Episode #367
Michigan Mondays - Is Michigan Back!?
Michigan Mondays — “Is Michigan Back!?” Hosts: TJ Ronin & Michelle | MichiganVOCFB Post-Oklahoma win recap, Bryce Underwood debate, defense grades, season outlook, Big Ten landscape Cold open & vibe (00:01:31–00:03:25) TJ: “What is up, Michigan Nation? We are back for another Michigan Mondays.” Michelle in the house after “a hell of a weekend.” Michelle: Feeling much better than last Monday. “Quite a turnaround for Michigan.” Grateful to be on this side of it; more positive about the team after Saturday. TJ jab: Some of us beat our SEC/ranked opponents. “It does feel good to be in that bucket.” Agenda: Oklahoma recap, “Is Bryce back?”, knocking out one of the “big four,” season outlook + Big Ten. FanDuel read: Michigan 2-0 heading into UTEP (spread -35.5). Caution on the number — could rest guys late. “UTEP is not Oklahoma.” Bet responsibly. Receipts & narrative shift (00:03:27–00:06:45) Pre-game they said a win would change the season narrative. It did. Michelle reads hate comments she received: “Oklahoma will drop 40-50 on Michigan. Michigan lucky to score 13.” “Oklahoma will skull drag Michigan before halftime.” “Michelle making predictions like I did when I was young and dumb.” “Delusional. Stop the cope.” Someone twisted “mentally dangerous” into “mentally retarded.” She shortens the victory lap — still a long season — but “I was not wrong this last weekend. I knew what that team had.” Narrative already flipping: Oklahoma went from “will put up 50” to “no offense, John Mateer sucks, unworthy win.” TJ: Time reveals all. They’ve done receipt shows before (Bryce Underwood saga, “lack of hammer”). Keep the hate coming — Michigan turns it into fuel. Oklahoma game: what they saw (00:06:45–00:15:25) Michelle’s take Better game plan and utilization of Underwood. Room to grow: Underwood-Hyder communication/miscues, too many penalties (spoiled by Harbaugh-era discipline; expected more from Whittingham). Special teams polarizing: punting phenomenal, but “why are we running into the kicker?” Dumb penalties from Jire Hill after they’d already backed Oklahoma up. Big positives: toughness, focus, defense “awesome.” Michigan moved the ball reasonably well against what is “by some measures probably a top-five defense.” 17 points (7 off a short field after a turnover) isn’t magnificent, but context matters. They won’t see Oklahoma-level defenses every Saturday. TJ’s take Confident the team will play cleaner football as the new staff/system/young players settle. Wants it by Big Ten play. UTEP should be a confidence-building warmup. Juju’s postgame point: Oklahoma is arguably the best defense they’ll play all year (Ohio State fans yelling “wait till you play us” — “Beat Texas, watch your mouth”). Jason Beck’s play-calling not perfect; run game is an OL issue more than an RB issue. Stacked boxes made it hard. Offense should open up once the run game does. Underwood’s postgame comments encouraging (saved for later topic). “What a win.” One of three undefeated teams with a top-25 win (Michigan, Ole Miss, Texas). Defense: “Are we back?” Both: Defense is really good. Mateer’s poor day must be measured against Michigan’s defense the same way Michigan’s offense is measured against Venables. Couldn’t run on Oklahoma — nobody will. Likewise, teams will struggle to move the ball on Michigan. Defense “smothering.” Kept a mobile Mateer (CFP QB last year) in hell most of the day. Narrative will be “Mateer sucks.” Reality: they beat a playoff-caliber team. Names popping: John Henry Daly (emergence from injury), Dominic Nichols, Nate Marshall, Quidi Pei, Josh Uche (impact in rotation), Tariq Boney “freaking great,” Trey Pierce encouraging, Jonah Lea, Nathan Wasu Boateng (18 snaps, made plays). PFF secondary snapshot (doesn’t even include Zeke Berry or Rod Moore): Jire Hill — 6th nationally Chris Bracey — 19th Smith Snowden — 26th Strength of schedule/record already strong (ESPN). Secondary locked down Oklahoma’s top WR (2 catches, 9 yards in man coverage). New HC + new OC + new DC + new players — success should be contextualized. Other programs with coordinator turnover are struggling. Super chats & rivalry noise (00:15:25–00:26:00) Michigander: OSU fans coping hard that Michigan is 2-0 and they’re 1-1. “They truly believe we lost to Western.” Michelle: They don’t lose often… except three of their last four. Extra sweet when they wanted Michigan’s ass kicked and the opposite happened. Oklahoma may still beat Texas — “college football math” heading into The Game. Both watched OSU-Texas intently. TJ caught the second half after a 5-hour postgame. Missed FGs remain an OSU theme. “Maybe if they cared about kickers they’d have more natties.” Haters now claiming Oklahoma was never good. Response: “Fuck the haters.” Keep it coming — it makes Michigan better. National media resistance: some prominent voices framed it as “Mateer played horribly and Underwood was who we thought Mateer should be” rather than crediting Michigan. Western Michigan first impression dug a hole they’re still climbing out of. Fine with it — talent is there, schedule will give more chances to prove it. TJ has pulled back from a lot of national pods. Respects Joel Klatt and (sometimes) Josh Pate, but many are trend-followers who don’t watch enough tape. Other chats: offense coming together (key is OL + getting the best five together; RPO/Hyder-Underwood mesh will clean up); Smith Snowden & DBs locked down Santiago; secondary held OU’s best WR to almost nothing in man. Topic 2: Is Bryce back? (00:26:00–00:36:20) Clip contrast: locker-room Bryce vs. podium Bryce. Sounds like a captain. Context: 60-70% of the fan base was ready to pull him after Western. Whittingham doubled down postgame — Bryce is the quarterback; fans created a narrative. Michelle was nervous specifically about Bryce (elite OU DL + secondary that capitalizes on mistakes; decision-making issues in Week 1). Expected a low-scoring game where one mistake swings it. She was right about the game script, wrong that the mistake would be Bryce’s. Improvements: better decisions, better play-calling for him, didn’t put the ball in harm’s way. Lower completion % but far more designed/needed carries (18). Utilized his legs strategically; UTEP should let them pull back and work other parts of the offense. TJ: He faced an elite defensive mind and a top-5 defense, with reporters challenging him, a restless fan base, and “not the high-school Bryce” narrative — on Big Noon Kickoff with Woodson, Portnoy, and recruits in the building. He was composed, audible’d, and willed the offense when the run game died (9-of-17, 111 yards passing). “Bryce was good enough.” Ask for patience. He’s young. There will be another frustrating moment. Hope this extends the runway with the fan base (coaching staff already locked in). Press-conference nonchalance (“no, but cool”) frustrated some fans. Michelle liked it — he needs to tune out the noise. Absorbing comment sections would make any QB “mentally unwell.” Stay even: not too hyped, not too low. Less Western Michigan frustration = cleaner mechanics. TJ hated how the reporter framed Whittingham’s comments to a 19-year-old. “$12 million doesn’t change the speed at which their brain develops.” He’s still a kid learning to speak in public. Growing in front of the camera: on-field interview, presser, team-first soundbites. If this is the start of the “ultimate Underwood archetype,” it’s going to be fun. Quick hits from chats: Whittingham called John Henry Daly the “vanilla gorilla.” Cole Sullivan (now elsewhere) had one tackle. New VOCFB member. Season outlook: driver’s seat? (00:36:20–00:44:00) 2-0, already knocked off one of the “big four” (Oklahoma, Indiana, Oregon, Ohio State — OSU’s status TBD). Win totals were priced with an Oklahoma L baked in. That W is huge momentum. Oregon: lost two coordinators and it showed. Week 1 wasn’t great either. Talented roster but beatable. “I’m not calling Dan Lanning James Franklin quite yet.” Ohio State: still can’t kick reliably; defense can be run on. Nobody looks immortal in 2026. Michigan passed a significant early test. Whittingham’s job now: keep them locked in, clean penalties. Not every game will be this forgiving. Path they like: UTEP (get-right / swagger game) → Iowa → Minnesota looks “garbo” → then find out what Matt Campbell’s Penn State is about (TJ going to that game) → Indiana (Curt Cignetti fight). If they come out 7-0 facing Rutgers, the fan-base shit-talk will be “off the chain.” Caveat: team is not where it needs to be and they know it. But there is no game on the schedule they cannot win if they play their best — and they haven’t played their best yet (bad → better vs. Oklahoma). Defense is already the bully. If the OL becomes the bully again under Harding, “we’re a serious problem.” Bad news: Babalola out longer-term (former 5-star expected to start). Next man up. Big Ten landscape (00:44:00–00:53:00) Conference has more parity than expected. Big Ten did not carry its weight vs. the SEC this weekend. USC 3-0 but defense still looks beatable. Not on Michigan’s schedule — happy to watch them beat up others. Nobody scares them except maybe Indiana. Oregon at Autzen was the preseason nervous game; Oregon has work to do first. UCLA better than expected (beat Cal). Iowa less formidable than advertised — still a physical game that will require the offense to show up (Michigan 30 total points so far isn’t pretty). Ohio State defense struggled against elite skill (Arch Manning, Cam Coleman, Hollywood Smothers) and got gassed late — contextualize it the same way Michigan’s offense vs. Oklahoma is contextualized. Still a good defense with Phil Parker. Surprise: Michigan State looks well-coached. Michelle hammered their win total over 3.5 on FanDuel. “Don’t look past that game.” Physical, they’ll bring it. Clear the tunnel / likely night game in Ann Arbor. Western Michigan “scandal” may have been the necessary wake-up. “Michigan needs a little scandal every once in a while.” Too quiet = uncomfortable. Best defense in the Big Ten? Michelle not ready to say it (haven’t faced the best offenses). Top 3: Michigan, Indiana, Ohio State. Above USC and (currently) Oregon. Staff message TJ got from a Michigan coach: don’t sleep on Iowa. Close & housekeeping (00:53:00–end) Super chats praising Michelle; request for a “Michigan Michelle Friday” segment. Thursday call-in show moving to 7 p.m. (Lions Thursday nighter at 8). Tuesday live show 8 p.m. with TJ + John D’Adamo + UTEP breakdown guest. UTEP tickets giveaway Tuesday. Michelle’s closer: “Feeling good. Excited. It’s nice to feel good unlike some rivals. Hold your fire when you think your girl doesn’t know ball. Remember who you called delusional and who was right.” TJ: Michelle is a certified ball-knower and a big deal on X; a lot of YouTube viewers aren’t on X so they miss the context wars. Sign-off: Go Blue. Core arguments from the show The Oklahoma win is real and contextually excellent (top-tier defense, new staff everywhere, young QB). Defense is ahead of the offense and already playoff-caliber; OL/run game is the next step. Bryce showed the mental and decision-making growth they needed; don’t yank the runway after one bounce-back. Schedule and conference look more open than August. Momentum is with Michigan if they stay locked in. Hate and national skepticism are features, not bugs. Quotable lines “I knew what that team had. I knew what they were capable of.” “This is a team that does a pretty good job of turning that hate into fuel. So keep it coming.” “Arguably the best defense we’ll play all year.” “Bryce was good enough. Bryce did what he needed to do for us to get that victory against that team on that day.” “$12 million doesn’t change the speed at which their brain develops.” “Right now our defense is the bully. If our offensive line can get back to being the bully again, then we’re a problem.” “Michigan needs a little scandal every once in a while.” “Hold your fire guys when you think your girl doesn’t know ball.” Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
