... of Nebraska and much more. Here are some highlights, on...
• The Wolverines quickly burying the Cornhuskers: "It's exciting to see Michigan come out and be dominant against an opponent. I don't care if it's Western, SMU, Nebraska — just to have a dominant performance, offense, defense, special teams, everything clicking, that's where we want to be trending to.
"That was exciting. It was a fun game, with a lot of positives to take away.
"I definitely think you internalize [Nebraska coach Scott Frost's comments about his team out-hitting Michigan two years ago] and use it as fuel. It keeps you going for the duration of the game. There are 60 minutes of opportunity to hit the other guy, and if they said something about you, or your team … you'll remember that. It gives you a reason to make sure you take nothing off of it.
"If you're a pitcher, you're throwing heat, if you're a football player, you're making sure those pads pop. That's what you continue to do. Obviously, something hit home, because it was a very dominant performance on both sides."
• Michigan's strong special teams: "Special teams will definitely be the separator in your close games. Having reliable and consistent special teams is where you need to be. The big-play ability is fantastic — don't get me wrong — but at the end of the day, they need to get their job done and execute, not impact their team in a negative way.
"I was part of teams where, unfortunately, we did impact the team negatively via special teams. It was super exciting to see all the facets working together. That was [sophomore wide receiver Donovan] Peoples-Jones second return for touchdown. As he keeps going, there's a great line of Michigan football returners.
"I remember when I was a recruit, watching Steve Breaston. Every time Breaston lined up back there, you kind of got a little antsy in your seat. No one sat down while Breaston was returning a punt. That's kind of how we're getting with DPJ. He obviously has the talent to take any of them home.
"Not only that, Michigan was very disciplined, not to be the old man getting excited about discipline. There were a lot of opportunities to clean a dude out on that punt, because he brought it to that visitors' sideline. There were a lot of opportunities to blindside a guy, end up on a highlight film, but with a chance that they'd call a block in the back and call that play back.
"I'm watching it, and I saw him getting into the sidelines, saw them lining people up, and as they get to their guy, they turned their backs, hands up, like they're well coached not to make any contact with their guys. I get excited about those things, because that's a well-coached team.
"Being honest, there are still some questions I have about [redshirt sophomore placekicker Quinn] Nordin. It's not that I would say put another guy in there. He does have the ability, but where has his consistency been? He missed an extra point, and who knows … maybe snap, maybe hold. I still want to see more consistency when it comes down to a huge rivalry game, need to win by three, and it's all on his shoulders, we know it's going through the uprights.
"I don't know that we're there, necessarily, yet. I know he's a talented kid, but I'm still waiting to see some more consistency from Nordin."
• Michigan moving forward: "This is where we need to be. We're a team that's trending up. From the very first series, we've been waiting for Michigan to get to where they were this week. Not to say they've reached the top, or anything like that, but you can see there's development.
"That's the biggest deal, not staying the same throughout the season, not getting worse throughout the season. Even with bodies rotating out, getting hurt, whatever, Michigan football is on the up trend, as we're getting through the later part of September.
"I think the Big Ten — and we talked about it last week — is wide open. I think Ohio State — and not to give them a compliment — is probably sitting at the top, with regard to how they're playing right now. But us, Michigan State, even Wisconsin, Penn State, all of those schools are in a rush to get better before we meet here in October.
"The next week, two weeks, I don't think we're going to be challenged, as far as it being a tight game. You've still got to come to play, and we are in a rush to use these two, three weeks better than these other schools, and improve the most.
"That seems to be what the race is right now — who can improve the most over the next two or three weeks and make the most of their opportunity. The positive thing for Michigan fans is, we saw improvement in a lot of facets of the game. We're trending up, and you can expect to see more of the same, with regarding to improvement and trending that way."
Here's the full podcast: https://michigan.rivals.com/news/michigan-wolverines-football-post-game-podcast-ryan-van-bergen-2
• The Wolverines quickly burying the Cornhuskers: "It's exciting to see Michigan come out and be dominant against an opponent. I don't care if it's Western, SMU, Nebraska — just to have a dominant performance, offense, defense, special teams, everything clicking, that's where we want to be trending to.
"That was exciting. It was a fun game, with a lot of positives to take away.
"I definitely think you internalize [Nebraska coach Scott Frost's comments about his team out-hitting Michigan two years ago] and use it as fuel. It keeps you going for the duration of the game. There are 60 minutes of opportunity to hit the other guy, and if they said something about you, or your team … you'll remember that. It gives you a reason to make sure you take nothing off of it.
"If you're a pitcher, you're throwing heat, if you're a football player, you're making sure those pads pop. That's what you continue to do. Obviously, something hit home, because it was a very dominant performance on both sides."
• Michigan's strong special teams: "Special teams will definitely be the separator in your close games. Having reliable and consistent special teams is where you need to be. The big-play ability is fantastic — don't get me wrong — but at the end of the day, they need to get their job done and execute, not impact their team in a negative way.
"I was part of teams where, unfortunately, we did impact the team negatively via special teams. It was super exciting to see all the facets working together. That was [sophomore wide receiver Donovan] Peoples-Jones second return for touchdown. As he keeps going, there's a great line of Michigan football returners.
"I remember when I was a recruit, watching Steve Breaston. Every time Breaston lined up back there, you kind of got a little antsy in your seat. No one sat down while Breaston was returning a punt. That's kind of how we're getting with DPJ. He obviously has the talent to take any of them home.
"Not only that, Michigan was very disciplined, not to be the old man getting excited about discipline. There were a lot of opportunities to clean a dude out on that punt, because he brought it to that visitors' sideline. There were a lot of opportunities to blindside a guy, end up on a highlight film, but with a chance that they'd call a block in the back and call that play back.
"I'm watching it, and I saw him getting into the sidelines, saw them lining people up, and as they get to their guy, they turned their backs, hands up, like they're well coached not to make any contact with their guys. I get excited about those things, because that's a well-coached team.
"Being honest, there are still some questions I have about [redshirt sophomore placekicker Quinn] Nordin. It's not that I would say put another guy in there. He does have the ability, but where has his consistency been? He missed an extra point, and who knows … maybe snap, maybe hold. I still want to see more consistency when it comes down to a huge rivalry game, need to win by three, and it's all on his shoulders, we know it's going through the uprights.
"I don't know that we're there, necessarily, yet. I know he's a talented kid, but I'm still waiting to see some more consistency from Nordin."
• Michigan moving forward: "This is where we need to be. We're a team that's trending up. From the very first series, we've been waiting for Michigan to get to where they were this week. Not to say they've reached the top, or anything like that, but you can see there's development.
"That's the biggest deal, not staying the same throughout the season, not getting worse throughout the season. Even with bodies rotating out, getting hurt, whatever, Michigan football is on the up trend, as we're getting through the later part of September.
"I think the Big Ten — and we talked about it last week — is wide open. I think Ohio State — and not to give them a compliment — is probably sitting at the top, with regard to how they're playing right now. But us, Michigan State, even Wisconsin, Penn State, all of those schools are in a rush to get better before we meet here in October.
"The next week, two weeks, I don't think we're going to be challenged, as far as it being a tight game. You've still got to come to play, and we are in a rush to use these two, three weeks better than these other schools, and improve the most.
"That seems to be what the race is right now — who can improve the most over the next two or three weeks and make the most of their opportunity. The positive thing for Michigan fans is, we saw improvement in a lot of facets of the game. We're trending up, and you can expect to see more of the same, with regarding to improvement and trending that way."
Here's the full podcast: https://michigan.rivals.com/news/michigan-wolverines-football-post-game-podcast-ryan-van-bergen-2
