In the Trenches 604 - Nate Marshall Transcript
9/16/2026 4:00:00 AM | MGoBlue Podcasts
Jon Jansen • 00:00
Our player guest is Nate Marshall in his sophomore season is really starting to show the value to this Michigan football program. He's excited. We're all excited about what we're seeing from him. He joins us in just a few moments on In the Trenches.
Jeff Laurence • 00:14
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 captain national champion and Michigan Athletics Hall of Honor inductee.
[music builds]
Nate Marshall • 00:36
In practice it was just really going harder at each other. Not in regards to like trying to hurt each other, but just pushing each other to go harder. Like Coach Witt. The motto for last week was do more. So we definitely did more last week.
Jeff Laurence • 00:52
This is in the Trenches presented by Meijer. Once again, here's Jon Jansen.
Jon Jansen • 00:58
Welcome back friends. Just to let you know what's going on in MGO Blue podcast already out we have the radio replay of Inside Michigan football. It was joined on Monday night by head coach Kyle Whittingham, Kerry Coombs, the special teams coordinator and Cam Brown, edge defender extraordinaire for Michigan football and defend the block. Men's basketball freshman Joseph Hartman joined our very own Brian Bush. And if you're watching on Twitter you can see him in his very bright maze shirt. We are always excited to see mister Bush. Still to come, Thursday's conquering heroes. The guest with Brian is going to be head hockey head coach Brandon Nerado. Keys to the game that will come out on in the Trenches at about five ish on Thursday afternoon and Saturday our post game episode of in the Treshes. Well we will talk about what Michigan does to the University of Texas at El Paso and one of the great all time mascots, Pay Dirt Pete.
Jon Jansen • 02:02
I'm hoping that he makes the trip to Ann Arbor as the the UTEP minors will be in town. That game is going to kick off right around three thirty and the aforementioned Brian Boesch is now joining us. Brian, how you doing?
Brian Boesch • 02:16
I'm good. I want to help you out here real quick. Remember on the broadcast Saturday uh, Doug threw a trivia question you if whether or not Oklahoma had ever played in the state of Michigan. Yeah, well UTEP also has and they've done it one time. I'll let you look it up from there. No, it was not U of D, it was not Oklahoma. Was also was not Michigan State but it's in their game notes. Make sure you're ready for that on Saturday, okay?
Jon Jansen • 02:42
Oh, okay. Well, let me see if I can find it now while you talk.
Brian Boesch • 02:45
I believe it was Northern Michigan is who they played. But just want to wanted to help you out there because, you know, Doug throws the trivia time at you here and there.
Jon Jansen • 02:54
Yeah, I know. And my guests are now going to be if he says any team that plays in the state of Michigan, my first go to is going to be U of D. And he says, where is the kicker? I learned this a couple of years ago. I'm just going to say Australia.
Brian Boesch • 03:08
Yeah, it's going to be real bummer when it's like Tulsa, Oklahoma, sorry you lose. Yeah. UTEP hosted Northern Michigan August thirtieth, nineteen eighty six. Sammy Garza threw a still to this day school record seven touchdown passes in the sixty four twenty nine UTEP win.
Jon Jansen • 03:26
So they hosted Northern Michigan, but they haven't been to the state of Michigan.
Brian Boesch • 03:30
Yes, correct. That's a good, good, good correction there. Yes, they did host it. Apologies. So never in Michigan, but they have played a team because they haven't played Michigan. We've not seen the minors before or their mascot
Jon Jansen • 03:45
Pay Dirt Pete.
Brian Boesch • 03:46
Will they find pay dirt? That'll be the question.
Jon Jansen • 03:48
Yeah. Well, not against this defense, but we'll discuss that in our seven from seventy seven.
Brian Boesch • 03:52
Indeed. Let's get into it number one here on this week, seven from seventy seven. The aftermath of the Western Michigan game, Kyle Whittingham and the team's refrain do more. How did you see that come to fruition last week both in the preparation and in the game itself?
Jon Jansen • 04:07
Well, when we're talking about preparation, it's always about film study. It's about what you're doing on the field. And what we heard was that they were very intense physical practices when they were on the field. And when you're in the film room and this is where a lot of young guys have to learn. It's how do you watch film? It's not just watching two teams playing and trying to figure out, hey, what's going on across the ball from me. You've actually got to learn how to watch film and you got to identify, okay, what's the down and distance that I'm watching. And this is some of the things that I'm, I'm, I've heard from other players that they were doing more of. It's focusing on down a distance, focusing on personnel groups, offense, defense, and just being more specific in what they are doing. More intentional, I guess is a better way to put it.
Jon Jansen • 04:53
And all of those things. It doesn't mean necessarily when you say do more, it doesn't always mean you got to spend more time, but you've got to use your time more wisely. And. And I think that they were able to do that in the prep. We saw the payoff against Oklahoma. Now, was there a measure of overlooking Western Michigan to get to Oklahoma? Did you learn that lesson and are you now focused more on UTEP and not looking ahead of the Big Ten schedule with that first opponent being Iowa coming into town in a week's time?
Brian Boesch • 05:22
Yeah. I mean, the prevailing theory, and I've heard this from several coaches over the years, is that no matter who you play, you normally don't worry too much about effort level in week one because, gosh, you're just fired up to hit somebody else. Right. It's been a long training camp. It's been, you know, he had winter conditioning, spring ball, summer conditioning, fall camp. Michigan wasn't there. I do expect them to at least take that. And also Western Michigan, I think, has more talent across the board than utep. UTEP still got some interesting players. We'll talk a little bit about them later on, but certainly this is a chance to show that the Do More can continue beyond this week. Now, number two on our seven from seventy seven, Jon, we got your initial reaction to that defensive performance against the Sooners. It was outstanding.
Brian Boesch • 06:06
How did it look on rewatching, just how good was that defensive effort against the Sooners?
Jon Jansen • 06:12
It was good because it was disciplined. And I harp on this all the time. It's a lot of time it's in the keys to the game. Although little. Little teaser. Not in the keys to game this week because that. They've shown that that's a part of their DNA now. And when we heard from Jay Hill after that Western Michigan game, it was really good performance except for the one long drive to end the third and start the fourth. What did he say that was going on in that drive? Well, guys were doing a little bit too much. They were trying to make plays. They were. The effort wasn't the issue. It was simply don't do what you're not asked to do. That. That's basically what it comes down to. Just fill your role and trust your teammate to fill theirs. And I thought they did a tremendous job of that on Saturday against Oklahoma. And that was one where, hey, we know John Mateer.
Jon Jansen • 07:02
We saw him last, last year in, in Norman. He hurt you because a couple of guys would get out of. Out of whack. And whether it was trying to create too much Penetration and swimming, creating a seam for a quarterback to leak into or just not identifying your keys, following through and identifying where the ball is. Too much leakage last year. This year you made John Mateer look very pedestrian. And I know that he wasn't accurate in the passing game. Well, why is that? Well, you were beating the hell out of him in the pocket and you were getting after him. He wanted to get that ball out of his hands as quickly as possible. So I thought the defense was. Was very disciplined. I thought the effort was there. I thought the execution was as good as we've seen it.
Brian Boesch • 07:45
Obviously some incredibly important performers defensively. I want to touch on two of them and there are two of many. Don't get me wrong. We're not just saying these two guys did it, but the Troy Bowles ascension was something Kyle Whittingham talked a lot about with you on Monday night's radio show. And then John Henry Daley, who, I don't know if we said his name from kickoff through the end of the post game show last week on the broadcast against Western Michigan. We said his name a lot in that Oklahoma game. Those two. Your thoughts on what they brought to the table specifically?
Jon Jansen • 08:17
Well, Troy Bowles, what was it? Twelve tackles week one, nine tackles this past week. He is, Doug and I have described him as that sideline to sideline defender. You see him out in the flats when you've got a, you know, a dump off to the running back, who's there to make a play. Even on some of those wide receiver screens, who's blowing it up? Troy Bowles. He is a guy that identifies and reacts quickly. And then when you're talking about John Henry Daley like he is the guy that's blowing things up, setting the edge on some of those read option plays, making sure that you push that offensive lineman back into the quarterback so the quarterback is forced to, to. To hand the ball off and doesn't want to keep the ball. The running back is like, hey, don't give it to me because I'm just going to get killed by Zeke Barry or Chris Bracy. How about the ham? Him dropping the hammer?
Jon Jansen • 09:05
There's a lot of guys that we could talk about, but I do want to bring up something that coach talked about and it's something that Doug and I will have to use on the broadcast. John Henry Daley is the vanilla gorilla and when coach dropped that one on us, I thought that was just a great description because he is wreaking havoc right now on some of these offensive lines.
Brian Boesch • 09:29
Yeah. And he Just said it so nonchalant. And we're like, coach, you're bearing the lead here.
Jon Jansen • 09:34
Right.
Brian Boesch • 09:35
Forget about your football analysis. Tell us more about this nickname.
Jon Jansen • 09:38
Yeah, well, and then I think he followed it up by saying he was. He compared him to the Tasmanian Devil. Yeah, like, where are we going with this? This is great. You know, the vanilla gorilla. Now we've got a nickname for one of the players and we already got Suge on. On the defensive side of things. So that's one that I thought was very appropriate.
Brian Boesch • 09:57
Y'all nicknamed a PJ, the guy from Oklahoma. I forget how to say his name. But you nicknamed. Because the pronunciation, right?
Jon Jansen • 10:04
Yeah, well, yeah, no, the pronunciation was awful. In fact, well, I had it right here.
Brian Boesch • 10:10
But that's all right.
Jon Jansen • 10:11
It's. It's. When Doug said he goes by PJ, I said, that's perfect. That's what I mean.
Brian Boesch • 10:16
Lock it in. All right. Number four on our seven from seventy seven. Bryce Underwood's do more certainly seem to be run more. Career high, eighteen carries. He had eighty seven yards, which you go to the head of the head. Head to head. He was forty two above John Mattier in that regard. That was not the case a season ago. Your thoughts both on how Michigan leaned into Bryce's race running attack in the game plan and how Bryce handled it all?
Jon Jansen • 10:43
Well, I think Bryce handled it tremendously because, like, that's one of his superpowers is his athletic ability. You got to lean into that a little bit more. And you. When you hear from Jason Beck, you hear from Coach Whittingham. Both the things that they had talked about was they wish they had run him more in the western game. And here's what I love, is that this staff is not going to be so bullheaded and hardheaded that they're. They're gonna say, hey, you got to do it this way. And this is the only way for us to do it. This is our offense. No, they adjusted to what the strengths of their team and as they learn more and you can learn a lot throughout practice. But we had talked about this all the time, right? A lot of those drills, in fact, all of them are scripted. You're not getting the true look of what a quarterback is comfortable with and what they're doing until you actually see him in game, in game tempo, in game speed and game pressure.
Jon Jansen • 11:37
So there's a lot of things that. That still need to be developed. There's no question. I don't want to gloss over those. But when we're talking About Bryce Underwood as a runner. He does a really nice job of getting in behind, whether it's the running back or if it's a read option. Running backs going one way of getting in behind some of those polling linemen, reading some of those blocks, when to bounce it, when to keep it inside. And also, hey, he's going to take some hits. He's as big as a linebacker. So when you are doing it, deliver the blow like you're a physical player, then be physical. When you're running the ball, we want you to make sure, hey, if you're close to the sidelines, you run out of bounds, don't take unnecessary hits. But when you become a runner, then do what you're supposed to do as a running back. Because right now we're not getting that production from the running backs, you're getting it from the quarterback.
Jon Jansen • 12:24
I don't care how you get it at this point, you, you have to do what you got to do to win games. And hats off as. And I think we're going to see some more adjustments going from what we saw against Western and Oklahoma to what we're going to see against UTEP and certainly what we see when we start the Big Ten season.
Brian Boesch • 12:42
I alluded to this a little bit on the postgame show, but so much was made about Kyle Whittingham statement last Monday at his press conference when asked about, you know, infinite status or infinite starting role with Bryce or anybody. And then Bryce's reaction. Bryce is not, he's not a long winded press conference goer, but I'll tell you this, he has consistently said, I want to do some form of this. I want to do what the team needs. Is him running eighteen times for eighty seven yards the best for his football future, for his passing development or anything like that? No. Did Bryce Underwood need to run eighteen times for eighty seven yards for Michigan to earn a massive win in a spot that Michigan desperately needed after how they played week one? Absolutely. He lived up to what he said in that regard.
Jon Jansen • 13:28
Yeah. And I mean, so playmakers want to have the ball in their hand. And I don't know that Bryce really cares if it's, if it's him running, if it's him throwing, you know, getting the ball to the playmakers. And I think that that, that permeates through the entire team. We've heard Jordan Marshall talk about, I don't care if, you know, if I have the ball in my hands all the time. There's things that Savion Hyder does and he was the leading receiver last week. Just get the ball in the playmaker's hands and let him go do something. And you've got to have that type of mentality from the guys that you have elected, captain Jordan Marshall being one of them and certainly Bryce Underwood being the other one.
Brian Boesch • 14:05
All right, number five on our seven from seventy seven. You allude to Jordan Marshall. I think this topic is relevant to him and the running backs. There is a little bit of adversity. Kyle Whittingham said Monday that Andrew Babalola won't be available, quote, in the near future. And Evan Link did miss the game against Oklahoma. So we saw Norton and a phobia as the guards in that win over the Sooners. Just your thoughts on what you've seen from the O line, impact of the Babalola injury and potentially the Link injury. Though there seems to be a shorter timeline, at least what they've mentioned or teased or talked through with him because, yeah, the running game with the running backs has not been what we expected through two games this season there.
Jon Jansen • 14:44
So whether it's Evan Link, it's Andrew Babalola, it's always a concern about depth. Like if somebody goes down, who's the next man in? And the guard position. Right. You knew you had three that were rotating through there. Now you've got two. Who's next in line? I would, I would imagine that Avery Gatch would be one of those guys. And at the tackle position, maybe it's not as well defined, but you have. That's where the issue is. And then in terms of getting the running backs going, when you're playing against the defense like Oklahoma, and they've got, first of all, they've got really good players up front and they've got experienced linebackers. You're going to get a lot of movement, you're going to get a lot of different looks. And this is a, this is an offensive line right now that is still figuring out how to block movement and identifying when one goes away, who is the one that's going to be returning.
Jon Jansen • 15:35
It may be another lineman. If I've got, you know, a three technique, he slants across my face, I've got to look for a looper. It might be the opposite three technique that's coming across and maybe it's just, hey, a couple of linebackers that are coming my way. If you take good footwork, it doesn't matter who that dick's guy is, you're going to be in position and somebody's going to fill that gap. Who who do I block? Like, that's not as important as where am I going to get to that block. And if somebody crosses my face, then I become a bulldozer and I run over anybody in the opposite color jersey. But you got to take good footwork to make sure that you secure the down lineman and that you can get to whoever that next level is. If it's a defensive lineman coming over or if it's a linebacker, that's where we've got to get to. Because I mentioned this. Against Western Michigan, we weren't using good footwork and we were getting stuck like Velcro on the defensive line.
Jon Jansen • 16:31
It wasn't that they were moving very much, but against Oklahoma, it was the movement. And if you don't take good footwork or you're not anticipating some of that movement, then all of a sudden if that three technique goes across my face, I turn my shoulders and I'm not square the line of scrimmage. Now, I can't block anybody that's coming over the top just simply because I can't. Like if the game happens too fast, I can't make all of those movements in the same time and be able to get up on whoever that next guy is. So that's where this offensive line needs to take the next step. I thought the effort was much better. I thought the pad level was better. But to be able to win up front, you've got to do everything better.
Brian Boesch • 17:10
All right, we will get to some comments from the live viewers on YouTube. We'll get into the some of the big ten and top twenty five storylines coming up as well. But first, John, our friends at ALRO are back this football and podcast season.
Jon Jansen • 17:24
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Brian Boesch • 18:00
All right, some comments. If you're listening on the audio side on Wednesday, you're going to get a great conversation with Nate Marshall. But we do have noon till about one o' clock every Tuesday during the season we have a live stream Michigan Athletics YouTube at Jon Jansen, seventy seven on X. A friend of the program, Scott Patton. Good morning Jon and Brian.
Jon Jansen • 18:21
Go blue.
Brian Boesch • 18:22
The best tailgater in Ann Arbor. Spencer says go blue. Some other thoughts here. Stumbo on the go thirteen. Tremendous name there. One thing that got me pumped was seeing Coach Alford talking to Bryce about his run game and Coach Detmer talking to him about his quarterback work difference making. I feel keeping his head right in the game. I do think Michigan's game plan on how to coach Bryce Underwood, how to coach the quarterbacks as a whole is most certainly improved from a season ago.
Jon Jansen • 18:50
Yeah, I mean it's, it's when Bryce comes to the sidelines during the game is not necessarily. Yeah, you can remind him, hey, set your feet, deliver the ball. It's more about what's the defense doing and coaching up what's going on on the field. And when you're talking to whether it's coach Alford, whether it's, you know, it's a group effort because if you have a unique athlete at that quarterback position, the biggest thing that they've done is identify what Bryce Underwood does well and then let him do that. And as, as he continues to work on those other skills at practice and gets to execute in games, it gets more comfortable and sees success. Now you can start adding more to the plate and hopefully this week against utep we see a little bit more added to the plate and maybe it's trying to force that ball downfield, maybe it's getting him out on the run so that instead of, you know, going left to right or right to left with some of his reads, he can see things more linearly in regards to just vertical.
Jon Jansen • 19:49
Everything is in the same plane of view for him. So he can go, hey, my first option is short. My second option is medium. My, my third option is deep or whatever number system you want to put on it. Maybe the first option in this one is going to be in that middle. You've got to find a way to make him comfortable and then you, you continue to add things throughout the course of the year so that by the time you're playing some of the better teams and hopefully it's against, you know, Iowa to start with because I think they're a really good football team. But certainly Indiana, Oregon, Ohio State, you've got more to tap into as a play caller for Jason Beck than just the quarterback run and some quick wide receiver screens.
Brian Boesch • 20:29
Along those lines, Jacob saying Bryce pump faking was nice to see. Feel like you could see him being more comfortable in the pocket. We'll see how that development continues this week. Couple of comments I want to highlight from Patrick. First off, I love how after a week we're back into the playoff conversation.
Jon Jansen • 20:47
You would be amazed on the Morning show.
Brian Boesch • 20:49
Oh, I, I heard, I heard it
Jon Jansen • 20:51
took off the amount of people and I'm not saying like this team could be in that position, of course, but there is a lot of work to do when we talk about all of those other teams. Iowa with Phil Parker's defense, that's a, that's a hell of a defense to try and move the ball against. Now, offensively, they didn't look as good last week. Indiana, you know, and we still don't even know what this team looks like on the road. Thankfully, the first road tip trip is to Minnesota and then we've got one on Halloween which hopefully is not scary and that is to Piscataway. The trip might be, but the game won't be. And so it's just a matter of there's so much more that we need to see. You like how I took a shot there at Piscataway. You got to be able to continue to grow as a team. Ultimately, that's the goal. You've done the work. From here you're two and oh, you still have a lot of work to do to get to where you need to be to be a playoff team.
Brian Boesch • 21:51
Yeah, I'm just, I want to highlight it not for, you know, hey, let's break it down. It's going in week three. It's just, hey, that's how important last week was to get the win over Oklahoma. Now everything's still in front of this team and they still have a potential mulligan, maybe two out there. To Patrick's question, yeah, the Western Michigan win is going to look a little bit weaker than hopefully the UTEP win and some of the other ones Michigan has. But we got playoff talk because if Michigan loses on Saturday, we don't get anything along these lines. Patrick also did ask about the tight end room status of guys like Zack Marshall and Hogan Hansen. My opinion on this is that we're just not going to see a week one notwithstanding for this young man Colson Loveland type box scores anymore. There's a lot of of individuals in the tight end room who we'll see on the field.
Brian Boesch • 22:41
But. But how would you assess what the tight end group looks like through two weeks?
Jon Jansen • 22:47
Honestly, it's hard to tell because we haven't seen a lot of opportunity for the tight ends because Michigan right Now with this Jason Beck offense, they love using that Rhino package. So they put an extra offensive line in there and it's not just in rundowns, but it's also in the pass protection. So you look at the pass protect, pass protection has been great. But as soon as you put that lineman in there, now you've got six in protection instead of, you know, the option of having five and a free release or a late leak out by a tight end. Like you're taking a while, you're taking a receiving option out which is the tight end. And it's, it takes some adjusting in regards to how we view this offense. I would really like to see whether it's Hogan Hansen, Zack Marshall, you know, getting some more opportunity because I think the middle of the field could be a really good place for Bryce to be able to get comfortable hitting those tight ends.
Brian Boesch • 23:45
Few others here and then we'll get into six and seven on our seven from seventy seven. Cody saying I think people are missing what the best part of Bryce during the Oklahoma game was. This is along the point you just made a little bit ago. The decision making was significantly better. And he wasn't just focused on his first read. It's easy to call for changes and backup quarterbacks and all that. Bryce, like many people on the Wolverines, had a rough week one and he most certainly bounced back. Patrick mentioning Bryce's footwork had they not gotten the PI and hit that deep ball for a touchdown. The stat line looks a lot different unquestionably. And on the defensive side, Roberts saying defense getting OU and material off the field was huge. It did. There were ten third or fourth down conversions by Oklahoma last year in Norman. Eight of them were were either passes or runs by Mateer.
Brian Boesch • 24:35
Michigan's ability to stunt drives for Oklahoma and the field position battle, which we heard from Cam Brown, the Aussie on Monday night's radio show, goes to show you those types of sequences and plays. Yes, the Jyaire Hill interception, massive. The big touchdown run by Bryce, massive. But a lot of little things added up for Michigan in a pretty darn clean game outside of the penalties.
Jon Jansen • 24:58
Yeah, no turnovers. And if you look at the biggest difference between week one and week two, turn the ball over three times. You don't create any turnovers against Western Michigan. The game becomes a battle. And not that Oklahoma wasn't a battle. It sure was. But you gave yourself an opportunity because you didn't make the mistake of turning the ball over. Ball was on the ground a couple of times. Still got to secure the ball, but the fact that you never turn the ball over. Bryce did make good decisions and I thought, I thought the coaching staff did a nice job of limiting some of those options for Bryce Underwood.
Brian Boesch • 25:31
So let's get into some of the conversation around the Big Ten and top twenty five. How about Texas twenty one? Nothing in the fourth quarter. One whale of a comeback to knock off Ohio State. Twenty four, twenty three. How'd you take in that fourth quarter?
Jon Jansen • 25:47
With my eyes closed.
Brian Boesch • 25:49
You were sleeping, huh?
Jon Jansen • 25:51
I was. It was a long day and actually Doug texted me, are you still watching this? And followed it up with a whole bunch of other texts that I did not respond to because, yes, I did fall asleep. I got a chance to. So how I took it in was with a cup of coffee on Sunday morning and enjoyed every single minute of what Texas was able to do. And here's the thing that I. When Ohio State lost five players defensively in the first two rounds of the draft, and I think, what, three of them in the top twelve picks of the draft, that's a lot of talent to lose off your defense. What I didn't understand for Ohio State is you've got a receiver in Jeremiah Smith that is maybe the best receiver in college football. And certainly in the conversation for the Heisman Trophy, if a non quarterback was to win it. The problem was for like the last twenty three minutes of the game, he wasn't even targeted.
Jon Jansen • 26:45
Like, what are you doing? And so I had a, I had a whole bunch of those what are you doing? Moments in watching Ohio State, but I did, I did enjoy a guy in Arch Manning that took a lot of, of, of shots last year from, from media, from talking heads from former football players in regards to, well, you know, not living up to the name. It's unfortunate that he's got to live in that scenario, but I thought he did in the fourth quarter live up to the hype that he came into football with.
Brian Boesch • 27:16
Yeah, it felt like there was almost a relief from Arch walking and running off that field on Saturday. Lots on him because of his last name and all that. It is. And hey, I think there's a lot of those same types of deals with Bryce Underwood. And remember, Arch had a chance to kind of sit for a little while and wait and learn. Quarterback development far from linear. I think that's a good indication of it. The other big story, Oregon falling at Oklahoma State by eight last year, Oregon beat the Cowboys sixty nine, three. That one was as jarring of a result as I can remember from early season college football.
Jon Jansen • 27:55
Yeah, that one clearly left the mark on the Cowboys because they responded. And I know everybody's looking at Mestemaker, their quarterback, and he had a great play, you know, flying into the end zone. I'm just so shocked at Oregon. They were the team that I thought was the going to come into the season as the best team in the Big Ten. Dante Moore under fifty percent, no turnovers, two touchdowns, but just kind of meh. And in terms of, of what, what's mad about that team? The, the rushing attack. This was an offensive line that I've watched a lot over the last, I don't know, maybe six months as prepared for the season. I was expecting so much more other than, you know, they, they ran the ball thirty times and only got ninety yards. I was, I am shocked at the fact that they are struggling rushing the football. And I say that a little bit with the context of you don't win a national championship in the first two weeks of the season.
Jon Jansen • 28:55
You don't make the college football playoffs in the first two weeks of. You can make it tougher on yourself. Michigan tried to do that week one and certainly Oregon did it in, in week two. But there's still a lot that can be improved upon throughout the course of the year. Dante Moore this, you know, Oregon offensive line but you know, tip of the cap for Oklahoma State and the Cowboys responding after getting drubbed last year.
Brian Boesch • 29:19
Yeah. Fascinated by the late night matchup that John will sleep through following Michigan, Iowa and that will be USC home hosting Oregon Trojans play this week at Rutgers. Oregon has Portland State as an FCS foe but boy if Oregon loses that one they might be done in this conversation with still some tough games to come. Will be interesting to follow. Iowa a slugfest over Iowa State sixteen thirteen, ninth straight game in that rivalry decided by ten or less. We'll talk more about Iowa last week next week when the Wolverines host them. But that or anything else that that stood out to you from this past week, Week two in the Big Ten?
Jon Jansen • 29:57
I mean, not particularly. There weren't a lot of great matchups in the Big Ten and there's not a lot of great matchups this week in the Big Ten.
Brian Boesch • 30:04
I did you mean you're not excited for Ohio State? Kent State on Big Noon and then USC at Rutgers on cbs?
Jon Jansen • 30:11
Not particularly. And I mean us.
Brian Boesch • 30:14
You would have been fired up in April. You'd been fired up.
Jon Jansen • 30:17
Yeah, I would have been fired up in April. But now, I mean it's just through Ohio State, Texas. Yeah, I mean it's I did call my shot on Duke over Illinois. You know, that's, that's neither here nor there, but I just, I'm surprised for Illinois and, and Bret Bielema. I thought coming into the sea, coming into the Big Ten back from Arkansas, that he was going to be able to develop both lines of scrimmage, offensive line and defensive line. He's a former defensive lineman and we know the, the offensive lines that he had at Wisconsin and even the offensive lines that he had down in Arkansas. But, man, I just, I can't believe that, you know, Kate and Hauser didn't have a great game, but he was under duress. They couldn't get the rushing game going. I'm so surprised at what we're seeing from Illinois just in the, the, the Bielema era.
Brian Boesch • 31:10
I, I do not agree with what I'm about to put on the screen, but I do feel like it is my requirement to show it to you. John LW says Dan Lanning is the new James Franklin.
Jon Jansen • 31:21
I've been calling that all, all season long. Like, is Dan Lanning taking over for James Franklin? Like, because he just, like, I got a little bit more respect for Dan Lanning. I'm not ready. He's not a cheerleader. He's got some great interviews. But he. I, I'm just shocked with all the talent. And this was kind of that year, right? With all that talent, you get Dante Moore back for, for another year. I'm. I'm shocked at the way that Oregon is playing.
Jeff Laurence • 31:51
Yeah.
Brian Boesch • 31:52
I'm not in any way shape or form willing to go there. But lw, I appreciate you're. I think you got an audience with Jon, so we'll see.
Jon Jansen • 32:01
Well, he's got more. I would actually say he's got more Scott Frost qualities than James Franklin qualities just in regards to, you know, the, the rah rah this boom ba. You know, and, and, you know, but he doesn't necessarily. He's not out there talking about how great his teams are when they're just average. Like, he, he's. He's pretty honest about his team.
Brian Boesch • 32:26
Yeah, no, for sure. All right, national stories. Anything else? That the biggest news and notes of last week were involving at least one Big Ten team. Anything national Week two stood out to you? Other than the Texas, Ohio State, Oregon, Oklahoma State?
Jon Jansen • 32:41
No, I mean, it's just. Here's the thing. When I know Notre Dame is going to play Michigan State this week, it's. CJ Carr has played extremely well, and he is, I mean, throwing the ball all over the place he was very efficient against Rice. I, I'm just surprised that the Notre Dame team isn't rushing the ball better now. When you lose two first round running backs, I can understand that. But this is an offensive line even going into last year that I thought was going to be one of the better offensive lines in college football. And it was, it was young two years ago last year it should have been experienced and certainly this year I was expecting so much more. They're good in protection, but. And maybe it's just a. Maybe Michigan is just like everyone else where the run game is just taking longer to develop this season for whatever reason because we're seeing teams like Oregon, Notre Dame, Michigan that have had track records with offensive linemen that are currently playing running the football better.
Jon Jansen • 33:42
But right now we're not seeing that efficiency in the run game this weekend.
Brian Boesch • 33:49
Three top twenty five clashes Friday at eight is one of them Houston number twenty two in the land at thirteenth ranked Texas Tech. Saturday at three thirty, sixteenth ranked SMU travels to twenty third ranked Louisville and then the big One. The juiciest storyline maybe of the college football season. Lane Kiffin and LSU number seven dominating Clemson in week one. Go to Oxford to face eighth ranked Ole Miss. I can't even fathom what the atmosphere is going to be like in Oxford late on Saturday night.
Jon Jansen • 34:25
Yeah, I mean that is, that's all the drama. That is everything that ended last year and all the controversy about Lane stealing the players stealing the coaches still wanting to coach even though you know his team was going to the college football playoffs. You know, the pro players coming back to college football which, you know, amazingly has disappeared. It just, that's going to be a must see tv. Just even if you want to watch when Lane Kiffin walks into the stadium like I, I don't really care that much about Lane Kiffin. I would. I can't wait to hear what Ole Miss and their fan base has in store for the LSU Tigers and Lane Kiffin.
Brian Boesch • 35:10
Gonna be fascinating. All right. Do you want to experience Michigan football like never before? Champion Circle gives Wolverine fans exclusive access to once in a lifetime experiences you can't get anywhere else. Get closer to the action and support Michigan student athletes at Champions Circle. U of m dot com Champion Circle is an official partner of Michigan athletics. Transition time. On the audio side of things, a great conversation that John had with Nate Marshall.
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Jon Jansen • 35:42
Nate Marshall joins us now on in the Trenches and Nate I, we had Dom on last week, Dom Nichols and I am curious because he was a state champ in football and in basketball. But I asked him a question. I'm like, you know, do you still play basketball? He says, nah, I don't play much. I then asked him who was the best basketball player on the team? And your name came up. I'll ask you the same question. Who's the best basketball player on the team?
Nate Marshall • 36:10
If I didn't have to say myself.
Jon Jansen • 36:12
Well, you can. You don't have to say anything. It's okay.
Nate Marshall • 36:18
All right. I'd say myself. But if I didn't have to say myself, I'd probably go with Kendrick Bell or Tariq Boney or Carter Meadows. Okay.
Jon Jansen • 36:30
All right.
Nate Marshall • 36:30
One of those three.
Jon Jansen • 36:31
How much. How much basketball do you guys play off season?
Nate Marshall • 36:35
In the off season, we try to go as frequent as possible just to get the runs in. Still have some sort of love for the sport, so, you know, always want to get back to it as much as possible. But I'll say we probably go like maybe twice a month.
Jon Jansen • 36:49
Okay. All right. And so I'll take it a step further because you started talking about this. There's a difference between a Hooper and a basketball player. If you put Carter Meadows or yourself in a. In a five on five offense versus just pick up basketball, which one do you prefer?
Nate Marshall • 37:11
Me, as a pickup basketball player, I would definitely prefer to have Carter on my team because I know he'll pass the ball.
Jon Jansen • 37:18
So everyone else is. They're in it for themselves.
Nate Marshall • 37:21
Yeah. And I know myself. I know I'm gonna want to take shots.
Jon Jansen • 37:26
Is he passing the ball because he's a freshman and he feels like it's my responsibility to dish the ball?
Nate Marshall • 37:32
Nah, he's just more of a passer. He's not really a bucket getter. How I am.
Jon Jansen • 37:36
I say, okay, all right, so score. We go to you.
Nate Marshall • 37:39
Yeah.
Jon Jansen • 37:39
All right, so I. Now I want to flip the script here. Let's talk a little bit of football. It's actually what we're playing here at Michigan your freshman season. All right. We saw you, in bits and pieces, start to see you a little bit more throughout the year. What were some of the challenges you faced of coming in as state champ yourself and then not getting as much time as you normally would in a high school game.
Nate Marshall • 38:02
I would say some of the challenges I faced were just adjusting to the dynamic of college football and just college itself, as in like classes and stuff, being to places on time, getting enough sleep, getting enough rehab, just stuff like that. I had to change for this year to become a better player and a better man for sure.
Jon Jansen • 38:23
What was the bigger challenge trying to be on time and the whole class schedule or the. The increase of what you were seeing here at. On the football field?
Nate Marshall • 38:33
I would say both were pretty challenging, but I would say my challenge was definitely being places on time and getting to class and stuff, so that was definitely the biggest thing I had to fix.
Jon Jansen • 38:44
What was. Was there a penalty for. For not being on time
Nate Marshall • 38:50
last year? Not as much, but this year it was definitely an adjustment.
Jon Jansen • 38:53
So what's the price to pay this year?
Nate Marshall • 38:56
Um, a lot of prices to pay. The first one you miss is just early morning workout, come in, get it done. Second one you miss, you and the whole position group have to come in. And then the third one, it's the entire unit, so the whole defense would have had to come in.
Jon Jansen • 39:12
Oh, so every. Everyone gets to pay the price along with you?
Nate Marshall • 39:15
Yeah.
Jon Jansen • 39:15
All right. So. Well, this year, obviously, a little bit different. We're seeing you on the field more. How much more fun are you having now that you've adjusted the schedule, being on time, football, everything? How much more fun and enjoyable is this year versus last year?
Nate Marshall • 39:30
I would say it's a lot more fun. I'm playing a lot more free, as in, like, knowing the playbook, just being comfortable out on the field. I feel like. I feel like I'm a lot better in those regards. Shoot. It just feels natural being out there in. In the big house, man. Like last year, I had no nervousness. To me, it just all felt natural. And this year, I'm adjusted to the game. Like you said, things are moving slower, so I'm able to make more plays out there for sure.
Jon Jansen • 40:03
Game one, you tied. You got there at the same time as another player. You shared a sack. What was that moment like for you to be able to get home and get to the quarterback?
Nate Marshall • 40:12
It was a huge moment for me. I really just want to thank God for that moment because I've been praying for that moment to come since the beginning of last season. So I'm glad it came. Plenty more to come for sure. I'm glad that I shared that moment with Dom Nichols as well of what we've been through being at the University. So very cool moment.
Jon Jansen • 40:34
Looking back on the first two games, what will give us one or two things that you felt like, hey, I did this extremely well and give us one or two things that you still want to continue to work on to be better for sure.
Nate Marshall • 40:46
Game one, one thing I did well was just take the best of the moments that I got. I got limited reps, but, I mean, I did something with those reps, so that was pretty good to me. And then one thing I had to work on in game one was just being an energy guy on and off the field, making sure my teammates can count on me to have an energy. Like, the first game wasn't going how we expected it to, but there. That's no reason for there to be no energy, especially in a Michigan house on a Saturday. You feel me?
Jon Jansen • 41:23
What was it like last week at practice as. I mean, obviously the Western Michigan game didn't go. You've talked about it, coach talked about, everybody's talked about it. Didn't go the way you wanted. You came away with a win, but it sure didn't feel like it. What was the energy like, and what was the focus last week at practice?
Nate Marshall • 41:38
The energy definitely shifted. I feel like after that Western game, we felt like we weren't the team that we thought we were, so we had to really hone into that on who we're going to be for the rest of the season. So I felt like that was a big focus. And then in practice, it was just really going harder at each other. Not. Not in regards to, like, trying to hurt each other, but just pushing each other to go harder. Like Coach Witty, the. The motto for last week was do more, so we definitely did more last week.
Jon Jansen • 42:11
And. And then you. You. Obviously a big challenge against Oklahoma, and I. I talk about this all the time, and people probably sick of hearing about it. When you have a mobile quarterback, it's about discipline. Could you talk us through and walk us through some of the responsibilities you guys have as an edge defender? When you have.
Jon Jansen • 42:27
You're. You're placing an option offense different than the old school option, but the read option, what. What type of keys and things are you thinking about when that play happens?
Nate Marshall • 42:38
When the option happens? Coach P teaches us just to be patient, Stay on the line of scrimmage, look down the line, make sure there's no pullers coming, and then just make sure your eyes are in the right spot and just always stay patient.
Jon Jansen • 42:52
How difficult is it to go through all those things and be disciplined in every single facet of what you're trying to do to be successful on that play?
Nate Marshall • 43:03
Not too difficult when you're a Michigan edge.
Jon Jansen • 43:04
I mean, it's just experience.
Nate Marshall • 43:06
Yeah.
Jon Jansen • 43:07
All right, so let's. Let's take it a step further. Now. You guys have the win. Does it feel a little bit different this week coming off the win against Oklahoma than last week?
Nate Marshall • 43:15
It definitely feels a bit different. But we know we have way more to work on. We know we can get better. So we're just focused on this week and then focusing on improving.
Jon Jansen • 43:26
What time are you? What are you. Some of the things that you're working on as a unit against UTEP so that you're ready, more prepared for the
Nate Marshall • 43:33
Big Ten season, being more physical, making more plays, causing more havoc, for sure, those are some of the key things we're honing in on.
Jon Jansen • 43:42
You're an edge. Just like, I mean, everybody else, that's an edge on this team. But John Henry Daley, what have you been able to glean from him as a guy that's come in with a lot of experience, an older guy, as you talked about, you know, hey, making sure you're on time, making sure you're where you're supposed to be when you're supposed to be there doing things on the field. He's a guy that it feels like. And from what I hear from everybody, he's doing those things. What have you learned from him?
Nate Marshall • 44:08
I've learned a lot. I mean, he came in January. He wasn't a very talkative guy at first, but now that we've got to know him, he's definitely a great leader on this team. He had a pep talk the Thursday before the Oklahoma game and that I will never forget that pep talk throughout my whole career because it just got me so fired up. It got the whole defensive unit fired up. Like he's just a guy man, like
Jon Jansen • 44:35
we hear a lot about. And you mentioned that he's a little bit quieter coming in now. He's opening up a little bit. Who's the biggest character in that room?
Nate Marshall • 44:43
The defensive unit?
Jon Jansen • 44:44
Yeah. Well, no, I don't want to include the defensive backs in there because. Yeah, maybe I'll ask you that as a follow up. But just in your defensive line room.
Nate Marshall • 44:54
In the defensive line room, I would probably say if we're doing D tackles and edges, I would say Travis Moten is the biggest character for sure. Okay.
Jon Jansen • 45:03
All right. Just edges.
Nate Marshall • 45:04
Just edges. I would have to say myself, me or Dom Nichols, for sure.
Jon Jansen • 45:08
All right, so then I've got to ask you, what is it you like to do outside of football?
Nate Marshall • 45:14
I really stay in the house. I like to play my PS five. I do a little bit of rapping here and there just to you feel me. Waste a little bit of time out of my day, but other than that, strictly football.
Jon Jansen • 45:27
Is there an album in the future?
Nate Marshall • 45:30
Maybe.
Jon Jansen • 45:30
Maybe you want to give us a little, little bit?
Nate Marshall • 45:33
Nah, I'm not, I'm not too much of a freestyle.
Jon Jansen • 45:36
Okay. All right. Well, Nate, I really appreciate your time. Best of luck as you guys prepare for for UTEP in the Big Ten football season for sure.
Nate Marshall • 45:44
Appreciate it.
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Jon Jansen • 45:51
Well, thanks to Nate for his time. Really excited about what he is developing into. A trusted force coming off the edge and you can hear him talk about the respect he has for everybody that's in that defensive line room. Really excited about the defensive bunch for everything that's going on in and around Michigan football. Keep it locked in here on in the Trenches.
Jeff Laurence • 46:12
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 Podcast. The preceding is a Learfield presentation of the Michigan Sports Network
