Michigan Football vs. Fresno State postgame show LIVE from Regents Field | Aug. 31, 2024

[Music] greeings everyone hello from downtown an arbor uh the Wolverine it's our maiden voyage here of our postgame show here on the wolverine.com I am live this evening from region field in downtown in Arbor Ryan Van Bergen in for the first time this year zooming in from Parts Unknown and we have a lot to talk about tonight uh it's beautiful night here in an arbor want to thank the folks at Regent field uh for having us out here we will be out here every Michigan home game this season uh for more information on that uh head on over to our website also if you want to make um reservations to be out here when we're out here or just in general uh hit reservations regeni decom for more info there uh as we said before Anthony broom here with Ryan Van Bergen for the first time this season to recap Game number one of the season a 30-10 Michigan Wolverines win over Fresno State that at times looked pretty rough at times it looked like a team that had lost all but one starter on the offensive side of the ball um defensively I know the the knock on wink marale is that they're aggressive and they're going to go for big plays and sometimes they'll get those chunk plays on them but you know all in all I think the story of this game Ryan and we'll we'll open up with you first uh the story of this game is how it finished uh things got tight here really late it was a 16-10 uh game late in the fourth quarter some silly stuff going on offensive line issues couple miscues here and there but Ryan I think the story of this game as we come out of this opener because you're looking for something to hang your head on going to that Texas game is that there's so much work to do but the thing you hang your hat on is that you did play through it you did finish strong and later in this game it looked more like we what we expect this Michigan to team to be this year it's exactly what you thought you'd get from having a new regime in you know Chiron Moore first time as a head coach with you know full full unbridled restriction on running the team in the program the way he sees fit and you're you're not wrong we got a lot of new guys all over the place on offense we got new guys on defense uh new defensive coordinator same system but new coordinator so I think you expect some of the different maps that happened and I think you also got to realize that there were not as many big plays as there could have been uh considering the circumstances and uh I don't think that you can take too much of what you saw offensively for what this offense is going to be and what they can be I think there's so many weapons there's so many things around uh the offense that you you're just going to have to find this identity and what this team's going to be and I I thought that there was a lot of good takeaways I think that this team in my opinion kind of established an identity in the second half I think we are Smashmouth with you know bris getting a lot of reps at fullback and running C mullings between the tackles and when they're tired that's when you go to Donovan Edwards on a third down you know that to me that's just the early impression that I have of what the offense was defensively I was super excited I think Fresno State's a good offensive team I think Fresno State would beat the breaks off of Iowa's offense and Iowa has performed pretty well in the Big 10 taken early shots there at them uh but Fresno State's going to be a team that I think wins eight nine maybe 10 games so uh a good test to wink Martell's defense and to me I thought we stood up very well in that test yeah the one thing I'll say because here at Regions Field uh I'm outside I'm on the patio a lot of Fresno State fans here and and the one thing I'll say just as a compliment to them that's a damn good football team that's a team that a lot of people expect to compete for a Mountain West championship and I get it Mountain West isn't the Big 10 it's not the SEC it's not the ACC but it's not the sunbell it's not the mack either there's some really good football teams out there some really good offenses out there and you know really when you look at you even coming into this game I think the big story was going to be how did Michigan hold up in the trenches on both sides of the football uh Fresno has a very good offensive line their defensive line is about eight or nine 10 Deep too depending on who you ask but uh I thought those guys showed up and gave Michigan a hell of a game as well so with the benefit of having their fans in front of me uh just want to give credit to them and and what they've been through you know they had a coaching change that happened a month or so ago and they came out here they competed they played played a good game um outside of the way the game finished I think the next biggest storyline so here's what we're going to do uh we will talk off takeaways we will talk defensive takeaways we will hand out some game balls and then the last 15 minutes or so of the show we will open the door for questions so get yourself in the que for that uh let's start on offense the big story for Michigan obviously being the starting quarterback uh all off season the elephant in the room has been JJ McCarthy's successor and there's been some some hand ringing about it there's been some uh nervous feelings about it and I think right rightfully so I think a lot of what JJ did for this offense last season he made a lot of basic thing or made a very a lot of very complicated things look very basic and it was that sort of thing that I think you saw tonight in terms of the flip side of that you know not being lock as locked in on the third Downs you know missing on some of the deep balls um you know the interception Davis Warren through was a bit underthrown um but to me that the story is that Davis Warren did get the start uh after months and month months of speculation about is it Alex orgy is it actually Jack Tuttle given that Tuttle was this team's number two quarterback last year Davis Warren got the start and I thought was fine uh I was expecting maybe just a little bit more in terms of you know because the thing with him the pro with him this entire battle has been taking care of the football being the best pure thrower of them and certainly I know I I think we saw that tonight for the most part uh Davis Warren finishes the game 15 for 25 118 yards one touchdown one pick I don't think his offensive line did him any favors I think there were a couple drops from the wide receivers an uncharacteristic drop from Colston Loveland thrown in there but you know when things sort of settled down in the second half and you needed a got to have a drive late in that game and again A lot of it was on the merits of Kell mullings who we'll talk about him in a bit but as a debut I I'm not discouraged I don't walk out of this game encouraged that you have a guy that can beat Texas or can beat some of these big games that they have coming up but you know as a get your feet wet set of foundation I think it could have been better could have been worse I think it was just okay underwhelming would be my adjective to describe what I what I thought we saw today serviceable is another adjective that comes to mind uh to me I don't want to say this in a negative light because I still do have respect for the guy even though there's been some mistakes made but to me it looked like we went back to mcamera we've got mcamera back under Center again and uh that's you know sounds like a big disc but that's not what I mean M Nero was a great offensive you know uh he could run the offense that he's not a playmaker and that's what I see with uh Davis Warren is you know JJ could come off the first read go to Second read sometimes he could scramble move around get to the third guy sometimes you're just playing backyard football with the way that he used to move back there but um I thought that if you have a Crossing route or if you have an out route against man coverage Davis Warren's going to put the ball where it needs to be and you you'll convert move the chains but um some things that I didn't like that I saw I I thought that he got fixated on the Deep balls fair fair enough that they come few and far between so he wants to show off and you know get the guy get the ball out there where a guy can make a play on it but I thought a couple of the deep balls that we took there's double coverage there read number two was open and if you would have got to read number two you still would had a nice throw down the field um but they're so limited in opportunities that I think you see them pressing and trying to force that play and I think we got guys out there that can make plays you know we didn't get to see a lot of receivers making an impact on today's game but that's in part due to not having opportunities and you know I think Davis Warren is very serviceable but I just don't know how he's going to propel this team when it the chips are down and you need to make a play on third I just don't know if he's that guy and I'm not saying that orgy is um but uh I'd like to see some more playmaking ability and and try to find some ways to mean I don't think we've converted a third down till late in the third quarter so um got to get better at that position to win tough football games let me ask you this I mean how much of it do you think is I mean you can't just run the vanilla Playbook because again you're playing a good football team tonight but how much of that do you think is game plan how much of it do you think was play calling I thought first drive again you get the short field after the zek Barry interception and it you know I know you had to bring in Alex orgy for the touchdown pass but um it seems like after that first drive things got a little things got a little stale and you saw him pressing you saw him um you know Miss Miss some reads on the field I mean how much of that do you think his first game how much of it is game plan you know just in general like do you see is there upward trajectory there is there something where you can say all right next week when they play Texas and he gets this look again I expect this to happen I would say that the biggest benefactor would be or benefit would be if we can get better on first down there's a lot of times where he feel like he's set up for third and five plus he's a third and six third and seven third and eight and the further back you get from that first down marker the more limit mited you're going to be in what play call you can have and what routes are going to get you you know a first down so I thought I was surprised and another tip of the cap to Fresno State and how they played up front but our first down runs were not impressive you know until later in the game when we wore them down I think that most people would say as much of a hero as he has been and still deserves to be on people's shoulders Donovan Edwards didn't have the game that I expected him to have um I thought for sure he'd have at least one or two spury runs but this was the Donovan Edwards of last year that you know through 12 games didn't really make an impact and then all of a sudden he was MVP so uh I think that losing on first down we got into a position where we we weren't expecting to be I feel like we were expecting to be in a lot of third and twos third and threes third and fours where as a defense you can't load up the box and or play coverage because we could run the ball so I think that that kind of played to our disadvantage that we're in positions or play calls that maybe weren't on the sheet necessarily against Fresno state so um but Texas is going to be the same story if you think you're going to line up and run the football against Texas first and second down and then be at third and three every series I think you got another thing coming they're going to be a good team and you're gonna have to challenge them but um I think Fresno State surprised us a little bit it was good that we were able to lean into the Run game later in the second half and kind of take over the line of scrimmage because at first it was a bit of a stalemate I don't think we expected that yeah and you come out of this game obious obviously the quarterbacks are going to be the big storyline but I come out of it a little discouraged because of the Run game now again I've told anyone that would listen this off season that this is a backfield time share Donovan Edwards is gonna get a lot of run but khle mullings is you saw it tonight he was the best running back on the field 15 carries 92 yards um you know really kind of leaned on him late on that got to have it drive where he needed a touchdown late in the game uh I was incredibly impressed with him uh but again I I think this quarterback situation is going to be something that kind of hangs over them all season long so that run game has got to bring it and by extension the offensive line has got to bring it too uh I know n Dom Jadis uh got the start at Center shaky early on I saw a lot of guys you know what you don't want to see at the end of a play is a center and a guard just kind of pivoting and twisting and seeing where the guy they were supposed to block is saw a lot of that early on in this game um Greg krippin comes in stabilizes it a bit goes back to Jedis I thought he played better later in the game they come out of camp with a little less certainty than I was hoping for there Evan Link at right tackle I thought was I think the biggest compliment I could pay to him is that I didn't really notice any miscues I thought he was steady there and I think on rewatch uh it's probably going to grade out pretty well for him from that perspective but uh offensive line in general you know you've got you know anytime you replace five pieces from last year that's a concern um you know I at some like they're going to just keep getting better because this is a Chiron Mo le football program but uh tonight I think that that group kind of let them down a little bit because again you know you could you you couldn't get to those third and short situations and when you did get into a big time third and short Center gets blown up and kle mullings doesn't pick up the third and one they've been picking up third and ones like clockwork for three years so I think there's a lot to clean up there on the offensive line but again uh you see him gel come together a little bit late um you know you grade the whole 60 minutes but the way the last eight 10 minutes of that game went uh I did like how they finished out this game I like that we lined up and put it between the tackles you know I think we gave Donovan Edwards some carries and I don't want to say he's not a between the tackles Runner because that's just not the case when he gets an alley and he's between the tackles he's gone but he struggles I think when there is a change of direction or or uh multiple cuts that need made or even sometimes even with just patience between the tackles and I thought khil mullings kind of took over late in the third early fourth quarter and we started going between the tackles and he's getting four five six yards a carry and I've been telling anyone that will listen that to me khil mullings is potential number one threat on Michigan's offense if the offensive line can get going like I think they're capable of and Khalil mullings gets his 20 25 carries a game I think it's very realistic that he gets 150 yards a game two touchdowns consistent consistent consistent do I think Donovan endrew is gonna have one game where he has four touchdowns and 300 yards yes but I don't think Donovan Edwards is gonna be a prod a guy who produces regularly and consistently for us I just don't think that's the type of player that he is he might have the capacity but I just don't think that's his game and I think khil mullings is a guy that we're going to lean on very very heavily but uh I'm I'm just as concerned as you are with the offensive line but I think that that's something that is always a point of discussion after the first game and they always seem to figure it out and they always seem to be one of the best offensive lines in the Big 10 you know so I have full faith in Coach shiron Moore being an offensive line background that he'll get some of this stuff picked up but uh the mistakes that I saw today mostly were on the interior couldn't tell a lot uh I was at the game for the first half then shot back home um but mostly on the Interiors where I saw issues uh where we weren't getting we weren't getting wins and the other thing we weren't getting were good double teams a lot of the double teams I feel like we were off late or we came off even early and let the defensive tackle get more penetration saw a lot of guys with shoulders turned on runs that's never good um pullers there's a lot of times on pullers you know that's one of those plays as a defensive end I didn't always love it but you see a puller especially an inside puller uh where they where they come up the middle and you get excited for the Hat that's about to meet the hat in the Hole uh for for that that pop but a lot of times we're coming through the hole with the offensive lineman and they're just too early and the guy that makes the tackle runs right behind them and you know they're turning around like you said looking around where where's my guy so I think those are things that get better with time and you can expect them to get better and I also think that you can have full faith that Chiron Moore is not going to allow it to be even average they'll be a good unit yeah I think overall as we kind of wrap offensive thoughts here um in a lot of ways the type of game I expected there was going to be growing pains I think that the offensive line uh was going to take some time to gel because again know you went into fall camp with battles at Center battles at right tackle and not only did you not really get the answers you were looking for but a guy was added to the battles at each position in that respect you know it was Greg kripp and Raheem Anderson who I don't think we saw Raheem tonight was between kripp and and and giod Di and then at right tackle all offseason we're talking Andrew Gentry Jeff Percy this week Evan links the starter so um a lot of work there still to do again you know just breaking in a lot of new pieces um it's gonna it's gonna take some time and maybe that comes at the expense of next week or whatever that means but you know you just want to set a baseline for improvement and tonight was not very good at one point early in the fourth quarter they were averaging like 3.3 yards per play that ain't going to cut it that's not going to cut it against Texas it's not going to cut it against Minnesota it's not going to cut it against Oregon it's not going to cut it against Michigan State so you know having that Baseline to work from is big time uh we'll see how it you know it's a pressure week now I mean they got a lot of cleanup to clean up and a big game coming next week uh let's flip over to the defensive side of the ball which outside of a few miscues I think they were what we thought they would be uh sort of the antithesis of the offense they are I think in a lot of ways maybe more athletic than last year especially at linebacker I mean what more needs to be said about Mason Graham and Kenneth gramp two best defensive tackles in college football you got him on the same team Josiah Stewart was an animal tonight a pair of sacks for him he was extremely disruptive um will Johnson not his best night at the office but obviously comes up with the pick six when needed the most uh it looks pretty similar again and and you know I saw people p in their hair out on social media about running cover zero on a third and eight inside the Red Zone I think that's just going to be some wink marale type of stuff you see now and then um you know you want to see the the corners get up and jam those guys maybe a little bit more but uh there's going to be a little more Bend but don't break to this defense but my god with the the guys that they have out there it's tough to put them up against what they had last season but athletically I I they have a chance to be better those guys were flying around I would agree I think that they are just as good as they were last year which is scary because they were so good last year but um it's it's the same same story different different last names and I feel like when you have two guys like we have in the interior of the defensive line it makes playing defense so much easier because right off the bat you've got to go all right center guard has one and that's a double team so that means the guard on the other side's going to be single with the other and if you somehow happen to double team them both then our linebackers have no one blocking and they get to run around and play football so um I think teams are going to struggle and that's going to make our offense that much better that teams are just going to struggle to move the ball against our defense um I thought that I was surprised but I also think I realized that when will Johnson's on their best receiver and and he's their game plan they're gonna go after him and I thought it was good that will Johnson got some some tests early in this game and uh obviously shows up big with that that nail in the coffin I think that was the third interception on that one drive but uh nail in the coffin pick six but overall our defense is just really really special one of the things that I was worried the most about was replacing the linebacker position uh because I think we were spoiled with Junior Coulson um and uh Michael Barrett and and how long those guys played at such a high level but um I'm it's bothering me had something written down because I was going to talk about him but number number one our transfer who is number one linebacker that came in uh Jan baram that guy that guy plays some football I was hearing some rumors about him during camp that this guy you know flies around makes plays and uh to me he looks like a big Devin Bush and that's scary to think about um but I thought he played really well I thought hman played really well and he got good good uh reps last year and showed glimpses but being in a bigger role you never know how they're going to perform and I thought all of them played really really well the one thing that I feel like is comforting to a Michigan fan is that I think Fresno State's a team that normally puts up 30 points and holding them to 10 I think is a is a good game um I I'm really excited about where this defense could go because I do think their ceiling somehow some way is higher than the ceiling of the team last year that won a national championship Jon Barham had a play tonight where I think it was a pressure off the left side I don't know if it was over the tackle or or it was a blitz you know through the guard whatever it was but he comes off the left side chases the ball carrier to the other sideline and still makes the stop like a yard or two down the field I mean it was his athleticism is insane and we Grant new some this week maybe the most physically gifted Michigan linebacker at least since Devin Bush and um he's become a bit of a folk hero you know um so it was good to see that um you know I think Jimmy rer had some good reps it was you know a bit up and down but it's your third linebacker I don't know that he's going to be on the field a ton uh Zeke Barry at the nickel uh stepping into that Mikey Sr still role talk about making an impact right off the bat uh the pick on the first drive um you know I think he has a bright future Jer Hill came up and made a few nice plays marari Page Quinton J let me ask you this have you ever seen three picks on one drive before not that I can remember no yeah it uh yeah so couple ball don't lie moments there that was a really crazy sequence to end the game but uh no overall with this defense I mean this here's the thing is that this defense is good enough to win them every single game they play period full stop um I think the Hope was not to bring it back to the offense is that you know I you know you hope they're not Iowa where they just can't move the football at all and they can't block anyone and the quarterback can't make basic throw I don't think what we saw tonight was to that level um and it certainly helps to have a guy in Dominic Zada who apparently can kick from wherever he lines up on the field I mean I think he had was a 55 or 56 yard tonight that guy has a cannon for a leg and looks like he's going to be a pretty big weapon uh for this team uh in carving out some points out of these drives that kind of stall out here but um you know the word I'll use is complimentary football the two- word phrase you hear it so much the offense has got to take handle its business couple nice punt returns uh I think Tyler Morris had the one that stands out to me um defense stepping up making the big plays when they needed to you know there is a I don't think there's a path to this offense looking sexy this year there's just not they could be a little more explosive with some of the guys they have at wide receiver um I was surprised to not see more of like the jet sweeps or the jet motions or anything like that but um this defense is National Championship good and really the biggest question for this team is how how much can the offense compliment it you don't need to match it you don't need to surpass it I don't think you need to match or surpass what you were last year but it's pretty clear to me that if the this team's path to you know nine wins 10 wins more than that maybe a fourth straight Big 10 Championship a trip to this 12 team football playoff it's on this defense and and they might be leaky time and again because wink is going to get in his bag and call something that is just gonna be kind of wacky at times but these guys are good enough to do it on their own you don't want them to but they are I think so and I I mean that's the only thing that you worry about a little bit is don't overdo it you know and and get too creative with our play calling defensively and get too I think and I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt that wink knows what he's doing and and that's why he's making the big bucks but I think at the NFL level you have to work a little bit harder to confuse quarterbacks and offensive coordinators that you know have such a cerebral knowledge of the game and when you get to a Fresno State quarterback who's you know not pooping down his leg but pretty close to it because he's at the big house you don't need to worry and you got two of the nastiest defensive tackles in all of college football why do you need to bring six guys in pressure there's no need the the five will get it done the four will get it done so that's one thing that I will be keeping my antennas up for is don't do too much don't do too much you you don't need to have a a negative play that that puts them at third and 20 when they don't convert on Third and eights so um it's just something that I'm keeping my eye up for is is there's no reason to uh to try and make the defense sexy because the defense I think is just a lumberjack that's just going to chop people down and there's the other thing that I just want to talk about and hit on is the depth again I mean a credit to these coaches and what they're doing at Michigan but I feel like there's something special that that Michigan's been doing defensively for the past two three years and it's why they can reload like they did this year they get so many guys significant reps in in in games that matter and not just garbage time and um to me I don't think it can be sung enough the Praises for for what that does not only for your team to keep guys fresh healthy for the entirety of the year but also for recruiting and for guys that are looking for this opportunity and this platform that hey you come to Michigan yeah there's two guys in front of you but you're still going to get some significant reps and um I'm super excited about the fact that we have that again because I don't think that it's valued to the level that it should be that we have so many guys that get good reps and keep our guys fresh for the rest of the season I want to hand out some game here in a second but I want to go back to the offense because um I want to get your thoughts on sort of the quarterback roulette thing we knew that both guys were gonna play coming into this game Davis Warren Alex orgy um and at times you saw why Alex orgy could be a spark for this offense you know he's he's built like a linebacker he runs like kle mullings you know he's got some Talent there got some Mobility but man oh man there was the one you know the one opportunity he got well he had two threw the first touchdown pass he gets his second opportunity to throw the football and he just throws it directly at a guy's feet on what was basically a you know just a quick little out or quick little checkdown route um that's why Davis Warren is the starting quarterback and you know again if he can't throw the football effectively or they can't get him to throw the football effectively by being creative with what they do with him on the field the first call with him was perfect the way you brought him in on the goal line because you bring him in you go oh God here comes Alex orgy I wonder what they're doing here and then he just kind of you know dips it over to Donovan Edwards and all of a sudden it's a seven-zero ball game um they went back and forth with them they went back and forth at the center position what did you make of the sort of the the roulette s of speak of how they handled that tonight I think it's just a matter of getting it series together where there's multiple third down conversions they're on the field consistently and uh I don't necessarily think that it has to become or come from the play directly of a quarterback but just their leadership and the way they get their guys going and um I also think it's part partially just trying to figure out strategically what our offense can be because as much as we're sitting here saying we think it's not this and not that Chiron Moore and the rest of their guys know exactly what they're capable of they're not capable of and um sure that they've been information leaked about how tight the the quarterback battle is and to me what I saw is that that's not a tight quarterback bottle or battle they Alex orgy they do not have faith for whatever reason they do not have faith in him as a thrower and that's fine but if that's the case then I think it's more beneficial to save him for Red Zone opportunities or certain situations to bring him in I don't understand why bringing him in on First and 10 that to me that doesn't make any sense um you know you need to get some guys uh some some plays and some guys consistent that you can go to that you know you're going to get three four or five yards so you can get the second and five and um to me what I kept thinking to myself and I've had a hard time shaking is that I don't see why we don't have khil mullings in more on first and second down go to Donovan Edwards more when it's third down passing situations those types of things I feel like there's been a lot of combinations of backs like that it reminds me of uh going to go old school now but Lendale white Reggie White or Reggie Bush um that type of backfield I feel like is what we're looking at for Michigan and um it felt like we were going going the wrong way turning the tires in the wrong direction you know we're trying to get Donovan Edwards in the middle on First and 10 and not finding anything so um I think that's all something that you learn though right now they're watching film they're making notes there will be a totally different look I feel like to what Michigan will do against Texas so uh my concern levels aren't High we have some things to fix but they're very fixable all right we will take questions here shortly so start lining up in the queue we have a few of them already before we do that let's get to game balls and we'll start let's just start with the the side of the ball that won them this game uh the defense uh defensively I I'll go to yours first um I feel like you could probably give out a game ball at every level of the defense I suspect I know given your background what level of the defense you're G game ball will come from uh but I could be wrong so uh who gets your defensive game ball tonight Josiah Stewart no no questions asked I thought he played really well on the edge um I thought that he was relentless in pass rush but not so much that he got where out of position in in Run game he was there in Run game as well if I'm not mistaken he shared the lead but he led the team in tackles uh the data heads that listen to us can go back in crunch but how often does your defensive end lead you in tackles on your team so um to me especially with guys again that have departed that position that are now going to be playing on Sundays uh it's just another another monster that replaces a previous monster and I think that he's going to be a huge benefit and anyone else on the edge to the fact that you got Kenneth Grant and Mason Graham getting so much attention in the interior but uh Josiah Stewart to me had a great game and I think there's going to be a lot more games where he and other Edge players are going to make big impacts all right well uh for the sake of variety I mean full disclosure Josiah Stewart would be my pick but for the sake of variety I'm gonna go with the guy that called game uh will Johnson I thought was like you said earlier picked on a little bit uh got caught a couple times trying to go for a pick six and that's where he did allow some catches but uh biggest moment of the game you're up what 23 to 10 at that point Fresno State's driving uh you need someone to make a play it's been a frenetic drive with penalties and a dropped interception and then an interception that was nullified because of a penalty in games like this you need your your five stars to be five stars and guy made a huge play showed why he's the best quarterback in college football uh in a in a moment where they needed him the most and almost almost got the turf monster almost got him so uh thank God he didn't there because that would have put the offense tonight back on the field but uh will Johnson gets my defensive game ball let's move over to the offensive side of the ball and not a beevy of options here this week but a couple guys that I think are logical picks who do you want who do you like on offense Ryan uh khil mullings I I I really have thought that this is going to be a year where he surprises people because there's been so much attention on Donovan Edwards and I just feel like he's he is the Michigan the way we the style of football that Michigan has adapted to play offensively KH mullings is the perfect perfect fit and um I feel like he's a guy that get him 20 carries good things are going to happen period all right and the flip side of that I will go with Colston Loveland really the only guy who did anything uh in the passing game eight catches 87 yards nine targets uh he had what math is hard Take 121 minus 87 that was all Colston leveland tonight uh it's clear that he has a chance to be the focal point of this passing attack he's a safety valve for Davis Warren going to continue to be one as long as he's about there at quarterback thought we'd see a little more Marlin Klein tonight he had a nice block on one of the plays out there um I think it was one of the Alex orgy runs but uh coulston levelin a godsend uh tonight eight catches 87 yards the touchdown late in the game uh he gets my offensive game ball for this contest uh let's move into questions to close out the show it is after 12 Eastern uh 12:00 a.m. eastern here in ant Arbor so probably a little bit of a shorter show tonight uh before we Gear Up For What is going to be a huge huge week for the trajectory of this season for this program with Texas comeing to town uh we will start with Shane Johnson for a $1.99 Super Chat remember you can put yourself in the front of the line by using that donate button below uh Shane Johnson says scary QB room REM reminiscent of the Spate and oorn days uh I'll give you a chance to respond to that first I don't think we're that dark uh I I think that we've got some guys that uh with some confidence would play good football do they play to the level of JJ McCarthy no they no one right now can play to the level of JJ McCarthy that we have in our quarterback room but that's that's saying a lot those are some big shoes to fill so uh I think that we are I don't know what era to put us in but we're not in that position I just think we need to find a guy we need to stick with a guy and we need an offensive identity if we need someone to hand the ball off you know 30 times a game and we're going to run the football then there's no reason for orgy to really be out there to do the handoffs just keep just keep uh keep you know our guy out there Warren out there but um I think we just need to be okay with being a grinded out non-sexy uh non-explosive offense and just just embrace it and we'll be fine yeah I think think that you don't I don't think it's reminiscent of Spate oorn yet let's play some big games here and see what the quarterback and also put some respect on Wilton sp's name when he was Healthy Michigan Dam near went into Columbus in 2016 and won probably should have won that year would have put them in the college football playoff he gets hurt in 2017 and that's that's when everything uh went kind of nutty for them but um if I could I got an era now I think we're at the Milton the mil mamera Apex uh after the Minnesota game that's where we're at right now at quarterback okay uh I think ideally with this team this roster construction can you be 2015 can you find a way to be Jake rudock surge late in the season with some big games uh in November that's the hope I mean yes would you love it to just have a conveyor belt of JJ McCarthy's that'd be amazing guess what JJ McCarthy's not here anymore um for whatever reason quarterback recruiting fell off for a few years after he did come into the program you don't apologize for playing longer than anyone else last year because that's what shortened your offseason and your opportunity to get someone in the portal um so yeah you just kind of have to ride it out make the best of it uh so yeah I'm I'm not ready to go to that dark a place yet 2017 is but there were times tonight where I'm not going to lie it crossed my mind a little bit uh this one is from David Ross who says so about the Donovan Edwards usage should we just expect that khle mullings is the number one moving forward and if this is merit-based I say yes I think that it's situational and when you say running back one uh is that the person that gets the most rushing attempts because if so then yes I agree with you then Kil mullings is number one but I think it's all about the types of touches that you get these guys uh especially with the way that the offense is playing and and I think khil mullings will get the of the carries but I think that that's how the offense works best I think that Donovan Edwards does better on 10 carries on 12 carries than he would 20 to 25 khil mullings I don't think puts up big numbers he doesn't even get warmed up till he's got 15 in him you know it's just different types of athletes so uh I think that you're going to see both of these guys have significant impact I just think that they were utilized in a way that made them less impactful than they could be this one's from the Lost angel for $199 says is Jack Tuttle coming back and uh I don't know you know had some sort of upper body issue in Spring ball was limited in Fall Camp I mean we had practice observers over the summer with the player Le stuff that said he looked the best of any of them um obviously now didn't really get much work in Fall Camp to make an impact on that job at this point I mean if he comes back healthy at all you gotta figure he's starting from a Baseline to where you got to catch up to these other two guys now um I don't know that I'm counting on him at this point um I think the two guys that you saw tonight are in the mix for the quarterback job uh will stay in that mix I think Davis Warren won the job and will hold on to this job moving forward I don't think you see Jaden Davis this year I think this is a red shirt year for him so um it sucks to say but Jack Tuttle I think the biggest impact he will make right now is being a good teammate and making sure that these guys are ready on you know Monday through Thursday and then into Saturday I just think that he's just got to settle in and and embrace the fact that he's not going anywhere and and play confidently because I feel like again we talked about it already but we're pressing on some of those longer throws and he does have a good ball he just missed some guys and um I think that there's potentially more for him and I think that he could perform at a mcamera at some of the best Ma MN or even above mcnam levels and I think with how our defense plays and as long as we embrace the the identity of being a run team we're gonna be a tough team to beat we just you know we're not going to be an air raid team that has 45 points don't expect that this year go to D Boyce who says very simple staying on quarterbacks here should Alex orgy have a bigger or smaller role against Texas next week I think smaller um I think orgy should be utilized specifically in Red Zone situations I I think we need to lineup maybe a little bit more under center with bres at fullback and with khil mullings um you know on first and second down and see if can we get to second and sixes second and sevens instead of you know getting stalemated that the line of scrimmage trying to bounce out to the outside and um see what happens but I feel like we were close today I think we had four of the eight cylinders going and you know we just couldn't get those other four rough fire in right but um it's a first game it's what you expect we'll go to this one from I don't think this is actually Jason sudakis but he does like to watch our postgame shows he says how vanilla do you think the game plan was and how much do you think we were saving things for Texas we talked about this a little bit earlier but if you want to expand on it here I I don't know that it's a vanilla game plan I think that you definitely are trying to find as an offense on anybody for anybody I think that went out and played a football game today you're trying to figure out what your go-to plays can be and what you can execute consistently because although you may have a Playbook that's 300 Pages thick there's a go-to run that you like that's inside a go-to run that you like that's outside and um you know there's certain players that you like to have certain plays and I think we're still trying to figure that out and if we were vanilla today I think it's just for the fact that we didn't want to make any mistakes I don't think we're hiding anything for Texas I think something that you need to take into account is I think we had maybe the one turnover the interception um but other than that we executed pretty well I didn't don't think we had any balls on the ground very minimal penalties um you know that that was a clean game and that's something that you don't always see for a first game so um I don't know that we were vanilla for the purposes of hiding things for Texas I think we were trying to make sure that our guys could build up some confidence and play some solid football and execute some things that are maybe not the highest level of challenge to execute yeah I don't think it was Vanilla I think it was just a matter of we need to make sure you can run what we're running this week and we'll build off that like you just said so uh let's go to one from Michigan lover 12 says do you all do you think wink should chill with the blitzing he was giving me Don Brown PTSD yes I think that it's you have some monsters that require double teams a defensive tackle and you've got some great guys in the secondary that you know you can leave on some islands but there is such a thing as unnecessary risk and I think that we could border on that if we don't uh there's not a better word chill a little bit when it comes to the blitzing but I also think there's there's a chess game going on more to the point of hiding things I think you putting it on film that hey Texas will come we're not afraid to come and then all of a sudden we play Texas and those safeties are playing too high you know so um that part I think could be a little bit of Chess uh for what's on film of you know statistically they Blitz this many percent. well if if we're at the end of a game and it doesn't matter I'm gonna throw some more blitzes in there to make sure that you know other teams don't know what our real probability is all right we have time for a few more here we'll go to this from Chandler Ellis who says is the lack of Separation at wide receiver a player issue or a Bellamy issue um I don't know that I saw a ton of lack of Separation I actually saw Guys open that didn't get the ball or Davis holds on to the ball too long or checks It Down super quick um yeah I mean Ron Bellamy I think is one of Michigan more underrated assistants because you look at what he did with Roman Wilson and Cornelius Johnson last year I mean those guys were NFL wide receivers those guys had a lot of time with him there was a you know advanced level of blocking of getting yourself on the field being reliable um that I think a lot of these guys are still sort of developing um I don't know that you know I was a little disappointed to not see Tyler Morris samage Morgan make a little more of an impact I thought it was kind of crazy not crazy I was surprised to see as much pton o and Kendrick Bell as we did and not as much Frederick Moore um but wide receivers you know I I come away from this game when I when I Look Lock in on what some of these issues were it was I think the offensive Line's at the top of the list I think those guys need to even things out there um quarterback needs to settle down a little bit but wide receivers to me I I don't know that that's a top three issue of something that I need to clean up coming out of this game yeah I what I had to laugh because I think the separation is separation anxiety from missing the ball because they don't ever see it uh I hard to tell you know it's hard to tell if if there's no lights on in a racetrack and two cars are racing do you know who finished first these guys the the separation doesn't matter when you don't have a quarterback that's hitting them and and you know there's not enough time in the pocket to make the passes and if a quarterback's gonna lock onto one read you know all that stuff was happening there there was a couple plays specifically because of where I was standing that if you saw the second read wide open WI wide open so the second receiver got plenty of Separation but receiver number one that had the double team got none so yeah for him it was an issue but not for the second guy and you know I think that all those things play into it's a first game they're figuring it out D but um for me if you were to list concerns getting receivers who can find separation is probably not touching the top five of my concerned levels right now all right let me ask you this before we get out of here uh do you leave tonight more less or about the same in terms of confidence for next week's game against Texas I mean I'm I've been confident that it's going to be a dog fight regardless of what happened today is that the neither Texas nor Michigan I think is uh way better or way worse in any category than than each other um I think it's going to be a battle that will be a great test and look I'm looking forward to it this is an opportunity now I I feel a lot less anxiety don't know how the rest of the world feels but with the expanded playoff and um you know opportunities now exist where oh man if you lose the second game of the season your National Championship hopes aren't out the window and to me that that's a big deal because I don't know of another sport that exists where you lose one and the opportunity to to achieve all your goals could be gone and you know that it it made the entire season like a playoff and to me getting Texas as a measuring stick is not just good for Michigan but it's good for Texas it's good for college football as a whole to see where these teams stack up so we get good solid rankings at the end of the year um you know I I I think that it's going to be a test I think it's going to be a challenge uh I have no anticipation that we're going to stomp Texas out by any means and I very much doubt that they have the capacity to do that to us so um it'll be a great measuring stick and I really don't know what to expect but uh we we'll find out a lot more about our team in I'm sure many different ways and uh we'll know if we're a contender or not I think the game will tell us that yeah the nice thing about the way that this schedule shakes out too is that every two weeks is pretty much a showdown game and you set that First Foundation tonight you have things to clean up you got a big ass game next week and then two weeks from then we're going to find out how much better you get from that uh against USC two weeks after that you're going to Washington for your first road Game of the Year rematch of the national title game so the way that this all kind of shakes out I mean there's no there's no choice but to improve uh because every week sort of Builds on itself and it builds and it builds and it builds till you get to that last game of the year in Columbus at Ohio State going for four in a row so again couple years ago I watched Kate mamera throw for like 44 yards against Washington and everyone lost their minds and said there's no way that Michigan can beat Ohio State get to the college football playoff playing like that well what happened they beat Ohio State they got to the college football playoff they got better and at a certain point they hit their stride and I think probably around week four week five is when you see this team hit it stride in terms of what it's going to be moving forward so um a lot of question marks I don't the quarterback thing still registers to me is the closest thing to a concern uh but I trust these guys I trust this coaching staff I watched them go to you know put together a game plan in the Rose Bowl where you went toe-to-toe with Alabama you made them confused you had them their heads were spinning I think you have the athletes on this offense to be something like that this year so we'll see what happens good first step got you know great finish to this game poor start but it's all about how you finish it's all about that scoreboard at the end of the day uh be sure to like And subscribe uh to the wolverine.com YouTube channel we will be here at ragent field every week uh when Michigan plays at home uh doing our postgame show next week a noon kick against Texas we'll be here probably about an hour or so after that game goes final so we're looking forward to having you out here for that to those of you who are here tonight uh thanks for stopping out uh it's you a good first step for us as well getting some technical stuff uh and will it'll be better moving forward on our end as well so for Ryan Van Bergen uh I'm Anthony broom thank you guys for watching so much talk to you next week with the Texas Longhorns in town