2018 offseason with the takes

Seth • November 23, 2018 • 7:03pm

With special guests John U. Bacon and Nick Hopwood

The Sponsors

We can do this because people support us. You should support them! The show is presented by UGP & The Bo Store, and if it wasn’t for Rishi and Ryan we’d be all be very sad ex-SBNation employees with “real” jobs.

Our other sponsors are also key to all of this: HomeSure Lending, Peak Wealth Management, Ann Arbor Elder Law, the Residence Inn Ann Arbor Downtown, the University of Michigan Alumni Association, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, and Lantana Hummus

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1. IU AFTER UFR

starts at 1:00

Seth plays the panic.gif guy, badly. The first Ramsey run was probably a poorly executed play where Dwumfour missed the stunt. Paye was spied on one play and got a late jump on the play. Kinnel got tempoed on a slot fade. Indiana used a mesh concept to lose Watson on a legal pick. Indiana is a similar rushing attack to Ohio State and Michigan will probably have to use a 5th linebacker against the Buckeyes. Michigan’s DT’s are just guys. The Hoosiers had a good game plan to take out Michigan’s 4 man pass rush. Michigan went conservative on offense late and it was the right thing to do. Andrew Stueber had his first real moment and he looked pretty good.

2. OSU Preview

starts at 26:15

Brian thinks Ohio State is bad and is terrified. Seth thinks Ohio State is bad, entitled, and more terrified. The Buckeyes are no longer an automatic third and short team without JT. Mesh is OSU’s base play. Haskins can run but he’s not very athletic and avoids contact even though he’s big. JK Dobbins isn’t as effective as he was last year. Haskins is not comfortable if you pressure him at all. Michigan will want to isolate Gary/Uche/Winovich against Isaiah Prince, who struggled against Carter Coughlin and Kenny Wilekes of Minnesota and MSU. OSU is a YAC team. Brian has a theory about OSU’s defense, which is very poorly coached. Their defensive line is still pretty good but without Bosa, it’s not as devastating as it could be. Jonathan Cooper is just a guy while Chase Young is going to be a star. Landers and Jones are good in the interior.

3. The Bacon Off the Rails Podcast

starts at 46:16

Bacon believes that it’s Michigan’s year. Seth shouldn’t be a college football program and we invent the Seth Rule. Bacon starts spreading Brian Kelly rumors and the guys debate all different kinds of head coaching rumors.

4. Gimmicky Top Five Worst Takes of the Offseason wsg Nick Hopwood

starts at 1:14:05

The rule is that for Seth and Brian, they have to pick at least 2 that are their own. Nick is a sponsor so he doesn’t have to stick to his takes, so he sticks to ours.

MUSIC:

This week we feature a band I saw once in 2002 and bought their album, EchoBrain. I don’t know anything else about them but they played with the Starlight Mints and Polyphonic Spree that one time and sounded like the Stones but their album isn’t like the Stones at all, but the intros sound good.

“Colder World”
“Ghosts”
“Sucker Punch”
“Across 110th Street”

If you or a friend made some good tunes and don't have a label out scrubbing for them we'd be happy to feature you.

THE USUAL LINKS:

I’d rather have John Bacon coaching my team than you, Seth.

WTKA Roundtable 1/4/2018: A Lonely Cook

Seth •

Ira’s in for Sam today.

Football things discussed:

Brian groans
Every quarterback regressed this year. Unprecedented under Harbaugh, who’s had QB success since San Diego. Wasn’t just protection.
Down three guys on an OL that wasn’t very good to begin with.
No valid complaints about the defense, though some people manage to do so anyway. Microcosm of the season: constantly put behind the 8 ball and held the opponent to a beatable score.
Mo Hurst was the best defensive lineman in Craig’s 3,000-year lifetime. Cam made Ira laugh.
Would Roman come? Would we go to a pistol? Pistol gets you more of a downhill running game out of a read-option shotgun game, changes quarterback footwork.
One of the problems with this offense is Harbaugh might have stepped back from running the offense.
Go back to his third year of Stanford: things got better from there too.
New coaches: likely to have five new guys if Drevno and Pep are gone too, plus there’s a tenth assistant.

Hoops things discussed

Hoops! Ira’s not a fan of the gap: the space between the BTT and the tournament could lead to too much rust.
Michigan’s the third-best team in a bad league, but it’s a four-bid league. The defense is ranking better than their offense on Ed’s numbers.
Livers emerging is a big deal because Robinson should be out there with Teske to hide his perimeter defense, return him to his Microwave job.
Z is never going to be Derrick Walton but he’s becoming an excellent version of himself now that he can shoot: never doubt Beilein’s ability to make anyone a 36% 3-point shooter.
Donnal is at 6.3% DREB at Clemson, which means everyone on Michigan’s court is outperforming him. Wagner has improved after his draft grade circled that spot, and Teske is a major upgrade.
Poole is the Quinn Hughes of the basketball team: once he settles down Michigan really has something
When was the low point last year? Maverick Morgan or the Ohio State loss?
Root for Texas, UCLA and LSU. Texas might be really good—Bamba getting better could make that a signature victory this year. Central Michigan could help too.
Watch Oklahoma’s Trae Young: Ira says he’s Steph Curry II.

You can catch the entire episode on Michigan Insider's podcast stream on Audioboom.

Segment two is here. Segment three is here.

THE USUAL LINKS

It was bad year, and it’s manifesting itself on the radio.