MGoBlog: The MGoPodcast

1 hour and 42 minutes

The Sponsors

Thank you to Underground Printing for making this all possible. Rishi and Ryan have been our biggest supporters from the beginning. Check out their wide selection of officially licensed Michigan fan gear at their 3 store locations in Ann Arbor or learn about their custom apparel business at undergroundshirts.com.

Our associate sponsors are: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, The Sklars Brothers, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, Radecki Oral Surgery, Long Road Distillers, Applied Fitness Solutions, The History of Michigan Football, an online course by Greg Dooley, and Venue by 4M where recorded this.

Starts at 0:54

There’s a certain scene from Planes, Trains, and Automobiles that we’re at (the rental car scene). Make Jason Beck the caretaker of the pyramids and watch them disappear. Sherrone Moore was problematic and shouldn’t be a football coach but he could at least run the ball!! Many movies are referenced in this segment. Just how far have we fallen? The Michigan State fans were REALLY NICE. You really felt the ‘enshittification’ of this game, the 2021-2023 teams were so good that you put up with all the stadium antics, would this athletic department be any different if Dave Brandon was in charge? How many Michigan fans looked like they were actually having fun at this game? This is the perfect test for the concept of “if you win a championship you don’t get to complain for five years.” This isn’t all on Jason Beck, some of it is on the QB who can’t make the throws yet. Put Bryce back in and if he shows improvement you might actually retain him. Offensive coordinating is NOT that super complicated. The play designs have become so simplified and they still can’t really run it, the play book has shrunk as the season has gone on. They have the best WR duo since Nico and DPJ and you can’t even put together a bad offense. Devon Dampier’s worst two years were his two years with Beck. Would you take Brian Ferentz right now?? What SP+ offensive ranking would Michigan need to have to be undefeated and #1 in the country right now, 70?

Starts at 32:08

What’s the future, do they even really have an athletic director? Is there really a president? Is there a chance that Kyle Whittingham decides “this is not for me” by the end of the year? What donors even want to back him at this point? This is the lowest point even Seth has felt as a Michigan fan. Michigan fans love their players (except QB sometimes), but who is even going to be around next year? Part of why this feels so depressing is that the snake doesn’t even have a head to cut off, there’s no athletic director change to have. There’s no go-to coach to chase. Where is there to even go from here? After losing to THIS Michigan State team, does anyone who didn’t understand before see it now? Did you even WANT to go to this game? Credit to Michigan State for looking like a well coached team, they played their game and won this game by playing their game. Their fans showed up because of it. Michigan can’t do that, they’re a Hail Mary away from losing two games to teams that didn’t score a touchdown. This is the biggest deviation from preseason expectations we’ve experienced ever. We didn’t appreciate Lloyd Carr enough, he ran the program well and then stepped down when it was time to step down. They just needed competence to be in the mix with Texas or Oregon or Ohio State this season. Watch hockey and women’s basketball instead!

Starts at 1:00:13

Men lose to UConn in a game that sort of resets the expectations of the season a bit negatively. Michigan looked like an 8 seed, UConn looked like they leveled up. Where was Trey McKenney in the first half? The whistles were fruit-flavored. Not concerned about Thiam in the long term, they should improve significantly on defense once he's back to form. There's not a post-up guy on this roster. Estrella and Goodman on the court together didn't feel great. Jalen Reed stock is down. Having Brandon McCoy out there would've helped a lot defensively. Dan Hurley is really animated but he's a good enough coach to back it up. 

Starts at 1:26:45

MUSIC:

We want to thank Underground Printing for starting this and making it possible—stop by and pick up some gear, check them out at ugpmichiganapparel.com, or check out our selection of shirts on the MGoBlogStore.com. And let’s not forget our associate sponsors: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, Radecki Oral Surgery, Long Road Distillers, Applied Fitness Solutions, and The History of Michigan Football, an online course by Greg Dooley, and SignalWire, where we are recording this.

Featured Musician: Ettison Clio

THE VIDEO:

[After THE JUMP: The show notes.] 

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

starts at the top

If we're awake, they die. But are we awake? State's roster has been ravaged by injury. Best receiver is Fredrick Moore, other two guys are slot-sized oldsters; the TE was okay but he's hurt as well. If Alessio Milivojevic is still injured they're in trouble because their backup is already out and the two other guys who played against UCLA averaged under 3 YPA. They're also down to their #4 RB. Not hurt: an offensive line that is...judges?...BETTER THAN OREGON'S! Center Trent Fraley is an NDSU transfer and we think he's a dude. LT Ben Murawski was a big pickup from UConn. OC Nick Sheridan runs some Rich Rod stuff out of a pro-style look.

starts at 16:10

They're so very injured now that even decent performances for a quarter against Notre Dame etc. don't really translate. Best DL is out. Best LB is out. Best DB is out. Guys replacing them are not great, usually have one thing they do well and two they don't. If you can't run against Rutgers though... Maybe they can be burned down the middle like CJ Carr did. I'm sure the brothers have discussed this.

starts at 32:41

Women defeat UConn before an amazing crowd: biggest win in program history, and an amazing game, where UConn gave the full UConn punch and Michigan just kept punching back. Huge game from Delfosse, who's rising to be a star, and fantastic finish from Olson who is that star. Are they now one of the elites? Gonna have to get through a brutal Big Ten season first.

MBB takes on UConn in their championship rematch; Brian isn't feeling it yet but Seth thinks they're in the same boat we are: return three guys from their backcourt and replaced the frontcourt with a shot-blocker and a talented but sorta pushable PF, though theirs is a stretchy Duke. They're great defensively; Michigan might be able to generate enough offense. Can't really take much away from the Oakland game, which was a foul fest with Thiam out with illness.

starts at 54:39

Saw like 20 inside zones or spit zones and it didn't work because Rutgers was pinching, and bounces not working. Dismayed by the approach. Obviously they've simplified and they can't do it well. Tommy was a HS quarterback against a HS defense. The defense had some kid mistakes.

I saved EC for this week because they were really more of an East Lansing band, which peaked in the early 2000s. A punky rock outfit that would swerve into rock, they were probably the hottest band on MSU's campus when my brother was there, and played his ("the Brown...") house's most legendary party. Lead singer Stephanie Gunther (now with a NYC gloom punk band) had a major on-stage presence and a great voice, and drummer John Ostler was one of the better bangers around Michigan punk at the time they formed. Those two joined guitarists Brian Roop and J.P. Niemiec and bassist Jared Nisch, who originally formed the band in high school, at MSU, and for awhile everyone thought they were going to be a big thing.

I believe the band name in fact refers to the two mid-Michigan towns that the guitarists are from, which I still think about whenever we drive through Clio. Incredibly, their website is still hosted, though its last update was for a Tsunami Relief Compilation in 2005.

Songs:

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

Things Discussed:

1 Hour and 8 Minutes

With David Nasternak and Alex Drain

This Podcast Has a Sponsor: Michigan Law Grad Jonathan Paul is the guy with the C you want skating next to the ref and pleading your case. He's also a good guy to sit next to at the hockey games.

Segment 1

Michigan hockey talk starts at 11:50.

Segment 2

MUSIC

2 hours and 11 minutes

The Sponsors

Thank you to Underground Printing for making this all possible. Rishi and Ryan have been our biggest supporters from the beginning. Check out their wide selection of officially licensed Michigan fan gear at their 3 store locations in Ann Arbor or learn about their custom apparel business at undergroundshirts.com.

Our associate sponsors are: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, The Sklars Brothers, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, Radecki Oral Surgery, Long Road Distillers, Applied Fitness Solutions, The History of Michigan Football, an online course by Greg Dooley, and Venue by 4M where recorded this.

Starts at 0:54

Football was played in a football stadium with not many people in it. Pat McAfee is a little baby man who can't take a little ribbing. It was hard to summon emotions for this game. It's weird seeing Rutgers when you see them every three years instead of every year, why are they in this conference?? It used to be the nice, easy game in an otherwise difficult schedule. Did it look like Jason Beck made any adjustments against a terrible defense? Michigan could throw to wide open receivers, but couldn't run against a team that has been giving up 6 YPC to everyone else. The rhino is here to stay, it was deployed on a 3rd and 15. Tommy Carr got to observe erosion from the pocket. He didn't get pressured and if everyone was covered he could just run it, it was like the Spring Game. You just wanted to see them consistently push guys around for 5 and 6 yard rushes and they couldn't do that. If Rutgers knew Michigan was going to run the ball on every play you should still be able to rush for 5 yards. They're still trying to find anything that works. Jordan Marshall has to be broken, right? Tommy Carr long-term things - arm strength is an issue right now. You can't run power with Tommy Carr, you can run it with Bryce. The offense sucks so the best thing you can do is just toss it up to JJ if he's in one-on-one and see what happens. Jake Guarnera might still be hurt. There is a disturbing trend of not knowing what the snap count is. 

Starts at 42:05

It was like two big plays that were very annoying and then not really anything else. For the longest time the score bug annoyingly said 3/8 for 135 yards. Don't fall over! But also there was no deep safety on that play. Mason Curtis had a pretty bad game with missed tackles and not being put in positions to succeed. The Rutgers offense is better than their defense but they're still bad. Benny Patterson really explodes off the ball. There's still a decent rotation of guys that you're hopeful for that aren't checked out. Chris Bracy had another good performance despite bouncing off a guy. He'll be in the NFL next year. Their gameplan against Duff was the same gameplan against Becker (Indiana). Zeke Berry had a nice game and looks better at corner than nickel. Chase Taylor looked pretty good pending charting, he has all the skills you need in a linebacker. Troy Bowles looks like a senior now. 

Starts at 1:05:29

Takes hotter than JJ Buchanan on contested catches. The special teams should make field goals. Some of these field goals are a bit out of range, the 35 yarder is a thumbs down. Punting was... fine. No kick returns, woo. What was the actual plan at the end of the first half? If you can't figure out that situation you're not figuring out anything. Are they just trying to get stats? Would you rather have a 40+ yard field goal or go for it on 4th and 6? Roughing the passer on the first play, the QB got hit in the thigh not below the knee. Some other weird holding calls. The kick catch interference call was valid. 

Starts at 1:32:53

MUSIC:

We want to thank Underground Printing for starting this and making it possible—stop by and pick up some gear, check them out at ugpmichiganapparel.com, or check out our selection of shirts on the MGoBlogStore.com. And let’s not forget our associate sponsors: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, Radecki Oral Surgery, Long Road Distillers, Applied Fitness Solutions, and The History of Michigan Football, an online course by Greg Dooley, and SignalWire, where we are recording this.

Featured Musician: Great Lakes Myth Society

THE VIDEO:

[After THE JUMP: The show notes.] 

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

starts at the top

This is the better side of the team, mostly because they managed to hold onto 1st round WR KJ Duff, who may not play—he's listed as Doubtful. Starting QB Dylan Lonergan, the BC transfer, had one too many concussions and is sitting out, but AJ Surace is playing instead. He's a popgun arm but it's enough to loft it to Duff. Their OL is actually pretty decent; Kwabena Asamoah started against Michigan in 2023, and Tyler Needham (listed as Doubtful) moved in from left tackle; he wasn't the worst. Alex likes their RB room: Antwan Raymond was on the questionable list last week but played; LaTech transfer Clay Thevenin is another little rascal.

starts at 17:59

Alex gave zero dangerman stars. The punter is the dangerman. Secondary is a mess; Sage Clawges is a linebacker trying to play quarters field safety, Chris Joines is a Mercer transfer, JJ Conyers and Devonte Anderson are true freshmen rotating on the left side, Kevyn Humes lost his nickel job to another safety. DL is okay, but Keshon Griffin is questionable for this game. Get-right game and easy afternoon for Tommy, we hope.

starts at 32:53

Reid McCarthy from Ann Arbor Elder Law joins us for five people not doing a great job right now, but doing a better job than poor Jason. Mine were Dylan Larkin, the owners of Plex who fired the entire staff that runs the thing they do over Slack, our felonious donation pickup driver, Wayne the root programmer, and Warde during his convalescence.

starts at 52:31

Offense: Even worse than we thought. The Rhino is your worst player; there's no reason to be playing him. Tommy had some good things but not seeing anything from him that's better than sticking with Bryce except Carr will throw to other receivers. OL had big problems ID'ing their blocks, as did Eli Owens. When it's holistic it's on the coordinator. They didn't practice for the thing Indiana does.

Defense was spectacular, which only makes us madder at Jason Beck. Hate doing the "I told you so" thing with Jay Hill because I get why they went the other way around, but Zeke Berry is a corner and Smith Snowden is a nickel. Jyaire Hill wasn't perfect (zone issues) but I saw the CBs change their approach to contested balls, watching the receiver instead of the ball, which you don't usually see but prevented them from getting pushed around. Benny Patterson's first start went well, still some things to clean up. Saw Palepale go upfield on Stretch. Other backup DL got pushed around; why are we still putting Cam Brandt out there?

The band I meant to introduce you to was The Original Brothers and Sisters of Love, until I learned they broke up right after I got their 2003 album, then reformed as The Great Lakes Myth Society minus one member. One or the other this band that used to tour with Saturday Looks Good to Me is as Pure Michigan as a fish fly wearing a LIONS GRIT t-shirt under a Mike Hart jersey while reading a book about the Edmund Fitzgerald and floating on a can of Vernors over a pothole watching Escanaba in da Moonlight. They're indie, folkie, and very Ann Arbor, even if they formed originally in Brighton. Like, their Wikipedia page has a photo of them playing at the Half-Ass.

Songs:

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

Things Discussed:

1 Hour and 44 Minutes

With David Nasternak and Alex Drain

This Podcast Has a Sponsor: Michigan Law Grad Jonathan Paul is the guy with the C you want skating next to the ref and pleading your case. He's also a good guy to sit next to at the hockey games.

Segment 1

A discussion of great buzzer beaters in sports history. Recap of the WMU game talks about power play woes, good goaltending, the early 3rd period surge, Horcoff’s blunder and then his heroism. This was a big game to win.

Segment 2

MUSIC

2 hours and 1 minute

The Sponsors

Thank you to Underground Printing for making this all possible. Rishi and Ryan have been our biggest supporters from the beginning. Check out their wide selection of officially licensed Michigan fan gear at their 3 store locations in Ann Arbor or learn about their custom apparel business at undergroundshirts.com.

Our associate sponsors are: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, The Sklars Brothers, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, Radecki Oral Surgery, Long Road Distillers, Applied Fitness Solutions, The History of Michigan Football, an online course by Greg Dooley, and Venue by 4M where recorded this.

Starts at 0:54

Was that the worst play call you've ever seen? After two years of charting Wink Martindale, Seth says yes. Let's talk about 3rd and goal from the one inch line. This play was supposed to go to the rhino! Jason Beck has very special boy syndrome, more than anyone other assistant coach. Kyle Whittingham always seems surprised at press conferences when things go wrong, you're the head coach! Jason Beck has lost Michigan three games that they should've won and they would've been a lock to be in the playoffs right now. They run the "very special boy" plays when they can't even run the base plays. Would you rather watch this game 100 times in a row or 27 for 27 100 times in a row? Zack Marhsall's leaked texts were probably the nicest things being said about Beck. If Kyle Whittingham doesn't have a solution on how to fix this then he should already just be let go. There's no coming back from that 3rd and 1, firing Jason Beck doesn't solve anything but it sets the precedence that this performance is unacceptable. Harbaugh had a whole bag of plays that countered the defense adjusting to the base plays, Beck doesn't have that. Was the QB change actually a mistake? Tommy's first half was benchable, the second half was okay. There's a reason why you don't start true freshmen at QB but you also need to adjust your offensive scheme to a true freshman QB. Why would anyone want to stay on this team as long as Jason Beck is still the OC? Half the team is probably already in the "portal" and nothing is going to change until the people responsible for ruining things are removed.

Starts at 34:03

Indiana had one pass in the second half, Zeke Berry was the one to catch it. Jyaire Hill made himself a lot of money in this game, he locked down Charlie Becker. The only issue with the defense were some leaked yards on missed tackles. Enow Etta played early but was on the injury report and was limited. Dominic Nichols didn't play which was coming. Benny Patterson has earned "guy" status, not a dude yet, but a guy. Is Chris Bracy the best player on the defense/the team? Was part of Michigan's success coming from Indiana turtling when Cignetti realized Michigan can't score? The Indiana injury report had to have been wrong, it said everyone was healthy. 

Starts at 55:59

Takes hotter than Jay Hill after looking at this boxscore and saying "we haven't given up 20 points all season, how are we 4-3??" Would you take Mike Locksley or Al Borges as OC?? Field goal shank, it was out of range anyways. Zero kick returns! Punt returns were something. Kyle Whittingham committed malpractice in not challenging the "fumble" pitch to Hiter, it was a forward pass. At least work the referee. The ball that went through the gunner's legs had to have hit him, you have to challenge that, too. We can't believe Indiana actually jumped offsides on 4th and 1, maybe Beck actually caught them off guard with the predictable motion! Only one penalty, and it was the worst roughing the passer penalty ever! They missed Michigan's delay of game on the missed field goal, did that contribute to missing it? Hockey! The Western Michigan game was a little bonkers! Michigan comes out in the second period and scores twice in a minute. Both goalies were really good. Jaydon Perron's got to be the run-away front runner for the Hobey Baker Award. 

Starts at 1:32:48

MUSIC:

We want to thank Underground Printing for starting this and making it possible—stop by and pick up some gear, check them out at ugpmichiganapparel.com, or check out our selection of shirts on the MGoBlogStore.com. And let’s not forget our associate sponsors: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, Radecki Oral Surgery, Long Road Distillers, Applied Fitness Solutions, and The History of Michigan Football, an online course by Greg Dooley, and SignalWire, where we are recording this.

Featured Musician: De Novo

THE VIDEO:

[After THE JUMP: The show notes.] 

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

starts at the top

Josh Hoover isn't a Heisman QB, but he's good, and has two excellent receivers, a good OL, and speedy RBs. Khobie Martin, their expected RB1, is supposedly back as well. They don't know what to do with the TEs however.

starts at 23:35

The #2 defense to SP+ made life hell on Ohio State, have four good (two excellent) linemen and two stars in the secondary. One of the CB positions might be a sport worth attacking. They stunted the hell out of the 2024 offense; maybe that table can be turned?

starts at 44:36

We preview basketball's last exhibition, since Houston is expected to be a contender. Some interesting developments against Oregon State regarding the playmaking chops of Thiam. Estrella's defense has been a surprise the other way; he's going to be a hole, and that might lead to starting Reed so they can continue switching 1-4. Didn't see as much Hartman vs Oregon State, think the freshman version of him is superfluous on a team with two PGs, McKenney, and Roddy Gayle, and if you have time for more spacing just play Quinn Costello. Houston is the telltale if this offense is really good.

starts at 58:02

They ran Stretch! Underwood was benched for poor performance is what happened. Tommy benefited from better playcalling and personnel usage, also showed good poise. Improvement from Beck was not good from Beck; he still does things that make absolutely zero sense. Defense wasn't Jay Hill's best gameplan. Tried out three approaches to 12 personnel, of those Big Nickel was the best I thought. Cornerbacks had a bad day, but 76% of downfield throws were contested and they're not going to catch 40% of those always, right? I mean, IU might.

Continuing through my collections from my time as a band merch guy, this sampler is all I have, unfortunately, from a fascinating group that existed for a short time in Ann Arbor in the early-mid 2000s. I knew them because they used to open for Oblivion (my best friends and college housemates). It was formed by Scott Doerrfeld, the keyboardist, who found drummer Nick Kittle with a flier, and Kittle brought along guitarist Spencer Bastian, who was just oozing with musical talent and knew how to mix their recordings himself. They struggled to find a singer until they met Serena Arena, and her haunting voice is the first thing you hear; she's not quite Dolores O'Reardon but she had that same sort of Banshee wail that you had to hear live. This was not a good era to be starting any kind of band, let alone a proggy hard rock Cranberries thing, but I never forgot Serena's voice, and every time I put this sampler back on I find something new in Spencer's compositions. You can tell this dude had major musical chops because today he's a Grammy-nominated producer in Detroit. Bet he's going to be pretty surprised someone has a copy of him playing. Merch guys never forget, Spence.

Songs:

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