Michigan Friday: News and Notes

• Looks like Dusty is going to schedule an exhibition game against Houston in Grand Rapids next season. 

• Former Michigan and current Patriots guard Mike Onwenu, who had no guaranteed money remaining in the final year of his 3-year, $57 million pact, has signed a revised deal for 2026. His cap charge is reduced by $7.5 million. He gets $10 million in guarantees/bonuses.

• Michigan DB commit Max Miles is currently on a visit to Minnesota

• Will Tschetter is ballin in Australia and finding a ton of success in that pro league! Go Will!

• Michigan is set to host 4-star OT Niko Kampas from London, England this weekend. I sure hope he plays American Football and not soccer. 😀

• True freshman OL Malakai Lee has made it to Ann Arbor and is offically part off the Michigan Football program.

• True freshman DL Titan Davis has made it to Ann Arbor and is offically part off the Michigan Football program.

• Michigan football WR commit Quentin Burrell ran a 4.49-second 40-yard dash at a UA camp in Chicago.  (ht: Wolverine Wire)

Michigan Thursday: New WR Commit

The Michigan coaches have work to do to recruit talented WR's to Ann Arbor.  Yes, there is a 5-star QB under center but everyone and their brother knows the Wolverines are a run first team.   The new staff put in work and got  a commitment from one of the best WR's in the country yesterday, from 2027 top 100 player (to On3 & ESPN) 4-star 6'3 200 pound Quentin Burrell.  

Q is from Chicago and picked the Wolverines over the likes of ND and Alabama.  In fact, he put the ND hat (both are navy) on after he announced for Michigan by mistake.  Reports are that Quentin was one of the highest rated players on Michigan's board this cycle and the new staff landed him! 

• Round 1 of the PGA Championship is today! 

• Yax was on the 6:00 Sportscenter last night and did a really nice job. 

• The Duke-Michigan game on Amazon might get pulled as the TV rights are in question between Fox and Amazon. 

• Jimmy Rolder and Derrick Moore have signed their deals with the Detroit Lions.

Michigan Monday: Wolverines Draft in Review

If there was one common theme for Michigan in the 2026 Draft, it was the former Wolverines finding homes with familiar faces.  Let's take a look at where all the Wolverines landed, even the undrafted free agents (UDFA). 

-Derrick Moore to the Detroit Lions in the 2nd Round.  Staying home! 

-Marlin Klein to the Houston Texans in the 2nd Round to play with Nico! 

-Jaishawn Barham to the Dallas Cowboys in the 3rd where many Wolverines have been drafted! 

-Jimmy Rolder to the Detroit Lions in the 4th round.  Staying home! 

-Max Bredeson to the Minnesota Vikings in the 5th, to play with JJ and who was even at his draft party! 

-Rayshaun Benny to the Baltimore Ravens in the 7th to play for Coach Minter! 

Recap: Finally the Lions start fishing from the local pond and pick up two talented Wolverines.  Marlin had a great combine which I think shot him up some draft boards, he is still nowhere near his ceiling.  Max is a perfect fit in Minnesota and Jesse Minter does Rayshaun a solid! 

Special Note, very happy for former Michigan TE Matt Hibner, he spent 4 years on the roster and caught two passes behind some great Michigan TE's.  He went to SMU last year and had a very good year and was drafted in the 4th round, by guess who? Jesse Minter! 

UDFA:

-Z signs with NY Giants and John Harbaugh

-McCulley to the Dolphins and owner Stephen Ross

-Tommy Doman (transferred to FL) to the Bills 

-Nikhai Hill Green (transferred to Charlotte, Colorado, Alabama) to the Rams

-TJ Guy to Ravens and Coach Minter 

-Damon Payne to KC 

Happy for all the players that found a home.  Also the sad story of Ernie Hausman continues and it will be interesting to see if he gets an invite for a tryout. Offensive lineman El-Hadi and Crippen and DT Tre Williams are still waiting for a UDFA contract or an invite to a Rookie Camp.

Michigan Thursday: An April Fools Joke?

We believe WJR spun an April Fools Joke with help from the Michigan Basketball program.  They said that Michigan's Point Guard Elliott Cadeau had an allergic reaction to something he ate and was taken to the hospital via ambulance.  Per the report, Elliott was treated, is ok, and would travel to Indy separately from the team.

ESPN even picked it up and made it breaking news.  Social media showed Elliott traveling with the team.  Do we know this was a joke offically? No, but I believe it was.

Update: Elliott confirmed he ate something (cashew nut) and did have an allergic reaction.  So no April Fools Joke. 

The team did travel to Final 4 and will prepare for Saturday's game in Indy. 

• UCLA Football put a video on X with Semaji Morgan in it.  

• Former MSU QB Kirk Cousins is now working for Tom Brady at the Raiders.  There are going to be a lot of Big 10 QB's walking around that training facility. 

• Michigan Football is hosting a top offensive target today in Top 100 WR Quentin Burrell.

Michigan Thursday: News and Notes

The Michigan Basketball team is now in Chicago and will await their next opponent.  They will face either Ohio State or Iowa during the noon game on Friday.  

• Oregon State has picked off one of Dusty's top assistants and has hired Justin Joyner as their next head coach. 

• Josh Uche has signed a FA deal with the Dolphins 

• Kyler Murray is expected to sign with Minnesota to compete with JJ.   Makes sense, JJ looked good, bad, and injured last season.   After being injured his entire rookie season.  

• Will Johnson will wear #2 for the Cardinals now, he had been #0. 

• Crisler had 13 consecutive sell outs this year! 

• Former LB coach Chris Partridge is suing U of M.  In a long list of Warde F-Up's this one has to be in the top 10.  

• Yax is a Sporting News 1st Team All-America 

• The Players Championship starts today.  I've played the other Dye course there but not the $1200 per round "Stadium".  Its a great complex and about a mile from the PGA Tour headquarters.   This is for sure the 5th major.  

Wolverine Wednesday: Maxx Return

Is Maxx Crosby the best Eastern Michigan Football player ever?  I think you can make a case for him over Charlie Batch, who had a long career but was mainly a backup for his career. 

Jesse Minter's Raven's doctor was not optimistic about Maxx playing long term after they reviewed his recently repaired knee and sent him back to Tom Brady and the Raiders.   I lean more to the Ravens on this decision, 2 first rounders is a lot of compensation for a guy, your not sure is going to play the next 5 years.  The smile that can light up the night sky is from Trey Hendrickson’s camp.

• Bam scored how many? 83!

• Syracuse fires their head basketball coach today

• Today's Trivia Question: Who is currently the longest tenured player with the New England Patriots? Answer: Former Michigan Wolverine offensive lineman Mike Onwenu.

Michigan Tuesday: Former Wolverines on the Move in NFL Free Agency

Michigan has a number of players in the league and some of them were on move yesterday during the first day of free agency. 

-Gary got traded from Green Bay to Dallas.  Seems Jerry wants the former Packers Defensive Line. 

-Devin Bush whose career was close to being over, signed a new 3 year deal with the Bears after a solid year with Cleveland. 

-Paye is heading to the Raiders and will play for Tom Brady.

• The Big Ten Tournament starts today, which is crazy.  

• Does the Detroit Lions have any money in free agency?  They have signed a center so far. 

• OSU's President resigns after an inappropriate relationship.  

Michigan Tuesday: Still #3

Michigan accomplished one of its goals on Friday night.  They secured the Big Ten Title all to themselves.  Now, there are two more goals still out there.  #2 is win the Big Ten Tournament and #3 is clearly the NCAA Tournament.  Both of those goals just got a little tougher with the loss of Cason to an ACL injury.  

To reach both goals its important Michigan finishes with a 2-0 record this week.   They travel on Thursday to Iowa who is a 20 win team and face instate rival #8 ranked MSU on Sunday at Crisler.  These games are not important for the Big Ten Championship seeding, they are important for Michigan's NCAA seeding and hopefully a #1 seed. 

Who is going to play back up point guard?  I expect to see Yax play some point forward and Trey McKinney to replace Cason in many situations.   The wild card of course is Roddy Gayle and if he can find his game again.  If you remember last season, he was in an incredibly bad slump to end the season and then found his game in the post season.   We need him to find his game in a similar fashion this year.  His game lately has been about poor decisions on driving the basketball, missed 3's, and turnovers.   If he continues to play defense, rebound, and distribute the ball, he will find his offense.

Michigan continues to be ranked #3 as Duke has been beating everyone by 30 after their Michigan win. 

• Glasgow got released by the Lions yesterday.  He has had a tremendous run for a college walk-on.  He spent 7 years with the Lions and if he is healthy I expect him to sign with another NFL team. 

• The Lions also traded RB David Montgomery yesterday and got an offensive lineman and 2 draft picks from the Texans.  This was a smart trade by Detroit, RB's have a very short shelf life in the NFL and the Lions have way too many other needs. 

• I know there was some news about Michigan's former head coach and a former staffer this weekend.  I wanted you to understand where I am at news regarding that former coach.   News of what that former head coach did or didn't do while at Michigan or his legal troubles is only relevant to this blog on the employment or loss of employment for Michigan's athletics director.   I understand that the latest news is disturbing and should come with serious consequences for both men involved.  This was one of the worst hires in the history of the program and I hope to never hear his name again.  Michigan should also be looking for a new AD.  I know getting Dusty was a great hire, but it still doesn't make up for the lack of leadership with the football team the last 3-4 years. 

• Vincent Gray has signed with the Toronto Argonauts in the CFL 

Michigan Thursday: Wildcat Bites

Michigan Basketball team showed up outside of Chicago last night as the #2 in the nation with eyes on being #1.  The Northwestern Wildcats going in were 2-11 in the Big Ten and the Wolverines expected a layup line the entire game.  Michigan showed up "sleepy" and the Wildcats were not missing from the field.  

Cadeau had one of his "turnover" games but was shooting well from 3.  The entire Michigan Basketball team looked disinterested in playing.   They found themselves down by 9 at half and surly would play better after the break.  Nope, the same teams hit the floor at the start of the 2nd and the Wildcats grew the lead to 16 points over the #2 team in the nation. 

There were a few issues for the Wildcats, they were getting into foul trouble and there were hints they were starting to wear down.  Both were accurate as Cason showed up for Cadeau (who didn't play much in the 2nd) and scored 13 of his 18 points in the 2nd session.  Yax had another good game with 15 points, 12 boards, and really good defense when Michigan needed it (also led the team with 37 minutes).   

Michigan did not wrestle the lead back until under 6 minutes in the game.  Then Northwestern tired and beat up didn't have any more gas left in the tank and lost by 12 points.  

Here is why I like this comeback for the Wolverines.  This was one of the worst showing by this team all year and they still won by 12 points.   They got into deep waters down 16 and fought back and won.  NW was on fire and Michigan wasn't.   The only way to come back from 16 down is to play defense and that is what the Wolverines did.   The young guns off the bench won this game.   Cason had 18 and McKenney hit some big 3's for a total of 12 points.   

A win on the road in the Big10 is a good win.  No matter the sport there always seems to be drama when Michigan heads to Chicago to play the Wildcats.  I'm still shaking my head over that game at Wrigley.  

The combine invites are out and Michigan will have a nice showing at the event:

Did I mention yesterday that Dusty landed another big fish in recruiting?

From Yahoo Sports:

Cosby, a 6-foot-10 versatile forward from the prestigious Montverde Academy, was long considered a consensus top-10 prospect in the 2027 class. However, his commitment came paired with the news of his reclassification into 2026. Despite moving up a year, Cosby remains one of the most coveted prospects in the country, currently sitting at No. 22 overall in the Rivals Industry Ranking and a high four-star (borderline five-star) on the 247Sports Composite.

Michigan Monday: Seahawks Play Michigan Football

Coach Mike Macdonald came to Ann Arbor as a noname defensive coordinator.  When he was hired, I made a joke on twitter that Michigan was hiring the lead singer of the Doobie Brothers.   Sam Webb laughed and liked the post.  Now Coach Mac is a Super Bowl Champion head coach.   

Guess who is going to be a head coach soon?  Jay Harbaugh.  He has the last name and now has a National Championship and a Super Bowl ring.  Kent State or San Jose State should take a shot with Jay when they have an opening. 

All of us right now, might be thinking what if Coach Mac was in Ann Arbor as the Wolverine's head coach?  I don't think Coach Mac liked College Coaching as much as he does NFL.  I don't think he was that fond of recruiting and the 24/7 nature of the job.  

I have been watching the Seahawks all year in the 2nd Red Zone window.  They play Michigan Football if I've ever seen it.  QB is there to NOT make mistakes, power run game, and a dominating defense. 

Now onto the really important game on Sunday:

There have only been a few moments in Michigan Basketball recent memory that made me truly happy.   Trey Burke's shot against Kansas in the Final 4 and Jordan Poole's NCAA buzzer beater come to mind.   The wins at East Lansing and a blow out win in Columbus on Sunday,  put a huge smile on my face.   I'm 100% serious when I say, I don't want any other coach at any level of basketball over Dusty.  That guy can coach and can put a roster together.   Any night, Michigan has 9 guys that can beat you. 

Michigan dominated the entire game and took the Buckeyes will in the 2nd half, when we all expected a run from Ohio State.  On a side note, those game officials really weren't paying attention and seemingly didn't know the rules of college basketball.  

• Coach Mac put former Michigan and current Seahawks center Olu Oluwatimi (he got hurt and lost his starting job this year) in for one play during the Super Bowl at RB. 

• AJ Barner with a Super Bowl TD! I knew he was really good at Michigan.  He might not be in the NFL if not for Jay Harbaugh.

• Michigan Women's Basketball lost a close one to UCLA on Sunday afternoon. 

• Also congratulations on the Super Bowl win to Chris Partridge Seahawks LB Coach, Mike Morris DT, and Zach Charbonnet a former Wolverine that transferred to UCLA.

Michigan Monday: Lots of New Coaches, No New Portal Additions

Whitt strikes me as head coach that has a process and once you have a process, you follow it.  First you hire your staff, then you protect your current roster, then you look to improve it.   Now, those are my steps but if I had to guess Kyle's process is very similar to that.  

The Michigan Football team has assembled an impressive list of Coordinators, Assistant Coaches (who can recruit off campus), and Staff Coaches (who have to recruit only on campus). 

Just to recap:

OC: Jason Beck 

WR Coach: Micah Simon

Asst. WR Coach: Marques Hagans (staff)

TE: Freddie Whittingham 

OL: Jim Harding

RB: Tony Alford 

QB: Koy Detmer Jr (staff)

RB: Fred Jackson (in his 28th year! - staff)

DC: Jay Hill

DE: Lewis Powell 

DL: Coach Lou 

LB: Alex Whittingham from the Chiefs 

DB: Jernaro Gilford from BYU

S: Tyler Stockton from Boise State  (Staff)

ST: Kerry Coombs 

Make no mistake about it, Michigan is better in almost every coaching position above then they were just a few weeks ago.   That is the good news.  Now on to the bad news.  

The transfer portal has opened and Michigan currently has 19 players in it.  

• Ben Roebuck, OL
• Brady Prieskorn, TE 
• Enow Etta, DL 
• Jake Guarnera, OL 
• Andrew Sprague, OT 
• Jaden Mangham, S 
• Devon Baxter, DE 
• Kaden Strayhorn, OL
• Jesper Parker, RB 
• Zeke Berry, CB 
• Cole Sullivan, LB 
• CJ Hester, RB 
• Elijah Dotson, S
• Davis Warren, QB
• Jaydn Davis, QB
• Evan Boutorwick, LS 
• Connor Jones, OT
• Freddie Moore, WR 
• Semaj Morgan, WR 

Please note: some players have announced they are heading to the portal but names are not offically in it yet.  Brady and Cole are examples of that. 

The two guys that stick out to Michigan fans are Cole Sullivan and Andrew Sprague.  Both guys need to be a top priority keeping them in Ann Arbor with a larger bag of money.  The next phase would be Guarnera and Berry, but if they can find big dollars elsewhere, I wish them well.  

What is a bit scary is there is little to no buzz about Michigan adding players.  Yes, there is some WR buzz and former Utah players but nothing like the other programs are seeing.  Let's hope that starts moving in more of a positive fashion this week.   Michigan has a ton of needs, including WR, OL, CB, LB, DL, and even TE now. 

Another stat for you: Roughly 45% of all players that enter the transfer portal do not find a new school to transfer to.

• There are plenty of signs that Michigan Basketball is really good, the one that jumped out to me on Friday night with the win over 24th ranked USC was that Michigan played poorly and still won by 30 points.  They very much struggled from 3 all night.  

• Ernie Hausmann posts on facebook he has retired from football. 

• Michigan commit Tariq Boney played well in the UA All Star game over the weekend. 

• The Bells had a good week as each brother scored a TD.  Kendrick in the Chessy and Ronnie for the Saints yesterday. 

• Is Devin Bush the comeback player of the year in the NFL?  

• Today is Black Monday for NFL Coaches.  2 already fired. 

Michigan Tuesday: No News is Good News

Michigan has a ton of insiders and a large fan/alumni base that is thirsty for any information on who the next coach will be.  We want to either "freak out" or celebrate the hire.   The problem with a lot of insiders is that news can leak out fast and that is not what you want during a coaching search.  

Case in point, last week there was"smoke" about a specific coach who was locked up and an announcement was forth coming.   When you have that type of buzz with out a signed agreement, it causes a chain reaction at the school where he is currently working and could work against U of M.  So working quietly behind the scenes is the way to get these deals done.  

As I have stated a number of times, some of Michigan's candidates are not currently hireable.  Having playoff games complete, will only help the conversations Warde or other are having in the background.  My hope this is not Warde's show.  

So far the recruits seem to be holding ground as Michigan has only lost a Bear and a Moose so far.   Also no significant movement towards the portal.    If Michigan can continue that trend while they prepare to face Texas and search for a new head coach, that is very positive trend. 

• JJ and Blake both had good games on Sunday.  Hopefully, they are both adjusting to the pro game and will have long NFL careers. 

• Michigan Basketball doesn't play until Sunday?  I need more Michigan BBall please! 

• Josh Pate on the LeBatard show said the NIL payments have increased to Michigan Football since Sherrone was let go. 

• Arch is back at Texas and Michigan is expecting he will play in Orlando. 

• Breaking news: Jadyn Davis Backup QB is heading to the portal.  Good luck to him. 

Wolverine Wednesday: Moody on the Move

Jake Moody is on the move again and will now be the Commanders new full time kicker.  This will be Jake's 3rd team this season as he started with the 49'ers struggled and got cut.  Went to Chicago and did well and now has been signed off the Bears practice squad.  Good Luck Jake! 

Is Maryland a trap game for the Wolverines.  I would say YES.  It has a lot of signs of disaster written all over it.  Maryland is struggling and has a long losing streak, it's a weird kickoff time, Michigan is very injured on both sides of the ball, and OSU is next.   This is the trapiest of all trap games. 

• Andrew Marsh was named Freshman of the Week in the Big 10.  He also ranks #2 in Freshman WR's nationally only behind Miami's Malachi Tony.  

• Michigan Basketball takes on Middle Tennessee State tonight at 6:30 BTN. 

• Loveland and Will Johnson are both in the top 10 of impact rookies by PFF this season so far. 

• 2026 QB Dayton Raiola younger brother of Dylan Raiola has decommitted from Nebraska.

Michigan Monday: A New Carr in the Garage and a Too Early Look at Maryland

CJ Carr felt disrespected that Michigan was after Dante Moore the #1 recruit in the Nation and even though Michigan recruited CJ they didn't show him a ton of love.   So it was a bit of shocker when CJ picked ND after his Grandpa famously stated, "to hell with Notre Dame".  

CJ's younger brother Tommy is also a QB in Saline and a 3 star recruit. Tommy committed to Miami of Ohio a few months ago and this weekend decided to switch his commitment to the Wolverines.  Some fans might be wondering why Michigan continues to flip MAC commits.  I'm ok with this one for many reasons.   

1. It's Lloyd's grandson and all Carr's should go to Michigan

2. Michigan's top committed QB in this class just blew out his ACL 

3. Michigan dearly needs depth in the QB room 

Tommy's other offers were from the MAC, Wake Forest, Iowa State, and Rutgers. 

This was a no brainer and I usually say Welcome to Michigan Tommy but you are already home.  

Maryland (4-6)

Best Win: Wisconsin

Worst Loss: UCLA 

Pass: 233 (64th)

Run: 110 (118)

Score: 23 (99th)

Give Up: 23 (59th)

Mayland has had 2 streaks this year.  They started the year with 4 straight wins and now are on a 6 game losing streak.  They also have a freshman QB running the show for the Terrapins.  School officials  announced yesterday that their head coach Mike Locksley will return for another year.  The school and athletics department are famously cash strapped and they say they will invest more into football's NIL program.  That is a clear sign that the program didn't want to pay a buyout and big dollars for a new coach.  They will save that expense and put it back in the program.  

Line: Michigan -13.5

Kickoff at 4:00 BTN

• Raise your hand if you knew Devin Bush was on the Browns? Keep it up if you knew he scored a TD yesterday?

• Is Andrew Marsh the best WR at Michigan since Nico?  

• Fox is reporting and I did get some inside info on that Justice is out for the year.  Which really sucks. 

• The internet could not find another college game where a team won the game with a -5 turnover margin.

• Let's hope we get some good news on Marshall at Sherrone's presser today 

• ND women's basketball team hosts Michigan's women's team in Detroit and Michigan wins by 40.  That is an interesting arrangement. Can all Michigan's non-conference games be played in Detroit?

Michigan Monday: The Wolverine Window on Red Zone

The Redzone has the witching hour, which is ironic during Halloween weekend.  During the witching hour on Sunday former Wolverines dominated for 10 minutes what is now called the Wolverine Window. 

-JJ was winning a game against the Hutch lead Lions, which Tom Brady was calling. 

-Loveland was breaking tackles and winning the game with a catch and TD run for the Bears.

-Roman Wilson fumbled after jumping over a defender late in the game for the Steelers. 

-Even KC Mike Danna made a tackle! 

Thank goodness ESPN hasn't taken control of the NFL Network yet, as I have YouTube TV.   BTW, ESPN and YouTube, you have 1 week to get a deal done.  If I get to Friday without a deal, I'm switching. 

• Word is Justice is having surgery on his broken foot, recovery time is TBD.  Terrible news for the best RB in the nation. 

• Michigan Basketball tips tonight against Oakland on FS1 8:30

• #1 goal this week is to heal injuries. 

• It's not a Sunday unless there is a major firing in College Football. Hugh Freeze at Auburn is the latest.  Memo to AD's:  Stop making bad hires.  Freeze and Kelly were never fits at those schools and a terrible hire from the start. 

Michigan Monday: Too Early Look at The Boilermakers

There isn't a funnier community then Sparty Twitter.  Their program could be absolutely on fire and they would still call out a reason or reasons why they didn't win this game.  Many of you who read this blog, already know the reason they are harping on from Saturday's game.  #14 was not offsides! When he stripped the ball from Bryce and MSU thought they had a big turnover.  I know Terry McAulay said he didn't think he was off sides, but I'm not sure Terry is very good at his job right now.  I do know he has no idea what targeting is.  To give Sparty credit, it was close but I believe his upper half of his body was at least off sides at the snap.  

I know Michigan Basketball is doing these exhibitions to raise money for NIL, etc.  But there never should be a Michigan Basketball game that conflicts with a Michigan Football game, unless its some weird bowl game.  Which in that case the exhibition would be on the football side.  

Purdue (2-6) (0-5 in BIG10) 

Best Win: Ball State 

Worst Loss: Rutgers 

Pass: 246 per (56th)

Run: 142 per (84th)

Score: 22.9 (101st)

Give Up: 27.8 (92nd)

Line: Michigan -21.5

Purdue is on a six game losing streak and we have the BTN to thank for making this matchup a night game.  Why BTN?  This is a noon kick if I've ever seen one.  Purdue is better then they have been but they are still not very good.  They had Rutgers beat last weekend and let it slip away at home.  Michigan is looking for win and then will have their second bye week before heading to Chicago to play Northwestern at Wrigley, and then next week to Maryland.  Everyone knows who is coming to town later in November. 

• Brian Kelly gets embarrassed by Texas AM on Saturday night and then loses his job Sunday morning.  If you follow college football at all, you could have predicted that action on Sunday.  You don't get embarrassed at LSU at night and hope to keep your job.  It was a bad hire and a bad outcome.  I hear Coach O wants back in coaching! 

• I'm starting to get worried about Rod Moore's health and his ability to play for this team the rest of the year.  

• I hope we hear an update on Sullivan's and Rod's health today from Sherrone 

• JJ is expected to start this week for the Vikings.  I hope he doesn't continue to hold the ball for so long.  

• Roman Wilson got his first NFL TD.  He almost didn't!

• Michigan is #21 and ranked ahead of USC

• The NFL has to do something about the second window on Sunday.  Those games are tough to watch after non-stop action on the Red Zone in the first window. 

Wolverine Wednesday: Too Many Night Games

I get why NBC wants Michigan on night games.  Even if Michigan is playing a bad team, they bring with them a big audience.  Each week there isn't a good night game.  Fox Big Noon game this week includes UCLA, some weeks just won't have good match-ups.   

Still Michigan is playing way too many night games.  This week's game against MSU and Purdue the following week at home are both a night.  What are we doing?  Doesn't NBC have the NBA now?  Show an NBA game and give us back our Noon kicks!   

I will stop yelling a clouds now and give you real information.

• BG is back! He signed back with the Eagles

• Lane Kiffin says Brent Venables steals signs, what everyone does it? I'm shocked. 

• Michigan has offered Wisconsin LB commit Aden Reeder 
• Michigan offers Northwestern LB commit Brayden Reilly 

• Word is Marcus Freeman is having his agent call on open jobs.  He either wants out of ND or more likely wants a big raise. 

• Jimbo Fisher and Coach O both want to coach again 

• Link's injury is expected to be not as serious as expected and we might see him back this season.

• Cam Rising has been coaching Brady Smigiel before his injury 

• 14 former Wolverines made NBA Rosters
• 5 are on a 2-way (Goldin, Houstan, Livers, Castleton, Dickinson)
• Kobe Bufkin was cut from the Nets

Michigan Monday: Too Early Look at Wisconsin and Weekend Thoughts

Both Michigan and Wisconsin had bye weeks last weekend as both team needed the rest and healing time.  Back to work this weekend as the game at the Big House will be the Fox Big Noon Match-up. 

Wisconsin 2-2 

Best Win: Miami of Ohio 

Worst Loss: Maryland at Camp Randall 

Next 5 games: Michigan, Iowa, Ohio State, and Oregon.   YIKES!

Pass: 205.8 Per (89th)

Run: 117.8 (110)

Score: 20.8 per game (108)

Give up: 18.8  (937th)

Out of all those .8 stats it seems Wisconsin is only good at playing defense.  Seeing a Wisconsin team be 110th in rushing the ball just does not compute in my Brain.  With the next 5 games Luke Joseph Fickell might find his seat very warm. 

Line: Michigan -16.5

Weekend Recap:

Ryder Cup: The US team needs to rethink the Ryder Cup.  This competition means so much more to Europe right now then it does the US.  Most of the European squad lives in the US anyways.   The US 

Team just can't get their head around the funky format on Friday and Saturday.  To use a bad pun, that golf is foreign to them, it just doesn't compute.  Sunday it was clear the US has better head to head golfers but the US just doesn't like the weird early round formats.  

The loss by Penn State was the most Penn State thing ever.  I'm also pretty sure I saw James Franklin punt from like the 40 yard line on a 4th a short earlier in the game.    Does Drew Allar remind anyone of that one friend in college that was 50% clumsy and 50% a really good athlete?  The problem was, you never knew which one would show up in the championship softball intramural game. 

This doesn't compute in my head.   Iowa played Rutgers a week ago and gave up 28 points.   IU a week ago played Illinois and scored 63.   IU travels to Iowa and struggles to score 20 points.  Did Iowa defense get really good in a week or did Curt Cignetti out think himself?

In the rare occurrence of a Pretender - Contender game, both USC and Illinois came out as Pretenders.

OSU predictably played UW close for a half and then put them away in the 2nd half. 

Minnesota and Rutgers are the same team. 

• Bobby Petrino is back leading Arkansas after Sam Pittman got fired.  Bobby after crashing his motorcycle was one of the best press conferences ever! 

• 4-star CB Dorian Barney flips from Michigan to Ole Miss. 

• Mason Graham was back in Michigan as Cleveland lost to the Lions on Sunday afternoon. 

• Sounds like the 1st ever concert at the Big House went well.  Let's hope this a great way to raise money for the athletes! 

Michigan Tuesday: News and Notes

• Kickoff for the Wisconsin game at the Big House a week from Saturday is scheduled for Noon.  Fox on the call. 

• Z was named Co-Big 10 Special Teams Player of the Week 

• Hutch had a nice punch out fumble on Derrick Henry in a big win for the Lions last night 

• Sherrone is back and will re-evaluate the way the team practices to reduce injuries.  He is also going to work on team fundamentals and catching the ball. I have an idea for the WR's.  Add Jason Avant to the staff.  He is the best hands catcher I have ever seen at Michigan. 

• Everytime I watch the Browns on defense on the Red Zone, I see Mason Graham getting double teamed.  Interesting how they are playing the former Wolverine rookie. 

• Former Virginia Tech QB and Super Bowl winning head coach Bruce Arians is going to help Va Tech hire a new head football coach.

• Michigan offers Iowa linebacker commit 4-star Kasen Thomas

Michigan Monday: A Too Early Look at Nebraska

Michigan has another tough road test this weekend as they travel to Lincoln, Nebraska to play the Cornhuskers.  Nebraska is a program that is extremely thirsty for a hallmark win.   They hired former Husker Scott Frost to the turn the program around and it only got worse.  Scott has now boomeranged back to Orlando and coaching UCF again.   Matt Rule has a rule where he turns programs around in 3 years.  Guess how many years he has been at Nebraska?

Nebraska (3-0)

Best win: 20-17 over Cincinnati, other wins are 68-0 over Akron and 59-7 over Houston Christian.  The rest of the schedule is pretty easy after Michigan.  They have USC at home and a trip late in the season to Happy Valley are the only difficult match-ups.  

Pass: 366 per (5th)

Run: 178 per (59th) 

Score: 49 (15th) 

Give up: 8 (7th)

Those numbers are a bit skewed because of the FCS and poor MAC opponent. I would think the UC game is a bit more on point even though it was week 1 and on a neutral field.   I would also think they would want to run over those couple opponents then passing over their head.   Their Mahomes Freaky Friday QB has seemed to have calmed down on all the Mahomes mannerisms and serious about winning football games this season. 

• JJ suffered his first loss in a long time last night.  The guy beats Chicago on Monday, partner has a child on Thursday, and loses a game on Sunday.   That is a full week! Hey Rome, get your arm loose, I expect to see you throwing in the Big House in 18 years! 😀 

• UCLA and VA Tech has had enough and both programs fire their head coaches on Sunday.  2 proud programs heading in the wrong direction.  UCLA is not stocked with money so finding a replacement in December is going to be difficult. 

• Blake Corum gets his first NFL TD!