In the Trenches 611 - Minnesota Preview Transcript
10/1/2026 5:00:00 PM | MGoBlue Podcasts
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Radio Network Scene Setter • 00:00
It's a long season. We're only what, four games in. What can we do better? How can we individually be better and then come together and show our best out there every single time? Those kids that just want to win and are not really worried about stat lines and outside noise, forgetting about the past, you know, using that motivation for the next game, you know, and we doing more this week. More film, more treatment, more whatever it is you're doing, do more. I'll prepare the other team, get ready for next week. Just stay the course and abide the process. We're just focused on doing the little things and just playing good situational football, trusting the guy next to you, not trying to make anybody else's play. He's got to execute consistently throughout the whole game. We got a game again. We play Minnesota now. I think our guys are more than chomping at the bit to get a new game. We're all motivated to just go out and play a complete game Saturday. I'm game day ready. I can't wait.
Jeff Laurence • 00:47
We're closing in on another Michigan game day. Now let's get you set for Saturday's matchup with our Keys to the Game edition of in the Trenches presented by Meijer, presenting sponsor of the twenty twenty six Michigan football season and proud supporter of hundreds of local sports team. Now here's Jon Jansen.
Jon Jansen • 01:08
Team one hundred and forty seven hits the road for the very first time and it's a trip to Minneapolis, Minnesota to take on the Golden Gophers. That's gonna happen at noon on Saturday. Keys to the Game in just a moment, but before I get there, start or end your game day experience at one of the great Main Street Ventures Restaurant Group locations where they craft sophisticated yet tempting culinary dishes and provide a dining experience that is both vibrant and and inviting. This is what they call exemplified excellence. Visit Real Seafood company for the freshest fish and seafood Palio for authentic Italian or the Chop House for premium USDA prime steaks and chops. Whatever the craving, these Ann Arbor locations are ready to satisfy your every desire. They offer full bars, extensive wine lists, craft cocktails, delectable desserts and a cigar bar.
Jon Jansen • 02:01
Located at the Chop House at Main Street Ventures Restaurant Group, they strive to offer unmatched hospitality to every guest at every location because to them you're not just a customer, you're their most valued guest. Visit mainstreet ventures inc dot com to select your culinary destination and make a reservation. Come hungry and ready for an unforgettable experience.
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Jeff Laurence • 02:26
Offense.
Jon Jansen • 02:27
A few pointers before I get to the keys offensively, you got to make sure the crowd noise will be affected. First time on the road, everything's going to be a little bit different. So when you're on the sidelines operation, who's in, who's out, make sure you got the right personnel on there. And how are you going to communicate? You've got to make sure you've got that ironed out before you get there. There are going to be times where you can't hear somebody speaking, but you've got to use sign language, you've got to use different ways of communicating.
Jon Jansen • 02:55
And especially the snap count. You want to maintain the advantage of the snap count, yet you might be going on silent count. So work through all of those details before you arrive at the stadium in Minneapolis and going to get to our keys to the game. So number one, eliminate penalties. One of those things is the communication I just talked about. Make sure you know what the snap count is and make sure you know how you're getting to that ball being snapped. Is it the center's head bob? Is it, you know, a guard with, with the hand gesture? Work all of those things out so that when you get to the game, it's second nature, just like it is when Bryce is giving you a physical cadence. But you've got to eliminate penalties. Penalties killed the opening drive. They have killed so many drives throughout the course of this season. Make life a little bit easier on yourself and don't allow the crowd to think that they have an impact on that game.
Jon Jansen • 03:50
Number two, be explosive. In both the run and the pass. We've seen some explosive plays on offense and hey, JJ, Andrew, both of them have had those explosive plays. Salesi Moa against UTEP, you have those explosive plays, but we need more, more of them, and we meet more of them early in the game to set the tone. And in the run game, we're starting to get things going. We're starting to find a rhythm in the rushing attack. Offensive line, just keep getting better, Keep trusting your technique, trusting the play call. And the backs are starting to figure out the timing of the offensive line of some of the plays and where and when to hit. The explosives are there. You're a couple of shoelace tackles away from getting some big runs, but we need those to start happening and we need them on the road. Against Minnesota, Number three, you have to eliminate turnovers, the things that will kill you, penalties and turnovers.
Jon Jansen • 04:47
When you look at the games that Michigan should have won or should have, have won easier or the game that they lost against Iowa. Those are the two things that people are going to look at. First, penalties, stopping drives or extending them defensively. And it's turnovers. When you're in the red zone, that's where you have to have a heightened awareness of where you're throwing the ball, what the call is. If you're a receiver, make sure you're on the same page with the quarterback. And when you're carrying the ball, it doesn't matter who you are. If you have the ball in your hands, the closer you get to the goal line, the tighter you need to grasp it, because you've got points that are hanging out there, and we need every single point to matter.
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Jeff Laurence • 05:27
Defense.
Jon Jansen • 05:29
Number one on defense is the fact that this is a big Minnesota offensive line. And I think I could go back to all the keys that we've had every time that we play Minnesota, and one of them is going to be the fact fact that you are facing one of the bigger offensive lines, not just in the Big Ten, but in the country. The interior three. Go three hundred twenty five, three hundred thirty plus. So you've got to be able to win up front. Trey, Pierce and Oeta, you guys are big boys, too. Go out there and win those matchups. Win the matchups on the edge and especially in the run game. Minnesota wants to establish the run, take that away from them, make them a passing team and be good on first and second down. All of the things that we've talked about through the course of the first three, four games, they need to start becoming second nature. But you're going to have to win up front against a very big offensive line.
Jon Jansen • 06:23
Number two, turnovers. You've got to create turnovers, give the offense as many opportunities, take some of that momentum back. And what happens when you're on the road, hey, especially against Minnesota, they're a team that's going to come out all fired up. They're going to be high, they're going to be a lot of emotion. The crowd, the same thing. You want to take the crowd out of the game. You want to crush the hopes and dream of some Gophers. Then you turn the ball over, whether it's through fumble or interception. We had a couple of opportunities against Iowa we didn't capitalize on them. And you've got to make sure that you do that. Number three, really the same thing as the offense, eliminate penalties. You've done all the hard work. You get the third and twelve, you get a guy out of bounds. The don't hit anybody late You've got to be disciplined.
Jon Jansen • 07:12
Disciplined. Watching you move when the ball moves, when the, when, when the ball is dead. Hey, you move on next play. You don't have to make any points. You don't have to be big and bad. Just make sure you're taking care of your responsibility and some of the penalties. Hey, hey, you're going to have to self regulate this, right? The coaches aren't out there playing. They could tell you and teach you throughout the course of practice about turnovers, about penalties, but it has to come from the leadership, this team, and that's where you start becoming a good team.
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Jeff Laurence • 10:03
Special teams.
Jon Jansen • 10:04
Clearly, number one, whenever you have a big play on special teams against you, you're going to have to make corrections. You're going to have to look in the mirror and say, how did that happen? Why did it happen? Iowa took one to the house on a kickoff return. So we're going to address the kickoff coverage.
Jon Jansen • 08:05
Team number one, eliminate the kickoff coverage and the kickoff return by just simply putting the ball in the end zone. No one's perfect. No one expects perfection. But we do expect you to do what you have done. You set certain standards and you've got to be able to live up to those standards every time you go on the field. So when the ball needs to get in the end zone, the ball goes in the end zone. Number two, in terms of addressing the kickoff coverage, if you're looking at your teammates back, you're wrong. Now, they ultimately might be in the wrong position, but you have the, you have the perspective of where they are and where you need to be. If you are trailing one of your teammates down, that means there is an open lane somewhere. You have to stay in your lanes. And yeah, there's, there's a lot of different things you could do. You could do a lot of crosses, but you've got to understand what the concept is so you don't leave any opportunity for a team to return the ball.
Jon Jansen • 09:04
Number three, speed kills. Just, hey, be fast off the ball, not early. You got to be disciplined. We don't need a penalty, we don't need to back that ball up. But as soon as you hit that, you know the ball is kicked and you hit that line of scrimmage, you've got to get down the field with speed, with violence, with bad intentions, and strike fear into that returner. So even if that ball is returnable, they're tiptoeing up in there. They don't want any part of what you're bringing on that kickoff coverage. Team number two in the keys. Make a big play. Be the reason that Michigan wins this game. Don't just wait for the offense to make a big play. Don't wait for the defense. Make a big play on special teams and whether that's a punt or kick return, that could be a block punt. It could be a number of different things, but be a reason why Michigan wins this football game.
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Jeff Laurence • 10:03
Now it's time for Jon's locker room speech.
Jon Jansen • 10:07
We took one on the chin against Iowa and you can look and say, well, there's a lot of reasons why we should have won that game. There's also a lot of reasons why we lost that game. And you've got to find a way to respond. It was a tough loss, but how are you going to respond? How are you going to respond by going on the road and, and trying to get a win? Will you fix the little things like getting lined up wrong or having not having the correct number of players on the field? Those are all little things, but they cost you down the road. Will you fix the big things like some penalties and turnovers? Again, we're talking about things that prevent you from winning to the game. This needs to be self governed by the players and the leaders on the team. It's not acceptable for one of our own, a friend, a teammate, to beat us. Force Minnesota to actually make plays and be the better team.
Jon Jansen • 11:03
Make them go out there and win the game because I guarantee you they can't do it against this Michigan football team. Respond to the rest of the Big Ten in the country that are looking at you to see who you are. Not because of a narrative or anything else that matters, or because you care what they think, but because it's time to strike fear into the minds of your opponents. Opposing wide receivers need to fear catching the ball with Chris Bracy, Jyaire Hill and Smith Snowden in the secondary. Opposing offensive lineman need to fear having to play sixty minutes against Trey Pierce or Enow Etta and that Wolverine front seven. When we have the ball, we need to dictate the tempo and physicality. This offense is capable of an offensive line. And yes, I'm talking to you, Blake Frazier, Brady Norton, Jake Guarnera, Nathan Efobi, Evan Link. Play with a controlled aggression and violence that sends opponents running for the comfort of their sideline.
Jon Jansen • 11:58
And if the coach loves celebrating a player with blood on his face, then you bloody every single one of them and give Coach Fleck what he actually wants. And if you do that, you're going to win this game. And you're going to keep the Brown Jug where it absolutely belongs, and that's in Ann Arbor, in possession of the Wolverines. Now go out there and win. Go Blue.
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Jeff Laurence • 12:19
Thanks for listening to this edition of in the Trenches with Jon Jansen, presented by Meijer, presenting sponsor of the twenty twenty six Michigan football season and proud supporter of hundreds of local sports teams across the Midwest, in the Trenches is part of our Michigan Athletics Podcast network, M GO Blue Podcasts. The preceding is a Learfield presentation of the Michigan Sports Network.
