MGoBlog: The MGoPodcast

The Sponsors

Thank you to Underground Printing for making this all possible. UGP makes custom apparel such as t-shirts and sweatshirts and was founded by 2 Michigan alums over 20 years ago. They have 3 retail locations in Ann Arbor and offer thousands of University of Michigan athletic products for sale, ranging from clothing to accessories and memorabilia. Check them out at ugpmichiganapparel.com.

And let’s not forget our associate sponsors: Peak Wealth Management, HomeSure Lending, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, The Phil Klein Insurance Group, Prentice4M, and Team Fan Club. We are of course made possible by SignalWire.

THE VIDEO

[After THE JUMP: the player and what we said]

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1. Iowa Offense preview w Alex Drain

They’re a great center and a great zone running running back held back by a passing game. We think Michigan might be able to pull out the defense they used on Wisconsin: go 5-2 and let the DBs man up in the secondary. Long discussion of special teams because they’re the best at it, though Michigan neutralizes that by being the second-best at it.

2. Iowa’s Defense w Alex Drain

(starts at 20:16)

One of the smartest secondaries in CFB: we call it graduate-level Cover 2, where they can switch to a lot of different things on the fly. Want to generate turnovers but Cade McNamara is a new threat level for them. Defensive tackles are still smallish and rotate a ton, don’t have an Epenesa who can change the game. Haskins turning the three-yard runs into 5-6 yard runs could be a major difference-maker. So could the talent level of the receivers. Alex wants us to run outside and see if they can match the speed of Corum/Edwards/Henning.

3. Ohio State After UFR

(starts at 35:36)

Cannot find anything bad to talk about on offense. An offensive line wreckage. We’re mad about PFF’s offensive line grading because only Stueber was all-Big Ten to them. Lots of little tweaks to the things they’ve been doing all year to put their guys in advantageous positions. OL finished +50 though!!!! Seth thinks it’s because they grade screens as pass protection, thinks there isn’t a better guy than Zak Zinter at making that kickout block on Counter Trey. Defensively Ohio State went with a lot of stretch zone off of tempo and tried to beat Michigan to the edge. Their receivers did work against a secondary playing down a man because M was bringing five-man pressures.

4. What’s Up with Basketball, wsg Matt D from Endless Motor

(starts at 53:03)

Wasn’t as bad as it looked: Love just started canning NBA threes to break open a close defensive matchup, but there were a lot of defensive improvements. True that they can’t find shotmakers outside, unless Moussa can be one? Think Eli, Dickinson, and Diabate are your three best guys, and then you have to reconfigure whom you want out there with them, probably Houstan if he can keep progressing defensively and shoot more like 35% (he’s probably not the 40% prince that was promised), and then it’s a race to see if Jones pulls it together or Frankie Collins can emerge as Simpson 2.0. Not looking like a Final Four team anymore but better than they’ve been.

MUSIC:

Tonight’s featured musician is husband&wife, a band recommended to me by my IU friend who’s always sponsoring stuff here. I asked him for a few recommendations from Indiana and he said husband&wife. I Spotify’d and was like wow, good call. Then I looked them up and first article I read said “For fans of Bear vs Shark.” Victor Oladipo slam dunk dot gif.

• “Belong Gone One”—from their album Proud Flesh (2010)
• “Proud Flesh”—title song of that album.
• “I’ll Wait”—I’ll Wait/Don’t Rush EP (2013)

But I’m regretting not using Florida Hideaway now. Slaps.

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

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