Football <\/p>\n
I think when you look at the preparation and what they did from winter to spring to summer to the game, the excitement, the energy that you wanted to have for the first game, you saw that. The intensity, the physicality, you saw that. I think in every football team that I\u2019ve ever been a part of, even the championship ones here, week one, you\u2019ve always had something that, oh, man, we could have did this better. We could have done this better. We could have blocked this better. We could have executed this better. The overall goals we had coming out of the game was on offense, no turnovers. We did that. Obviously, we had the one on special teams, but we wanted to make sure on offense we did that. On special teams and defense, we wanted to tackle well. We didn\u2019t want a lot of missed tackles. We had some, but for the first week, it was pretty good. And you want a consistent energy throughout the whole game. And I thought from the beginning to the end, I mean, we played 31 players on defense. You saw that energy and excitement throughout the team. And I thought our sideline operation was great. That\u2019s something that goes unnoticed from the fans and everybody else. And for the game one, as good as we\u2019ve had, substitution, sideline, just management, coaching, I thought play calling on both sides of the ball was extremely creative, but still good for our players. And it was fun to watch the guys go after it.<\/p>\n
[Sign up for Maize & Blue Review for $1 and get PLUS access for 7 days!]<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n The process is, I talked to Tony Petitti, our commissioner, and him and A.J. Eves, our vice president of football operations for the Big Ten, and we\u2019re in complete agreeance of what we thought. And we disagreed on the call. It goes to Bill Corolla and the official committee and Steve Shaw, who\u2019s the rule, who\u2019s overall the rules of the NCAA rules official, and they review it. And then it comes back to us and we just got the ruling that they upheld it. So right now, Jaishawn is going to be suspended for that first half of Oklahoma. We completely disagree. A.J. completely disagrees. Tony disagrees. And to teach the game the right way, there\u2019s only so many things you can do. And the kid was trying to avoid, you saw him turn his head at the last minute. And when you\u2019re 6\u20193\u2033, 250 pounds, hitting a guy that\u2019s 5\u20198\u2033, if he lowers his head at that moment, he\u2019s probably going to hurt himself or hurt the kid even more. So it\u2019s something, a rule, that we definitely have to address in college football in general, because it doesn\u2019t just happen here. And last night in a game, that actually hit. That hit took place the same way and it wasn\u2019t called. So we have to figure out how to make sure that rule is refereed the same way not to punish the kids.<\/p>\n Yeah, 100%. I mean, if it\u2019s a blatant duck your head, and we have our teaching periods where we tell them exactly what, like, guy launches his head or puts his head face to face with the guy and intentionally does it, then yeah, we could see that. But, you know, 15-yard penalty, absolutely. But throwing the guy at the game is not the right way, especially suspending him for the next half of the next game.<\/p>\n Yeah, I mean, I think just the way he prepares every day in practice, but not just how he prepares mentally, but how he prepares physically with taking care of his body and taking that to another level with his nutrition and his recovery has put him in a place, because he, you know, behind Mikey Keene, he was the second highest snap getter in college football with, like, 1,700 snaps of college football before this year started. So he\u2019s a guy that\u2019s played a lot of football and done it since he\u2019s been a true freshman. He\u2019s really just, I mean, he practices so hard. He practices with intent and purpose, and that\u2019s why he\u2019s played so well, obviously with his natural-born athleticism and talent. So he\u2019ll be missing that first half, but also excited about the rest of the crew, right? Ernest Hausmann played his tail off, and he had eight tackles. He was all over the field. He directed the defense, but you felt like Jimmy Rolder came in. You really didn\u2019t lose that much. You know, Jimmy Rolder is a starter for us, and then the young kid, Cole Sullivan, he\u2019s electric to us, and we think he\u2019s going to be special, and he just went in there, and it\u2019s just like, it\u2019s not like you forgot Jaishawn was gone, but you didn\u2019t feel that effect as much with those three guys in there.<\/p>\n Yeah, 100%. Coach BJ has done a really good job with that group, and Coach Wink putting those guys in position. So I feel like those guys are doing a really good job, and then adding a guy like Troy Bowles in the mix, who, you know, had the final sack of the game, who\u2019s just a hard hitter, violent player, and then Chase Taylor as well. So you feel like you got a good group of guys to go in there and go in the battles.<\/p>\n Yeah, I mean, start off just freaky size. He\u2019s like 6\u20195\u2033, 230-something pounds, and I don\u2019t know what his 40 is, but he\u2019s fast, because it\u2019s hard to run away from him. Long, athletic, great vertical, but he\u2019s gotten so much stronger, so much more violent, and his ability to kind of do the things that Jaishawn does with being an inside linebacker, but playing on the edge is what has us like really excited about his future, and he\u2019s a sponge man, and he\u2019s just worked his tail off all training camp, and you can see it coming to fruition and see the product on the field.<\/p>\n Yeah, B-Hill is a tone setter, just in every sense of the word. He does that in practice now. The cool thing about it is how he practices. He practices that speed, but he\u2019s able to turn it off when it comes to hitting his teammates. He knows how to give them a nice jolt and make them feel it, but not try to knock them out, and he always lets them know you would have been hurt right there. He\u2019s the guy you see in your nightmares. Yes, and the coolest thing, when he made that first hit, I looked to my left, and I don\u2019t know if Bryce had just gotten off the phone with Coach Lindsey, but he was up. He\u2019s like, oh, B-Hill, here we go, and it\u2019s fun to watch the kid play because he plays so fast, but that\u2019s how he practices.<\/p>\n Yeah, I thought pretty well. We had a couple plays. Those touchdowns were just eyes, eye violations, things that we got to fix with JoJo and Sug, but overall, Sug played really well, so did JoJo, but Zeke Berry played really well. I thought those guys, you know, we had some penalties on the edge with the pass interference. There was one that was out of bounds, but those guys played physical, which we really wanted to do. We got to continue to tackle on the perimeter, but they played physical, which was what we wanted to see them do.<\/p>\n [Speaker 1]<\/p>\n And we saw a lot of Metcalf, and I know you don\u2019t need to go into it. We\u2019ve already talked about the officials. I thought the officiating was subpar, and there were some things, whether it was holding Jay Sean, holding the guys up front that we\u2019ll talk about in a minute, but there was one where I think TJ got held as well and actually spun around, but your thoughts on his play?<\/p>\n I thought he played well. Continued to just pull that trigger because he\u2019s got it, and he does it, but I thought he played fast and played physical.<\/p>\n Yeah, I mean, I think the most a guy played was 35, 38 snaps, and for us on the defensive line, if you\u2019re just playing 35, 38 snaps, it\u2019s really good for us. We rotated a lot of guys, and you felt like the waves and the guys playing fresh and the guys all into the game, so that was huge to see, but guys like Eno Eta making an impact, Trey Pierce making an impact, and Raysean obviously. Damon Payne had one of the better games of the guys up front, so that was awesome to see up front. The edge guys, Derrick and TJ with his first pick, Dom Nichols with his first sack, Nate Marshall coming in the game, playing well. Cam Brandt is just a hammerhead in there, so I think according to Coach Phee, he won defensive edge player of the week, so those guys, they\u2019re all challenging and all pushing to go play.<\/p>\n Yeah, whoever practices is the best. Those are the guys that start the game, but they all know they\u2019re going to play, and then obviously there\u2019s packages where, you saw a package where there was three edge guys on the field, and we\u2019ve had packages where there\u2019s four, and then there\u2019s two obviously, and so I think it\u2019s just how the week goes and what happens during the week of what we need and who\u2019s necessary at certain places, but all those guys are going to play.<\/p>\n Yeah, I thought he played well. You know, 21 of 31, you\u2019d think, oh, he missed 10 passes, but I think there was about five drops in there and just a couple missed throws, but, I mean, the poise, going in on that two-minute drive, like, as a true freshman to make that throw on third and 14th, you watch that, I watch it over and over again, like, it was an incredible throw, incredible play, and then there\u2019s a couple of throws that get kind of brushed to the side. He threw the play to Marlin coming out on the six-yard line, just a little touch pass, and then rolls out to the right and throws a dig to Kendrick Bell, and it just continues to be like, okay, yeah, this dude\u2019s different, you know, he\u2019s really, really different, and, but, like, he goes to the sideline, he is as poised, he\u2019s calm, you\u2019d think he\u2019d played for three years in college football, and it was awesome to watch the kid go out there and have fun with his teammates, and then I\u2019d wish he\u2019d not, you know, throw his shoulder in there and try to block people. I don\u2019t think this is the last time we\u2019ll be having that conversation.<\/p>\n Yeah, I think the whole defense saw it first. The offensive guys saw it that were, you know, on the sideline, and then the guys that were in the game watched the replay and seen it, and they just like, okay, this kid is completely bought into what this place is all about. They already thought he was, but now he did it in the first game, and on a run for it to be on third down, the ball rolls to the left, and he can easily just let the guy score and not do anything, but to find and seek contact kind of gives you the mindset of what we\u2019re all about and what he\u2019s all about.<\/p>\n Yeah, I mean, I think obviously he has the ability to do that, and game by game, whenever we need to have him as a weapon to run, we will, but I always say if you got one quarterback, and if you got a quarterback that runs, you better have two, so you don\u2019t want to run a guy like that too much because these guys in college football are big, and fast, and strong, and violent, so we\u2019ll see what we do and how we do it with them in the run game.<\/p>\n Yeah, I think just continuing to not press and stay within the framework of whatever the plays are. There was a couple plays where the ball\u2019s a little bit high and a little bit here, but I told the staff, and I told about 80% of his throws are going to be right on target, and there\u2019s going to be 20% that aren\u2019t going to be right there, and that\u2019s how most quarterbacks are, so let\u2019s see if we can get it to 90 this week and see how good we can get.<\/p>\n Yeah, so that play, actually, him and Channing had repped that throughout the week, and they had timed it pretty well where as soon as the backer passed, Channing would look, and he\u2019d just throw it in the spot. So it was Andrew Marsh that time, and he\u2019s a true freshman. He hadn\u2019t taken the rep, so he went in there, ran the route like it\u2019s drawn on the paper, and the ball went there, and he didn\u2019t look for it, so that\u2019s just a timing thing.<\/p>\n Yeah, I thought Semaj started the game off hot with two catches in the first three plays. McCulley with some short passes, we got to keep working on getting him the ball, but he did his job, and he blocked his tail off all game. Channing, there was a couple where it was just a little off target, but he played well. That third down conversion was huge for us, and so I think those guys, they\u2019re doing a good job, but again, it just takes time and takes rhythm. Obviously, he had a great connection with Marlin throughout the game.<\/p>\n No, yeah, I was pretty excited. It really didn\u2019t bat an eye because when Chip calls it, he has a lot of conviction of what he wants to run and how he wants to do it, and I told him, dude, just let it rip, man. Just have fun, enjoy the moment, and get after it, and he was super excited for the opportunity, obviously, to be here, but I thought he did a heck of a job. Mixing formations, motion shifts, under center, in the gun, play action, perimeter, up the middle, so he did a really good job, and that\u2019s why we brought him here.<\/p>\n Did what he\u2019s been doing in camp, you know, caught the ball really well, had one drop, another one was a little bit behind. In the running game, you got to keep improving, got to keep getting better there in the running game, but career high in receptions and yards and first touchdown, so I was really proud of him the way he played.<\/p>\n I thought good and consistent, you know, from where they were in the first game last year to where they are now, they just look different. You know, there\u2019s different confidence. There\u2019s a different aura. I think moving Gio back to left was huge. I think moving Evan back to left was huge. And, you know, Brady and Nate going in there, rotating in there, I thought Brady played a little bit better. Nate played well, though, and then Sprague played good. He was just catching, he caught a little cramp and he\u2019s fine, so Blake went in there and didn\u2019t bat an eye when Blake was in there. He played well as well, so I thought that group played really good and just excited to watch them progress because week one, you know, you always take that biggest jump to week two.<\/p>\n I mean, record performance, I think what\u2019s the most yards in a debut since 1970. The guy just did the things he did in the spring and did in fall camp because every other practice, you\u2019d feel like Justice is about to break a big one. You just didn\u2019t know what play it was going to be, and he did, and same thing in fall camp, and I told the staff at some point, I think maybe on Thursday, like, this dude\u2019s going to break a 50-yarder. I just don\u2019t know when it\u2019s going to be. I didn\u2019t know it was going to be on the first drive, but he\u2019s electric with the ball in his hands and he\u2019s just showed that.<\/p>\n Yeah, competition, you know, competition for sure. We got to, you know, you don\u2019t want to take away confidence from the young men, especially a freshman like Andrew Marsh, because that could mentally jam you for a while, so we got to teach him, we got to coach him, we got to help him be better because he has ability, he has skill, and I know he can do it, so we\u2019ll help him, but got to promote competition in both rooms with that and the punt returner.<\/p>\n Yeah, I mean, I think it\u2019ll be a fun atmosphere. A lot of respect, obviously, for that program and the history and tradition of the program and playing there, seeing I know how the fans are. They\u2019re loud. It\u2019s an exciting place to play. It\u2019s a great town. It\u2019s a great place to be, and I have the utmost respect for Brett Venables. He was my defensive coordinator when I was playing, so as good as one in college football over the last 20 years, you know, so somebody that\u2019s done it at an extremely high level, and I know Kevin Wilson\u2019s now on that staff, too, who was my offensive coordinator, so both guys that were the coordinators when I was playing there are both there. Joe Jon Finley, who I played with as the tight end coach, DeMarco Murray was a running back when I played there, so there\u2019s a lot of familiar faces and people that are great people there that I have a ton of respect for, so it\u2019ll be a great environment, great opportunity, but really it\u2019s going to be about our players and how they play in that environment.<\/p>\n Maize & Blue Review is a trusted source for fans and followers of Michigan Wolverines athletics. Dedicated to providing in-depth coverage, expert analysis, and up-to-date news, it serves as a comprehensive platform for everything related to Michigan sports. Whether you\u2019re interested in football, basketball, or recruiting news, Maize & Blue Review offers insightful articles that keep fans informed and engaged.<\/em><\/p>\n The site also features interviews, opinion pieces, and multimedia content, making it a one-stop shop for true Wolverine enthusiasts.<\/em><\/p>\n For those wanting to stay even closer, consider subscribing\u00a0here<\/a>. Connect with us on social media:\u00a0X\/Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0Instagram<\/a>,\u00a0Facebook<\/a>, and\u00a0YouTube<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\nOn the process of appealing Jaishawn Barham\u2019s suspension<\/h2>\n
On whether he believes the first-half suspension rule should be addressed<\/h2>\n
On where he\u2019s seen improvement from Barham the most<\/h2>\n
On feeling good about the LB room in Barham\u2019s absence<\/h2>\n
On the traits Cole Sullivan brings to the team<\/h2>\n
On whether Brandyn Hillman\u2019s hit power is innate<\/h2>\n
On his evaluation of the cornerback play<\/h2>\n
On TJ Metcalf\u2019s play<\/h2>\n
On whether he liked what he saw from DL depth and whether to expect it all season<\/h2>\n
On how he determines who starts in a loaded position group<\/h2>\n
On his evaluation of Bryce Underwood<\/h2>\n
On Underwood showing leadership to the team<\/h2>\n
On not having Underwood run in the game and whether it\u2019s an option in the future<\/h2>\n
On areas where he\u2019d like to see Underwood grow<\/h2>\n
On the miscommunication between Underwood and Andrew Marsh<\/h2>\n
On the wide receiver play<\/h2>\n
On his evaluation of Chip Lindsey and his call on third down<\/h2>\n
On his thoughts on Marlin Klein\u2019s day<\/h2>\n
On his evaluation of the guard play and the offensive line<\/h2>\n
On his evaluation of Justice Haynes\u2019 performance<\/h2>\n
On addressing special teams mistakes<\/h2>\n
On his thoughts on the Oklahoma game<\/h2>\n
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