Which leads to the second thought: Michigan can’t beat us with their pass. Therefore, in first and second downs, our D could look more like a 5-2 with one extra big body like Tuitele/Bandes playing alongside Letuligasenoa and Ale with Trice and ZTF on the ends.
On the first defensive series against Tejas, UW came out with a D-line of Tuitele-Ale-Letuligasenoa-Trice. I’d expect to see a lot of this look against Michigan. Probably see Bandes, Parker and Tunuufi rotate in a bunch too.
Ale/Tuli bout to put in work this game, I can sense it in my boner. Corum has been mediocre for 4 games, they lost their star OG/team captain 3 games ago, they have no serious passing threat, we shut James/Irving down in the most similar situation we've seen recently, and Bonicks/Oregon WR were way more of a threat than Michigan's passing game. Texas/Sark ran the ball well but you can't play 5-2, 8 in the box, whatever, against Texas much and I sense that was a big part of the game plan to take away the pass and concede the run somewhat.
We are not elite enough on D to defend a multi-dimensional attack but Oregon and Texas were as close as it gets and I suspect that we are ready for what Michigan's one-dimensional threat offers. Some of our most seasoned vets, Ale/Tuli/Tuputala/Bruener/Hampton/ZTF etc are quite literally "built for this" run attack (because they ain't pass game/open space guys) and can play downhill as much as you can possibly expect in a game like this while Asa/KamFab/Jabbar take on more solo responsibilities against mediocre wideouts with a poor man's Bo Nix at QB. Bralen/Ulo gonna do their 6th year captain thing, whatever it demands.
Feeling strangely confident over here, moreso than Texas and Oregon. We got all the proof we need to make the smart bet which is 34-17 Dawgs, whatever that entails.
Which leads to the second thought: Michigan can’t beat us with their pass. Therefore, in first and second downs, our D could look more like a 5-2 with one extra big body like Tuitele/Bandes playing alongside Letuligasenoa and Ale with Trice and ZTF on the ends.
On the first defensive series against Tejas, UW came out with a D-line of Tuitele-Ale-Letuligasenoa-Trice. I’d expect to see a lot of this look against Michigan. Probably see Bandes, Parker and Tunuufi rotate in a bunch too.
Ale/Tuli bout to put in work this game, I can sense it in my boner. Corum has been mediocre for 4 games, they lost their star OG/team captain 3 games ago, they have no serious passing threat, we shut James/Irving down in the most similar situation we've seen recently, and Bonicks/Oregon WR were way more of a threat than Michigan's passing game. Texas/Sark ran the ball well but you can't play 5-2, 8 in the box, whatever, against Texas much and I sense that was a big part of the game plan to take away the pass and concede the run somewhat.
We are not elite enough on D to defend a multi-dimensional attack but Oregon and Texas were as close as it gets and I suspect that we are ready for what Michigan's one-dimensional threat offers. Some of our most seasoned vets, Ale/Tuli/Tuputala/Bruener/Hampton/ZTF etc are quite literally "built for this" run attack (because they ain't pass game/open space guys) and can play downhill as much as you can possibly expect in a game like this while Asa/KamFab/Jabbar take on more solo responsibilities against mediocre wideouts with a poor man's Bo Nix at QB. Bralen/Ulo gonna do their 6th year captain thing, whatever it demands.
Feeling strangely confident over here, moreso than Texas and Oregon. We got all the proof we need to make the smart bet which is 34-17 Dawgs, whatever that entails.
Oregon is the most nervous I've been. It's been all downhill from there aside from the last 43 seconds of fuckup against Texas.
I love stupid memes but this is pretty rough. I can poke holes all over it but I won't, in the interest of not showing how bad Navy is, or how much I hate David Spade, among other things.
I posted a longer version of this on Twitter/X ... but this game is really simple to me
Statistically this Michigan team is no better than their version last year ... their run game isn't as explosive, McCarthy is more efficient with another year of experience, and their defense is about the same
The Big10 was EPICALLY BAD this year at the QB position ... any gains that they have had defensively this year likely can be explained by that
The most comparable team to Michigan offensively in the PAC is probably what Oregon St has been doing the last few years (arguably with better talent) ... if I'm ranking McCarthy in the context of PAC QBs he's definitely behind Penix, Caleb, and Nix; almost assuredly behind Fifita; likely behind Sanders and Ward; and probably most comparable to DJU
Last year, the Michigan defense gave up 300+ yards to both CJ Stroud and Aidan O'Connell and about 500 yards against TCU ... a team that frankly isn't as good as this UW team is.
I find it hard to believe that UW won't be able to throw the ball on them ... the biggest difference that we'll have with Michigan's D is that they'll bring more pressure and blitzes because I don't think that they'll be able to hold up on the back end of things. Protecting Penix and the turnovers will be massive keys.
Standing up to the Michigan OL on the LOS is an obvious key because unlike Texas they will keep running it until you stop it. That said, their running style is a much better fit for what we're built to defend versus what Texas does trying to get more into space. If the run game is successful they get to lean into the play action game and they'll definitely try a shot with a flea flicker at some point. But outside of Roman Wilson and the TE Loveland, I'm not that concerned about any of their other receiving options.
If you go through the top end of the talent and compare/contrast whether we're talking about Day 1 or Day 1 + Day 2 NFL picks in this draft, UW's definitely winning that. Because of the brand, the Michigan players have a higher perception to them. But in terms of quality, the balance of the high end quality sits with Washington.
This just feels like a great matchup for UW ...
UW - 31 Michigan - 24
Teq, curious what you'd say specifically about the talking points of Joe Klatt's segment where he comes to the opposite conclusion?
Klatt thinks that UWs offense is dependent on number of possessions and going fast, he hasn't watched UW.
The talking point that Michigan has a team specifically to stop a team like UW is actually syphilitic retardation, they play in the fucking Big10, they have a defense to beat big10 teams. Not a single team they ever play has a team/scheme like UW. They dont have some specialized defense focused on stopping a shotgun presnap motion vertical offense with ELITE QB/WR play, it would be retarded to be in the Big10 and build a defense to do so... Besides, this is not an exaggeration, the best offenses they faced all year were fucking Maryland and UNLV.
I dont know where they are getting it but Klatt literally just repeated the exact same "this defense is built specifically for UW" talking points even regurgitated by retards falling for my 5 reasons post on their board. I haven't heard anyone actually break down what Michigan's defense actually tries to do other than "play defense good". But then again they are all obese drunken puffy jacket wearing Midwesterners stuck in the 80s so Im not surprised.
One thing about Klatt you have to remember, he's the color guy for all of Fox's Big Noon broadcasts. They are locked in with the B1G so he has a lot of relationships with all those coaches and is pumping Fox product.
He was ball gargling about how Jim Harbaugh hired some D coaches from the Ravens (John Harbaugh), so obviously their defense is run by NFL geniuses, etc., etc.
It would be like expecting Yogi Roth to pick against the Pac-12 team.
Yogi is the best. Smarter than your average bear. That dude could sell me a set of knives any day. Should be making more than the rest of these clowns. I hope employment can keep him off the streets because he would certainly become a fetti kingpin selling the best shit in town, never bunk.
Which leads to the second thought: Michigan can’t beat us with their pass. Therefore, in first and second downs, our D could look more like a 5-2 with one extra big body like Tuitele/Bandes playing alongside Letuligasenoa and Ale with Trice and ZTF on the ends.
On the first defensive series against Tejas, UW came out with a D-line of Tuitele-Ale-Letuligasenoa-Trice. I’d expect to see a lot of this look against Michigan. Probably see Bandes, Parker and Tunuufi rotate in a bunch too.
Ale/Tuli bout to put in work this game, I can sense it in my boner. Corum has been mediocre for 4 games, they lost their star OG/team captain 3 games ago, they have no serious passing threat, we shut James/Irving down in the most similar situation we've seen recently, and Bonicks/Oregon WR were way more of a threat than Michigan's passing game. Texas/Sark ran the ball well but you can't play 5-2, 8 in the box, whatever, against Texas much and I sense that was a big part of the game plan to take away the pass and concede the run somewhat.
We are not elite enough on D to defend a multi-dimensional attack but Oregon and Texas were as close as it gets and I suspect that we are ready for what Michigan's one-dimensional threat offers. Some of our most seasoned vets, Ale/Tuli/Tuputala/Bruener/Hampton/ZTF etc are quite literally "built for this" run attack (because they ain't pass game/open space guys) and can play downhill as much as you can possibly expect in a game like this while Asa/KamFab/Jabbar take on more solo responsibilities against mediocre wideouts with a poor man's Bo Nix at QB. Bralen/Ulo gonna do their 6th year captain thing, whatever it demands.
Feeling strangely confident over here, moreso than Texas and Oregon. We got all the proof we need to make the smart bet which is 34-17 Dawgs, whatever that entails.
Exactly this. Which by itself is what makes me most nervous.
I posted a longer version of this on Twitter/X ... but this game is really simple to me
Statistically this Michigan team is no better than their version last year ... their run game isn't as explosive, McCarthy is more efficient with another year of experience, and their defense is about the same
The Big10 was EPICALLY BAD this year at the QB position ... any gains that they have had defensively this year likely can be explained by that
The most comparable team to Michigan offensively in the PAC is probably what Oregon St has been doing the last few years (arguably with better talent) ... if I'm ranking McCarthy in the context of PAC QBs he's definitely behind Penix, Caleb, and Nix; almost assuredly behind Fifita; likely behind Sanders and Ward; and probably most comparable to DJU
Last year, the Michigan defense gave up 300+ yards to both CJ Stroud and Aidan O'Connell and about 500 yards against TCU ... a team that frankly isn't as good as this UW team is.
I find it hard to believe that UW won't be able to throw the ball on them ... the biggest difference that we'll have with Michigan's D is that they'll bring more pressure and blitzes because I don't think that they'll be able to hold up on the back end of things. Protecting Penix and the turnovers will be massive keys.
Standing up to the Michigan OL on the LOS is an obvious key because unlike Texas they will keep running it until you stop it. That said, their running style is a much better fit for what we're built to defend versus what Texas does trying to get more into space. If the run game is successful they get to lean into the play action game and they'll definitely try a shot with a flea flicker at some point. But outside of Roman Wilson and the TE Loveland, I'm not that concerned about any of their other receiving options.
If you go through the top end of the talent and compare/contrast whether we're talking about Day 1 or Day 1 + Day 2 NFL picks in this draft, UW's definitely winning that. Because of the brand, the Michigan players have a higher perception to them. But in terms of quality, the balance of the high end quality sits with Washington.
This just feels like a great matchup for UW ...
UW - 31 Michigan - 24
Teq, curious what you'd say specifically about the talking points of Joe Klatt's segment where he comes to the opposite conclusion?
Klatt thinks that UWs offense is dependent on number of possessions and going fast, he hasn't watched UW.
The talking point that Michigan has a team specifically to stop a team like UW is actually syphilitic retardation, they play in the fucking Big10, they have a defense to beat big10 teams. Not a single team they ever play has a team/scheme like UW. They dont have some specialized defense focused on stopping a shotgun presnap motion vertical offense with ELITE QB/WR play, it would be retarded to be in the Big10 and build a defense to do so... Besides, this is not an exaggeration, the best offenses they faced all year were fucking Maryland and UNLV.
I dont know where they are getting it but Klatt literally just repeated the exact same "this defense is built specifically for UW" talking points even regurgitated by retards falling for my 5 reasons post on their board. I haven't heard anyone actually break down what Michigan's defense actually tries to do other than "play defense good". But then again they are all obese drunken puffy jacket wearing Midwesterners stuck in the 80s so Im not surprised.
One thing about Klatt you have to remember, he's the color guy for all of Fox's Big Noon broadcasts. They are locked in with the B1G so he has a lot of relationships with all those coaches and is pumping Fox product.
He was ball gargling about how Jim Harbaugh hired some D coaches from the Ravens (John Harbaugh), so obviously their defense is run by NFL geniuses, etc., etc.
It would be like expecting Yogi Roth to pick against the Pac-12 team.
But still...
There is just no way he watched UW v TX in the 3rd quarter where UW very intentionally controlled the ball for all but 5 plays (2 mins) and still thought... "gee, this UW team is just like those old Oregon spread teams and needs/wants to go fast with lots of possessions to win"
Which leads to the second thought: Michigan can’t beat us with their pass. Therefore, in first and second downs, our D could look more like a 5-2 with one extra big body like Tuitele/Bandes playing alongside Letuligasenoa and Ale with Trice and ZTF on the ends.
On the first defensive series against Tejas, UW came out with a D-line of Tuitele-Ale-Letuligasenoa-Trice. I’d expect to see a lot of this look against Michigan. Probably see Bandes, Parker and Tunuufi rotate in a bunch too.
Ale/Tuli bout to put in work this game, I can sense it in my boner. Corum has been mediocre for 4 games, they lost their star OG/team captain 3 games ago, they have no serious passing threat, we shut James/Irving down in the most similar situation we've seen recently, and Bonicks/Oregon WR were way more of a threat than Michigan's passing game. Texas/Sark ran the ball well but you can't play 5-2, 8 in the box, whatever, against Texas much and I sense that was a big part of the game plan to take away the pass and concede the run somewhat.
We are not elite enough on D to defend a multi-dimensional attack but Oregon and Texas were as close as it gets and I suspect that we are ready for what Michigan's one-dimensional threat offers. Some of our most seasoned vets, Ale/Tuli/Tuputala/Bruener/Hampton/ZTF etc are quite literally "built for this" run attack (because they ain't pass game/open space guys) and can play downhill as much as you can possibly expect in a game like this while Asa/KamFab/Jabbar take on more solo responsibilities against mediocre wideouts with a poor man's Bo Nix at QB. Bralen/Ulo gonna do their 6th year captain thing, whatever it demands.
Feeling strangely confident over here, moreso than Texas and Oregon. We got all the proof we need to make the smart bet which is 34-17 Dawgs, whatever that entails.
I'm gonna keep hammering that Michigan's offensive line might not be that impressive, especially without Zinter, and agree that McCarthy is like a poor man's Nix, and Oregon's offense is a lot like a much better version of Michigan's. Oregon's offense gave UW plenty of trouble though so it's not like that means they're going to shut them down.
The big unknown to me is still the Michigan secondary. It's been a weak year for secondaries in the Pac-12 and nationally so they haven't faced good ones. Oregon's was really overrated. Utah's wasn't it's typical and they played UW pretty tough. Texas' not good. I also think Michigan's DLine isn't as good as Texas' but better than Oregon's. Oregon's was quietly trash outside of Dorlus (who is really good) and Burch (who is a good body). Taki was getting reps, remember.
Off topic but holy fuckall, Texas must have the most fan podcasts of any team across all sports. There are multiple YouTube channels that have shows running all day. Not even the Yankees have something like that, that I'm aware of
I like how people are saying the Michigan just chokes teams out but rewatching the second half of this sugar bowl I'd say that Washington is actually much better at that, just gassing what is supposed to be a really talented D and elite DC. And Texas has a better offense to try and keep up with that and still couldn't.
Off topic but holy fuckall, Texas must have the most fan podcasts of any team across all sports. There are multiple YouTube channels that have shows running all day. Not even the Yankees have something like that, that I'm aware of
Everything is bigger in Texas?
I guess it makes sense. It's a state of 29 million and Texas is far and away the program in the state. Which is one reason it's funny A&M tries to act like a blue blood. It's like if the entire country of Australia supported one program.
Off topic but holy fuckall, Texas must have the most fan podcasts of any team across all sports. There are multiple YouTube channels that have shows running all day. Not even the Yankees have something like that, that I'm aware of
Everything is bigger in Texas?
When we spent the week after Christmas it reminded me of something. Texas has TONS of smoking hot hispanic women.
Comments
We are not elite enough on D to defend a multi-dimensional attack but Oregon and Texas were as close as it gets and I suspect that we are ready for what Michigan's one-dimensional threat offers. Some of our most seasoned vets, Ale/Tuli/Tuputala/Bruener/Hampton/ZTF etc are quite literally "built for this" run attack (because they ain't pass game/open space guys) and can play downhill as much as you can possibly expect in a game like this while Asa/KamFab/Jabbar take on more solo responsibilities against mediocre wideouts with a poor man's Bo Nix at QB. Bralen/Ulo gonna do their 6th year captain thing, whatever it demands.
Feeling strangely confident over here, moreso than Texas and Oregon. We got all the proof we need to make the smart bet which is 34-17 Dawgs, whatever that entails.
He was ball gargling about how Jim Harbaugh hired some D coaches from the Ravens (John Harbaugh), so obviously their defense is run by NFL geniuses, etc., etc.
It would be like expecting Yogi Roth to pick against the Pac-12 team.
There is just no way he watched UW v TX in the 3rd quarter where UW very intentionally controlled the ball for all but 5 plays (2 mins) and still thought... "gee, this UW team is just like those old Oregon spread teams and needs/wants to go fast with lots of possessions to win"
The big unknown to me is still the Michigan secondary. It's been a weak year for secondaries in the Pac-12 and nationally so they haven't faced good ones. Oregon's was really overrated. Utah's wasn't it's typical and they played UW pretty tough. Texas' not good. I also think Michigan's DLine isn't as good as Texas' but better than Oregon's. Oregon's was quietly trash outside of Dorlus (who is really good) and Burch (who is a good body). Taki was getting reps, remember.
Fuck Blue.
Winning really does cure all