10/28/2026 4:00:00 AM | MGoBlue Podcasts
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Jeff Laurence • 00:06
Welcome to the official podcast of Michigan Football 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. Nobody covers Michigan football better than the two time captain, national champion and Michigan Athletics hall of Honor inductee.
Mason Curtis • 00:28
Zeke is the leader of our defense, older Gu somebody who's a veteran with, who's been through a lot here and knows a lot and has a lot of knowledge of the game. So for him to come up with that big play that was just huge for defense in general. You know, we all look at each other as one, so when one of us makes a play, we all eat.
Jeff Laurence • 00:43
This is in the Trenches presented by Meijer. Once again, here's Jon Jansen.
Jon Jansen • 00:49
Welcome back friends, to another edition of in the Trenches. And I could see in our comments we've already got a bunch of people fired up ready to talk Michigan football. But I want to let you know what's going on. MGO Blue podcast already out this week, the radio replay of Inside Michigan Football that comes out on Monday night. It airs live from seven to eight. If you missed any part of it, my guest Kyle Whittingham, linebackers coach Alex Whittingham and linebacker Troy Bowles. Troy's was was amazing on it. Love talking to him. Defend the Block that's already out as well. Recap of the exhibition finale against Houston on Sunday. That was over in Grand Rapids. Still to come this week, Thursday's conquering hero, which will be the start of the hall of Honor series and the first inductee that mister Bush is going to be able to talk to, is from the softball program and that is inductee Sierra Romero.
Jon Jansen • 01:44
Thursday in the Trenches, which is the Rutgers preview. My keys to the game Saturday, shortly after kick and maybe a little bit short, longer than shortly after kick, is going to be the recap of the demolition and it should be a demolition of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
Brian Boesch • 02:03
That's the goal. Jon Jansen, what's going on?
Jon Jansen • 02:05
How are you?
Brian Boesch • 02:06
Ah, well, could be better, but obviously excited to chat with you.
Jon Jansen • 02:13
Correct. You could already be in Piscataway.
Brian Boesch • 02:16
The one other thing I want to point out, if you're watching live, it's not out yet. If you're listening on Wednesday's edition, it will be out. We do it every year on Defend the Block. The fun media day questions I've already recorded with the the men's team, the women's media days actually this afternoon. So I'm going to go over There and record after this always assorted questions, but I, I have one every year that I, I ask everybody. So John, I will ask you. If you punch yourself and it hurts, does that make you strong or does it make you weak?
Jon Jansen • 02:51
Well, let me see if I can answer this in the best Jon Jansen way possible. If it hurts, you're strong, but because you don't have to admit that it hurts. So you could be both.
Brian Boesch • 03:07
That is, that is the perfect Jon Jansen way to answer it.
Jon Jansen • 03:11
Huh? I don't know. I'm not gonna try it live on air.
Brian Boesch • 03:16
No, no, I'm not asking. No, we, that would be probably an HR issue. But what do you think more men's players said strong or weak?
Jon Jansen • 03:27
Oh, they probably said strong.
Brian Boesch • 03:29
Yeah, I was surprised at how many did because I would imagine it'd be one hundred. Well, the theory that that counters it is that our brains prevent us. We could literally just like chop off our finger pretty easily, but our brain tells us not to do it. So if you're, if you are hitting yourself when you probably can't really get a whole great range of motion and you're still hurting yourself, you probably about it.
Jon Jansen • 03:59
Well, trust me, try losing on the road to Minnesota. Try losing to Iowa and Indiana all in the same season. There might be a little self inflicted pain at some point. And yeah, you can trust me, I've lost some of those games in my career. And yeah, it's the, the heart takes over and the mind takes a back seat.
Brian Boesch • 04:20
That's fair enough.
Jon Jansen • 04:21
Logic plays no part in that situation.
Brian Boesch • 04:25
Speaking of, let's start our seven from seventy seven here on in the trenches presented by.
Jon Jansen • 04:29
Let's go ahead and punch ourselves in the face.
Brian Boesch • 04:31
No, no, I actually John, want you not to do that. What I would like you to do is if you have the ability to run this offense right now, because that's unquestionably the big story. We know it, Kyle Whittingham knows it, Jason Beck knows it. If you were taking over this offense for this game, what would you do? How would you attack getting ready for Rutgers but also understanding that as you mentioned, Michigan will be favored. They'll be favored pretty heavily on Saturday. This needs to be a get right spot and the offense needs to be a part of that.
Jon Jansen • 05:03
It certainly does. And I mean the, the first thing I would do is I'd go back and take a look at what has this team been successful at, not just this year, but last year. Because you've got a lot of the same playmakers in regards to running back, wide receiver and offensive line that are all the same. And the biggest thing that this team is struggling with is trying to develop the run game. And I would go back and I'd find out, okay, what are the. The four plays, two to the right, two to the left, that are the most consistent in terms of gaining yardage. And again, I go back to last year as well, because a lot of those counters, and yeah, it was Max Bredesen, but now you've got Jalen Hoffman, who could be that guy. And I would, you know, take a look and say, what? Why were those plays successful? And get back to running those plays. And it doesn't have. You don't.
Jon Jansen • 05:56
Everybody thinks that you've got to have twenty different runs and you've got to have a way to get to this one and that one. It's football. It doesn't have to be over complicated. You could put a lot of window dressing on in terms of where motions are, and you could play with the personnel groups. You know, hey, you want to have trips to the right, trips to the left, and as long as in the box between the tackles, that's never going to vary. And so find out what it is and, and ace those runs. And then again, you can dress it up with a lot of window dressing. But next week, once you, once you are successful with those four, five, six, add one more and that. That way, hey, you're not putting too much on the plate of the offensive line. And I know we're talking about going into week eight, but you've got to find out what this team is good at. This is in large part the same offensive line.
Jon Jansen • 06:52
Jordan Marshall and I know Tommy Carr is different, but Bryce, when he was in there, was the same. What is it that worked last year? What are they confident in? And then find those plays in this offense that mirrors that and then go out there and just completely just run them, run them, run them, run them right into the ground. Because this Rutgers team can't stop the run. They're actually worse than Penn State at stopping the run. So you've got to be able to run the football, build a little confidence in those plays, just completely dominate because this offense knows where they're going on those plays. They know what they're supposed to do, how they're supposed to block them. They know what it feels like to be successful in those plays. And you've got to go out and find success in the run game and then the pass protections. I would do very much the same thing, have a Handful of pass protections.
Jon Jansen • 07:45
And I'm talking about, you know, two, three, four for different situations. Right. You've got an empty protection, you've got one that's a max protection and one that's a five man protection. And make sure that this offense and this offensive line can communicate no matter what blitz is coming, you know exactly who you've got. The quarterback knows who you have and the quarterback knows who exactly is coming unblocked on every single one. And then just get rid of the football and if it's complete, hey, great. Because you've got playmakers on the edge. It's about protecting them and getting to those plays. So it's the run game has to get going and it's really just paring down the playbook and giving this team the few plays that they have one hundred percent confidence in.
Brian Boesch • 08:33
So number two on our seven from seventy seven. You didn't talk a ton about quarterback. I know that's always the, at the top of the list for fans. For me, I get it right. Quarterback's an important piece, but there's a lot around that. Assess Tommy Carr. How do you think he played against the Hoosiers on Saturday?
Jon Jansen • 08:51
Well, I mean, you have to start with the two turnovers and it was, it was a boneheaded move to, to try and I know he's trying to make something happen, but this is not Saline High School. You can't wait to the very last second when you're going to take one right under the chin to try and deliver the ball to Saveon Hyder. Like it's just, you know, eat it. All right, Take the, take the loss and move on to the next play. Same thing with the pass. And I guarantee you Tommy would tell you the same thing. And, and I, I don't know, I've not, I've never played quarterback at that level. So I don't know what he was seeing pre snap, post snap, what made him throw that ball into coverage where there were four Hoosiers around. JJ Buchanan, ball gets tipped up, intercepted by somebody not even around the play. But Tommy will tell you, like if the game was, if I was watching that on film, he would sit there and say the quarterback should never throw that ball.
Jon Jansen • 09:45
All right, well, he did. And you gotta, you gotta learn from those two plays. Outside of that, it's, he was serviceable at being able to distribute the football. I would have liked to have seen, and Jason and I talked about this throughout the broadcast, some quick, you know, routes out to Andrew Marsh, JJ Buchanan. Just get the Ball in and out of his hands, pick up a few yards, you know, get four or five yards on first down. And now the playbook opens up a little bit when it's second and six, second and five, second and four, be successful on first down. And I think when you look at what Tommy did early on, it really impeded him the rest of the game because there were times where he was in the pocket and there were options, but he was a little bit slow to pull the trigger. And I really felt like he just didn't want to make another mistake. He was playing cautious, overly cautious, and hopefully now that he has been able to watch the film, see where he went wrong.
Jon Jansen • 10:46
And I mean, it's kind of one of those things where I know that Koy Detmer is probably going to go over the things that we just talked about in that read option that he tried to get the ball to save you on. And Tommy's going to know before coach even says it what he did wrong and what he tried to do isn't going to work at the Big Ten level. Same thing with the past. Like Tommy knows that Bryce knew that you've got to try and learn from those so you don't make those same mistakes. You can make some new ones, all right, but. And you'll learn from those and continue to improve. That's what, that's what you do as a college football player, no matter the position.
Brian Boesch • 11:23
Number three on our seven from seventy seven. Let's look to the defensive side. I think if you had to boil down where my kind of long term thoughts are with this season and putting into perspective is just disappointment of how good this defense is and how little Michigan has been able to capitalize on it in the win column. The effort of the secondary. Let's start there. Jyaire Hill and Zeke Berry against two of the best receivers in college football. I think the best wide receiver duo in college football. Assess what they did on Saturday.
Jon Jansen • 11:54
Well, and having watched the film back a couple of times and yeah, I mean the guys that were at the point at the tip of the spear were Zeke Berry and Jyaire Hill and they did a tremendous job. They were up to the challenge. They were step for step every, every, every opportunity that they had. But it's also when you look at the way the defense was constructed, nothing ever happens, especially on the defensive side where it's one guy just winning a one on one battle. That's the way it appears. But you can be aggressive when you've got a Mason Curtis over the top. I thought Jay Hill did a masterful job of putting together a defensive game plan to where when those guys were on the edges, they knew where their help was and they used the sideline to their advantage. They used their help to their advantage and then obviously those two guys had to go out there and play the game.
Jon Jansen • 12:49
They also knew where Smith Snowden was, they knew where Chris Bracey was. Like they did a tremendous job of communicating on the back end along with the linebackers to know, okay, here is. And it's basically the same thing I was talking about the offensive line, I think it was last week. Where can this receiver hurt me the most? I'm going to take that away because I know whether it's on the inside, outside, sideline, I've got help, you know, at X, Y and Z. So I'm going to take away where I can get hurt the most and trust that my teammates are going to help me in those other areas. And I thought that they did a tremendous job. And another tall task actually is a tall task this weekend with the wide receiver KJ Duff in Rutgers because he is sixty six, two hundred thirty pounds and you know, coach described him as, you know, the, the next version of Megatron.
Jon Jansen • 13:45
And, and I, I don't necessarily disagree. At the college level he is an imposing figure and he leads the, he leads all of college football in contested catches. So it's. The challenge is there. Again, it's never going to go away.
Brian Boesch • 14:00
No doubt. Number four on our seven from seventy seven. Coach Whittingham mentioned after the game that Michigan wins as a team, loses as a team. Obviously the resolve of the defense to keep going out there and delivering stops, that's admirable. Any human nature that seeps in on that side, how does a coaching staff make sure? Because we all know the defense has been the calling card, the success for this team. We all know it can't be sustainable. But do you worry about that element starting to break things down with five games to play?
Jon Jansen • 14:33
No, not on the defense, especially with the veg. Like Chris Bracy's a four year guy. Smith Snowden is a four year guy. Rod Moore is what, a six or seven year guy? Zeke Barry, J her like you've got guys on defense that are veteran players, John Henry Daley, Dom Nichols, like none of these guys are freshmen. Then you look at Tariq Boney. It doesn't matter what level you are or in terms of what year you are, if you're Tariq Boney, you're trying to figure out how can I get better so that because I've got two more years before I'm even eligible to go to the draft, I need to get better every single week. So that one, I continue to get an opportunity to play, but I can dominate. And success is what drives all of these players. It has nothing to do with. Yeah, they may have in their back of their mind that, yeah, we want to get the ball back for the offense or if we get an interception, we got to do everything we can to score because our offense has been inept.
Jon Jansen • 15:26
But guys that are third, fourth, fifth year guys, they're trying to play for draft position or where they're going to play in the, in the depth chart next year, here or elsewhere, young guys trying to continue to get more reps, more opportunity, it's all about just going out there and dominating every single play. On top of that, yeah, you may get frustrated because you want to win the game, but you got to win your side of the ball. And I expect that this defense, because it is such a veteran defense, are going to do that every single play.
Brian Boesch • 15:59
So number five on our seven from seventy seven. Let's face it, when a team starts four and three these days in college football, maybe it'll change with the twenty fourteen playoff. But when you lose that third game, you better have three really darn good losses and you better have nine really solid wins if you want a chance. Because we have not seen. Have we seen a nine and three team yet in the twelve team? I don't think so. I know. Was or was Alabama nine and three?
Jon Jansen • 16:25
I think Alabama last year was nine and three. Miami got in late at ten and two.
Brian Boesch • 16:32
Regardless, it's rare. Nine and three pretty much dooms you. We'll talk about this a little bit more as unfortunately the next five weeks go. But beyond winning for Michigan and winning for themselves, what has you excited, intrigued? What piques your interest about the rest of this season?
Jon Jansen • 16:49
Well, I mean, one of the things I just talked about, it's all matchups and I want to see this secondary. I was really excited about that matchup last week with those two receivers, Nick Marsh and Charlie Becker, and really excited about how this secondary played. It's the same thing I already talked about. KJ Duff. I'm really excited to see how these players match up because I mentioned this at the beginning of the year and I may have been off in regards to the only player that I thought could go from a late round to a possible first round in terms of the talent of Jyaire Hill. I think there's. There's still room for him to show that he could be that guy. But I think he's played himself into a second round quality player. Chris Bracy has done that. You know, Smith Snowden is working his way into that as well. Zeke Berry, who may have been a, you know, a day three pick or undrafted, is working his way into, you know, the scouting boards of of NFL teams.
Jon Jansen • 17:44
Same thing with Trey Pierce, John Henry Daley. Like all of these guys are working themselves into good draft position defensively and offensively. Honestly, almost everybody on offense is going to be back again. I'm trying to think if there's maybe a tight end or two graduates, but almost everybody is back offensively or could be back offensively. So I'm looking at matchups in the final five games. I'm also looking how is this team going to respond? Yeah, Rutgers is a bad college football team. Well, your record in the Big Ten is exactly the same as theirs. Do you want, do you feel like you're on par with that? No, you shouldn't be, you shouldn't be happy with that. So I expect this team to come out with some, you know, breathing some fire in Piscataway. And then you got Michigan State. Obviously it's in state battle and there's no way, shape or form that they should be on the same field as you, but you got to go out and prove it.
Jon Jansen • 18:39
And then you get a chance to go out to Eugene. Then you got a chance to play against ucla. You could spoil UCLA season like they're, they're. You're not playing for a shot at a Big Ten title, but you could also ruin someone else season by playing well and finding something that works for you and nothing, nothing else needs to be said about the game at the end of the year.
Brian Boesch • 19:01
And there's a non zero chance that Michigan could have an opportunity to knock Ohio State out of the playoffs with a Julian saying injury, one loss already on their scorecard and a tough matchup which we'll talk about here shortly with the the Big Ten breakdown. They got to go to USC this weekend. That was the one thing about two years ago down in Columbus that was so disappointing and why I we've talked ad nauseam about the frustration of of a a swollen playoff is that, you know, that type of game should have resonated in a different way. This one has a chance to it might be one of the last ones because a lot of teams are going to basically, you know, kind of start the season eighty plus percent to make the postseason. It's Interesting. All right, before we continue our seven from seventy seven, John, a word from our friends at Laurentide Winery, who I saw on Saturday.
Brian Boesch • 19:47
Always good to see Will and Susan, some of our biggest fans here. Jon, tell them about them.
Jon Jansen • 19:53
That's right, Brian. Artisanal and award winning wines from one hundred percent Leelanau Grapes have made Laurentide Winery, a Michigan favorite founded by U of M alums Susan and Will Braymer. They're proud to be family owned since twenty ten and grateful to be part of your celebrations, dinners and game day traditions. Visit the tasting room in Lake Leelanau or purchase online at Laurentide winery dot com thank you for raising your wine glass with Laurentide.
Brian Boesch • 20:21
Indeed. And thanks to Susan and Will. All right, number six on our seven from seventy seven Big Ten conversations last week, the games with national implications. They were with teams in Los Angeles. UCLA remained unbeaten twenty eight ten, home win over Michigan State while USC dropped its second game of the season at Wisconsin twenty four to seven. So the Lincoln Riley conversation happening all over again. And of course, Ohio State going out to the Coliseum this weekend. How real is UCLA even with a backup quarterback? And how much chance do you give the Trojans of knocking off Ohio State on Saturday?
Jon Jansen • 20:58
Well, it's interesting because USC clearly did not play well against Wisconsin. The strength of that Wisconsin team is their defense. But I did not expect Jayden Maiava on his first couple of passes to throw interceptions. That's not what I would expect from him. It's not what his teammates expect from him. I expect to bounce back. And I do think that there's going to be some growing pains and we'll see. I mean, if I'm a freshman quarterback, I sure as hell would love to have Jeremiah Smith and some of the other receivers that Ohio State has to be able to throw the ball to. So I would expect a lot of max protection from, from Ohio State. And just tell Jeremiah Smith, hey, you want to win the Heisman, then go win it because we're going to throw you the ball. We're going to have this young freshman quarterback well protected, but you got to go out there and win and you're going to have to win contested catches.
Jon Jansen • 21:47
You're going to have to, you know, you're going to have to win at the line of scrimmage, all of those different things and then throw some change of pitches. I think there is, there's a lot of people that think that USC and part of it is traveling across country. We've seen that. We saw it with USC going to Wisconsin. That could be an issue for Ohio State with the freshman quarterback, UCLA. One of the things I love about UCLA and Bob Chesney, what he's done there is he has gotten buy in from his players, he's gotten buy in from the fan base, he's gotten buy in from alumni, and he has endeared himself to every single individual. That is whether fan or alumni or player, they have, he has endeared himself to that fan base. So they one hundred percent are supporting him and believe in him. And in the game of football, your players believe in you and the game plan and the motivation that, that you can have just in that alone can carry you through some, some big time wins.
Jon Jansen • 22:47
So I think it's, it's, you know, this year UCLA is, is, is legit.
Brian Boesch • 22:54
Yeah. We'll get into, on the video side, the Big Ten playoff conversation because I think it's a really interesting one based on how this season has gone. You could just see at the Rose bowl, the Rose bowl itself is always packed on january first. The Rose bowl for UCLA home games was in essence a barren desert at times in previous years. People are showing up there. Minnesota knocked off Iowa at the buzzer thirteen to ten, so the Gophers keep rolling. Northwestern six and one. Wildcats beat down Rutgers forty two fourteen. And Illinois took care of Oregon twenty one to ten. Our condolences to Bret Bielema losing his father and a really touching tribute that he had in his press conference the other day definitely tugged at the heartstrings. So, thoughts to the Bielema family. This weekend, five and two teams meet in Iowa City. Hawkeyes hosting Wisconsin.
Brian Boesch • 23:46
Indiana welcomes in Minnesota. Northwestern just a slight underdog out at Austin against Oregon. And we mentioned Ohio State, usc. Any other thoughts, takeaways from what you saw or what we will see, Big Ten wise?
Jon Jansen • 24:00
Well, I know Purdue going to Penn State, it's not going to, you know, raise the.
Brian Boesch • 24:06
I'm sorry, I did, Yeah, I didn't
Jon Jansen • 24:08
even, it's not going to raise the antenna for a lot of people. But when you're looking at Matt Campbell, who is, you know, right now zero four in the Big Ten, they had to sit there and stew on that all week long. I, I and Purdue, they were in that position for years, you know, since we saw him in the Big Ten championship game. And they are trying to claw their way back into the middle of the Big Ten so that they can go out next year, get a couple of transfers and hopefully compete at the higher levels of the Big Ten. Penn State on The other hand, with all those transfers from Iowa State and Matt Campbell, there's a lot of buzz about him coming to Happy Valley. Like it could not really be going worse right now in at Penn State. So I think that that one is, is one to just keep an eye on because it could have ramifications in regards to, you know, coaches, you know, vacancies and even like Purdue, I don't know, you know, maybe their coach decides that, you know, he gets a better opportunity, he wants to jump ship and, and step up the other one.
Jon Jansen • 25:10
I'm, I'm curious about Minnesota at Indiana. And Indiana defensively, very good. But if you look at Minnesota and you look at what they were here, they've got a pro style quarterback. If they find a rhythm and score early, don't be surprised if Minnesota gives Indiana fits. And I know it's in Bloomington and, and you know, Kirk Signetti, not happy with how his offense played certainly after the game, but I, I think there's a chance that that could be one that goes down to the wire.
Brian Boesch • 25:45
Interesting. I, I think it's a double digit spread in that one.
Jon Jansen • 25:49
Minnesota, it's well more than a double digit spread. I think it's twenty and a half. Oh, really?
Brian Boesch • 25:53
That.
Jon Jansen • 25:53
Oh, yeah.
Brian Boesch • 25:54
Interesting. Yeah, that seems aggressive. Yeah, I like Indiana there, but I'm with you, Minnesota, we, we experienced it. They're a tough out. All right, number seven on our seven from seventy seven. Let's talk about some of the other national story lines. Just a whole hum game down at ucf, BYU and the Knights. Darndest game you might ever see. Thirty nine, thirty one. I, I don't know how to even describe what that was other than obviously a pretty impactful upset.
Jon Jansen • 26:26
Yeah, I mean, double overtime and it's. We've seen this throughout the course of the year where Florida beats Ole Miss. And then there's this like, I don't know if it's a hangover or it's just an adrenaline dump. Talked about a little bit last week, hoping that maybe Indiana was going to have that and maybe they did. But BYU, on riding that high of beating Notre Dame, ranked two Bear Bachmeier is being talked about as a possible Heisman candidate. And then UCF, who's unranked two and two in the Big twelve, now two and two, they were one and two at the time, comes in and gives them fits, takes them to overtime. Not, not a game that UCF should have even been in yet. BYU let him hang around. That's what I kind of feel that way about that Minnesota, Indiana game. Indiana has got to make sure that they crush their hopes and dreams early. We've talked about that in previous years with, with Michigan having that killer instinct.
Brian Boesch • 27:20
Yeah. Might. Might just be a coaching deal there down at UCF, huh?
Jon Jansen • 27:24
Stop. You're. You're baiting me. You're baiting me. I'm not. I'm not going to bite.
Brian Boesch • 27:30
I know, I know. Lunch is soon. All right. Also in the Big twelve, Texas Tech suffers its first loss at Cincinnati thirty seven twenty four. Utah rallies past Houston twenty one to thirteen. The ute's are seven and oh. In the sec, Texas holds off Ole Miss thirty four twenty seven. That was a weird game. South Carolina upsets Tennessee. The Gamecocks getting frisky under Shane Beamer. Kentucky seven zero. They doubled up Vanderbilt thirty four seventeen. Big 12 and SEC. It's a lot of beating up on each other. Yet you do have some of these teams like Utah, like Kentucky. I mean, gosh, Kentucky right now they're pretty much in, in most people's CFP prognostication, which is pretty wild.
Jon Jansen • 28:13
Well, as of now. But their next three games are no gimmies. They're at Tennessee, they're home against Florida, and then at Missouri. So I mean, if, if they, if they win two of those three, they finish up with Louisville. I think they're good enough to beat Louisville. Yeah, they're a college football playoff team. But that's, that's a tough three game stretch there. They're going to be tested, no question.
Brian Boesch • 28:38
It seems like the number one team in the land is very much under the radar, partly schedule wise, partly the fact they haven't played many Saturdays this year. Canes cruise past Pitt, they have not been able to overcome their injury to their quarterback has Pittsburgh. And they've lost three in a row. Mason Heintschel, fifty two, twenty three. Do you right now, what odds would you give Miami winning the national championship? They're number one right now. I don't think anybody really sees them as the favorite to win the title. I just don't know who is the favorite to win the title.
Jon Jansen • 29:10
No, I don't. I wouldn't give their odds very, very much right now. And I mean, they're going to play North Carolina on Saturday. It's going to be in Chapel Hill. Then next week is going to be the, the famous, you know, Catholics convicts. You know, it's going to be in South Bend. That's where I'm going to be able to judge a little bit more what this Miami team is or what they're not. What are their limitations? Because they haven't really played anyone. And outside that Notre Dame game, they're not going to play anyone. Their final three games, Duke, Virginia Tech and Boston College, all three of them at home. So I don't know that they're really even going to be prepared for not just one, but two or three games against ranked opponents back to back to back. What are they going to be in the postseason? So I don't know. I mean, they've certainly, with Mensah at quarterback and Malachi Tony at wide receiver, they've got the ability to take on just about anyone.
Jon Jansen • 30:12
How good is their defense?
Brian Boesch • 30:14
No question. This weekend, only two top twenty five clashes. Noon in Lubbock. So eleven AM out there. Texas Tech battles Arizona, both six and one overall, three and one of the Big twelve. And then the neutral site Georgia, Florida game at three thirty. Thoughts on that or anything else on the slate that sticks out.
Jon Jansen • 30:32
I just don't like it that, that Florida Georgia game, it's supposed to be what, the largest outdoor cocktail party actually going to be indoors?
Brian Boesch • 30:40
Yeah. Normally it's in Jacksonville, right?
Jon Jansen • 30:42
Yeah. I don't know why they moved it unless there's something with this. I know they're going to have construction on the stadium. I don't think that starts until after the NFL season is over, but I think.
Brian Boesch • 30:50
And I think the WNBA finals will be over by then. Well, have you followed that whole story?
Jon Jansen • 30:57
No, nor do I care.
Brian Boesch • 31:01
They're sorry.
Jon Jansen • 31:02
I got three daughters, but. No, I know WNBA exhausts me.
Brian Boesch • 31:05
I just. Hey, listen, it's, it's a growing sport. They just, they're going to play a WNBA finals game at twelve thirty on a Thursday because they don't have an arena. I'm surprised you haven't. I'm surprised you haven't heard that story at all.
Jon Jansen • 31:18
No, no. I mean, it's.
Brian Boesch • 31:20
Sorry. Back. Back to football. I apologize. I just. That was just in Atlanta. Yeah. All right, never mind. All right. Big gulps, aye? Welp, see you later.
Jon Jansen • 31:27
Yeah.
Brian Boesch • 31:31
Let's talk about our friends at alro.
Jon Jansen • 31:33
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Brian Boesch • 32:09
com all right, transition time here on the audio side, great conversation Jon had with defensive back Mason Curtis.
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Jon Jansen • 32:22
Joined now by third year safety Mason Curtis. Mason, first of all, thanks for joining me and I'd love to get your take on what it was like to prepare for an Indiana offense and a quarterback that hadn't turned the ball over and two receivers that most likely will be playing on Sunday. What was that prep like for you guys?
Mason Curtis • 32:43
It was really in the secondary. We just focused on, you know, like you said, eliminating the two receivers. Those are NFL talents and they have an NFL talent quarterback and a good offensive coordinator. They just have a good offense in general, but yeah, just really focusing on us, focusing on our execution and what we can do to prepare for them.
Jon Jansen • 33:01
Through seven games. Was that the biggest challenge, toughest challenge that you guys had going into a game?
Mason Curtis • 33:08
Yes, I'll say it was. Yeah. As a team and as offense, just as Indiana, they have a lot of weapons. The running backs are good, O line's good. They just overall good offense.
Jon Jansen • 33:17
When you're preparing for a team that not only has those two NFL talent receivers, but also in a very effective run game, how difficult is it? Especially from the safety position where sometimes you got to be in run support, sometimes you, you've got, you know, support over the top on those receivers. What type of position does that put you in?
Mason Curtis • 33:36
They do a good job at rpos, you know, putting a lot of players in conflict. I think especially the safeties. You know, if you come down too much, they're going to hit the slant above you. And it's just really film, you know, preparation, looking at little keys, tendencies that they have, formations, whether or not a receiver's on or off, just being able to break down little things like that to help you get a edge on what the play is.
Jon Jansen • 33:57
When an offense runs heavy rpos and you again, you are in conflict at that time, what are some of the keys? Because a lot of people hear the RPOS and they're trying to figure out like, what does that mean for the defense? What does that mean for the safeties? When you're trying to decipher, are they going to be running the ball, throwing it, what's going on?
Mason Curtis • 34:17
My, my whole goal is just to eliminate the explosive play. You know, no matter what it is. If the ball rolls off the table, then go make tackle. But eliminate the explosive plays, which usually are the slants, the bang aids, all of those things, and we'll rally to anything underneath.
Jon Jansen • 34:31
You've got a couple of new guys in the room this year. We haven't had a chance to talk to you. So I want to ask you what's been the impact of a guy like Chris Bracy and Smith Snowden?
Mason Curtis • 34:39
Both of them showed it fall camp. You know, they. This is something they do in. Day in and day out. They do it in practice, so they do it in game. Those are just two elite guys.
Jon Jansen • 34:48
What have you learned from those guys?
Mason Curtis • 34:50
A lot. I really just learned, you know, Smitty, that's somebody who knows how to play man coverage. You know, he came in and just really watching him, watching his technique, you know, even. Even though our bills are differently, you know, we're just learning from each other. And then Chris Bracy, he just has a football instinct. Like, that's a player who. That's a football player. And when you look at him, when you watch tape, that's what he is.
Jon Jansen • 35:10
And I want to. I do want to ask you guys not to. Not to evaluate but the performance of Jyaire Hill and Zeke Berry against those two receivers now, to defend them, right? It takes everybody in the secondary but those two guys. They were at the point of attack. What did you see from them and their level of play against those two receivers?
Mason Curtis • 35:29
Those are two people who also do it at elite level, you know, day in and day out. And this is something that I've seen, you know, guarding our receivers and Andrew Marsh and JJ Buchanan, who are also good receivers. You know, they. They've been tested throughout all camp. And then, you know, obviously this matchup between the two receivers, we knew, you know, that it was going to be important to play a lot of man coverage and play good man coverage on them to eliminate some of the side windows that Josh Hoover fits the ball in. But I think both of them did a great job and showed their eliteness.
Jon Jansen • 35:56
Josh Hoover had not thrown an interception until he faced the Michigan defense. What were you guys discussing throughout the week that, you know, hey, was there a challenge out there that you want? You guys, no matter who it was, you guys wanted to be the first team to pick him off.
Mason Curtis • 36:10
Yeah, that was a big emphasis on this week was to get a turnover. Obviously, he was eighteen touchdowns, no picks. But the main focus for the secondary was get the ball off him. You know, we got to be the first team to do it. And it also put our team in
Jon Jansen • 36:24
a better position and for Zeke to be able to come up with that ball. What was the reaction in the moment for you guys? Because you. I mean, I don't know if you were on the field at the time, I don't remember the, the, the other ten guys that were out there, but he undercut that route. He got the interception, took it down to the twelve. What was the feeling amongst your group about being able to, to, to turn the ball over?
Mason Curtis • 36:48
Me personally, I was on the field. Okay, so I was right next to Zeke when he got the pick. So I watched the ball come into his hands and just. Zeke is the leader of our defense. Older guy, somebody a veteran with, who's been through a lot here and knows a lot and has a lot of knowledge of the game. So for him to come up with that big play, that was just huge for the defense in general. You know, we all look at each other as one, so when one of us makes a play, we all eat.
Jon Jansen • 37:11
Okay, so you see him make that, that interception, what, what then if you're one of the ten guys that's not with the ball in their hands, where do your eyes go and what's the key on blocking?
Mason Curtis • 37:21
I was trying to catch up to everybody. I was in the back. So when I see him running, I just see everybody in front.
Jon Jansen • 37:26
You're hoping to be able to celebrate in the end zone?
Mason Curtis • 37:27
Yeah, that was the playing. I was just running as fast as I can so I could celebrate with Zeke.
Jon Jansen • 37:32
When you look at the challenge ahead, where this is a three loss team now for Michigan and playoffs, Big Ten championships, some of those things are going to be, you know, they either may be gone or they might be, you know, tough to attain. When you look at preparing for opponents and, and trying to keep the energy level high for the defense, how do you approach the rest of the season?
Mason Curtis • 37:57
I think we try and dominate each week more like, well, one and zero. Regardless of what our record is, regardless of what the last score was like, just win the next game. That's the most important game is the next game. Because if you win out, hopefully things fall and teams lose and you know, hopefully we get a shot at it because like, I, I don't really know what else to say.
Jon Jansen • 38:17
Yeah, through seven games, let's just do a little self scout. What are some of the things that you've, you've done well and some things that you want to make sure through the last five games you do better as individual. Yeah, just as an individual.
Mason Curtis • 38:29
As individual. I think I can make some tackles, more open field tackles, missed one against Indiana that I want back. But also just being a communicator in the back end, you know, being able to help not just the back end, but also the second level. Communicate with fronts when it's time to get in the box.
Jon Jansen • 38:46
Communication on defense at home is one thing, right? It's, it's, it can be a little bit louder on the road. It might be different. How does the communication change depending on whether you're home or away?
Mason Curtis • 38:57
It shouldn't change much, to be honest with you. Communication, there's nothing wrong with it. There were no calm, no harm will come from communication.
Jon Jansen • 39:05
But if the crowd noise is there, say, you know, the crowd is trying to get, hey, you know, an offsides penalty by the offense at home, how does that. If you're not able to voice the communication, how do you guys do it?
Mason Curtis • 39:17
You got to just scream as loud as you can and just. If you're not the person that's being talked to, you just gotta scream as loud as you can, you know, do whatever you can do to communicate.
Jon Jansen • 39:26
Another challenge this week in a wide receiver in KJ Duff. He's six' six, two hundred thirty, he's got nine touchdowns. What, what type of challenge is that for for you guys in the secondary?
Mason Curtis • 39:37
It's a big one. That's the NFL guy, That's a first round guy, talented receiver, makes a lot of hard catches. It's a great challenge for our defense and opportunity for our secondary to continue to put ourselves on the map.
Jon Jansen • 39:49
Mason, I appreciate your time and best of luck in Rutgers.
Mason Curtis • 39:52
Thank you.
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Jeff Laurence • 39:53
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, MGO Blue Podcast. The preceding is a Learfield presentation of the Michigan Sports Network.
