Well, thank you for

explaining, and I feel your pain.

I hope somebody at Stembeck was paying attention to the fans and the listeners.

Okay, the Lions, which, by the way, two weeks ago was also a completely one-dimensional team with a coordinator that was completely lost and didn't know what he was doing.

So, you know, FYI, they got some help from the refs, let's be honest.

But I do really like the momentum.

This was a huge, huge win.

And I think he has to go make a move to shore it up.

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It's such a great example where you've had a good, not great program.

Dave Doran, I think, was at 98 wins for his career.

But nothing that's going to change the direction of the school.

And that's kind of what you have to do.

Because when you have these huge conferences, you're comparing to more teams.

It's not just, oh, is NC State going to be better than Wake Forest and North Carolina? They have to be better than, like, 14 teams.

There were a number of upsets last college football weekend.

Like at least up front on the defensive line, it looks like they have some playmakers there.

Yeah.

Ultimately it's really the, the, the core of both lines, uh, the center of both lines.

Um, because, uh, If Goff can sustain pressure, he has that little sidestep that he does.

He has that little juke that he does.

But if it comes right up the middle, he's toast.

And having Scruggs there, and hopefully this is even an upgrade.

Is this an indictment of him if they don't live up to expectations?

And a big part of that was quarterback change to Tommy Carr, just your big takeaways from the game.

Well, first of all, what a story.

I'm sure you guys have talked about it.

It's just the family and what the family's been through, the Carr family, and this moment and being able to, I guess, share it with the whole big house and the whole Michigan community was really special.

And we're going to go right into the football part of it, but the human part of it is really neat.

And that was very cool to see.

I give credit to Whittingham.

And I feel the same way about what's going on down in Texas right now.

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I'm going to withhold judgment and not get too overconfident about that game.

I will say this.

This is an incredible offense.

And there's more there.

There's more there.

I mean, they scored 45 points like it was nothing.

And I'm just afraid that he won't.

And so now their fan base asking a lot of questions about Matt Campbell and the start of, of his era there, and whether or not he's the guy to get it done.

Yeah, I, I, I heard those questions almost immediately, and they're almost louder now than before.

And that's m- majorly problematic because the, the, the, um, the label on Franklin was that he, he could recruit, he just couldn't win these games.

And now you have Franklin's players and they're unable to do anything it seems.

Um, I think the loss to No- Northwestern is just a huge gut punch.

That's a hard game to win in opening a stadium.

I mean, the, the, I think we saw the Lions and the Bills.

I, I, I, I'm having a hard time pegging the teams, uh, to be reckoned with this college football season.

I think he has Kay Cunningham to thank for this not turning into an impossible impasse.

Yes, I agree, Sam.

I think that this was real Kay leadership here.

I think it was sort of a nice – I don't know if this was on purpose – But you had sort of a good cop, bad cop, with Kate being the good cop and the Trajan Lane being the bad cop.

And I think that it worked out.

I always expected it to.

There wasn't going to be any – he's not a max player.

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I mean, you know, where are you with what he is and what he can be?

Well, I'll start with good.

Um, I, I, I do think the, the, the number one thing I wanted to see was, coming into the season, was the boundary passes.

I think he is better at the boundary passes.

That's good.

Um, I think that he doesn't really have the swagger that he did last year.

That might not be a bad thing, Sam.

Yes.

He's chiseled, right? I don't feel like it's an

issue for him.

I should have a no-weight clause in my contract.

I don't have a

Exactly.

Actually, I think it was JB that brought it up with Jamie.

He's like, yeah, we almost blew that one, too, that game

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Oh, I totally agree.

But the thing is that you cannot keep it the way it is.

Um, the, the, if, if they lose to the Jets, and this game makes me nervous.

Again, this, this is a nationally televised game at Carolina.

Carolina's better, and they're gonna be hyped, uh, especially after losing the game they should have won.

Um, the, the, the, you can't fire the players, uh, because there's no one to replace it with.

A five.

Was it just frustration of the game? Does it go beyond that, both of those guys being Michigan kids? But, boy, you talk about lack of composure, and then I wonder what you think that game means for Lincoln Riley.

Yeah, I mean, this is the Oregon team I expected, and this is the USC team I expected.

It was just a little bit, I guess, surprising that Oregon didn't snap into place before.

And USC looked, I guess, better than they actually are.

The hit was so out of bounds, was so over the top.

And I'm...

I don't know, forgive me for phrasing this the wrong way, but I am glad that the reaction was so strong.

So I'm just curious your take on both things.

EA, I'm curious, now that we've been through the non-conference and Big Ten play is about to begin, has your view of the top of the Big Ten changed any as conference play prepares to pick up? Well, I

overrated Oregon, and that's not the first time I've done that.

So they're now guilty until proven innocent.

We talked a little bit about Ohio State last week.

They did not have the kind of collective poise that Michigan had, and so they've got to find that.

I still think Ohio State will be fine.

Indiana, I mean...

lot.

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To readjusting this week.

Um, so it'll be curious to see if they look just as strong coming back.

Um, the Rams are old, man.

I mean, that's, uh, I, I'm not gonna be a hater, um, uh, b- because, um, I think that they're a power and I think that they're a force.

Um, but you're counting on Matthew Stafford to be in his prime.

He's not in his prime age-wise.

I mean, we saw a lot more under center last night with Patrick Mahomes, to the point where it's like, hey, man, hey, these dudes are like, "We gotta protect our commodity better than we have in the past," and that really looked good for the Chiefs last night.

I thought the Ohio State collapse was as much a story as anything.

Yeah, I hate choke job unless it's an absolutely brutal come from ahead, a litany of errors.

There were errors.

There were coaching errors.

Even Smith had a drop that might have cemented it.

But to me, a choke job is just a total meltdown.

I wouldn't put it in that category.

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So give me your list of concerns coming out of the game and now frame the matchup given what you've seen from both teams.

Well, I do want to say some good things.

I thought that it was like 3.3 yards per play that the defense allowed.

If Bryce was even half as good as he could be, I think that there would be a lot more optimism in Ann Arbor.

Now, Western is not Oklahoma.

Um, but they're a good team.

And, um, I, I thought the defense was, uh, was good.

Am I being overdramatic? Am I making too much of that the outcome of that game? What do you think of the air?

I just don't know that they have that piece.

Well, so much of it is do you trust what people are saying in the preseason or do you trust your own eyes in the preseason? Because when you ask the coaches or when the media has been asking the coaches who's been the standout, They say Tate Rallage.

They say that he's taken that big next step that they need to take.

I don't think you can argue that this offensive line is better than what they ended the season with last year, healthier, better.

They have a couple options at center.

I think that they'll hopefully get healthier as they go on.

You know, but the Rams offensive line is not the 85 Bears.

Like, EA, if you doubt it, whether the door was open for a return before, I don't know how you can doubt it now because that dude seemed to like, it seemed like he would really rather be in the other dugout.

So your biggest takeaways from week zero, was it Virginia? Was it North Carolina? Was it the five people in the stands at USC? What was your biggest week zero takeaway?

Oh, man, all of the above.

I was really impressed with Virginia.

I mean, the thing about week zero is you don't know if the winning team is good or the losing team is bad, some combination.

Maybe NC State just doesn't have this year.

But I love that offensive line on Virginia.

That very much reminds me of what Whittingham wants Michigan to be and what Michigan is.

I've never seen it that bad at USC.

I have that question now even more so than I did before.

Yeah.

I, I think that's always been the worry is that we don't really have a sense of does he wanna be the alpha somewhere else? Does he feel frustrated that he can't be the alpha as long as Cade is there? Um, uh, I, I don't know what his agent is saying or what he's saying to his agent.

I mean, from my perspective, um, he's 22.

Um, I feel like this is, the Pistons is a perfect situation for him, um, because I think that he can work towards the next blockbuster contract as he's, he's not even close to his prime.

He's already got, um, uh, playoff experience, he's got, uh, All-Star, uh, experience, and, um, I feel like he's exactly where he needs to be.

But the thing is, like, when you're newly rich and you're famous and people are in your ear telling you that you belong at the top of the heap somewhere else, um, th- then you believe it.

Yes

What do you think the ceiling is for this year's Michigan football team? What do you think the ceiling is for this Michigan basketball team?

Well, for me, the wild card for the Michigan football team is the receivers.

Th- th- this is a, a really talented and deep receiving class, and I don't necessarily ever expect Michigan to fully utilize its receivers.

I mean, there's really kind of been a tradition of going running back first, um, and then maybe utilizing the quarterback, and then the receivers are, are, are, are not used the way they would be in, like, the Pac-10 traditionally, the Pac-12, or maybe, uh, maybe the SEC.

But, but now you have a varied and deep group of receivers, and I'm very curious how those are employed.

Um, I feel like if that, if they are used, uh, fully, and if everybody stays healthy, uh, I absolutely think that this is a playoff potential team.

Um, uh, I, I, I think that the schedule lines up f- somewhat favorably in that way.

So what do you think of this year's Lions team and the ceiling for it?

So my question to you, EA, between Ohio State, Oregon, Georgia, Notre Dame, Texas, Indiana, Miami, Texas A&M, Mississippi, and Oklahoma, who finishes the year unranked?

Well, I think it's most likely to be an SEC team, and that's just n- that's not just my Michigan bias.

I, I, I feel like this is the first year in, shoot, I mean 50 years that the SEC hasn't been in the top two preseason.

Um, so th- there's definitely a, um, a, a dwindling of SEC power, I think.

Um, and, and I think that that's, uh, going to continue.

Um, I, I think you have to bet on this trend.

Um, Texas, I, I, I think Texas will be, w- will be very strong.

Am I oversimplifying it?

But it's becoming a really frustrating time to watch the Red Wings right now because you're, what, a month-ish away from training camp opening, and they are missing leadership, and they're missing decision makers to help m- make the roster better, and it feels like they're missing out on players because they are going through this process now.

I don't understand the logic.

Uh, and all, all due respect to Michigan grad Hill and Larkin, but when you say that you don't wanna be a part of this team anymore, you're the captain, I don't know why the, the, the management would get rid of the most beloved player of all time, um, to, to, to sort of soothe the waters Um, tr- uh, trade him.

Um, a- or, or sit him.

Uh, I- I- I- it seems warped to me, Ira and Miz, um, that you have somebody who just d- feels that they, th- they, they're not good enough or, uh, the, the s- the franchise isn't good enough.

Um, and then they, th- th- they, th- the s- the team, um, gets rid of a GM.

Now, granted, the success of the GM hasn't been, uh, great.

They're pretty fun watch, including last night.

Mm-hmm.

And it sounds like he's gonna be one of the people that does that this year, and that also reminds me of coming back in '21, where really they needed some ac- some more accountability within the program.

I think that there was so much heat coming out from outside, uh, s- so much questioning of the head coach, um, that I, it, it seemed like a lot of the veteran players said, "You know what? We're gonna, gonna, we're, we're gonna hold ourselves to the highest standard and not pay attention to the outside stuff." And that's really the sense I got from Blake Fraser listening to him.

A- and that's not to say, and I, I, I appreciate the way you point this out and the way you phrased it, uh, Michigan's offensive line has been great for, for years, and, and not just great, but elite.

So this is nothing against the coaches that have been before, but really if you're gonna have a special team, you have to have the players that, that captain themselves and captain each other.

And hearing Blake Fraser saying that that's something that's better this year already, even with a new coach, is, I- I- I...

That puts me with you in terms of the optimism.

EA.

It's possible, anyway.

At least, uh, for college basketball, it's a little bit easier for them, because it's like, okay, the season doesn't start for another couple mon- like, college football is happening.

I mean, some were in, some were working out with NFL teams.

I did think Roddy Gale, he played pretty well in summer league.

I wanna at least shout him out a little bit about that.

... because the, um-

I mean, there's too many, there's too many.

I mean, just how do you narrow it down to just one position, one guy? But-

He is not on the roster, but, uh, reportedly, he is focusing on baseball.

That's what I heard, yeah.

He w- he wanted to play baseball.

He wanted to do both, I guess.

But, um, you know, now he's focused entirely on baseball, so-

And this is the one time, EA, that I can recall, and you can tell me if you can recall another, where the fans seem firmly on the side of ownership, and hoping that the owners win and get their way.

Yeah, I mean, almost never.

Uh, I, I can't imagine any other...

And, and I have been doing this a long time.

I just can't ima- I, I, I just can't think of, uh, another example, um, of it.

It, it, it, it's, it, it is rare, not only because I think it's just sort of the general, uh, the, the fans know the players, they cheer for the players, the players are, are, they're heroes.

The owners are kind of behind closed doors, and rich fat cats and all this stuff.

Watch out for the Lions to rise up and win the division." I mean, this is the first time in recent memory we can say that.