Tag: Jim Harbaugh

Phil and Clint discuss THE BEST WIN over Ohio State EVER (until the next one), observations from the Horseshoe, is this the best Michigan team ever(?), and our unwavering support for Buckeye Coach Ryan Day. With audio from RB Donovan Edwards, QB JJ McCarthy, LB Michael Barrett, DB Mike Sainristil, and Jim Harbaugh.

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Phil Callihan 0:00
You M go blue.com by fans for fans since 1999. Welcome to our very happy podcast where we get to talk about Michigan’s awesome, dominating 45 to 23 victory over Ohio State. And if there’s anything that sums it up, it’s this quote from Donovan Edwards,

Donovan Edwards 0:27
Q: On the long touchdown run came when you came through the line, there was nobody there….
A: Which one?

Phil Callihan 0:37
It’s interesting because Clint, a lot of people talked about after the game about how nobody foresaw Michigan blowing out Ohio State. And that may be the case. But we were both very confident that Michigan would win this game, and people can go back and, and, you know, listen to our last podcast. And one of the things I wanted to talk about is, you know, Clint, I gotta give you credit you have said, for, you know, during Jim Harbaugh’s tenure, that, you know, he says in how it is,

Jim Harbaugh 1:13
And we’re very grateful to, to be in this position to be playing in this game. Winner takes the east, you know, winner takes all right there. So strong opponent, and it’s the, it’s the kind of situation, that gives you the opportunity to display how strong our team is. There’s no need to hate, you know, be grateful for the opponent, it’s like superheroes, it’s through a strong opponent, that you get to find out who you are gonna be grateful for having the opportunity to play in this kind of big game.

Phil Callihan 1:52
He gave advice to JJ on what to do.

Jim Harbaugh 1:56
And it’s, it’s pretty cool. Coming off of coming off of the game, you had, you know, fourth quarter comeback win in the last minute, game winning drive, that doesn’t happen to quarterbacks. That often and to be in that situation, you know, first time and, and when it you know, he’s just he’s got it. Talked about turning water to wine. I think I made that comment back in the summer that he had that ability. He’s fiercely protective of the team. He’s a tremendous teammate. But, you know, he’s got that he’s got that grit and determination to that. All in the all into one package. Oh, didn’t tell him anything more now, just go have at it.

Phil Callihan 2:48
And it’s interesting, because, you know, we listen very closely to what he says, we follow very closely what the players say. And in the run up to this game, there was a confidence there was a a sense of,

Jim Harbaugh 3:07
It’s not it’s not been one of those. There’s no anxiety to it. I mean, I’m rather happy mission. It’s not a grim mission.

Phil Callihan 3:16
And you know, people make fun of when Jim says that, but, you know, if you listen to what JJ McCarthy said about the game,

J.J. McCarthy 3:26
At the end of the day, it’s it’s really all just noise, and all just a bunch of fans that like to boo you and don’t like you very much. And you just do whatever you can to transmute that and use it against them. So I feel like a lot of situations we’ve been through this year with, like facing adversity on the road. And being in Iowa is just going to help us tremendously this weekend,

Phil Callihan 3:46
About a sense of energy being in the building,

J.J. McCarthy 3:49
There’s just a sense of energy that wasn’t really present. And the last 11 weeks or 12 weeks with the buyer weekend, it just everyone’s ready to go. Like I said, the stars are aligning, and it’s finally here, and we couldn’t be more excited. I mean, it’s such a special opportunity to be a part of a game like this. And yeah, we’re just so excited to go out there and have the time of our lives on Saturday. Really, that’s it, I like going back to the quote, like better be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war. And we just, we just absolutely have so much joy playing this game. And there’s that deep warrior inside of us that no matter what it takes, we’re gonna get it done.

Phil Callihan 4:25
And again, it just seemed like that. Harbaugh was ready for this. JJ McCarthy was ready for this and I mentioned him specifically because he spoke about it. You know, a lot in the pregame availability during the week:

J.J. McCarthy 4:42
It feels just like the stars are aligning. Like it’s finally here. It’s meant to be and we couldn’t be more excited for it. Honestly. We just can’t wait to get out there and have some fun on Saturday. Obviously, there’s more confidence because we prove that we can do it. And it’s just we’re matching up what we did last year. try to outdo that. And we just we just want to dominate on all cylinders. And yeah, that’s that’s what we’re really focused on the Saturday. Clint,

Phil Callihan 5:09
What were your thoughts as, as you were prepping for the game and going through your pregame materials? And what was your thought? And then what did you how did you feel as the game was transpiring?

Clint Derringer 5:24
Yeah, so, the the week leading up, and we recorded the podcast in the middle of the week, kind of recap, what we saw on Illinois and reviewing the Illinois game first just became crystal clear that Michigan had kept so so much in their back pocket and sat the personnel now, I expected Mike Morris to play against Ohio State he didn’t but holding Mike Morris out of the Illinois game, sitting Blake Edwards for the second half diamond Edwards not even dressing with his injury, right, just keeping so much personnel, resting so much personnel and keeping such a vanilla playbook. Both sides of the ball. Really, you know, almost almost cost him against Illinois, unless that’s what we talked about is that they they almost look past Illinois enough that that Illinois, probably should have beaten them. That just, it did reinforce for me, the level of confidence in the level of preparation that the Michigan Football program is putting into beating Ohio State. And that really, you see a shift like the month of November, really felt a little bit nervy from the Michigan fan base. And then it dawned on me after kind of recapping that Illinois game that they’ve been doing that for the whole month of November. There, they’ve been keeping their best stuff on the shelf for this game, so don’t worry about what has looked bad over the last four weeks. I think that they’re going to pull the stuff out that they are best at in Columbus. So for me, it was just about making sure that they didn’t fall behind early. And let the let the horseshoe and the environment really dictate the entire day. You know that you had to kind of stand there and take a few on the chin. Right, that opening drive from Ohio State certainly was really well put together. And they’re really you know, as always really talented offensively talented. Everywhere. You know, CJ Stroud still, Heisman contender throws through a couple absolute perfect dimes this last Saturday again. So you had to take a few of those in the mix, and be able to punch back. So once Michigan put their own drive together, got a field goal. So okay, you need the defense to step up and get a stop. And they did. Right. And then you know, a little bit of back and forth, you’re down 10 to three. And then you catch lightning, right? You catch Ohio State and and all out Blitz is cornilleau, Cornelius Johnson, one on one with the corner. And JJ fire has just enough time and has just enough arm strength to get it out there. And let CJ make a play makes the guy miss and takes it 69 yards for a touchdown. And that was the moment 10 to 10 That to me, they had absorbed that initial wave of energy and emotion from the end, not just the Ohio State Football team and the coaching staff but the whole the whole building, right like the whole horseshoe had kind of an Oh, moment. Right and oh moment. And then, you know, I think they get the ball and kick another field goal to take a 1310 lead. So there’s still okay, maybe you know, they’re a little iffy, but certainly not as raucous as beforehand. And then you hit Cornelius Johnson again, wide open for a long touchdown, no 75 yards of first snap, I think, on the next series. And that was it. That was it. They had then weathered the storm and sucked the energy out of that building. Now the players are still pretty hyped up on the place could still get loud. But they started to feel the pressure at that moment when they went down. 1713 like, oh, it’s going to happen again. Oh, are we sure that we’re doing all the right things? Oh, right. Just questioning everything that they’ve been told. And that they had thought for 365 days. That was the moment that I felt they had absorbed. You know they had hung in hung tough enough in the first half. And I expected the better two In Michigan to win in the second half because they had the better offensive line. And because I believe that defensive staff could keep Ohio State in the building. And that’s, that’s what we saw happen and to a great degree to win 28 to three in the second half was. It was a 30 minute celebration in our household, just watching it unfold exactly how we felt that it could, and hoped that it would, that second half could not have have gone any better. It was it was really fun to watch.

Phil Callihan 10:33
I go back to the postgame after Illinois, where Ronnie Bell and JJ had this quote about the passing game. I wouldn’t

Ronnie Bell 10:43
I wouldn’t go as far as saying it’s not there. But I think, again, just repetition and practice, man. I think like today, you know, like, like I said, with the meat of the bone, like, it’s just the slightest slightest of things that we’re missing on. I don’t think necessarily, though that like, yeah, I don’t I don’t know if I’d say it’s not there. It’s kind of crazy. What do you think?

J.J. McCarthy 11:07
Yeah. You know, everything’s a work in progress. And obviously, we have so much so much high expectations for us as an offense, especially passing games. So of course, everyone’s looking at that gap. Like, why isn’t it there, and there’s really no ceiling to it. So there’s always going to be questions of why isn’t there which should be thrown for foreign yards, a game all that. But, you know, our identity is a smash fest, and we love to run the rock, we love to do it and inflict our force on any opponent we play. So a lot of the meat on the bone and still on the bone, and it’s ready to come off next Saturday.

Phil Callihan 11:44
You know, Clint, it’s one of those things where you go, Well, I hope so. Right. And we’ve been saying pretty regularly during the podcast going well, when are we going to see that long passing game? And I will tell you being in the horseshoe and, okay, I hate Ohio State. But it is an amazing cathedral Football. Okay? If, if you’ve never been there, and I know you have been there, but if anybody listened to this podcast has never been there for a game. Even if you’re driving by just to see it. It is it is a scene, okay, it is it is a place. So, you know, had the privilege to be down on the field and seeing Michigan warming up and seeing Ohio State warming up. And Michigan is loose, they’re joking around, they’re having a good time. And the Ohio State players were quiet and very terse with each other. Their coaches were very terse. And again, it’s a crazy environment. It filled up and there was a an electricity in the stadium. But there was a nervousness even from the beginning. And, you know, you and I have been around a lot of Football teams at different levels. And I can tell you, Clint, I was watching this going, you know, and observing it. And I’m like, This is not a team. This is not how a team and a fan base should be acting if their nine point favorites. Right. There was you know anything about the setup to the game. You know, the the forecast a week or two out was, oh, you’re gonna have rain and possibly snow. And you know, Ohio State, you know, shakes like, with fear at the thought of playing it’s no. Well, the forecast cleared and it was a beautiful Football day. All right. So I’m thinking, Wow, all the tumblers are coming up here for Ohio State down on the sideline, and I’m watching Blake Corum warm up. And he warmed up, but it was not the typical Blake that we’re used to seeing. You could see there was a pretty significant brace on his leg. You could see down at Edwards warming up and he had what I call a flipper, you know, his hand was was pretty strongly wrapped. And I’m sitting here I’m thinking, wow, this is you know, you hear about Mike Morris being out. And I’m thinking, wow, these are all really good things for Ohio State. They’re not acting confident. They did not have a swagger. All right. And you know, you and I talked about how important that initial possession would be, right? So Ohio State comes down scores. And Michigan answers back with a field goal. And it was just a field goal. But the air went out of the stadium for a second. And I was like, it’s seven, three, it’s just a field goal. Right? And then Ohio State comes back, and you know, they kick a field goal. So it’s 10 Three. And then the one thing that we have not seen consistently from this offense happens. You see that 69 yard touchdown pass, you know and really it was more of a show Order pass and a longer run, right. And then Ohio State only came back with a field goal. And then Michigan lit it up again with a 75 yard touchdown pass from McCarthy to Johnson. And even though at halftime, Ohio State came back and scored, and they had the lead, it did not feel like that. In the stadium clinic, you’re looking around and there was a tension, there was a nervousness. I mean, this was not the block they were hoping for. And Michigan is a second half team. And part of it is, you know, we’ve been watching this team a lot, and we have expectations as fans and commentators. But I felt great at halftime. And everything just came apart for Ohio State in the second half. And again, just, you know, again, and I keep saying, you know, we we’ve seen a lot of Football and a lot of different levels. This was a team unraveling. This was a team and, you know, on the Michigan side, okay, we have been on the wrong side of this rivalry at times. Okay. You know, going back to the John Cooper years where we were on the right side for a long time. And then trestle came and it flipped against us. Right. And you had a sense that, even if you had equal talent, the other team had something on you. Right. And, you know, I think back to, you know, the desert, right wandering in the desert during the rich rod era. And for most of the brady hoke era, where you just had it in the game, and you knew you didn’t have a shot, right? What’s crazy is when that game started to go against Ohio State, that crowd and that fan base did not turn on Michigan. They turned on their players and Ryan day, okay. And I will tell you, I was down on the field for most of the fourth quarter. And nobody was screaming at me and my Michigan sweatshirt. I you know, as the game man that I was heading over to get photos of the Michigan team, I passed right behind the Ohio State bench. Nobody said boo to me, they were screaming at their players, and they were screaming at Ryan day. And I would say he coached scared in the second half. And you look at that. And you just you just have a feeling that this rivalry has shifted that last year, they had the excuses about oh, it was in the snow and it was at Michigan. And then well, what’s your excuse this year? Right? And, again, you know, we talked about, you know, the shifting of the game, Michigan, you know, had a touchdown in the third quarter and outscored them 21 to three in the fourth quarter. And, boy, it’s good. There wasn’t any more time because they would have rung up a few more touchdowns. Okay. I mean, 4523 When you are expected to win by nine at home, that’s a butt kicking. That is a I mean, a biblical butt kicking. And, you know, as a Michigan fan, it was amazing to see. And I will tell you that, you know, one of my worst times at the horseshoe Clint rich rods last year. And I know you’re familiar with the facility, there are dual tunnels, and there’s like a ramp that goes up on either side of the endzone for each team. And I was standing watching the Michigan team go up the ramp, and rich Rod was there. And this drunk Ohio State fan, this woman leaned over the rail and said, We love you rich rod. And I just remember thinking yeah, they do. Because they own them. Right. And what I would say right now is I like Ryan day, I hope they extend him because one or two things is going to happen. Okay? If he is truly a great coach, then he is going to elevate his game. And we’re going to have, you know, amazing battles over the next few years. But I didn’t see a coach who had answers, Clint, and I didn’t hear a coach in the postgame who answers and what I see. And you know, and I thought we’re going to talk a lot about what we saw on the week running up to this and the month running up to this. And what we heard from the Ohio State side is we got Jim Harbaugh playing three dimensional chess on one side. And we got Ryan day playing tic tac toe with his red x’s over amps. Okay. And I, you know, so like I said, one of the one of two things going to happen either Ryan day is going to raise his game, and we’re going to see some epic matches over the next few years. Or we saw the best he has I mean, last year he fired his defensive staff What’d he do this year it was worse. And to hear the coaching staff of Ohio State and the players just be resigned to what happened. You know, one of the things that the Michigan players talked about in the postgame you know, Mike Barrett said,

Michael Barrett 20:17
That was a poor quarter once we once we went up to scores, I feel like that’s kind of the point where I, we all looked over to the side and was like, you can see like, they started hanging their head, they weren’t getting off the ball as fast. They weren’t really having that confidence that they’re used to playing away. And you can just tell just by looking at him,

Phil Callihan 20:36
and I’ll tell you being there, you know, again, I was in the endzone, I could look on my left and I could see Michigan I could look on my right and see Ohio State download Edwards boasting runs and Michigan just getting stronger and more confident. And looking at my ride and seeing Ohio State listless and not just listless, but getting tore by their fans. Okay. And I know it’s not every fan. Okay. But I mean, when you’re walking down that sideline, and and they’re, you know, people are cussing out Ryan day and calling out individual players and calling out, you know, individual coaches on the Ohio State side. It’s not a good look. Okay. They had a ton of recruits there. And as of right now, Michigan got commitments from two recruits because of that game. So you look at it. And, again, it’s, it’s not a good look, Mike Sanders still mentioned in the postgame about

Mike Sainristil 21:41
Going into the fourth quarter. You know, we we had a quick defensive talk. And you know, first thing we did was, we looked over at their sideline, and they were over there hanging their heads a little bit, you know, so we knew we were like, Are there they’re vulnerable right now. And let’s go through this, keep passing on them. Keep, you know, taking away the run game dependence game, and just take advantage of every opportunity.

Phil Callihan 22:05
One of the most entertaining things about that game is in the hour, after we finally got done with the postgame press conferences and got back to the car. The first hour of the car ride back, Dan Arbor was listening to talk radio in Columbus. And oh my gosh, they’re ready to run Ryan day out. And I can understand it, I can understand it. You know, I mean, you know, being down in that environment. We’re watching, you know, one of the morning shows, and this was the morning news. And the news casters, not the sports casters. Were saying this is the most important game, nothing else matters. Right. And, you know, again, this wasn’t, hey, you just came up short, you know, and I think back to the 2016 game where Michigan, you know, shall we say didn’t get a measurement in their favor, right? You came away from that game. You’re like, you’re frustrated, but it was close. Right? You went to overtime. This was not that. This was, again, just a monumental butt kicking. And when you have Blake Edwards out, and you’re thinking, wow, Michigan’s best players out and then, you know, the second half, Donovan Edwards, who is a great player, but you know, doesn’t have quite the fanfare nationally that Blake Edwards has. Okay. You have Donovan Edwards, gaining 216 yards. Okay, averaging 9.8 yards of carry. And you had one of Michigan’s best defensive players out. And Mike Morris, right. And again, you could make a case that two of our best players didn’t play and we still put a beat down on Ohio State, you know, I can understand the excitement at your house. I know how much you’re into it, and your families into it, especially your kids are at a great age. And you know, one of the things that’s great about this game is that, you know, we talked during Harbaugh’s tenure of a signature when okay, this is more than a signature win. This is an epoch defining.

Clint Derringer 24:18
Yeah, it’s it’s historic in in the program’s history in the context of the entire 130 You know, 130 something years of Michigan Football. That’s, that’s how big it is. It’s the first time ever that Michigan has, has completed undefeated regular season with a chance to move to 13 and Oh, if they can if they can win the big 10 championship game, and then still played two other games. You know, there’s a chance still for this team to play three more games together with you know, with a month of prep, leading into the California All playoffs. So this it’s a totally different, it’s totally different stratosphere it, they’re on a whole different level than even they were in 21, at this time last year, which was much more about stopping the bleeding and creating a foundation for the, for the, for the program and establishing a culture ship. You know, starting to stem the tide and to turn the ship, and this year is about actually moving the ship, you know, further on the journey across across the ocean. And here you are, you know, if given one more solid performance against Purdue, you know, then you should be a lot for number one or number two in the country, heading in the playoff. That’s their only a handful of seasons that are even close to the same type of conversation as that. So not just the the game and the performance in Columbus. Right. I mean, it’s the first time that Michigan has won in Columbus and 22 years just that is a generation. You know, there are plenty of adults right now walking the earth that had never seen Michigan when were in the white jerseys in Columbus. So yeah, it’s really hard to overstate really the historic meaning of that performance. But I want to I want to remind everybody, you know, halfway through the second quarter, right, there was a an exchange on Twitter that I had with another popular Michigan Football, Twitter, personality, you know, Scott Bell, and he said, even the most optimistic of Michigan fans will have a hard time imagining a path to victory right now for you. It’s a one score game and feels like a blowout. And, like, I get that I understand how it felt that way, right? Especially with Blake Corum hobbling Morris not playing. JJ McCarthy had started, whatever it was 349 I think it was. So there were a lot of things that were frustrating at that moment. But the expectation again, for me was to just stay in it stay in it emotionally in that first half. So maybe I was just in a different frame of mind. You just You just had to snap out of it and get to that, you know, keep digging, keep digging the tunnel, because you’re about to break through and make that next big play. And I said just make a couple big plays. Right. Ohio State had all the pressure going into the game. I had said that a lot of times, and the way they started really bottling up Michigan’s run offense, and really looking smooth on their own offensive series to start. They shifted the pressure back onto the Wolverines, you know, and our fan base was just as ready to jump ship as the is what you were describing the buckeyes in the game. You know, the people were mad. There’s a lot of other negativity getting spewed at JJ McCarthy in that second quarter, I promise you, you know, but what I what I wanted to praise or what I wanted to highlight is that the team, the players, the coaches did not panic the same way that a lot in the fan base did in that second quarter, the team went out there and executed, made those big explosive plays, to kind of play to a stalemate in a game that really the tide was against them in many ways. And statistically, they were getting beaten pretty badly through the first 2025 minutes of the game. But two big plays, and like I said, shifted all that mountain of pressure. And all of that weighed squarely back on to Ohio State and Ryan day. And 106,000 Ohio State fans in the stance, that shift and that pressure and Michigan’s ability to respond in that moment. And Ohio State’s inability to respond in that moment. Is is why the scoreboard ended up the way that it did

Phil Callihan 29:17
appreciate the opportunity, channeling my inner Harbaugh here, just appreciating the opportunity to be there. I will tell you, perhaps they should have run those negative tweets across the scoreboard at Ohio Stadium. Because being there, it was not a confident group. And it was funny because I again, it’s one of the reasons I like to be there. You get a sense for how the crowds react and you get a sense for the momentum. And, you know, even JJ McCarthy mentioned how things kind of shifted

J.J. McCarthy 29:57
I want to say right after that touched Coming out of the half, I just felt like we were able to do everything that we wanted to do at that point. And I felt so comfortable. So calm. The first half, I was little amped up, because I’ve been waiting to play this game for so long. But once the nerves kind of calmed down and everything settled, I knew it was over from the

Phil Callihan 30:15
one of the things I want to point out. Okay. Is that, yes. David Edwards was incredible. And he put the nail two huge nails in the coffin. Right. But if you look at the score, except for that, it was 31 to 23. Right. Michigan won this game with its passing game on JJ McCarthy with guys who, and again, you know, part of what we’d said is, you know, the long passing game had kind of been intermittent. You really didn’t know who to expect here. I mean, heading in i If you told me that Michigan was going to have the success with long passing plays, I would have told you. It’s Ronnie Bell. Okay, that would have been my guess. Right? And it’s just one of those things where I would have guessed Ronnie Bell, Roman Wilson. Right. Maybe Andrew Anthony? Well, look what happened. Right. And and, more importantly, not only was this a butt kicking, but you know, you and I have talked about the positive culture around the team. Right. So here you go. You have guys who and Coach Harbaugh talked about this?

Jim Harbaugh 31:33
You know, my opinion has been it’s been here for a long, long time, I mean, throughout 50 years ago. That’s that is that is the Michigan program, the team, the team, the team, Bob, I mean, I know, nobody knows that better than you. It is now. And, and we expect that to go on into the future. But, you know, it’s definitely it’s definitely some remarkable players that they have also been raised that way, or that way, and, and will continue to be that way. I mean, so many, so many of the, so many of our guys are like that. And everywhere. I mean, I could, I could give many examples. If you’d like, ton of guys like that. I mean, me, Donovan Edwards, for example. I mean, he could have, he could have taken a knee in his game, you know, and study or cast. And now he’s a legend. JJ McCarthy could have been a guy like, Hey, I’m JJ McCarthy. I’m a five star Quarterback. I’m not here to hand the ball off, you know, and never. I mean, he’s, he’ll do anything for the team, they’ll block a run down the field and block for Running Back, you know, 50 yards down the field, do anything for the team, put his put his shoulder down and score a touchdown at the goal line. Now, he’s a legend. So many guys, Cornelius Johnson could could have been somebody complained about how many targets he’s getting or, you know, the passing game, you know, should be should be front and center, etc, but doesn’t and, you know, continues to block and, and make the tough catch across the middle diving catches. And then, you know, in this past game, you know, he makes he really got to start it in that game. Saturday against Ohio State. And he kept us going. So many guys mozzie Smith, and other would come to my mind, I mean, has asthma completely changed his body in the aforementioned weight room to become the Football freak. Number one. There was a time where it was it was hard for mozzie to play. Three plays in a row. And he played 61 plays in this last game, played his best game that he’s ever played. had four tackles, was the most gave the most pass rush in the game. And Captain can’t say say enough about him. Taylor Upshaw could have been bitter about not getting as much play time. Some of the other guys at the position didn’t. Now he’s a legend. Lot of examples right Um, but yeah, I think that’s, that’s who the team is. That’s, that’s what Michigan is always been about and is and also what their parents poured into them, you know, from, from a very young age. So I would probably call it all those things.

Phil Callihan 35:20
You have a culture of younger players getting the opportunity to excel, you get you see walk ons, you see, you know, at some positions, Michigan’s down to their third or fourth string guy, you know, and if you’ve looked at the depth chart, the beginning of the year if Harbaugh published a depth chart, but we know Michigan doesn’t, right, but we can look and say, Wow, where was that guy? Three games ago, six games ago. So here from the outside, right? You have a team where they were loose and confident heading into the game. Okay. And you had an environment where hardball does not rein them in? Okay. And, you know, we can think back to when he was a player, you know, he had a very famous guarantee versus Ohio State. You know, and again, there was this great quote, again, in the week before the game, where JJ McCarthy said,

J.J. McCarthy 36:19
The saying that we love around here is just do you and I’m gonna do me what, what I did to get me here, I’m gonna do that next Saturday, for sure.

Phil Callihan 36:27
They let the players express themselves and go out and perform. And, you know, I’ll tell you, Clint, one of the, you know, one of the best moments of the game that you see when you’re in the stadium is, you know, Michigan comes out onto the field before the game, and you know, there’s the requisite booze. And then Blake Corum and Jim Harbaugh walk out. And then there’s Donovan Edwards, jumping up and down egging the crowd on. Okay. And, okay. You don’t Hey, you do you? Right, he backed it up. And it’s just interesting that, you know, there’s a fine line between, you know, provoking, right, and, you know, again, there’s a fine line here, when you when you when you when you see a team, you know, talking trash and going over the line, but they back it up. They’re confident, and they’re having fun. And, you know, it was interesting, too, because, you know, Dan, Donovan Edwards mentioned that

Donovan Edwards 37:35
I always have fun. And I, you know, I always get like, into it with the other team. Not really, at the end of the day, I’m still playing my game…

Phil Callihan 37:49
the environments not too big for them. Okay. And that is a point of, you know, hey, Blake was out. I was worried about it. Right. JJ McCarthy talked about it.

J.J. McCarthy 38:02
I mean, everyone’s got to step up. I mean, yeah, Blake’s a extremely important player to our team, but we got 142 other guys that are just chomping at the bit to get after him. So extreme confidence coming in.

Phil Callihan 38:14
You know, that is a big deal. Okay. You cannot, you know, imagine how many teams could lose their Heisman Trophy candidate, facing their biggest rival on the road, and come out like this. Okay. And that’s not dismissing Blake Corum that is praising how this team is built. And you know, Clint, there, as you said, there’s a lot of Football left. Okay. We have potentially three games to go. Definitely to at this point, right. And it, I think we need to think about that this may be one of the greatest Michigan Football teams we’ve ever seen. Now they need to back it up. They’re still three games to go. But that is a conversation that we can have. Because, you know, the greatest team that I’ve that I’ve ever seen is the 1997 team. Okay. And if we go back to that team, and you take Charles Woodson out, okay. I don’t think you’d beat Ohio State at home. I was at that game. Okay. Charles Woodson was the difference. Okay. And, you know, he was a difference in the Rose Bowl. Okay, where, you know, we won three quarters of the national championship screw Nebraska, right. But again, you take your best player and we’ll we’ll say him offense and defense will take our bass player off the field. That game doesn’t turn out like that. Okay. In this game, this team lost one of his best defenders, one of his best offensive players, and it just said next man up.

Clint Derringer 39:56
Yeah, I think that’s a great point about the depth and The program and the culture that surrounds everything that’s happening on the field from week to week with the team, you know, and one more time I would put an individual at the front of it is kind of an example of a microcosm of that. And it’s my same are still in this game. I mean, if anybody somehow flew under the radar in having the game of his life, it’s Mike Samer, still and he may have made the biggest play of the entire game, when he knocked that ball out of the tight ends hands in the endzone and held Ohio State to that field goal. Before the first long run by Donovan Edwards, um, that that play that one hustle play to get back into phase and make a play on the ball. Again, suck the air straight out of everybody in scarlet and gray. And and set the stage for for them really to quit after dawn and Edwards made the two long touchdown runs. And that’s a guy Mike saner still who, you know, switch positions, and put the team first. And to use Harbaugh’s phrase, never got better, just got better.

Jim Harbaugh 41:23
You know, that’s just us who they are. To our players are. They are. They’re never about being better, they get better. And it’s incredible. You know, the difference between those two words, it’s, it’s one letter, the letter I. And that letter signifies, you know, make it about yourself, make it about just you and our players. You know, it’s about the team, it’s about really doing everything that they can for the team, they

Clint Derringer 42:05
came over in the spring, was was dinged up, had minimum reps in that Nickel spot. And then worked, worked worked, worked from that moment forward every single day. And here he is against probably the best wide receivers or in the country even without Jackson Smith and Jigsaw playing and a Heisman contender, Quarterback and play the game of his life. And that’s there’s something to be said about, you know, all of that work, all of that work kind of coming to a head in the biggest moment of the entire season. And kind of deserving for it to pay off that way. And a guy like Mike Samer, still and other guys that we’ve used as individual examples of these culture things that we’re talking about. It’s, it makes you proud, it makes you proud as a fan, as somebody who went to Michigan and graduated from Michigan, and as as long, you know, it’s, it really kind of flies the banner in your heart, and putting the team first and then not pouting about it. And just making yourself the best Nickel corner that you can be and then make the biggest play of the game. In the biggest game of the season. In something we’re saying might be the greatest team in Michigan’s 140 year history. I mean, that’s, that’s quite something, you know, and, you know, hats off to Mike Samer still and to, you know, to everybody else that, you know, put all that work in and kept the right state of mind. And they earned it, they earned it. They earned the right to kind of Lord themselves over the Ohio State Buckeyes, because Ohio State did not do the mental toughness, preparation that was necessary as much as they wanted to talk about it. And then as much as they wanted to be physically tougher. They were not mentally tougher in 22 Compared to 21, they were just a little bit less talented. That’s it.

Phil Callihan 44:26
We talked about this. I mentioned this in one of the earliest podcasts this season, when Mike sain was still switched positions. You don’t generally have a high expectation for when a player does that. Okay. And it’s nothing against Mike. He’s great. He’s one of the best players to when it gets up during availability. He’s intelligent, he’s glib, He’s entertaining, right? But when you have a guy who, you know was third or fourth on the depth chart, and I think I’m being generous on the offensive side of the ball, switch to the defensive side of the ball. It kind of put up a flare for me of all right, where’s this gonna go? And then he elevates his game is amazing. What team leader, a captain, and you know, had some great things to say after the Ohio State game.

Mike Sainristil 45:19
Oh, that’s I was thinking about that since January. You know, just coming down, you’re gonna have an opportunity to win this game at the stadium. First time since 2000. Just, you know, even last year, the only thing I was thinking about was fans wrestling the field. They say I was thinking about playing the flag, speaking into existence and not being able to do that feels great. You know, I just think coach, Harbaugh has done a great job of, you know, helping us execute when his game, you know, comes about and and just preparing us for this moment, I think was the same as the grit determination, the underdog mindset that we had last year, just you know, the Michigan versus everybody mindset was different is just the fact that it’s not the same team. As I say, we don’t have the same guys defensively. When I’m saying Guys, I’ll fight well, we’re just saying guys offensively. But you know, the identity is not the same as what it was last year, what worked for last year’s team is not the same thing that’s working right now. You know, we have we just, we play with it with a different attitude, you know, not to take that away from last year’s team. But you know, right now, what we’re doing is, we’re just, we just have a mindset of Nothing is good. Nothing that gets in our way is gonna stop us. And you know, that’s just what we we pride ourselves on.

Phil Callihan 46:36
And again, like you said, you know, basically, you know, I don’t think anybody. Okay, we talked about that, that nobody reasonably expected Michigan to blow out Ohio State. I don’t think anybody reasonably expected at the beginning of this year, Mike saner still to be as great as he has been. Okay. And I will tell you, Clint, coming into this game, I’m looking at the matchups on the on the Ohio State side of the ball, and I’m like, gosh, I’m going after Mike saying we’re still okay. You know, again, not the tallest player, not the longest reach, probably the biggest heart on the team, and worked his butt off. And like you said, had that amazing play that, you know, he, you know, he described that plays, like, you know, I guess he goes, got beat a little bit. And that guy was not going to keep the ball, not on his watch. And I think when you see, you know, the talent on the Ohio State side of the ball and the play on the Michigan side of the ball. That is one of the things that has to really scare Ohio State fans. Okay, if you want to total up the stars, I think Ohio State had more, I’m talking about the made up recruiting stars, right. But who was the best team? Who is the best team with their two bass players out? And now, Michigan is going to start having their pick of of more talented players. Okay. Now, what’s interesting about that, is that even after all of this, okay, you know, JJ McCarthy add a great quote.

J.J. McCarthy 48:19
I mean, it was great. Now, obviously, to get a win, like, everyone’s great, and especially this one, but at the end of the day, this one doesn’t even matter. This doesn’t matter. job’s not finished. We got some so much more to do, and so much, so many places to go. So jobs not finished, and we’re ready to get after it.

Donovan Edwards 48:38
That voice sounds like Kobe Bryant…

Phil Callihan 48:43
You just kind of see the attitude of his team, you saw how JJ was, you know, not super concerned when they weren’t connecting, you know, toward this last half of the season. On the long passes. He’s like, you know, we’re going to take it from State Street to Main Street, and they did, right. So the question is, you know, what’s going to happen when Michigan goes on to this next, you know, this this next level, right? And when I talk about like the, this being kind of a just a banner game, to not only show off the dominance over Ohio State, but the culture right, you know, you have, you know, Harbaugh talking about that,

Jim Harbaugh 49:36
the level of preparation and the level of detail. You know, it was it was super bowl like and, and we understand this this is this is like having a Super Bowl every year where you’re Michigan you get to you get to play in a Super Bowl every single year. And, and it was treated by like, as such by our by our coach Just, you know, especially the coordinators, I can’t say enough good things, I mean, the amount of preparation and detail that went into this this game, and ultimately, the performance by our team, they were directly responsible,

Phil Callihan 50:23
You have that, you know, we’re looking for the right fit, it’s really more,

Jim Harbaugh 50:27
it’s more about the right fit. And, and that’s, that’s what it is, has no correlation to, you know, the signing of the stars or anything like that. I mean, those guys, those guys that weren’t signing with the stars were are great guys and great players, and we’re looking for, we’re looking for the guys who really liked Football, you know, who really want to get good at Football. And no matter what their their star rating is, that’s, that’s fairly irrelevant.

Phil Callihan 51:01
You know, if you’re a player, and like you said, you want to come here, and, you know, work on your game. You know, it seems like a great environment to do that. And, again, I feel like this is the beginning. Right? I feel and you know, one of the things I’ll tell you, Clint, which was really funny to me, and this, this may have influenced my perception of the game is, so you’re at, you know, the horseshoe, and you’re talking to people before the game and, and Ohio State people were asking all kinds of questions about Harbaugh. When do you think he’s going to leave? When’s he going to go to the NFL? Is he you know, asking about some of the things that he had said they’re spooked. Okay. And that was before the game. So, you know, again, we’ve talked about Harbaugh has kind of a quirky nature. And, you know, you pointed out many times, you believe him when he says something? Well, the team is delivering. And, you know, he used to have this phrase, he’s mentioned that an ascending team. This may be one of the best teams we’ve ever seen in my lifetime. And I still feel like they’re, they have the potential to ascend.

Clint Derringer 52:22
Yeah, I think that’s absolutely true. I think they can get healthier. Certainly, I think the the offensive lines still a little bit dinged up, they can also get healthier. And now, the playbook is much more wide open. Right? There isn’t the the week 12, Ohio State game looming, where every game plan kind of has to keep some of the best components on the shelf. You know, and we saw this a little bit last year, after Michigan beat Ohio State, they really had got to have some fun with the play calling in the big 10 championship game against Iowa. Right first, you know, first touchdown with the zone, read with JJ in Blake Corum and then the Donovan Edwards halfback pass back to back and never felt like Iowa had a chance to come back. So I expect something very similar. I expect to be able to see all of the things that people have been clamoring for, there’s no need to kind of keep it in your pocket. Now. You get to go, go play, have fun, be an ascending team, win another big 10 title, celebrate with your teammates in Indianapolis, and then spend four weeks getting healthy. And try to get your absolute best team put together in terms of personnel for the semi finals, and take your best shot at trying to win a national title because that’s that’s been the goal. You and I mentioned it. In the aftermath after the game with Georgia last year. There were players that kind of stayed around and really soaked all of that environment in after losing in the semifinals to Georgia on New Year’s Eve. And that says a lot about their mindset. Right? There’s no coach that told them to go, go stand on the sidelines and watch the Georgia celebration. Right? Nobody nobody was talking about right away on January 2, how to prep to be a national title contender that day. Right. It’s been player LED. And I think that’s that’s probably what makes Jim Harbaugh the happiest right now on his happy mission is that his kids and his coaches are all saying the things that he wants them to say. And he doesn’t have to ask them to do it. Right. It’s coming out of it’s coming naturally and organically and And the results are paying off much faster than we even could have hoped. Since since flipping everything around in that offseason, between the 2020 and 21 seasons, it’s it’s amazing to see,

Phil Callihan 55:14
You know, and, again, keep giving credit on the defensive side of the ball. I mean, Chris Jenkins said in the run up to the game, you know, he had quotes about, you know, big time players make big time plays and big time games. Right. And, you know, that’s what the defense did. And it was really balanced. Because, you know, you had Mike Barrett with 11, you know, total tackles, then you had McCarthy Paige was the interception. You had Taylor Upshaw with interception. And again, it’s guys who, you know, again, we’re, we’re contributors all season long, but not necessarily stars, except for Mike Barrett, right. And again, it’s, it’s okay, we’ve talked about this, it’s easy, when you’re winning, it’s easy to kind of make everybody happy, right, because you’re all along for the ride. But it really seems top to bottom, that, you know, these guys are, you know, really bought into the team mentality. You know, and I think about the receivers, right, like, Cornelius Johnson, right, didn’t have the best season didn’t get targeted as much as you know, he might have hoped. But look, you know, biggest stage right? And, and there’s bigger stages ahead. So you can really see that this team is, is hungry. And I did not see answers on the Ohio State side of the ball. Now, again, you know, next year will be a whole new squad, right. But what I’m seeing right now, I like, I like it a lot. And I like that I’m on this side of the rivalry right now. And I think we’re going to get to see what kind of coach Ryan day is. Because beating everybody but Michigan does not fly in Columbus. And, you know, the gauntlet has been thrown down two games in a row. Right. And, you know, there’s, there’s that quote, we started off with where the Ohio State reporter asked, you know, Donovan about his long run, and he, you know, and he said, which one?

You can answer that about a lot of things right now. Oh, remember that time, Michigan put the beat down on Ohio State? Right. Which one?

Remember that second half, where Michigan totally dominated at Ohio State ? Which one?

Clint Derringer 57:55
That season where Ohio State’s defense quit and second half? Which one?

Phil Callihan 58:04
Yeah, and I’ll tell you what, that was the thing to see is I thought in the first half, we Okay, you’ve heard me say, and I’ve been surprised all year long. That more teams didn’t try to challenge the Michigan defense with tempo. I thought Ohio State was doing that in the first half. Okay. They were getting up to the ball quick. I suspected they might have been calling two plays at a time like they were just running up and going. And I thought, Oh, this is it. This is what a team does. They’re, they’re keeping you know, the Michigan putting the Michigan defense kind of on their heels and not giving them time to catch their breath. And then the Michigan defense firmed up, and Ohio State couldn’t keep it up in the second half. And it’s just interesting, because it was like, Wow, this defense is awesome. Right? And last year, you know, for good reason. Okay. You know, Michigan had two top players go to the NFL. Right, and David Jabo and Aiden Hutchinson, and they collected a lot of the attention and they should have and, you know, Coach Harbaugh talked about the nameless defense this year. This defense looks amazing and looks deep.

Clint Derringer 59:25
Yeah, and Dex Hill was a first rounder on that defense also. And the no star defense mantra that we heard about in in the preseason and fall camp certainly has come to be and I tell you what, one of the most impressive things on the defensive side of the ball in this game was Jesse mentor really didn’t dial up the pressure. And blitz like crazy as I would have expected, I was expecting kind of a kitchen sink mentality to really sell out to try to get in CJ Stroud face. And you know what they they didn’t, they got some pressure on him in some key moments. But all most of that came from, you know, your organic Forman pass rush, especially the guys in the middle Mazi Smith and Chris Jenkins. It was really, really amazing to see Stroud take the snap, and have all the time in the world. And just hold the ball and hold the ball on the ball, and then maybe find somebody for an eight to 12 yard game, right. I mean, like, the coverage, you know, on the TV angle, you know, I don’t get to see it the way that you were able to see it all 22 At the same time, but I would have loved to see all of the things that Michigan was doing in coverage, to be able to kind of keep that passing attack in the building. Right. I mean, there were big plays the the one time there was a safety blitz that Stroud threw over the top and Marvin Harrison, you know, that looks like kids playing in the backyard, that fade route for the touchdown, to go up 20 to 17. And a couple couple big plays to Buka, especially over the middle. But, man, that’s it. That’s it fewer plays even this year than than last year, that they were able to able to make. And it’s just amazing, because they did it without Aidan Hutchinson getting three sacks like last year and no job Oh, get another, right. They did it without pressure. They did almost all with coverage. And that’s the truly amazing, and I hope, I hope at some point the all 22 video hits the internet or somewhere that we’ve got access to it because I really, really would love to see exactly what what Jesse mentor was doing to kind of free CJ Stroud on on so many of those plays.

Phil Callihan 1:01:55
So I was looking back at the stats from last year’s game, right. And, you know, I remember, but some people forget that 42 to 27. And Ohio State still manage to touchdowns in the fourth quarter, right? To kind of make it respectable. But when you look at the rushing yards, okay, so imagine you’re an Ohio State person. And you’re looking at these stats. And I tell you, that Hassan Haskins, who ended up with 169 yards last year, and Blake Corum who had 87 yards would both be non factors, the next year one because of graduating and one for some other reason, right. And Donovan Edwards, who managed, you know, eight yards last year would blow you out of the water with, you know, 216 yards, right? I mean, it’s, you know, you just have to have the feeling that Michigan comes in waves at you. Right? And, and that’s how it looks right now. So Clint, do you have any final words?

Clint Derringer 1:03:13
It’s great to be Michigan Wolverine, I’m glad that we’re on this side of it. Now, it’s still a long way to go. Still a lot of makeup. You know, still a lot of payback. It’s been a long decade or two decades. But I really, we kind of alluded to it earlier. My kids are nine, seven and five and being able to watch that game with my family. My brother’s birthday, which was Saturday. So we were here had a kind of a second Thanksgiving. And that was a day that I’ll never ever forget. So I’m grateful to the Michigan team to the program for bringing such joy to my family for that day and created a day that that we’ll never forget. So I’m, I’m grateful. And I’m looking forward to the rest of of this happiness.

Phil Callihan 1:04:06
I’m grateful that I am not a J. Because, as we’ve talked about on the podcast last year, the morning of the Michigan Ohio State game last year, I got my PCR test back and tested positive for COVID. So and I just knew Michigan was going to win that game. And it hurts so bad to not be at the stadium. So I’m really glad that my presence at this game did not Jinx Michigan. And again, it’s I’m really glad that once again, the cry of the Wolverine echoes through the Ohio, the Ohio River Valley. And you know one final thing as we were leaving the game, we stopped about a half hour out at a Columbus Buffalo Wild Wings. And as we left we programmed the jukebox to play the victors eight straight times. So we left them with a little gift, a little remembrance of our presence there…