MGoPodcast 17.6: The Fickell-Franklin Wife Swap

2 hour and 18 minutes

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1. Offense vs Wisconsin

Starts at 1:00

Are Michigan fans turning beet red or was it just hot? This game looks better on rewatch and followed the preview fairly closely. Bryce Underwood took a leap forward in this game, he has the occasional accuracy issue and isn't testing the middle of the field, but he's starting to hit guys downfield. Andrew Marsh and Donaven McCulley also took a huge lea. This is encouraging considering Goodwin was barely targeted, Semaj has been having catching issues, and Frederick Moore is off the team. You can rotate most positions but not the wide receivers. Russel Bellamy has been getting unfairly judged for the receivers. Wisconsin has a very good rush defense and Michigan put up pretty good numbers. Underwood needs to get the ball out a little quicker. Sprague will grade out negatively but he generally does it well when he knows the right assignment. The offensive line is young, they need some time to get better. Lindsey plays off the screen game really well. Has Michigan gotten a holding call all year on defense?

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

2. Defense vs Wisconsin

Starts at 39:33

10 points from the opposition but three came from a sad field goal. They barely got to 200 yards of offense until "kill the clock mode". Rod Moore being back instantly makes this defense much better. Don't rotate him and just keep him on the field all game? Zeke Berry is back from injury, he missed a tackle but was otherwise fine. This defense seems like they miss a lot of tackles but we're comparing it to the best defense in recent school history. Jimmy Rolder was in his element, one time he almost picked up a fullback and threw him. Michigan goes cover zero in a situation that makes no sense. Everyone in the stands keeps turning towards Seth when this happens. Brandyn Hillman is reckless which is helpful sometimes, sometimes it hurts you. Please don't be weird against USC.

3. Hot Takes, Game Theory, and Special Teams

Starts at 1:05:20

Takes hotter than Michigan Stadium this Saturday. Michigan missed a 27 yard field goal, was it the hold? They did (just barely) block a punt and almost blocked a second one. Hollenbeck was blasting them in this game. What is up with Semaj's punt returns? Is he being told not to take any chances? Should you run a QB sneak on 4th and inches near your own red zone? Luke Fickell is Brady Hoke. They weren't trying to win the game in the 4th quarter, you can't have a six minute field goal drive in this situation. Seth is about to start charting an umpire's spatial awareness.

4. Around the Big Ten with Jamie Mac

Starts at 1:34:02

UCLA 42, Penn State 37
UCLA has been awful all season but they looked like the #7 team in the country in Pasadena. James Franklin partially blamed the travel. Coming into this weekend, UCLA never led in any of their four games. In this game they never trailed. Tim Skipper has as many wins over top 10 teams as James Franklin. Penn State was a playoff team but now they have to beat Ohio State to have a chance, Was this the biggest Big Ten upset ever? 

Nebraska 38, Michigan State 27
In most weeks this would be the funniest game of the week. Michigan State ran for 2.3 YPC and Chiles threw two interception into Nebraska chests. Their backup looked pretty good so is there a QB controversy? 

Washington 24, Maryland 20
Maryland took a 20-0 lead but road Washington dominated October Maryland. Washington is still without their best defensive end, linebacker, and defensive back. Mike Locksley is 0-10 coming out of bye weeks. 

Illinois 43, Purdue 27
The Purdue offense is actually functional. Each QB threw for over 300 yards. 

Northwestern 42, ULM 7
One day we'll have something to say about Northwestern, but not today.

Ohio State 42, Minnesota 3
They let Julian Sayin cook.

MUSIC:

• "Cobra"—Geese
• "God's Country"—Thomas Dollbaum
• "How To Kill Houseplants"—Spacey Jane
• “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra