amorion walker

UFR GLOSSARY is here.

FORMATION NOTES: Bone!

Michigan's front is what I call "Split" which is not to be confused with "Split!" where the NT is on the other side of the center, or "Splits" where both DEs are well wide of the DTs. MSU also had some super-wide Walt Bell Memorial splits. If you see "Bell" in the nomenclature it means the WRs are all beyond the numbers. It signifies a team has given up all hope of offense and has hired or is ready to hire Walt Bell.

SUBSTITUTION NOTES: The usual rotation with an increase in backup cornerbacks and McBurrows in the "competitive" portion of the game, with Amorion Walker in for a good third of the game and plenty of DJ Waller. German Green was only on for the last two plays/drives. Jimmy Rolder returned from injury and was the fourth LB. Keon Sabb was limited to just 7 snaps as Rod Moore played most of the game; Zeke Berry returned for late snaps.

[After THE JUMP: Having their number isn't the same as having their signs.]

10/21/2023 – Michigan 49, Michigan State 0 – 8-0, 5-0 Big Ten

Somewhere in this country there is a person making approximately minimum wage who is tasked with finding benign videos to put on scoreboards across the country. It is a hideously dull job and he or she spends most of their time at work staring blankly at a screen, half focused. When something useful shows up, it's bookmarked and put in a bin.

This person is not watching question #28 in a 40-question quiz that takes 16 minutes to get through. After the second question is "what are crayons made of" they put it in the Michigan State bin on the off chance it convinces Spartans to draw with the things instead of eating them*. Then they spend 15 minutes playing solitaire. Some weeks or months later, a jaunty Hitler shows up on the Spartan Stadium scoreboard next to an ad for Meijer.

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh pic.twitter.com/DvNk6A3vn5

— Alexander Haenke (@aphaenke) October 21, 2023

That person did not have a bad day on Saturday. That person got fired, shrugged, and had an edible.

That person's boss had a bad day. And that person's boss, and that person's boss, and so forth and so on up the chain until we reach the Michigan State administrator who chewed out a person at Company X after being chewed out himself.

Having to type up "hitler apology.doc" while the team is losing 42-0 to its most despised rival is an actual sports info director nightmare

— Jason Kirk (jasonkirk.fyi on bluesky) (@JasonKirk_fyi) October 22, 2023

These people have living wages and car payments. Our quiz selector has… edibles. You can only lose something if you felt like you had something. The person at the bottom of the totem pole with a life of dull-eyed drudgery stretching out for eons in front of them feels nothing.

This is the bright side for Michigan State fans.

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

On the other side of the equation, Michigan dominated a rivalry game to an extent not seen since the 1950s. Every box was checked: abject humiliation, fancy QB stats, taking over the opponent's stadium in the first quarter, revenge for all the various offenses perpetrated.

In the aftermath, Michigan sang a very silly song at piercing volume…

Michigan postgame chants after stomping MSU pic.twitter.com/KNWXpOqXMe

— Ryan Zuke (@ryanzuke) October 22, 2023

…and Mike Sainristil took 12 seconds at the end of his NBC interview—12 seconds NBC did not want to give him—to say "real quick, hey, c'mere, c'mere—real quick."

At this point the interviewer interjects with "Mikey, thanks so much" because she has been directed from on high to get this back to the studio. Mike Sainristil says no, you will not do this, and then he grabs Ja'Den McBurrows and says "the adversity he went through, what happened last year in that tunnel, to come out and have game like he did tonight—an interception, three-four tackles—Ja'Den McBurrows! Stay tuned!"

As he is doing this, JJ McCarthy is putting the imaginary crown on McBurrows, like he does everyone who scores a touchdown, or blocks for a touchdown, or happens to be in the area when a touchdown happens. It feels like he is overjoyed that he can put a crown on someone on defense for once.

Here it is: Michigan does not forgive or forget. But the way they get revenge is to go about their business. Michigan didn't endanger anyone's health or safety outside the rule book Saturday, as the Michigan State athletic department ludicrously suggested they might. They treated Michigan State just like any other opponent… mostly.

It was in the back of their heads, the way a one-sided assault on two innocent players had been both-sided by the media, the way an as-yet unsubstantiated report has caused the college football media's various MSU/OSU partisans and Medill graduates to wishcast absurd punishments on the nation's most dominant team. McBurrows responded by coming after the beatdown had commenced and simply continuing it. Michigan put German Green, Gemon's twin brother, on the field for the last snap and he came up with a TFL.

There's no need for revenge. The fact that this is Michigan's team and that is Michigan State's team is revenge enough.

[Barron]

*[Quiz questions that get filed in the Michigan bin include "What was Erwin Rommel's fatal mistake during the Siege of Tobruk?" and "What is your most passionately held opinion you have absolutely no evidence to support?"]

AWARDS

Known Friends and Trusted Agents Of The Week

[Barron]

you're the man now, dog

#1 JJ McCarthy. A confession: I do try to switch it up in the Known Friends and Trusted Agents to prevent the monotony of the same guy being at the top constantly. This is not really possible this year. Your new Heisman favorite was 21/27 for 287 yards and four TDs in 40 minutes of gametime. Agog.

#2(T) AJ Barner and Colston Loveland. Harbaugh probably thought the rapture was going on as Michigan beat MSU 49-0 and his top two tight ends combined for 178 receiving yards and three touchdowns—and it would have been four but for a Donovan Edwards flinch at the end of the half. Barner mostly shed whatever reputation he might have had as a blocking tight end with a bevy of downfield catches, some contested and others difficult. Barner continues to turn in improbable YAC events. Loveland, meanwhile, is pure death whenever he gets a LB assignment. Five points each; they deserve it.

#3 Ja'Den McBurrows. Had an interception and a TFL; had a couple more good tackles in space; dominated a slant route and only failed to get a PBU on it because the ball was wide. Given the dispersion of defensive snaps—he tied for fourth in tackles!—this is only kinda sorta about last year. Dude looked like a worthy replacement for Sainristil. As the man himself said, stay tuned.

Honorable mention: Mike Sainristil had an admittedly free pick six and, more importantly for this section, demanded that NBC not cut away until he could shout out McBurrows. Junior Colson was everywhere; Derrick Moore had a thunderous sack and only missed a second by a bare margin. Kris Jenkins and Mason Graham were entirely unblockable.

KFaTAotW Standings.

(points: #1: 8, #2: 5, #3: 3, HMs one each. Ties result in somewhat arbitrary assignments.)

43: JJ McCarthy (#1 ECU, #1 UNLV, #2 Rutgers, HM Nebraska, #2 Minn, #1 IU, #1 MSU)
23: Kris Jenkins (HM ECU, T2 UNLV, #1 BGSU, HM Rutgers, #1 Neb, HM MSU)
15: Mason Graham (HM ECU, T2 UNLV, #1 Minn, HM IU, HM MSU)
13: Mike Sainristil (T3 ECU, HM BGSU, #1 Rutgers, HM IU, HM MSU)
10: Blake Corum (HM ECU, HM UNLV, #2 BGSU, HM Rutgers, HM Neb, HM IU), AJ Barner (HM BGSU, HM Neb, HM Minn, T3 IU, T2 MSU)
9: Roman Wilson (T2 ECU, HM UNLV, HM BGSU, #3 Nebraska)
8: Mike Barrett (HM UNLV, T3 Rutgers, #2 IU), Colston Loveland (HM Rutgers, T3 IU, T2 MSU)
7: Braiden McGregor(T3 UNLV, #2 Nebraska), Cornelius Johnson (T2 ECU, HM UNLV, HM BGSU, HM Minn)
6: Kenneth Grant (T3 ECU, T2 UNLV), Junior Colson (#3 BGSU, T3 Rutgers, HM MSU)
4: Ernest Hausmann (T3 ECU, T3 Rutgers), Max Bredeson (HM Rutgers, HM Neb, T3 IU), Derrick Moore (T3 UNLV, HM Neb, HM MSU)
3: Will Johnson(#3 Minn), Jaylen Harrell (HM UNLV, HM BGSU, HM IU)
2:  Josh Wallace (T3 ECU)
1: Tommy Doman (HM ECU), Donovan Edwards (HM ECU), Tyler Morris (HM UNLV), Semaj Morgan (HM Rutgers),Quinten Johnson (HM Rutgers), Kalel Mullings (HM Minn), The Offensive Line (HM Minn), Keon Sabb (HM Minn), Josiah Stewart (HM Minn), Ben Hall (HM IU)

Who's Got It Better Than Us(?) Of The Week

JJ McCarthy gets set up with a third and thirteen on Michigan's first drive, gets late pressure, moves out of the pocket, and calmly nails AJ Barner to convert. In itself, not incredible. As an emblem of JJ McCarthy in this game, ah yup.

Honorable mention:  uh… everything else.

MARCUS HALL EPIC DOUBLE BIRD OF THE WEEK: SPECIAL EDITION

Since literally one thing of import went wrong AND MSU center Nick Samac deployed the double bird IN HIS OWN STADIUM, IN THE THIRD QUARTER, this section is dedicated to birds, not bad things that happened. About a dozen people @'d me on Twitter about this even before I asked, and there was a lot of discussion about replacing Marcus Hall with Samac.

I don't want to do this, because Marcus Hall got ejected from a Michigan-Ohio State game that Ohio State won; his birds were a roar of defiance. Say what you want about Ohio State but they're not ankle biters. I feel like having the bad things about a game represented by Hall is fine. My man did some dumb shit and went out on his own terms. There's a level of respect in this section.

Samac's birds were pathetic. MSU was down a billion, Michigan fans had taken over his home stadium, and per Seth's reckoning the Michigan fans' response was to sing "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow" at him. I'm not dumping Hall for this joker. Just compare the two screenshots we have. Hall is out there with it; Samac seems embarrassed, because he should be.

What I am doing: NICK SAMAC PATHETIC DOUBLE BIRD OF THE WEEK. I'm not going to issue this after every game, only ones in which something unsporting, cowardly, incredibly stupid, infuriating, unethical, or downright-not-right happens. I'm guessing it'll be about a third of Michigan games and 100% of Michigan-Michigan State games.

Honorable mention: The illegal motion at the end of the half takes a touchdown off the board.

NICK SAMAC PATHETIC DOUBLE BIRD OF THE WEEK

Spencer Brown gets ejected for a an ultra-targeting on Braiden McGregor:

I'd say suspend him but it's probably meaner to let him play.

Dishonorable mention: Nick Samac issues double birds to Michigan fans that have taken over Spartan Stadium up 42-0 in the third quarter. MSU takes three personal fouls in two plays in the third quarter. A cheap shot on Alex Orji gives Michigan a shot at a seventh touchdown that they take. The replay official in Iowa-Minnesota takes a Cooper DeJean punt return TD off the board for a ticky-tack invalid fair catch signal.

Previously: Podcast 15.0A, 15.0B, 15.0C. The Story. Quarterback. Running Back. Wide Receiver. Tight End. Interior OL. Defensive Interior. Edge. Linebacker.

Depth Chart

Corner	Yr.	Corner	Yr.	Nickelback	Yr.
Will Johnson	So.	Josh Wallace	Sr.*	Mike Sainristil	Sr.*
Keshaun Harris	Jr.*	Jaden McBurrows	So.*	Rod Moore	Jr.
Jyaire Hill	Fr.	Amorion Walker	Fr.*	Zeke Berry	Fr.*

Well, on the one hand you have two of the best defensive backs in America. On the other you have a great sea of uncertainty led by a UMass transfer. It'll be fine, in all probability, because Michigan has six or seven guys competing for one spot on the defense and the UMass transfer has almost literally as much experience as it is possible to have while still being allowed to play college football.

But, I mean, this is it. This is the Worry Spot. This is the most concerning thing about the entire 2023 Michigan Wolverines: who is going to play opposite the reincarnation of Charles Woodson.

CORNERBACK: MY NAME IS KIIIIIIIIID WOODSON

RATING: 4.

This preview series has now referenced two of Michigan's famous Musical Dirtbags and will undoubtedly work in some sort of juggalos reference before it ends. This is what you don't pay me for, folks.

[Fuller]

Anyway, WILL JOHNSON came in as a 6'2", five-star corner and those guys simply do not miss. The question was "when will he not miss" and the answer was right… about… now…

CB #2 to top

On the opening snap of The Game Michigan put him in press coverage with no safety help against Marvin Harrison Jr and he obliterated the first WR off the board in the 2024 draft. That was a statement of intent. (PFF, infuriatingly, did not count this as a target.) Ohio State targeted Johnson downfield exactly one more time (a comeback to Fleming that was complete for 15 yards) before it was 38-23 and Michigan started playing to bleed the clock.

[After THE JUMP: Hail, Hail to Sainristil]