Michigan Friday: Welcomes a New LB

Michigan has done well in finding talented Linebackers in the portal and on the recruiting trail.  I wish they weren't all hurt at the moment.   Wisconsin is struggling in all phases right now and even though they say Luke will be back, nothing looks good about the Badger program right now. 

That led talented Ohio 3 star LB Aden Reeder from St.X in Cincinnati to flip his commitment from Wisconsin to Michigan after a recent visit to Ann Arbor.  Aden is expected to play the Ernie Hausman role in Michigan's future defense.  He is rated the 45th LB in the country and is also strong student with eyes on the Engineering school at U of M.  Michigan needed another LB in the class and Aden fit the bill! 

Aden had offers from the likes, UC, Nebraska, BC, UK, UVA, VT, WVU, IU, MSU, Northwestern, Iowa, Maryland and Minnesota.  Welcome Aden! 

• RIP to former WMU DE Marshawn Kneeland who was coached my Michigan's DL coach Lou Episodio at Western. 

• As a reminder, two games to watch for Michigan fans this weekend.  Tonight - NW @ USC and Oregon @ Iowa on Saturday. 

• Michigan is playing Wake Forest at Little Caesars Arena next week.

• Is it possible two things can resolve itself this weekend?  
• I would love to have my ESPN back for college football on Saturday 
• Would love for the Government Shutdown to not affect my flight to Chicago to watch Michigan play NW at Wrigley.  

Michigan Thursday: With Bonus BIG10 Weekend Preview

I'm not a big fan of Warde, if your a daily reader of this blog you know this already.  Like my feelings about Wink, I do give credit when credit is deserved.  Warde made an excellent hire in Dusty, who I consider one of the best basketball coaches in America.  He has also made a smart decision by cancelling the game in Germany.  

In my mind, there was zero reason to play that game.  #1 It takes a home game away from the season ticket holders, #2 Western is located like a hour and half away from Ann Arbor, and #3 Michigan would make a lot more money hosting the Broncos then traveling overseas.   Not to mention the Wolverines would also lose a recruiting visit weekend.  Smart move Warde. 

ESPN is struggling right now.  They are in a huge fight with Youtube TV that has 10M subscribers and now they are shutting down the ESPN Bet app after 2 years into a 10 year agreement.   The worldwide leader in sports better start to figure out how to be a better partner.  Maybe not paying $30M+ for your MNF Booth might be a good start at saving some money.   Reports are they losing $5M per day with the Youtube fight and shows audiences are way down. 

Big Ten Weekend Preview Week 11

Friday Night:

Northwestern @ USC (-14.5):  This is an interesting game for Wolverines fans to watch.  Michigan needs USC to keep winning to keep their quality loss status and next up at Wrigley is NW.  We know what happens when teams travel west and a Friday night kick doesn't help.  USC 31 NW 17

Saturday:

Indiana (-14.5) @ PSU:  This seasons difficult schedule didn't cost James Franklin his job, the easy games did.  It what was supposed to be another major match-up has PSU at a 2 TD dog at home.  PSU plays tough by IU wins.  IU 28 PSU 20

Ohio State (-30.5) @ Purdue:  We know Purdue is feisty, but I think us Michigan fans are going to be ashamed of the point total that the Buckeyes will put on the Boilermakers this weekend.   OSU 40 Purdue 10. 

Oregon (-6.5) @ Iowa:  I did not see this one coming.  The Ducks have zero good wins and a home loss to IU (Yes, the PSU win in Happy Valley was good at the time).  Iowa is playing really good football and is the only program to give IU a game this season.  This game will knock one of the teams out of the CFP picture.  Yes, Iowa is playing for a spot!  Iowa 24 Oregon 21 

Washington (-10.5) @ Wisconsin: The UW Bowl as nobody has ever called it! 😀 Poor Wisconsin.  Washington is still really good in my mind.   UW - West 34 UW - Midwest 7 

Nebraska @ UCLA (-2.5):  I like UCLA in this one as Creepy Mahomes is out for the year with a broken leg and Matt Rhule has James Franklin vibes to me.  UCLA 21 Nebraska 13 

Wolverine Wednesday: Are Michigan Opponents Reading The Wolverines Mail?

Michigan is paying a hefty fine and Sherrone has to sit one more game next year due to Michigan being better than everyone else at stealing signs.  The NCAA should be thanking Michigan for pushing them to in-helmet communications.  Anyways, as this season has moved forward its clear what Michigan is doing is not surprising Michigan opponents in fact they are expecting it. 

USC started the trend by sitting on the run game and screen game.  (Remember when we couldn't get Michigan to run screens?).   Next MSU defense did the same thing and the Michigan offense struggled for most of the game.   We thought there is no way Purdue could do the same in the Big House but they did and the Michigan offense continued to struggle.  

What about the defense side of the ball?  Yes, Wink has his tendencies as well and opponents are playing right into it.  The strategy when you blitz is you throw to that area as its now not occupied by a defender.  I watched the Purdue offense closely and everytime Wnik brought a blitz the Purdue QB threw right at it.  Which means Michigan is doing 2 things, #1 they are tipping the blitz from that side and #2 they are expecting blitz and game planning for it.  I love how fast Barham gets to the QB, but when you do that, you also leave a huge hole to run through.  

Chip and Wink both have a ton of experience and I'm sure they understand this better than anyone.  Both have their challenges with injuries, depth, and for a Chip a talented 18 year-old QB that is lacking experience.  I'm clearly not a coordinator, but I play one on TV.   My advice would be to stop blitzing so much Wink.  If the opposing QB is expecting blitz, he will already have happy feet and be looking for a dump off.   The Washington game turned in my opinion, when Wink stopped blitzing. 

I love Bryce's upside but he is starting to struggle as the defense is now playing into his tendencies.  Michigan has two good WR's and a stable of talented TE's.   Use the TE's like you did in the State game, they are a mismatch for any LB and should be open for those 5-15 yard gains.  The WR's can stretch the field and maybe open a down field threat, but move the sticks with the TE's.   Also take the play that is in front of you.  There was probably 3 times Bryce could have ran for 1st downs but threw an incompletion. 

Michigan will have to be different the rest of the year if they are going to have a chance to win out. 

• Michigan is #21 in the new CFP rankings 

• Mazi got traded to the Jets, let's hope this gives him a new opportunity to have a good NFL career. 

• Is anyone thinking Iowa has a shot at the playoffs?  They play the Ducks this weekend in a sneaky good game.  Winner maybe out of the playoffs.  

• Jedd Fisch name is starting to pop up for some of the new openings.  I wish Michigan considered him more seriously when Jim left. 

• Sounds like golf played a role in both the LSU and Auburn firings.  Rumor is Brian Kelly had nearly 400 rounds at his country club and that Auburn fans new Hugh Freeze was getting fired when he canceled his standing tee time on Sunday with his wife.  

Michigan Tuesday: Gets Buckets

If your a YouTube TV subscriber MNF was not an option last night so that only left Michigan's opener on FS1 against Oakland.  Michigan has struggled with Oakland in the past but not last night.  The Wolverines went on an early 20-0 run and never looked back and set a program record for points in the first half with 69.  They finished with 121.

Look at some of these point totals:

Johnson Jr.: 24 

McKenney: 21 

Tschetter 16

Burnett: 14 

Yax: 12 

Mara: 12 

Gayle: 11

Yax didn't start because he has a (non-structural) hand injury.  So he scored 12 with one hand last night.  Yes, we had an All American come off the bench.   Oakland was also down 2 starters.  Dusty's son even got his first college points when he hit a 3 late.  

It was a dominating performance and if this team doesn't turn the ball over, they are going to be really good.  Did I mention, UNC transfer point guard Cadeau had 12 assists?   That is some good basketball right there! 

• There is a new name in the Penn State head coaching search and its Louisville's Jeff Brohm, congrats on the incoming raise from Louisville Jeff! 

• Michigan NW will be a Noon kick from Wrigley in a couple weeks

• Northwestern plays USC on Friday night on Fox, if your interested in seeing what Michigan has in it's next game.

• Michigan is trending for Wisconsin LB commit Aden Reeder who visited for the Purdue game and clearly sees a need for good LB's in A2.