I’m not going to overreact, but I also don’t want to downplay that win. I understand we SHOULD beat that team, but MSU is better than we thought they would be this year and we weren’t exactly coming in with momentum.

1. No penalties and no turnovers. That’s UM football as we have seen it. Don’t hurt yourself. First time all season.

2. For those downplaying our offense because our yardages weren’t great - MSU had the ball for 37 min. Their gameplan was 💯 to shorten the game and try to wear down our defense. We scored 24 points on 265 yards. That’s efficient.

3. Carter is an NFL talent. We missed some tackles that would have gotten our defense off the field a few times. But credit to that kid. His balance is incredible.

4. As I said, some missed tackles. But our defense actually adjusted. Haven’t seen a lot of that so far, so that’s a positive development.

5. We need to do a better job with our run game. We can’t get enough push to just run up the middle and have gaps open up like we have the last 3 years. Need to move the line and be a little more zone oriented to open cut backs.

Really good debuts by freshmen Olivia Olson and Mila Holloway. Good things happen when you bring in McDonald's All-Americans

Or USC. Warren gives this team a pulse. Zero picks… thank goodness!

Was back on the sidelines, good for him overall a good guy…..#GoBlue

It's great to be a Michigan Wolverine!

I am sure you're heartbroken to hear this. Between hunting down recruits and postgame content, just didn't have the time to get it done.

Happy with the win. We'll talk more about it on the pod. Recording here shortly.

Last night was a great win and a relief. We just needed a win in the worst way and found a way to do it.

The Defense. This D and Wink take a lot of heat on this board, but aside from the Texas game, I think they have been pretty good. For most of the year, they have been put in bad field position by the offense and have done okay. Not great, but better than a lot give them credit for. The main issue for this D is twofold.
1. Tackling
2. 3rd and long.

Tackling needs to be emphasized in practice, and technique needs to be insisted on. Much of the poor tackling is because our players overrun the play and end up out of position.

On the 3rd and long, our DBs need to move up and make their WRs cut their routes short. It would also help if it's run play. Perhaps Wink is afraid the DB cover skills are not great, and he's scared of getting beaten over the top. We're almost to November, let them play tighter.

In the last two weeks, we have seen teams getting their ground game going against us; we need to shore that up.

Special teams. There is good and bad here. Punting is the worst, and it's bleeding over into his holds on pats and fgs. I'm amazed that nobody else has been given a shot.

If the hold is good, FGs are golden. What a weapon.

Last night, we actually ran a few punts back and had some success.

The Offense. Last night, MSU decided that we wouldn't run the ball on them. They did a good job of that, but we still don't know how to use Mullings. The play calls are so obvious when KM is in the game.

Still, the O-line underperformed in the run game last night. As bad as they were in the run game, the pass pro was good. Davis left the pocket early a couple of times early in the game but settled down and trusted the line. It paid off.

The entire season, the common refrain has been we don't have a QB, none of them are any good. Last night, we had a good QB and a good running QB. Alex played his role to perfection; you couldn't ask for more. Davis looked like he belonged out there. He completed ten passes in a row at one point, and most were downfield. He got players besides Loveland involved; Morgan had his best game. We had no turnovers and no penalties. If we can continue this kind of play and get the run game back on track, we can be pretty good going forward.

Game balls:
Davis Warren
Alex Orgi
Kenneth Grand
Josaiah Stewart
Loveland
Edwards
Kirk Campbell

Lastly, MSU. Their new coach seems like he knows what he's doing. They put a great game plan together; they stopped the run, but he wasn't counting on us being able to throw the ball. They beat us in every statistic but the one that counts. They lost the game on penalties, a turnover, and an onside kick that didn't work. Fortunately, it wasn't worse after the first quarter, but let's give our guys some credit. A lot of people picked MSU to win this game, and we found a way. Let's hope that carries over to the rest of the season.

We saw a spark last night; let's hope it turns into a fire going forward.

Go Blue!

@jimUMfan has mentioned this a couple of times. Warren never should’ve been benched.

Props to the staff for going back to him - I’m not going to try and change the past, I’m just going to enjoy this WIN. Happy we got this right this week. Great win!

M&BR has the latest on 2025 flip target Shamari Earls

For all the old guard on the board. Met Billy Taylor RB and his son from 1969- 1971 team. Billy was a great RB. Before my time I was yet to be on this earth but my father would talk about Billy all the time when we were able to watch Michigan football back when a young pup. Great people even though Billy had some transgressions when he left pro ball. Thanks Macdaddy and Mrs Macdaddy best people in the world. Next week people we are going to set college football on its head with a

34-31

Victory over #1 Oregon. We will he back in the Big Ten race. LFG. Gotta believe.

My thoughts after the game, let me hear yours

The Good:
- Won a must win game, clear path to bowl eligibility and at worst a .500 season, maybe not what we wanted but something we have to take
- Huge week and weekend for recruiting, winning the rivalry game probably helps in that department
- 0 turnovers, 0 penalties, 0 sacks. First time that has happened all season and the main reason Michigan won despite getting outgained by nearly 100 yards
- Davis Warren played like a P4 quarterback. Started off a bit shakey but made some great throws. Was a little scared when he threw across his body on that 3rd down but he converted it. I think benching him for a couple of weeks gave him sometime to reflect and grow.
- Orji finally unleashed his legs 8 games into the season. I can't believe he only got his first rushing TD of the season last night but I'm glad he's finally pulling off some runs
- Play calling was significantly better on the offensive side of the ball, if Kirk was calling the plays and not Sherrone then he deserves some good credit. I know many will point out he schemed guys open last week but he's also the QB coach so he's also responsible for the QB play 🤷‍♂️. That being said, last night was a great night for QBs
- Secondary held it down pretty well considering Johnson was out
- Jaishawn Barham is continuing to play well that's nice we're going to need that for the rest of the season
- Josiah Stewart continues to be one of the best EDGE players in the country
- KG learned from his mistakes and just fell on the ball

The Bad:
- Shouldn't lose our tempers at the end of the game, I know Sparty started it but have to be above it
- Dropped some Int's, one of which would've likely gone to the house
- Had some good punts but also some terrible ones, what's up with Tommy Doman?

The Ugly:
- Tackling across the board was pretty bad, State has some slippery guys so give them some credit but has to improve from here on out
- 3rd and Long continues to be Wink's kryptonite, I'm not exactly sure why or what it is but figure it out this is the best position to be in as a DC
- Defensive play calling was confusing, not sure why we keep putting MG on the EDGE, they ripped off a big play almost every time it happened
- Run defense was bad last week, but ugly this week. Oregon has some very fast guys we need to plug these holes much better or they won't have to work hard to win
- Run blocking was pretty hit or miss this week as well, many times our RBs just had nowhere to go.
- 15 yards and just 4 plays is in the first quarter is pretty awful, just can't do that in a rivalry game, thank goodness we we're able to still pull out a win

Looking ahead:
Ohio State had a massive size advantage against Oregon but in their soft fashion they decided not to flex it. If Michigan wants any chance to keep it close with Oregon Michigan has to push this as hard as they can. Hopefully this win gives the team, but specifically Davis Warren and Alex Orji, some major confidence going forward.

Go Blue!

Working on some postgame stuff and tracking down recruits so I will post a quick update before I post the whole story.

I absolutely do think Michigan will be a factor to flip 2025 Syracuse EDGE commit Quante Gillians. Sherrone Moore and Lou Esposito have teamed up with this one and both met with Gillians and his family last night.

Gillians loves the defense and how he could potentially fit in. This visit was supposed to be an unofficial but it was changed to an official visit at the last minute.

Full story shortly.

Michigan and Michigan State football battled in what was a clean, physical game on Saturday night until things got chippy at the very end when UM tight end Colston Loveland and MSU defensive lineman Anthony Jones exchanged words, then shoves, bringing the two teams together to come to their teammates' defense.

Sherrone Moore, Jonathan Smith and Colston Loveland all offered their thoughts on the incident:

Didn’t see any posts or updates maybe just a typical Sparty game thing- @Josh Helmholdt

however, Warren still gives us the best chance to be successful.

INT 1: I believe was on Edwards. Edwards is not great in pass protection. He should have the LB that walked up off the left edge of the line of scrimmage. They didn't even disguise the blitz. Warren should have taken the sack instead of throwing the ball but we have to protect better. The LG pulled to give the run look so the LT has the DE. Center blocks back to help replace for pulling guard. Should have been an easy blitz pickup.

INT 2 was on Link. That would have been a completion to Moore to the 10 yard line if Link doesn't get beat around the end. The DE hit his elbow when he went to deliver the ball. Warren was sliding up in the pocket also. Link cost us that pick!

INT 3 All on Warren. Horrible decision. Walker falls down and Morgan runs into the LB. Definitely screwed up the timing of the play but Warren has to just throw it away and live to play the next down!!

Orgi is way to one dimensional. Zero threat of the pass will not work against solid teams. You have to have the threat of the pass to make the run game work.

We have to remember Warren hasn't played much football in the last 5 years. I believe we need to stay the course and let him develop. He did throw some good balls and he also showed the ability to extend some plays with his feet. He was 11-14. His decision making will improve as he gains more experience.

Lastly, as a football coach, I can promise you defensive coordinators would much rather see Orgi under center. Defending both the run and the pass is much tougher than a one dimensional team.

Go Blue! Beat the Trojans!

Special hats off to Campbell’s play-calling!
Orji did a masterful job of running the ball. The multi QB use was seamless.
And No turnovers!

Fire no one!