jabrill peppers

currently on tinder? [Bryan Fuller]

Sponsor Note. Did you ever want a lawyer who just appears in UVs because he's writing interesting things? Maybe someone who also has probity? Does anyone other than a lawyer ever have probity? I don't think so, but Richard Hoeg's got it in spades.

hoeglaw_thumb

If you have or want a small business engage Mr. Hoeg for probity, and contracts, and incorporation, and all manner of legal whatnot.

Not a sponsor note. Here's a twitter thread from Hoeg on the early days of NIL and what looks like a full on gold-rush with little in the way of brakes:

There's going to be a lot of sorting out to do. The much discussed Barstool NIL scheme is probably going to make folks ineligible since they're basically a sportsbook with some bolt-on frat bro misogyny these days. Unless legal incorporation fig leaves mean that it won't. I have some sympathy for NCAA compliance officers these days, who just got handed a bucket of cranky toddlers with no instructions.

[After THE JUMP: the specter of two cokes]

at long last [Bryan Fuller]

Previously: Krushed By Stauskas (Illinois 2014), Introducing #ChaosTeam (Indiana 2009), Revenge is Terrifying (Colorado 1996), Four Games In September I (Boston College 1991), Four Games In September II (Boston College 1994), Four Games In September III (Boston College 1995), Four Games In September IV (Boston College 1996), Pac Ten After Dark Parts One and Two (UCLA 1989), Harbaugh's Grand Return Parts One and Two (Notre Dame 1985), Deceptive Speed Parts One and Two (Purdue 1999)

Week One: 1993 Washington Part OnePart Two2002 Washington Twitch stream

Week Two: 2011 Notre Dame Part OnePart TwoTwitch stream

This Game: Full gamehighlightsbox score

MGoBlog Coverage: Previewpunt/counterpuntrecapgame columnGIFsUFR offenseUFR defense

Part One: Click here

While Michigan is riding high after turning a 21-7 deficit into a 24-21 halftime lead, Colorado still has plenty of fight left in them. They need it, too.

On the second play from scrimmage, quarterback Sefo Liufau comes up with a limp after a keeper, and it looks like he may need to come off the field. He doesn't appear to consider it. Instead, while Matt Millen is suggesting Michigan's defense needs to sell out against the run that's obviously coming, Liufau takes the snap and looks deep.

Damn, dude. Liufau can barely walk but evidently he can put a 70-yard touchdown on a platter. As he returns to the sideline, redshirt freshman QB Steven Montez starts warming up. It looks like Liufau put everything he had into one final, heroic throw to put the Buffs back in the lead.

Jabrill Peppers fields the kickoff and hits turbo, zipping to midfield before Chidobe Awuzie shoves him out of bounds—and directly into the area of Colorado's sideline where Liufau is receiving medical attention. One CU staffer sees the incoming projective in time. Another picks it up way too late.

Phillip Lindsay should probably yell at Awuzie but that's not how this works. I eventually break down the details extensively in that week's One Frame at a Time.

The more you look at it, the more you realize it's a pantheon GIF. Here's the full version that includes Scottie Lindsey, the RB with the Bob Ross hair, saying things to Peppers you're not supposed to say on live television:

There's so much happening here. The strength coach who sees Peppers coming, smirks, and then bails out before Matt Millen inexplicably draws an 'X' on him. The coach in sunglasses who starts out in the line of fire and completely exits the frame by the time Peppers arrives. Poor Damn Sefo Liufau. The offensive linemen who've once again failed to protect Poor Damn Sefo Liufau.

But let's hit the "enhance" button and focus on this poor, poor trainer:

That is a man watching his life flash before his eyes. The helicoptering hat and the "#BTNStandout" hashtag on this version of the replay both add something special to the experience, too.

RIP That Guy's Hat.

[Hit THE JUMP for an arguably more exciting Peppers return.]

[Bryan Fuller]

Previously: Krushed By Stauskas (Illinois 2014), Introducing #ChaosTeam (Indiana 2009), Revenge is Terrifying (Colorado 1996), Four Games In September I (Boston College 1991), Four Games In September II (Boston College 1994), Four Games In September III (Boston College 1995), Four Games In September IV (Boston College 1996), Pac Ten After Dark Parts One and Two (UCLA 1989), Harbaugh's Grand Return Parts One and Two (Notre Dame 1985), Deceptive Speed Parts One and Two (Purdue 1999)

Week One: 1993 Washington Part OnePart Two2002 Washington Twitch stream

Week Two: 2011 Notre Dame Part One, Part Two, Twitch stream

This Game: Full game, highlights, box score

MGoBlog Coverage: Preview, punt/counterpunt, recap, game column, GIFsUFR offense, UFR defense

I got started on this before the FOOTBALL BACK announcement, so I'll finish out the "non-conference" schedule over the next week while turning my focus to season preview content(!). After some consideration, I decided to look for a game that didn't have a deeply stressful ending. This one merely has a deeply stressful beginning.

Despite both teams getting off to dominating 2-0 starts, #4 Michigan and unranked Colorado aren't expected to play a particularly competitive game in week three of the 2016 season. The Buffaloes finished the previous year 4-8 and dead last in the Pac-12 South for the fourth straight season. Head coach Mike MacIntyre is in his fourth year and on thin ice. The first two weeks change the expectations from "abomination" to "a football team":

In this context a rousing blowout of in-state rival Colorado State does mean something. They squeezed by a 7-6 CSU team last year and spent big chunks of the last decade actually losing to them, so roaring out to a 30-point first-half lead and coasting the rest of the way is a notable improvement no matter how off this year's Rams are. How much improvement is an open question, but they could be a 6-6, 7-5 type outfit headed to Shreveport or wherever.

Vegas expects them to be Michigan's stiffest test to date, with a line more than two touchdowns closer than the UCF game. This shouldn't be close, but it should be a football game.

Vegas favors Michigan by 19.5 points. Here are the lineups, courtesy of 2016 Seth [click for big]:

Michigan offense vs. Colorado defense:

Colorado offense vs. Michigan defense:

Michigan enters this game banged up. After the typical obfuscating from Jim Harbaugh and the typical lack of a Wolverine depth chart, Michigan eventually fields a defense down two starters (CB Jourdan Lewis and DE Taco Charlton) and a key backup (DT Bryan Mone). In response to the uncertainty, Colorado issues a game week depth chart that would've been funnier if they hadn't explained all the jokes. Harbaugh gets peeved about it, giving us a controversy silly even by college football standards.

"I saw the depth chart," Harbaugh said. "I was trying to imagine how many people sat around and how many hours they worked on that. We've just found, I mean, when it comes to the depth chart, modern technology seems to have made the depth chart an outdated task by about 20 years. We've found studying last week's film of the opponent is the most accurate way of determining another team's depth chart."

And the jokes were bad!

With all of that out of the way, BTN is kind enough to show (most of) the Wolverines take the field.

Your announcers are Kevin Kugler and Matt Millen, possibly returning from The Joker's funeral.

Let's do the football, after THE JUMP.