... here's some of what he touched on:
• Michigan's win over Wisconsin: "It was a big win for Michigan that made some noise nationally. We had a lot of that noise, a lot of that promotion, before the season started. Obviously, with how Notre Dame went, people kind of cooled off on us.
"But this team has really developed, gotten better, progressed. They're doing all the things you want them to be doing. To knock off a quality opponent like Wisconsin, being at home, night game, big venue, GameDay is here — that's a big deal for Michigan football. We've talked about this stretch in mid-October, these big games coming up, and how the season finishes out. We're right where we want to be."
• Questions answered against the Badgers: "Sacks and pressure have gotten consistently better, which is surprising, since we've had some guys consistently down, still. [Junior defensive end Rashan] Gary didn't play. The pressures by [defensive coordinator] Don Brown are starting to come out of the pocket a little bit more.
"They're in the middle of the season. Our pressure on the QB has consistently gotten better and improved to the level it needs to be, to be the best defense in the country, or considered to be one of the best defenses in the country.
"Offensively, not turning the ball over. We've done a really good job, to this point. We've cleaned up penalties — we only had one penalty last game. This is the second or third game in a row that we haven't had an offensive turnover. They're really doing a good job taking care of the ball, possessing the ball. We're beating every team we play, pretty much, in time of possession.
"That used to be something Michigan did a lot of, but not as much in recent years. All these different things are checking off little boxes. As these boxes get checked, it makes it easier to get more and more excited about where we could potentially be at the end of the year."
• A question mark remaining: "This team winning the big games on the road. We are not a team that's been winning well on the road or playing well on the road … we've got opportunities. We've got Michigan State, obviously, this week, we've got Ohio State at the end of the year.
"To have the ship 100 percent righted, and to please — which is a very big task to undertake — the Michigan fan base, we're going to have to win rivalry games and away games against ranked opponents. It starts with Michigan State. I don't think they'll be ranked for this one, but the expectation will be that we HAVE to win this game for it to be considered an even mildly successful season."
• The Spartans, and their win at Penn State: "I was very surprised to see that. I've been surprised that Michigan State has struggled early in the season, because it seemed like they would be competing for the Big Ten East, just like us and Ohio State and Penn State.
"With the loss to Northwestern, losing at Arizona State, playing some tight games at home that they shouldn't have been in, it seemed like they may not be able to get the wheels on this year. They are a very good team at ruining other people's seasons. That's what they live for, over there in East Lansing.
"They wait and lurk for opportunities to wreck someone's good season, and they get all juiced up for that one, but when it comes to doing things right week-in, week-out, eh, you can't really expect them to do that.
"That's how I feel about them, right now. They're a dangerous team, for sure. They can beat anybody if they get all their guys together. But for some reason, and I don't know why, it doesn't seem they are consistently able to bring the same product to the field.
Here's the full podcast: https://michigan.rivals.com/news/mi...ll-podcast-ryan-van-bergen-with-john-borton-4
• Michigan's win over Wisconsin: "It was a big win for Michigan that made some noise nationally. We had a lot of that noise, a lot of that promotion, before the season started. Obviously, with how Notre Dame went, people kind of cooled off on us.
"But this team has really developed, gotten better, progressed. They're doing all the things you want them to be doing. To knock off a quality opponent like Wisconsin, being at home, night game, big venue, GameDay is here — that's a big deal for Michigan football. We've talked about this stretch in mid-October, these big games coming up, and how the season finishes out. We're right where we want to be."
• Questions answered against the Badgers: "Sacks and pressure have gotten consistently better, which is surprising, since we've had some guys consistently down, still. [Junior defensive end Rashan] Gary didn't play. The pressures by [defensive coordinator] Don Brown are starting to come out of the pocket a little bit more.
"They're in the middle of the season. Our pressure on the QB has consistently gotten better and improved to the level it needs to be, to be the best defense in the country, or considered to be one of the best defenses in the country.
"Offensively, not turning the ball over. We've done a really good job, to this point. We've cleaned up penalties — we only had one penalty last game. This is the second or third game in a row that we haven't had an offensive turnover. They're really doing a good job taking care of the ball, possessing the ball. We're beating every team we play, pretty much, in time of possession.
"That used to be something Michigan did a lot of, but not as much in recent years. All these different things are checking off little boxes. As these boxes get checked, it makes it easier to get more and more excited about where we could potentially be at the end of the year."
• A question mark remaining: "This team winning the big games on the road. We are not a team that's been winning well on the road or playing well on the road … we've got opportunities. We've got Michigan State, obviously, this week, we've got Ohio State at the end of the year.
"To have the ship 100 percent righted, and to please — which is a very big task to undertake — the Michigan fan base, we're going to have to win rivalry games and away games against ranked opponents. It starts with Michigan State. I don't think they'll be ranked for this one, but the expectation will be that we HAVE to win this game for it to be considered an even mildly successful season."
• The Spartans, and their win at Penn State: "I was very surprised to see that. I've been surprised that Michigan State has struggled early in the season, because it seemed like they would be competing for the Big Ten East, just like us and Ohio State and Penn State.
"With the loss to Northwestern, losing at Arizona State, playing some tight games at home that they shouldn't have been in, it seemed like they may not be able to get the wheels on this year. They are a very good team at ruining other people's seasons. That's what they live for, over there in East Lansing.
"They wait and lurk for opportunities to wreck someone's good season, and they get all juiced up for that one, but when it comes to doing things right week-in, week-out, eh, you can't really expect them to do that.
"That's how I feel about them, right now. They're a dangerous team, for sure. They can beat anybody if they get all their guys together. But for some reason, and I don't know why, it doesn't seem they are consistently able to bring the same product to the field.
Here's the full podcast: https://michigan.rivals.com/news/mi...ll-podcast-ryan-van-bergen-with-john-borton-4
