The Michigan Insider

In this episode, we preview the No. 14 Michigan football team’s matchup against Michigan State, looking at three key questions, previewing the game with our weekly over-under predictions and offering our final predictions for the game.

Our first question looks at the annual war of the words that leads up into the matchup, our interpretation of some of Michigan’s comments this week and where we think the Wolverines’ motivation is at. We discuss why Michigan is still seeking revenge on Michigan State, and why the Wolverines might hate the Spartans more than other rivals.

Then, we discussed just how far Michigan State has fallen, and if the Spartans still have any of their upset magic left after losing four straight games, and why they might not in this year’s matchup.

Finally, we look at what concerns Michigan most needs to address, looking at the Spartans’ likely game plans on both sides of the ball and how the Wolverines can improve the most coming out of a bye week.

We close looking at the matchup on both sides of the ball with our weekly over-unders, then outline how we think the game will ultimately go.

Tim McCormick and Sam Webb interview former Michigan great Glen Rice about his iconic career in Ann Arbor, his thoughts on Juwan Howard, and more. Tim and Sam also reflect upon the Wolverines' near collapse versus Appalachian State, the team's offensive identity, possible lineup changes, and a preview of game two versus Creighton. 

This week's lone football episode, we went longer than usual, breaking down our two game balls, four takeaways from Michigan's 38-7 win over Maryland and seven questions about the Wolverines' final four weeks of the season.

Our game balls both went to two defensive players — one a key leader on the team and the other an unsung hero in the game — while we acknowledge some key players at several positions in the contest.

Our four takeaways include three positives and one negative for the Wolverines. We credit Michigan's coaching staff for keeping the team on progress, note that the Wolverines were able to run the ball effectively, look at Michigan's ability to stop surrendering big plays on defense and question whether the Wolverines made a mistake not throwing the ball more.

Our seven questions cover a wide range of topics. We break down why the offense looks different, try to make sense of the lack of downfield pass attempts, consider the defense's progress and talent relative to recent seasons, what Michigan needs to improve upon during the bye week, how the Big Ten can give teams like Maryland a chance and what we think of Jim Harbaugh's proposed 11-team College Football Playoff.

Tim McCormick goes one-on-one with Juwan Howard discussing his first few months as Michigan's new coach and the challenge of trying to install a NBA system. Tim also shares his motivation for starting the podcast and goes back and forth with host Sam Webb on expectations for the season, breakout players, and more.

Previewing the No. 14 Michigan football team’s road trip to Maryland, we broke down three key questions for the matchup, and did our weekly over-under preview.

Our first question, in which we disagreed on the answer, is what Michigan’s offensive approach should be against the Terrapins. Shaw argued that the Wolverines should push to try and air it out, while Lorenz made the case for Michigan continuing to develop its run game. Both kept an eye on bigger games in the season, with different outlooks on how the Wolverines can improve the most.

They both agreed on the second key question, centered around what Michigan’s defense can improve upon in the game. Both felt the Wolverines could showcase their ability to limit the big play if they contained Maryland playmakers such as Anthony McFarland and Javon Leake.

The two also discussed what Michigan can gain from a game like Saturday’s beyond a win. Both heavily felt Saturday should be used for Michigan to experiment with some of its younger, more talented players, while playing a complete game on the road served as a second element to keep in mind.

Finally, the duo previewed the matchup with their weekly over-unders, and offered their predictions for the game.

In a longer episode, we go in-depth on the Michigan football team's win over No. 8 Notre Dame, following our format of two game balls, four lasting takeaways and seven questions from the weekend.

Our game balls both went to offensive players, looking at a key player in the trenches and a standout, ascending running back. We also outline other players who stepped up and played some of their best games of the season.

With out four takeaways, we break down Michigan's offensive progress as it hits its stride, the Wolverines' expert game plan in their surprisingly dominant win, Michigan's defensive speed and why it matters and the Wolverines' ability to develop unheralded recruits.

In a wide-ranging set of questions, we tackle listener questions on how play-calling duties have changed in recent weeks, if Michigan State or Indiana is tougher game this season, Tarik Black, Vincent Gray, potential offseason coaching changes, Jim Harbaugh's press conferences, the possibility of Michigan catching Ohio State and where this win ranks among Michigan's other this decade.

Previewing the No. 20 Michigan football team's matchup against No. 8 Notre Dame, we look at four key questions we think the Wolverines must answer to come away with the win, then offer our predictions for the game.

First, we look at whether the Michigan offense's solid second-half showing at Penn State is indicative of what's to come, or just a flash in the pan due to the Nittany Lions holding an early lead. In the discussion, we also look at why Shea Patterson and the offensive line improved, and what Notre Dame's defense brings to the table.

We then consider how concerning Michigan's big-play defense is, and if the Wolverines can avoid lapses against a pretty balanced and dangerous Fighting Irish offense. Our final questions center around Michigan's challenge of emotionally bouncing back from a virtual title-eliminating loss, as well as why the Wolverines seem to show up so much better in big home games than big road games.

Finally, we close with our over-under predictions and our final projections for how the game will shake out.

Ditching our normal format to focus on Michigan's 28-21 loss to No. 6 Penn State, we break down the key questions after the game, grouped under four main categories.

First, we discuss why Saturday's game was the latest in the long line of road issues for Michigan under Jim Harbaugh. We hypothesize why the Wolverines start so slow on the road, and why comebacks can be hard to pull off in raucous environments.

We then look at the relatively impressive comeback and fight that Michigan showed, including a breakdown of which position groups impressed. Of course, we also take a peek at which position groups regressed, and held the Wolverines back from finishing the job.

We take a moment to discuss officiating, whether Jim Harbaugh was right to say there was a disparity and what we would do to clean up officiating in college football.

Closing our podcast, we discuss what Michigan has left to play for this season, what could be considered a successful season, if anything, and what the loss means in terms of the big picture of the Wolverines' program.

Previewing the Michigan football team's matchup at No. 7 Penn State, we break down some of the key storylines from the week and look at the matchup through the lens of our weekly over-under predictions.

First, we discuss why we think the Wolverines' fans may be going overboard with their pessimism on Michigan's chances, though we also break down why the mindset is validated. We also dig into some of the more notable comments the Wolverines made in availability during the week and what can be read from them.

The second half of the episode is devoted to our weekly over-under predictions, as we dissect what we expect to see from Michigan's passing game, ground game and defense. We close with our final assessments of the matchup and score predictions for the game.

In this episode, we look at two game balls, opine on four lasting takeaways and discuss seven questions stemming from the No. 16 Michigan football team's 42-25 win at Illinois. 

Our game balls, as is usually the case, are split between the offense and the defense. Our offensive MVP is a surprising skill position player who had by far the best game of his career, while our defensive standout is a player who had a lot of excitement around this season and hasn't been bad, but had something of a breakthrough in Saturday's game.

Our takeaways include thoughts on Michigan's fumbles woes, a reassessment of the ceiling of the Wolverines, a take on why the way Michigan collapsed could be concerning for future games and a look at a breakout player.

Our questions center around Ambry Thomas' NFL Draft stock, a defense that was spotty Saturday, what worked and what didn't for Shea Patterson, a concern meter after the game, midseason MVPs and position group rankings and what Michigan needs the most to beat Penn State.