the field.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
I don't think.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
I don't think so, Tony. We should talk, though we
don't want to talk about Wisconsin. I do. I am
kind of interested to talk a little bit about Michigan.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
In this game. So let's let's do that instead.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
And there's two points that stand out to me about
Michigan in this game, and the first is that we
finally saw the Donovan McCauley that was promised and he
is the wide receiver transfer from Indiana. Caught six passes
for one hundred and twelve yards and a touchdown. Nice
touchdown on a catch and run, broke some tackles, bounced out,
(02:49):
took it the distance, caught a nice long one I
think down the sidelines and had his foot and bounds
and the head to review it. The most important part
of all of this for me, seven targets, six catches,
because Donovan McCauley and quarterback price underwould have had issues
all season long in just being on the same page,
and this one they were finally on the same page
(03:12):
and you saw the results as part of the price Under.
What's two hundred and seventy yards passing on the day.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Yeah, they were on the same page, and they were
on the same page against a pretty decent defense. You know,
I said it earlier at the Wisconsin offense is just
garbage juice. But the Wisconsin defense is not bad. They're
not you know, this is not amazing defense. I think
FBI had there somewhere in the thirties maybe, but it's
a solid defense overall. And Michigan was able to throw
(03:40):
the ball against this defense, and that's something that you
don't really expect to see Michigan has.
Speaker 4 (03:46):
You know.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
And even after the game, I saw people saying, well,
Michigan still doesn't have wide receivers.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
It's like, don't.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
I mean, I feel like I saw more from Michigan's
wide receivers on Saturday against Wisconsin than I have pretty
much any other game. Because, yeah, Donovan McCully was really solid.
Six catches, one hundred and twelve yards, as you said,
one hundred, had the touchdown. You know, catches on seven
targets is solid, and eighteen point seven yards per catch,
that's solid. And then I think we also need to
(04:11):
talk about Andrew marsh because this is the most we've
seen from him.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
He is the true freshman.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Wide receiver out of Texas that they, you know, were
very high on. And you saw him early in the
season and he fumbled that he was a kickoff return
in the season opener, and you know, just you know,
you as a true freshman, you can play your way
out of the circle of trust pretty easily.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
And I think that was probably enough to do that.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
The fact that they had him returning kicks and the
season opener was sort of instructive in terms of what
they think of him.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
And then okay, you fumble, so then you don't play
for play much for a couple of weeks.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Then he was back and you know, he had he
had a really solid day. Four catches, eighty yards, had
a long, you know, the long of thirty two. But
four catches on four targets.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
That's that's all right.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
That is okay, you're getting open the throws there, the
throws on top. I'm you know, Bryce Underwood, you're seeing
more from Bryce Underwood.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
This is this was a little.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Bit like the Ohio State game where you had okay,
Julian saying, sure, Julian saying, is completing eighty percent of
his passes, but he's not throwing.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
The ball downfield.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
And then okay, now he's throwing the ball downfield. You
can see them sort of taking the training wheels off
a little bit. Michigan, Bryce Underwood is a true freshman.
Is not to the level where Julian Saye is right now.
I don't think even the biggest Michigan homer in the
world as would say that he is.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
But your your face says.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Maybe, okay, anyone outside of the you know, ninety eighth
percentile of biggest Michigan homers would probably not say that
he is. But he's a year younger, so you wouldn't,
you know. And he obviously can run the ball better
than Julian Saying can. But in terms of just the
throwing game, I don't think he's quite where Julian Sayne is.
But you work can see the progression for Bryce Underwood
(05:54):
week to week, and I feel like I can see
the progression for the wide receivers week to week as well.
That you know, for Michigan that has to be really
encouraging and we can get to smash Morgan later. But
you know, for the other two guys, it was you know,
those two guys, I feel like there's some stuff to
be really encouraged about for Michigan.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Well, Andrew Marsh was the other point that that I
took away from this game. Four catches eighty yards. He
has five catches for one hundred and ten yards on
the season. So this was his breakout game. We've seen
him flash. He mentioned the returns. He had a thirty
yard catchigin Central Michigan. But here he was finally fully
part of the offense, and you saw what happened. And
(06:35):
I think you're gonna continue to see that. He's not
gonna have four catches for eighty yards every game. Sometimes
at some point he'll have two for eleven and things
just happen. Happened to Marvin Harrison. I'm sure it'll happen
with the Marsh here as well. That not everything is
gonna be outstanding. But I will say, Tom, you mentioned
this Wisconsin defense. I'm just gonna go ahead and assume
(06:57):
and tell me if you think I'm crazy. This is
the first Big Ten defense in history, this Wisconsin defense
to give up back to back games of at least
two hundred and sixty five yards passing to true freshman quarterbacks.
They gave up two sixty five to Maryland and Malik
Washington gave up two hundred and seventy to Bryce Underwood.
(07:18):
So I know they've got some good parts, but that
pass defense for Wisconsin not great. And you even saw
the samas Morgan break a tackle on what would have
been an eight yard loss on a little inside give
end around on an outside linebacker.
Speaker 4 (07:35):
It's like, come on, you're like two.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Hundred and forty pounds and you're letting Samajge Morgan bust
you up. And that's not the first time Samos Morgan
has done that this year. Surprisingly, he's done it a
little bit of late. And so they're even getting stuff
out of Samaje Morgan. Now granted it's nine yards a catch,
and it's it's I do chuckle every time, like Gus
Johnson needs to call him down, anytime Bryce Underwood throws
(07:59):
the ball, or any time Samage Morgan gets to bother
like Samage Morgan out in space, it's like, yeah, out
in space four yards eight yards, it's not gonna be
generally a lot, and if it is, it's gonna be
the first time ever. And so I realize me saying
that they just guarantee it's seventy two yard catch and
run against Ohio State.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
I'll own it. I don't care.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Let's just let him do it first before we declare
him this masterful out in space kind of guy.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
He just for weeks and weeks and weeks, he'll have
his first catch the game and it's like, oh, look
at that, maybe they're gonna get him involved, and then
it just he finishes with four catches for thirty two
yards every week.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
I don't know how it happens.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
And he was, oh, sorry, he was five catches for
forty four yards this week.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
I was way off.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
So I apologize to Samage and the rest of the
Morgan family for that. But yeah, it feels like they've
got two wide receivers who like, look like, oh, these
are guys who can play and who can you know,
do things which Michigan has not had for you know,
long stretches. I can't remember the lost time they had
(09:02):
two wide receivers that you thought like, wow, these are
two pretty solid wide receivers who I think are probably
going to continue to get better. Like the trend line
there with those guys. It's not just their solid Their
trend line has been pretty good. When was the last
time you saw a Michigan passing offense look pretty competent
with the tight ends accounting for let's see three catches
(09:25):
for twenty six yards and the running backs accounting for
one catch for eight yards, So four catches for thirty
four yards for the running backs and tight ends together,
and Michigan had a perfectly competent passing offense that feels like,
you know it was, you know, throw it to Colston Loveland,
throw it to Donovan Edwards and one of those guys
(09:48):
is going to either have eight catches for eighty nine
yards or one catch for fifty four yards or something.
This was a Michigan passing offense driven by the quarterback
and the wide receivers.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
And even when Michigan did have two wide receivers twenty
twenty three with Roman Wilson and Cornelius Johnson at Coleston Loveland,
it was they all had the same number of catches
basically forty eight for Wilson, forty seven for Johnson, forty
five for Loveland. Then you got Donovan Edwards down there
with thirty a j Barner another tight end with twenty two.
So even when they had two competent wide receivers, two
(10:20):
pretty good wide receivers. They still involved everybody else as well,
and here this was a pretty dominating effort by the
Michigan wide receivers, which we haven't seen in a while.
So we'll see if that continues. I would hope for
their sake that it would. They might need it too
this weekend and at USC they're gonna need as many
(10:42):
big plays as they can get, so they'd want to
continue that, you know, along of thirty three for mccaullay,
along of thirty two for marsh if they can continue
to get explosives out of the the the passing game,
they'll take that.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
Tom.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
I expect them to continue getting explosives out of the
running game as long as they continue to give the
ball to Justice Haines Good seemingly for a forty yard
or two a week. He went for one hundred and
seventeen yards on nineteen carries and this one two touchdowns
along of forty three, Tom, they shot a graphic that
he was the first Michigan player since twenty ten to
(11:14):
have five one hundred yard rushing games to start the season.
That was Denard Robinson. And my thought is why not
find out who the last running back was, Like, let's
let's let's find that aspect of this because this is
it's even further back for a running back, right, So
let's give just the sayings more credit by looking to
find out who the last running back was, because it
(11:35):
may have been you know, maybe it's like John Vall
in nineteen ninety one or whatever, like who knows.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
I went back while you were talking, and I remember
Cornelius Johnson having that big of a year in twenty
twenty three?
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Twenty how many quick?
Speaker 2 (11:50):
How many touchdowns in Cornelius Johnson catch in twenty twenty three?
Speaker 4 (11:54):
Was it six?
Speaker 3 (11:56):
Was it one? He sure was.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
So that if you're wondering why I don't remember Michigan
having two really dynamic wide receivers in twenty twenty three,
well there are reasons anyway. Justice Hayes, Yeah, Justice Haines
is he's just kind of we I mean, really good.
My notes say Justice Haynes really good, which glad I.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
Wrote that down.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
But you know he will make guys miss has good
burst hits the corner, will hit the long one, not
not all the time, but hit a forty three yarder
in this one a couple of touchdowns. He is just
he is basically, you know, central casting good Michigan running back,
Like yep, that's what he looks like, good Michigan running
back right there and does what they need him to do.
(12:37):
And they don't need him to be a you know,
he had nineteen carries. They don't need him to be
the twenty five carrier game guy. And I don't know
that they really feel like, I'm a little surprised you're
not seeing more Jordan Marshall frankly nine carries forty four
yards for him, just not you know, it's it's been fine.
Four point nine yards of carry's fine, but he It
(12:59):
feels like there's a big gap between RB one and
RB two for Michigan this year. But a lot of
that is because RB one is pretty darn good and
you're seeing you know, he didn't have the impact in
the passing game that you typically see for Michigan running back.
But if they're able to get it out of the
wide receivers, then you just need to you know, just
need to be able to run the ball, and he's
doing that with great effect.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
I am you know, I am.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Very interested to see this Michigan defense or the Michigan
offense go on the road this weekend to go play USC,
because obviously the last time they went on the road
it did not go great, but that was against an
Oklahoma defense that's a I mean, like a really good
Oklahoma defense. This is a weekend when I am very
intrigued to see what is Bryce underwould look like because
it feels like he's taken several steps since that Oklahoma game.
(13:45):
So you know, what does he look like on the road,
and what are they able to do this weekend? How
do see offensive line hold up on the road? All
of that stuff, because you know this is this is
not a great USC team by any means, but it's
also one of the biggest tests that Michigan's going to
have between now in the Ohio State game. So this
feels like, if they could get through this, you're probably
(14:09):
legitimately having a college football playoff conversation about them all
the way through the end of the regular season.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Yeah, this is going to be a very interesting Michigan
USC game, certainly more interesting than Michigan Wisconsin. Michigan and
if they do get through this, USC has the number
one scoring offense in the Big ten, middle of the pack,
Big ten defense, Michigan middle of the pack, Big ten offense.
I think we'd say one of the better Big ten
(14:35):
defenses for the Wolverines. And I'm I don't this is
a three thirty kick? Is that correct? So we'll get
three thirty or seven thirty? No, it's a seventh thirty.
I think we'll be able to listen to it on
the drive home from Illinois and it's one that we'll
be locked in on for sure. And I'm just I
(14:59):
think the attacking of the Michigan secondary and we can
switch to the Michigan defensive side of the ball now
because there wasn't there wasn't a lot of standout defensively
because there's not a lot to stand out about when
you're playing Wisconsin really, I mean, it's just just a
bunch of mashing. It's like, ooh, that guy's a really
(15:19):
good demolition driver, Like did you see the way he
steers into the right side of the side panel of
that car? And it's like there's an art to it.
I'm sure, but we're I'm not nuanced enough to know
who is a good demo car driver. Like watching somebody
succeed against Wisconsin's offense. Sure, whatever you should. That's kind
(15:40):
of how I feel with Wisconsin going out there with
their third quarterback and Hunter Simmons doing actually not terrible
eighteen of twenty nine for one to seventy seven through
an interception to Rod Moore, who looks like he's fully back.
He covered about half a field to get to the
interception that was thrown into triple coverage. So good job
Rod Moore and catching that. Good to see him back,
(16:02):
presumably fully And even if he's not fully by now,
Tom by the time Ohio State gets there, there's gonna
be He's gonna be fully healthy. Bryce Underwood is no
longer going to be a true freshman. And it feels
like the sooner Ohio State could play Michigan the better
because there'd be less of Matt Patricia's defense. You can see,
they'd be like Rod Moore still working his way back.
(16:24):
The Michigan that Ohio State season November is uh should
be the best, the very best version of the Wolverines.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Yeah, if if everyone's healthy, then that's gonna be a
very very talented Michigan team by the time they get
to Ohio State.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
I do just.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Get real nervous every time I see Bryce Underwood running
the ball, Like, I know, he's a big dude, but
have they played anyone else at quarterback all season? I
feel like I can't, off the top of my head
think of anyone else taking snaps.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
They have, but he just okay, they're just handing the
ball off basically.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Okay, okay, yeah, I I every time I watch Bryce
Underwood take a hit, it's kind of like, I, you know, yeah,
yes he's big, Yes he is elusive. He doesn't take
a lot of real direct hits, but it just feels
like so much of their season hinges on keeping him healthy.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
And you know, it's different than when.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
We were watching Demon Williams for Washington and it's like,
you are so tiny, you should not take these hits.
Bryce Underwood is a big dude, big strong dude. You
still like boy. A lot of Michigan season hinges on
keeping Bryce Underwood healthy. So I kind of cringe a
little bit when he takes those big hits. But on
the defensive side of the ball, yeah, Rod Moore had
to be him written down where he just even before
(17:36):
the interception, I just I wrote down like he didn't
have a big statistical day, but you just kind of
felt him.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
He was just a.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Round the ball, just a really you know, he was
Rod Moore. He was exactly you come to expect from
Rod Moore, very very solid on the back end. He's
going to be a very very important part of the
defense when they play a more competent passing attack, you know,
such as this weekend. This is going to be a
big Rod More game this weekend out at USC. The
other guy I wanted to mention was Derek Moore. Felt
like he had a pretty good game coming off the edge.
(18:05):
Josh Unbaram had a little bit of a closer, a
quieter game, And you know, again.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
It feels like teams sometimes.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Are able to run at him in a way that
you might be able to. You know, if he if
he's coming off the edge, he is hell on wheels.
If you run right at him, you're gonna have maybe
more success than trying to just let him rush off
the edge. So it feels like that's maybe something to just.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
Kind of keep your eye on there.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
And the only other note I had is another missed
field goal.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
And I know this was a low snap, but you.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Know, you're getting just some weird wonky stuff out of
the Michigan special teams that you didn't in previous seasons.
This was, you know, I saw, I just saw in
the box score that Ida had missed another field goal
and it was like a twenty seven yard or a
thirty two yard or something.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
It was like, what the heck is going on?
Speaker 2 (18:53):
And you watch and it's it was a low snap,
so you know, okay, so that's not on him, but
just especially the field goals for so automatic for Michigan
for years, and it's just been one little weird thing
goes wrong and all of a sudden it's not automatic anymore.
And when you're going to play a game against a
team like USC where, okay, now you can't just out
(19:13):
talent them necessarily.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
That's the kind of thing.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
That you'd better be able to execute the basic stuff
like that because a field goal might be what decides
the game.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
And they also had a batsnap different different guy, the
center bat snap on a fourth down that was a
little bit low and had some hot sauce on it,
and Bryce Underwore dropped it and had to just dive
on it and they lost possession because it was fourth downs,
Just little things like that, Yeah, you can, you can
handle it at home against Wisconsin. I don't think it's
(19:42):
gonna be good news on the road at usc in
a sold out environment, Tom, but I'm gonna assume it's
probably might be closer to fifty to fifty than ninety
ten in terms of the crowd out there. I'm looking
forward to it. I this, if usc Is is good,
(20:03):
they should win this Michigan. I guess is it if
they do win, this is it time to start believing
in them? Or is this I guess it just depends
because if this is a game that us he just
loses and it's like, oh yeah, this was this is
one where I'm not gonna give Michigan any credit. Or
(20:27):
if they just go in and maybe suffocate USC and
and you know, harass Jade Marava Like I I think
they can get after Zeke Barry at Quarner. I think
they did get after Jarrah Hill at quarter a little bit,
but his pass interference was not called on the Rod
Moore interception. So we've been saying it all year, like
(20:49):
these quarters can be had. Rod Moore makes them better,
but he can only be in one place at a time.
So I'm very interested to see how this secondary gets
attacked by the USC passing game.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Yeah, it's definitely gonna be the best tests they have gotten,
probably at least since the Oklahoma game, and probably outside
of that all season. I mean, Nebraska was Nebraska was okay,
but Nebraska doesn't have great wide receivers that Barney I
think had a nice game in that one. But in
the past game, but that was kind of it in
that one, and you're gonna get You're gonna get a
(21:20):
better test this weekend. I am fascinated to see what
this game looks like because if Michigan wins this game,
here's the rest of their schedule. Yeah, Washington at home
at Michigan State, Purdue at home at Northwestern, at Maryland,
Ohio State before you get to Ohio State. Which of
those games is Michigan even like a thirty five or
(21:44):
forty percent likely to lose?
Speaker 3 (21:45):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
I would have them as a favorite of you know,
at least a you know, at least a four or
five point favorite at least in probably all of those games,
probably closer to a touchdown or more and most of them,
and you know, the thing really to me is your
road games are at Michigan State, which you know that's
a weird series and weird things happen, but it's an
in state game. You know, that's you're not going.
Speaker 3 (22:08):
You're not.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
You don't have to get out a big scary airplan
like James Franklin did last week. But then you're going
you play Northwestern at Wrigley, You're playing at Maryland, like,
none of these are you know, we were at the
Ohio State Northwestern game at Wrigley last year. That game
was ninety eight percent Ohio State fans, and I'm sure
it's going to be ninety eight percent Michigan fans at
that one this year.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
Maryland. That is not a scary road environment. You know,
it's there.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
If Michigan wins this game, there is a very good
chance in my mind that they enter that Ohio State
game eleven and one or ten in one and then
even if you just have a competitive.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
Loss, you're probably in the playoff.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
I mean, this is this is not quite a playoff
play in game for Michigan, but it's close ish. If
they lose this one.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
Then you've really got to run the table.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Probably you win this one, boy, that's they are maybe
gonna be playoff, you know, looking looking like you're kind
of punching your ticket to the playoff a little bit
at that point. And then if you can continue to
keep Bryce Underwood healthy and if he can continue to
grow with Andrew marsh and guys like that, this is
a team that might not be you know, I don't
(23:17):
want to spoil it.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
They're not winning the national championship this year.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
But I also if I'm you know, Tennessee or Ole
miss or something, I don't know that I want to
see Michigan lining up across from me and round one
of the playoffs, that that might not that might not
be a great matchup for some teams if they can
continue to progress the way that they.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
Have, Yeah, because there's enough there to do damage. Similar
to how like Treel Pryor got Ohio State to the
BCS and every year that he played college football, And
if there's a twelve team playoff in two thousand and eight,
how many teams would have wanted to play Ohio State
at that point in the season. So that's an interesting question.
But the later on in the season, the better they get.
(23:58):
I do wonder looking at this USC thing, you say,
if Michigan wins, they're pretty much in.
Speaker 4 (24:06):
USC.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
They need this one, and then they still need to
win at Notre Dame or at Oregon, and still also
need to win at Nebraska, and that's no easy thing
for them. So they've got a much tougher slate of
games just because of those road games and that that
rivalry with Notre Dame, which Michigan used to have.
Speaker 4 (24:27):
They said, we don't want it anymore.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
USC still still mainly enough to go ahead and want
that rivalry, want that smoke, and then they're gonna have
to handle it the week after the Michigan game on
the road. Hope it's not too chilly as the leaves
are changing colors.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Yeah, Lincoln, Lincoln Riley famously all about that smoke. That's
that is definitely what his career. That's why he's still
at Oklahoma. Not scared of the SEC. Didn't think you
know where I'm gonna go. I'm gonna go to the
Pac twelve and wait, what's that? Oh no, oh no, yes,
their remaining schedule uh Michigan, uh than than at Notre Dame,
(25:05):
then a week off than at Nebraska, Northwestern at home.
I'll give them that one Iowa at home, probably get
that one at Oregon. Boy, that's uh. I don't think
I will tell you. I would be have been pretty
surprised if you told me in in April that we'd
be here in October, and I'd be saying I am
way more confident in Michigan potentially making the College footballlayoff.
(25:27):
They certainly have a way better chance of making the
college football playoff than USC does at this point. And
you know a lot of that is schedule based, but
also Michigan, Michigan is a better team that I was
expecting them to be at this point in the in
the calendar again not you know, you can you can
go ahead and book whatever trips you want a book for,
(25:49):
Like MLK weekend season is gonna be over at that point.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
It's fine, but it's gonna be. It's gonna be a.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
More interesting back half of the season for Michigan than
I was I was expecting it to pay.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
I still fully expect USC to win this weekend, but
it's it's just there's still a low, a harder road
for USC to go. And I thought you were making
when I said all the smoke and you may you
talked Lake Kiffin or Lincoln Riley.
Speaker 4 (26:16):
I thought you're gonna make a brisket.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Joke, yes, And I thought about it. Didn't want to
want to derail us too much. We do that enough already.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
So yes, So there you go. Anything else that you
wanted to touch on about this game, please don't.
Speaker 4 (26:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
I think I think we've covered most of the most
of the big stuff that I had. And yeah, I'm
interested to see the Michigan the Michigan USC game. I'm
just gonna while we're while we're talking right now, I'm
gonna pull up SP plus and just sort of see, Yeah,
it has it has USC by like a field goal
(26:50):
thirty to twenty seven.
Speaker 3 (26:51):
I mean that's a yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
If Michigan scores twenty seven points, is that Is that
a good thing? If the game gets.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
Up to you know, the if the if.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Both the score in the high twenties, is that a
good thing for Michigan or a bad thing for Michigan?
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Probably bad. I think USC is more comfortable there. But
I kind of feel like this is going to be
high scoring, and since I like USC in this one,
that maybe that's good for for USC. But low scoring
is certainly better for Michigan.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
Right, Yeah, I would. I would say maybe. I mean,
no one, no one loves.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Rock fights more than Michigan, So outside of outside of
like the service academies, no one loves rock fights more
than Michigan. So yeah, I would, I would say the
higher scoring it is better for USC.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
Probably.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
I'm I'm, like you said earlier, fascinated to see what
the how these Michigan corners hold up against what will
be probably the best passing attack they've.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
Faced so far. Probably.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
You know, Oklahoma with John Matteri is solid, but you
know he's more of a dual threat type than a
pure pocket passer.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
So I'm on odd Shark looking at this, and the
opening odds for this had Michigan minus one and a half.
And so my question was, is are these opening back
in like July or August? Right now, it's USC minus
two and a half minus three. I wouldn't expect Michigan
to open as a favorite. That seems that seems more
(28:27):
like a summer line than a fall line. But you know,
it was quickly corrected by by the betters.
Speaker 4 (28:37):
But we'll see how it goes.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
By the famously skilled and knowledgeable gambling public. So there
you go, why bother even playing the game, certainly, and.
Speaker 4 (28:46):
Why bother even betting? So that will do it.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
If you're watching on YouTube, please hit the thumbs up.
We would appreciate that, and of course, if you're listening,
a five star writing and review on any podcast platform
for choice is always appreciated, and as always, you can
find us up buckehuddle dot com where we're talking about
Ohio State, Michigan a lot to talk about in the
Big Ten.
Speaker 4 (29:05):
Did you guys see what happened with Penn State? Talking
about that as well? Boy, no, no, listen, we gotta go.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
We don't need to like that's that's Penn State Pooh's days.
As Tom would say, Uh, did you want to throw
something at Tom?
Speaker 4 (29:19):
Did you No?
Speaker 2 (29:20):
I was just gonna say, Michigan's going out to Los Angeles?
What could possibly go wrong for a former Big ten
East powerhouse heading west to the city of Angels Tony?
What could possibly go wrong?
Speaker 1 (29:32):
I wonder if they're gonna get out there Thursday. The
good news is they can just go to the Detroit Airport,
which has runways long enough to get to California, unlike
the Penn State and Ndney Lions. They have to bus
to an airport to get on a plane with the
runways long enough. So thank you all forrtunity in as again.
Find us at buckeyehuddle dot com. Say hello to us
there on the Buckeyehuddle message board presented by jeff Ryby's Columbus.
(29:55):
Thank you opportunity again and we'll talk to you all later.
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