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Phil and Clint discuss the Michigan Football season opener vs Eastern Carolina University with Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards.
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Blake Corum 0:15
There is nothing like game day!
Phil Callihan 0:20
Well, Clint, what do you think about this one?
Clint Derringer 0:23
Well, this is this is the shining star of the nonconference slate is the best thing that I could say in terms of opponent matchup. We’re not getting a real Mia murderer’s row in terms of what the season ticket holders are getting for home games this year. But in terms of fun, watching, watching Michigan play well and some interesting matchups to see exactly what the season may have in store. I think that there is at least some some intrigue. On top of it, of course, being the home opener and kicking off the season. So there’s some some interesting stuff to watch. But ideally, Michigan plays well and turns this into a route. And it’s just a fun day in in Arbor for us to kind of say hi to everybody that we haven’t seen since our last Football season.
Phil Callihan 1:19
You know, and one person we won’t be seeing is Coach Harbaugh. So that’ll add some, some interest to it from you know, how Michigan is going to adjust on the sidelines?
Clint Derringer 1:31
Yeah, I think Harbaugh’s three game suspension is one thing, you know, he has spun, spun it into an opportunity for some some of the other assistant coaches to get an opportunity and add responsibility on game day, which is, you know, certainly putting, putting a positive spin on it or trying to make the best of a bad situation. But on top of that, with Sharon Moore also serving a one game suspension for for the level two violations from 2020. It just seems like a lot of headache. It seems like a lot of changes in your game day routines and logistics and who’s calling what I think Kirk Campbell, the new Quarterback coach will probably have play calling duties on the offensive side. So just not being able to get into a rhythm and settle into a game day routines. Because you really won’t have everybody until Week Four is definitely less than ideal. But as we’ve we’ve talked about a few times, somehow the players within the program are able to put most of that craziness to the side and and execute for 60 minutes, or they have been the last couple seasons. So they’ve they’ve really internalized that and made it part of the culture to be able to kind of block out whatever craziness is going on. So there’s no real reason for me to be too overly worried about the discontinuity here, I’d say in the coaching ranks through the first three weeks, but definitely not ideal. And if if we see a lot of hiccups in terms of play calling, or timing or getting personnel packages together on either side of the ball, certainly this, this whole situation is at the root of that.
Phil Callihan 3:26
And one thing it has done is, you know, we’ve talked about this before, where every every 10 minutes, Jim Harbaugh was about to leave for the NFL, and usually ramps up towards the end of the season in the offseason. But the national pundits have already started spinning that. And we’ll just leave that there because you know, that’s that seems to be every so often. So when it comes to breaking this game down SP plus wise, what are you what do you look at this early in the season? Are there anything it does the model holds held true? Early in the beginning? Are there particular things where you’re looking for variances or differences?
Clint Derringer 4:11
The preseason model, I think is just as solid as any certainly and I would say that it’s better calibrated than you know, say the AP poll, for example, in terms of kind of putting teams in order of you know, who should be favored or by how much they should be favored? The main challenge I think, right now with a lot of the analytics models, including SP plus, is we really don’t know how this the new world of college Football under the transfer portal. It’s very hard to quantify that right. For example, let’s take the the Quarterback last year that transferred to USC Caleb Williams from Oklahoma, right he follows Lincoln highly come from Oklahoma to USC and wins the Heisman, you know? So do when you’re trying to rank USC going into the preseason? How how do you quantify, you know, the value of adding that and lump that in with returning production? All of the, which is the kind of the ground level? Or the foundation, I should say, of how these models go into the preseason is, how good were they last year? How much production is returning from that particular team? And then how have they recruited recently? So where there are gaps? How are they filling that in? And it’s that third question about how is this team filling gaps? That is, the models haven’t quite caught up in terms of quantifying the value of some of the transfers. And Michigan of course, has a number of transfers as well, and both offensive line defensive line transfer corner that we’re looking at. So it’s hard right now to it’s always hard to project Football games, the models do a fine job of, of at least giving it their best shot. But now in the age of the transfer portal, quantifying somebody a player’s previous season production, maybe in a different conference, maybe it was, you know, FCS moving to FBS, for example, it’s it’s just a lot more variables in terms of predicting that. So I expect the models would be a little bit less than accurate. Until that gets figured out, at least as compared to they have been over the last 10 years. But still, if you’re trying to get your hands and try to get a handle on where what a team is good at, and kind of how they rank in comparison to everybody else. I think the the models do as good a job as anybody could do.
Phil Callihan 6:55
So, question, do you think that we will see JJ McCarthy in the second half?
Clint Derringer 7:04
Yeah, I think so. A couple of reasons. The first reason is that it always seems that when you and I are sitting there, the starters are in there long enough that you and I looked at each other as you know, why, why are the starters still in? At this point in the game? And it’s, you know, certainly, you know, late in the third quarter, and sometimes into the fourth quarter that we we kind of wonder why that is, you know, and I, the most stark example of that that comes to mind for me was last season and the Nebraska game. I think it was late in the third quarter, Michigan’s up something like, you know, 27 to three or something. And Mike Morris was still in the game and got hurt. You know, it’s just so that part of it is first I think Michigan plays their starters, usually through at least a third quarter. Just, you know, whatever the scoreboard says. So we’ll see if that changes this year. But also, I believe that with the logistics problems in the coaching staff, shake up here with the suspensions. And I think there’s going to be some hiccups to iron out in terms of play calling and trying to get everything that they want to get onto tape and get everything onto the field in terms of play calling and personnel groupings that that they at least want to see in a live game. So whether they’re, whether the game is going great, and they’re out to a big lead or not, I still think that there’s probably, you know, maybe 40 offensive snaps, that the coaching staff will want to see the starters playing just to see how they handle it in, you know, in live game situations. So is the simple answers. Yes, I think we’ll see JJ McCarthy in the second half. The question is, you know, how deep into how deep into the second half? And the hiccups that we see. Are they minor? Right, and kind of annoyances? Or do they turn into big problems, big mental mistakes that, you know, keep the game closer than than it should be? deep into the second half? So we’ll see that stuff. But I would expect McCarthy is the Quarterback on the final series of the third quarter. And if if there are multiple scores, then likely he comes out in the fourth quarter. That’s what I would expect.
Phil Callihan 9:33
I wonder how much we’re going to see Blake Corum. You know, they were talking to him and availability and he’s like, Listen, I don’t carry the ball as much as they want me to. And there’s a couple things right. So Coach Harbaugh said, you know, we’d like to see a more 5050 balance between the passing game and the running game. Right. And it’s always been more slated. toward the run, right? And again, Michigan is extremely deep at Running Back. They have to, you know, I think we’re gonna see more runs, because they need to work out, you know, who’s going to be the starters on the offensive line. But I wonder, and again, this is just a feeling I have that, you know, last year, well, actually the last two years, right. Blake Corum was a horse, he would just run and run and run and run, right. And I’m wondering how they’re going to move him back, work him back into game shape, right. And it was talked about unavailability that he hadn’t been on full contact. Right. So that tells me that I’m expecting him to get to get work. But I’m not expecting him to get 20 or 30. carries. And I’m, I’m wondering, you know, I said, well, will, will we see JJ in the second half? I’m wondering if we will see Blake in the second half. So again, it’s just something to keep an eye out on. Because, you know, again, coming back from surgery, and, you know, he mentioned that he was surprised. You know, he kind of expected his last game at Michigan Stadium to be last year
Blake Corum 11:16
That that was gonna be my last game. You know, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t, but and then being able to be bet, you know, in front of the best fans playing with with my guys, majority of my guys came back, you know, playing in the big house, the best stadium, you know, it’s going to be a lot, you know, and it’s gonna be a long season. And I’m just excited to be back out there, man. There’s nothing like Game Day.
Phil Callihan 11:39
And Donovan was surprised when Blake told me was coming back. Oh,
Donovan Edwards 11:44
It was a surprise because, you know, he was coming off a such a fantastic year. So I’m expecting him to go to the NFL. But, you know, he told me like two or three hours before he was coming back. kind of wait another year. But I’m very grateful for it, though, you know, because it gives me another opportunity, the way that I see it to like, learn, you know, to continue to grow to help us help each other, complement each other. And for him to come back to, I know that we’re going to be very successful, because we’re bringing back we’re bringing back the best Running Back during the country again, you know, so, I’m very grateful, and I’m blessed that he’s coming back. But you know, I’m like, dang, go to me, you know,
Phil Callihan 12:29
and I love that he’s coming back. Okay, I, you know, I really am looking forward to seeing them play. But my gut tells me that’s, you know, they’re the he’s coming back to to be mixed in gradually to make sure he’s back at full strength that, you know, they want they don’t want to risk. They don’t want to risk his return, you know, to full capacity. And again, there’s only one ball, right? They’re gonna have to pass they’re gonna have to spread it out between Blake and Donovan. So I’m really interested in so we know that Coach Harbaugh will not be there on the field but he will be there in spirit. I’m you know, it’s not unusual for them to check it out. The first X number of plays I’m I would I just dying to know how much is already scripted out, right? You’re gonna do this in the first quarter, you’re gonna do this in the second quarter. You know, how much freedom you know, the the interim coaches will have? And, and what happens if somebody comes up hurt? What happens if somebody you know those things on the fly that you can’t necessarily prepare for? Right? Again, this game should be a practice game for Michigan, but they need to get work in and, you know, you know, with with Coach Harbaugh being out these first three games. I’m just wondering the the amount of scripting, that that’s gone in, and then, you know, just from a logistics standpoint. So Coach Harbaugh can’t be on the sideline. Can he call in at halftime? Can he call in, you know, there’s, there’s this practical logistics that I wonder about. And if something happens, that’s unexpected, what’s going to happen? Right, that’s, you know, that’s, that’s what I’m wondering.
Clint Derringer 14:27
Yeah, I think all of that is is at least legitimate you know, distraction, it has the potential to become a problem. Any one of those things so not ideal I you know, what, what would be the ideal situation is that they they execute well on both sides of the ball with the starters that are in there. And they have choices to make at halftime about playing time and rotational players. And you have a big lead because if, if anything pops up, right Really, that is well outside of what is expected, then you really wonder about the the decision making process and kind of the delegation of authority amongst the coaching staff to be able to kind of react if it kind of starts to go sideways. And, you know, that type of chaos can kind of breed more chaos. So it could, it could spiral quickly if things don’t go well. But, again, my, my concerns are mostly alleviated. Because we’ve seen over and over again, from multiple players on both sides of the ball, show really a tremendous resolve and the right frame of mind, you know, to be, you know, positive leaders and, and be able to handle this despite this type of chaos happening at the coaching staff level. So I think the the other question about Blake, in the second half, is also interesting. I think there will be an interesting balance on the season, to not only give him plenty of opportunities to put up big numbers, and to be, you know, to get into the headlines and make impact, knowing that he had a real shot at being a legitimate Heisman contender last year. And missing out on part of that and missing out on the Ohio State game missing out on, you know, the big 10 Championship and the playoff is, all of that went into Blake’s decision to come back. So I think they will try to create as many opportunities as they can for him to have some of those same opportunities. So you got to expect Corum is gonna get a chunk of carries for sure. But you also don’t want to put all that extra mileage on him through the season, and then you’re right back in the same same problem, especially the way this schedule sets up this year with all of the important games being in November, not just the last game. So I think there is kind of a tricky balance there with exactly how you utilize Blake Corum in these these opening season games, these non conference games that are that are expected to be less competitive. Also, I think it it’s affected by how the staff decides to use Donovan Edwards, you know, we’ve seen Donovan Edwards used as the the feature Running Back when Corum went down last year. But I think this offense is probably strongest if he is more of a weapon out of the backfield. And we’ve seen Michigan do that in spots, we saw, again, that the Donovan Edwards game from 2021, in College Park against Maryland, where he had 10 receptions for 150 Something yards. That’s the type of utilization that I think would really help. And adding those touches, to Donovan Edwards, probably doesn’t necessarily pull Corum off the field. But it does take some of the mileage off of his legs, so you can utilize and really stretch the defense in different ways if you’re going to utilize both Corum and Edwards on the field at the same time and, and threaten the defense with Corum running ability. And Donovan Edwards receiving ability. So we we definitely should keep an eye on how those weapons are deployed, for sure. To make sure that we can see if we pick up kind of what we can, what we can infer that they’re going to do in terms of keeping, trying to keep everybody fresh as you get through the middle third, and then the final stretch of the season. And I think we’ll get a couple hints of that tomorrow, and something that we’ll be able to talk about in real time.
Phil Callihan 19:02
Well, it’s interesting, you brought up one of the things that I’m wondering about, like if I had my druthers, okay, I want to see Donovan Edwards, out of the backfield as a receiver. Okay. I want to see probably more trickeration than they’re willing to show at this point in the season. But I am looking forward to you know, they talked about Donovan being a weapon as a receiver, right. That’s a perfect complement between him and Blake. You know, I’m interested what’s going to happen on kick return. Okay, what are we going to see? I’m interested, you know, I wonder so primarily, Roman Wilson has been the slot receiver, right. And I’m interested to see if they put them out wide. Okay. I expect that right. And it’s not that he’s not effective as a spotter. See her. But when you look at the current makeup of the receiving corps, you know, I would love to see him opposite ends of, of Cornelius Johnson. Okay. So again, there’s, there’s lots of things that I’m going to be looking for that I think is going to happen at some point in the season. I don’t know if we’re gonna see it this first game, but I do have my, you know, what are we going to see what kind of what kind of things will be communicated? Or implied for other teams to wonder about? And at what point in the season will we see them? So that’s, that’s some of the things I have, as I keep, you know, I keep it just strikes me. And it’s not just because he’s number one, right? Roman Wilson had a huge Breakout game versus TCU. Okay. And he’s been very successful with the slot. There’s lots of patterns that that are his patterns. But I would love to see him out wide. I’d love to see him to the wide side occasionally. So it’ll be interesting, what kind of looks and formations the coaching staff brings? And what kind of play calling we’re gonna see from Kirk Campbell. Right? Again, you know, new guy, and, you know, you’re, it’s funny, because in past seasons, sometimes we’ve criticized too many cooks in the kitchen, right? This game, there may not be enough, okay? I mean, and it’s the pressure is going to be on, okay, because Jim Harbaugh is not going to be there just to take over the play calling. Okay, Sherrone Moore is not going to be there to help, right, you’re not going to have that collaborative inputs right at to talk on the sidelines. And so there is, there is a fair amount of pressure here. And again, nothing that this team shouldn’t be able to easily overcome. But, you know, everybody has a plan to get punched in the mouth, right. And one of the things that that Coach Harbaugh does on the sidelines is he brings a ton of attention, he interacts with reps, he interacts with players, that will not be here. So it’s it’s one of the things that we’re going to need to see the team shift to overcome. Right.
Clint Derringer 22:20
And the other the other side of the ball, of course, just the mentor adds, you know, it’s his turn here in the rotation to be to add the head coaching responsibility to his plate. And, you know, how does that impact what he’s able to do, in terms of calling defense, you know, the same, the same situation with with just adding more responsibility, and then it not, not being able to settle into a normal game day routine. So I think the defensive staff, largely the same staff as last year, a little bit less turnover, certainly at the coordinator level, of course, but this game, just one more potential thing. To be impacted. You know, it’s not just the offense, it could also impact the defense a little bit depending on how, you know, how they delegate all of these responsibilities with Jessie mentor, as the acting head coach for the day. So certainly, if things go, Well, you know, the it’ll be the, you know, it’ll be the object of praise. And whatever hiccups we see, certainly, this will be the, the immediate answer as to what’s going wrong. And I think that that’s legitimate, you know, so I, I think the final thing, at least in terms of coaching staff, is, I really want to see how quickly the team can get in and out of the different personnel groups. That’s the time I think, you know, just from the outside looking in, and having coached at a high school level, logistically, trying to understand down and distance immediately, and how you want to how you want to utilize personnel, how you want to get the people that are on the field and get them off the field and add the people, the players from the sideline. Specifically before you’re even talking about a play call, right. So typically, you have to have that idea, that concept of how you want to attack one play ahead of time so that you’re ready to call for those personnel packages to make the switches and that communication chain there. It has to be broken tomorrow. There’s no way that the personnel groupings on the offensive side of the ball didn’t include, you know, Sharon, more, of course as the offensive coordinator. So that’s where I see the potential for the most confusion and hiccups so specifically if we’re looking for, you know, are they handling it well They’re not handling it well, it’s going to be comparing the play clock to, you know, what we see in terms of activity on the sideline and our players getting on and off the field with, you know, a short play clock, or are they able to do it, you know, as soon as the ball is spotted, and the down begins. So that’s, that’s if you’re looking for are things going, okay. Keep an eye on the play clock. And when the players are getting in and out of the huddle,
Phil Callihan 25:27
well, and then you also have the issue of, we have different rules as far as the clock running this year. So you know, there’s a lot of different things coming to interact with getting players on and off and clock management. And also, you know, we have the fabulous new scoreboards at Michigan Stadium, which, which are great, but I got to believe that that will be somewhat of a distraction as well. One of the things that the players have said is that as great as the picture is apparently the the audio through the scoreboards is, is also supposed to be really great. So again, all different things that, you know, when you’re, when you’re talking about coaches on the sideline are going to add to the pressure. And again, I’m, I’m glad that we’re going through it early in the season. And, you know, not against a tougher opponent, but definitely a lot of things for us to keep an eye on and for, for fans to question how well things are gonna work, right.
Clint Derringer 26:36
Yeah, absolutely. And in terms of the actual opponent, right, the the game against ECU, there’s, there’s also a chance that everything that we’re saying just get swallowed up by the fact that Michigan is really, really good, especially in the trenches, and they could just steamroll the pirates. And we can’t tell anything about any of the nuance that we’re talking about. Right. So there’s, there’s potential. There are a lot of potential storylines, or flash points for us to keep an eye on. But there’s also the potential that because Michigan is so dominant, especially up front on both sides of the ball, that it’s tough to tell that the there’s just wide open holes and the running backs are running while or that the defensive line is very disruptive, and creating havoc in the backfield for the pirates. And and then it’s really tough to tell anything about any of this coaching nuance, when the just physically dominant players are really was making a difference. So we’ll try to at least keep an eye on the stuff that we’re talking about here. But if it all gets washed away, by just a physically dominating performance, which is certainly possible, then I think we’ve got to be clear about that, too. You know, don’t read too much into this, that was just, you know, that was just individual players in specific spots, making big plays. And we’re fortunate that Michigan has really great top end players and a lot of depth to be able to try to put themselves in a position to be successful even with all the even with all the distraction.
Phil Callihan 28:21
Clint the fan base would hate this. Okay. But if I, okay, if I were calling plays, right, I would love to see a straight quarter of just running the ball, you know, old Smash Mouth, you know, what, we’re just gonna march down the field. And, you know, work out whatever issues we’re having on the offensive line, and not issues. It’s, you know, as Coach Harbaugh said, the Michigan method who’s the best? All right, let’s get a lot of tape. Right, like the Washington game and 21 Yeah, and as much as you know, I think there may be some dissatisfaction in the stands, okay. Because everybody wants to see JJ throw, and I do as well. But from a tactical standpoint, and a strategic standpoint, if they were just to go down and say, Yep, here are the 20 plays, we’re going to run, boom, boom, boom, boom. You know, I wouldn’t mind that. Right. And but again, you know, it’s, we’re gonna have to see, and it, you know, again, lots of interesting things. So, Clint, is there any final thing that you would like to see from this game? If, if you were at the controls, or if you could suggest a, a play or a strategy? Is there anything you’re going to be looking for from any particular player or overall?
Clint Derringer 29:49
There are a couple things. I think the you mentioned the Michigan method, right there. That is we’re understanding that to mean that these fall camp Position battles kind of stretch into the regular season. And this is kind of an echo of the Quarterback battle from last year with Cade McNamara being named starter in one game and JJ being named the starter in the other game, and then continuing the comparison, right. And there are multiple position battles, and three of them along the offensive line both tackles, and I think the center that our bet will be very interesting and seeing who is this starter in this game. But really with an eye on is the other guy the starter in the second game, right. So if Player A is the starter here against ECU tomorrow, then is the other guy starting so documenting, I would say the different positions that are actually utilizing what they’re calling the Michigan method and then trying to compare. That is one thing, especially, like I said, on the offensive line, where there’s potential for three of those scenarios. On defense, I really want to see I think Chris Jenkins is getting a lot of buzz, potentially being a first round NFL draft pick, kind of stepping into that role that Michigan’s had the last few seasons of really a dominant leading, defensive lineman stepping to the forefront, of course, Aiden Hutchinson a couple of years ago, last year, Mike Morris, and then after Mike Morris went down, really mozzie Smith kind of stepping into that role. I think Chris Jenkins is going to step into that role, pretty seamlessly. So I’m excited to see that. But what I really want to keep an eye out for is Who else can be disruptive and make plays at the line of scrimmage or behind the line of scrimmage. And the guy that I mentioned to you in person is as often as possible. Over and over again, is Mason Graham, you know, I have a particular, you know, affection for high school wrestlers that turn into, you know, great college Football players. It was fun watching Mike Martin in this similar type role as a defensive tackle. And I think Mason Graham is one of the most interesting players this season at least heading into the kickoff here, because he is very, very tough to block his technique and tenacity on the inside. There were plays last year in big games and not just in the nonconference schedule but in in big spots and big 10 games. In the middle and late parts of the season. There were third downplays that all of a sudden 55 was flashing into the backfield. And I really want to see if he can do that more consistently, and really helped create more havoc on the Quarterback and kind of spill the Quarterback out to the guys that will be the edge rushers. So I this year, I think the real focus on defense is going to be trying to press the pocket against the passing offense is from those internal defensive linemen. And we know Chris Jenkins, for sure, has high expectations. But I think there we might have kind of a twin tower situation if Mason Graham takes another step forward the way that I expect him to.
Phil Callihan 33:28
So what I’m going to be looking at is I’m going to be looking at the same place in the field on opposite sides of the ball. All right. I’m interested to see how Kenneth grant works through at nose tackle. And I’m interested to see how the transfer portal center Drake Nugent works. I’ve heard good things about both of them. And, you know, we saw Ken grant last year, but again, big, big shoes to fill lots of expectations there. Alou was great last year. And it’s it’s so it’s such an important position. You know, again, it’s the first thing that happens he’s the first person to catch the ball. That center is just crucial. And we have had great senator play for the last two seasons. So Drake Nugent has huge shoes to fill. Or perhaps Greg Crippen. So. You know, it’s funny for for a non glamorous position. That’s going to be one of the things I’m going to be looking at how the snaps go, you know, quite often they’re the person who calls the blocking patterns. So again, I think if if I was able to sit with coaches after the game, and and know the grades, I would love to know how the centers greyed out after this game.
Clint Derringer 34:49
Yeah, absolutely. Exactly. That’s the that’s going to be my focus is trying to see what we can pick up in real time on the comparisons at the tackles on the offensive line and that center battle. We want to get the five figured out I think as quick as possible so they can start to really gel into one unit. But I am certainly fine with continuing the competition and giving those guys the chance to earn the starting role as late into the season is possible. And it’s nice. It’s a nice problem to have depth that seven, eight, you know, nine guys deep on the offensive line. There are not many programs there that are complaining about that type of that type of problem for sure.
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