MGoPodcast 14.10: Mr. Phonebooks Comment Count

BlueBarron November 7th, 2022 at 5:53 AM

1 hour and 59 minutes

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1. Offense vs Rutgers

starts at 1:00

Was Michigan sick during this game? "The loud Rutgers fans" is an uttered phrase. JJ completed less than half of his passes, some of them were drops but some were bad throws. Why isn't Michigan throwing more fades? Michigan threw contested throws in this game and Michigan completed almost none of them, but we know how good everyone is at this point. It seemed uncharacteristic so maybe it's a non-issue moving forward. Good game for younger guys to get quality play time in the 2nd half. Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards had some nice runs but there were some hiccups along the way. Rutgers' defense is on the aggressive side. Was part of Michigan's gameplan to just keep it safe and not take Rutgers too seriously? Khalid Hill approves of the FB dive. Donovan Edwards maximized his blocking opportunities in this game, this may have been his best game so far at Michigan. Jeffrey Persi wasn't noticed, which is good!

[The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP]

2. Defense vs Rutgers

starts at 38:50

Rutgers did basically what Michigan State did - hit a couple deep passes and otherwise mostly went three and out. According to Seth, SHI Stadium turned off the rushing yard total on the scoreboard. Not a ton to say - Taylor Upshaw had a really nice game. Rutgers only had 49 snaps on offense. Cam Goode had a sack! David brings back the Chonky Talk. Gavin Wimsatt has a good arm but very little accuracy... doesn't seem like he can be the guy moving forward. Michigan's defense is 4th in SP+ which is opponent-adjusted. We have not seen opponents get chunk run plays due to poor linebacker play in a few weeks, Barrett seems to be adapting as a natural linebacker more and more. Jenkins snuffed out a shovel pass, something they got burned on earlier in the year. 

3. Hot Takes, Defense, and Game Theory

starts at 1:03:13

Takes hotter than the lights that were going all flashy and was like oh we're in the club because they scored a touchdownSETH SINGS AT 1:03:57 JUST WARNING YOU. Viva La RevolutionSpecial teams were a disaster for the first time in years. That might've been the first punt block of Brad Robbins' career? There is a... uh... theory about Rutgers. What is up with Adam Korsak?? He got hit on a run but there wasn't a flag at least. Congratulations Big Ten Punters, you have made Brian angry. Brian and David set up the perfect punt-for-a-touchdown play. End-of-half clock management discussion

4. Around the Big Ten With Jamie Mac

starts at 1:30:12

Please do not actually kidnap Chef Thad. All Big Ten scores must be contextualized with the wind (30-40 mph) across the midwest rendering all passing essentially useless. Northwestern actually outgains Ohio State by two yards. Did Ohio State use plays that were reserved for the Michigan game? We hate everything about Pat Fitzgerald's offense. Ohio State fans who think college football should be in controlled environmental stadiums are SAWFT. This game was dead even in the trenches. Ohio State's offensive line isn't bad but... they might not be good? Ohio State is averaging 1.9 points per possession on drives that start in their own territory over the last three games. Illinois was 1 of 6 on 4th down against Michigan State. They had plenty of chances to get more points and just couldn't. This opens up the Big Ten West and now there are scenarios where Iowa or Wisconsin could actually win the West. Nebraska takes a 10-0 lead and then Minnesota takes over the rest of the game. Nebraska's quarterbacks are named... Chubba and Purdy. The Nebraska offensive line PFF grades are horrendous. Iowa and Wisconsin win their games because they're the better rushing teams. Take the pass game out of Maryland and they can't win football games. If Iowa made it back to Indy, who would be more upset? Iowa fans or non-Iowa fans? 

MUSIC:

  • "Tanaka"--Joey valance and Brad
  • "Blitz Flow"--CHIBI LOL and Baby Tom
  • "Fred"--The Dream Eaters
  • “Across 110th Street”

THE USUAL LINKS:

 


"It should be a new show starring Queen Latifah called The Adjustor"

Comments

DT76

November 7th, 2022 at 7:09 AM ^

After watching Michael Barrett run back the interception, especially the spin move at the start, I was thinking I'd like to see him in the goal line offense. And now you mention Khalid Hill.

DonAZ

November 7th, 2022 at 7:45 AM ^

I'm a 63 year old with the attention span of a 13 year old ... I see "Across 110th Street" is back in the music rotation.  I recall some talk about problems using that score.  What's the backstory here?

1VaBlue1

November 7th, 2022 at 7:54 AM ^

LOL!!  I think it went away for one pod last year, but otherwise it's continued to be a staple!  Way to pay attention, Don!

But the question is valid - what's the story behind the rights fee thing that was mentioned last year?  I'm assuming the Blog paid the licensing fee, right?

RockRockPlanetRock

November 7th, 2022 at 8:06 AM ^

The Rutgers punter Adam Korsak is fascinating. At first I thought his style was an improv. But it’s tactical. By holding the ball he increases coverage, he kicks closer to the line of scrimmage, he creates a run threat, and I suppose he could also cultivate some roughing penalties. For the season Rutgers has held opponents to negative return yards on punts. Is he a one off weirdo or a whole new way to do it?  Either way guy is a maddening magician. 

ShadowStorm33

November 7th, 2022 at 11:10 AM ^

That makes a lot of sense.

Is he a one off weirdo or a whole new way to do it?

I feel like his style is unsound, but he's good enough to make it work. Which is great for him, but for most guys trying that it would be a disaster. We were about a step away from blocking multiple punts; a punter that's a hair slower getting the punt off loses all that benefit and then some...

AC1997

November 7th, 2022 at 10:54 AM ^

It seems pretty clear that a virus went around campus last week with all the players out or not 100%.  We'll obviously never hear that from the football program, but still.

I wanted to share some Illinois scouting info since they are our next "big" game.  I have attended four games and got to spend part of the MSU game on the field this past weekend.  Here are some key observations as we get closer to that game....

  • Chase Brown is legit - will be the best RB we see all year that isn't Blake Corum.  I have no idea how he got as many yards against MSU because he seemed to get stuffed consistently.  The answer is that he has that Haskins trait of turning 0 yards into 2 or 3 yards into 5.  
  • With that being said, the entire stadium was frustrated with the play calling against MSU.  Yes, it was basically a tornado with swirling 40mph winds, but it felt like 75% of their plays were run up the middle for 2 yards. That was Bert's old Wisconsin brain since that's the one place MSU is strong. If it wasn't windy and punts, kickoffs, and FGs were normal the game changes, but still.  
  • Illinois is purely a short-passing team and their QB is a "game manager" to be sure.  He's solid, but they rarely if ever throw deep and they only have one decent WR.  
  • I still think ILL has a very, very good defense - but they got exposed a bit in this game.  MSU didn't get a lot of yards, but don't let that fool you.  They moved the ball consistently in all phases and that shocked me.  Will need to see ILL/PUR this weekend to know if it was just a blimp or the fact that ILL hasn't played any good offenses.
  • The complaints after the game about MSU faking injuries was definitely something everyone was booing during the game.  Being on the field and seeing it happen a couple times right when the Illini wanted to go fast made it seem like a legit beef.  Obviously that's gamesmanship and you tip your hat a little, but it was shady (and I'd expect nothing else from MSU).  I think there should be a rule that if the game stops for you being injured that you have to sit out a specific amount of time or plays.  
  • The refs totally helped MSU/Tucker at the end of the first.  Illinois drove into FG range, stalled out, and got hit with a chop-block penalty on 3rd and long.  The refs talked to Tucker for a while, he declines the penalty to bring up 4th down (which didn't make sense...but whatever), the ref announces it to the crowd, scoreboard changes, ILL runs out their FG team.  Tucker then shouts at the ref to come over, changes his mind and accepts the penalty, ILL is now out of FG range with 3rd and forever, misses, no points.  

Finally, one play ILL ran (that they botched) made me think of MIchigan's short yardage plays. It was pretty cool.  QB lined up in shotgun on 4th and short.  Then he hurries to under center so everyone thinks SNEAK.  Defense pinches inside ready to throw everything at the middle.  After the snap the RB breaks left, QB does a quick pitch, RB was in space 1-on-1 ready for a big gain and sure first down.  Unfortuantely, the QB made a terrible pitch.  But cool idea.

TESOE

November 7th, 2022 at 11:30 AM ^

Corum is over training perhaps?  This is the second game he's lost his cookies. 

Keegan was gimpy but walked up the tunnel.  That was the biggest issue from the game.

Wimsatt shouldn't have played from the hit he took last week, and where he is at. I don't know where Verdal (sp?) or the number 2/3 are at... but Wimsatt is going to be ruined playing for Rutgers... he has a cannon and vision.  

dragonchild

November 7th, 2022 at 11:46 AM ^

There's such a thing as being sick for over a week, although it's a tad unusual for norovirus (the most common stomach bug).

Colleges, and football facilities in particular, are giant petri dishes.  I honestly wonder why football players don't get stomach bugs more often.

bronxblue

November 7th, 2022 at 12:35 PM ^

Good podcast.

I'd like to add my own hot take - your average NFL fan is significantly less informed about football than your average college fan and interacting with them in person or online is insanely frustrating.  They think every fucking incompletion is a pass interference, any guy drafted in the top 10 is a stud and his failures are because of coaches, and they crow about how more interesting the NFL product is than college and will almost violently defend games like the Rams-Bucs game as not total ass.  

BTB grad

November 7th, 2022 at 1:04 PM ^

Idk about that, I hear some incredibly stupid takes from the dumb Michigan fans who unfortunately sit near me. People were bitching about Will Johnson giving up a TD catch on his first or second snap of his CFB career: “oh that’s supposed to be a 5 star?” Or the absolutely insane CFB fans you see on twitter, message boards, and all over the internet. I think the average football fan in general, regardless of CFB vs. NFL, is uninformed.

dragonchild

November 7th, 2022 at 1:28 PM ^

Most people embrace sports as a way of sating their need to join a cult.  Actual students of the game like the MGoBlog staff are the exceptions that prove the rule.  If there was widespread demand for in-depth analysis, the prevailing pundit business model wouldn't be pandering to Dunning-Kruger.

Win the Game

November 8th, 2022 at 6:48 PM ^

Brian is my guy, but I think I heard him say that there should be no kick-catch interference penalty called if the returner has waived for a fair catch!
 

Outlaw the baseball slide, but let the punt returners get broken if they call a fair catch…that would be mayhem, but I’m supportive.