00:00For it's desk, I'm Jeremy Otto.
00:01For more, good at 97.1 The Ticket or odyssey.com.
00:14Hour number two, glorious fall Monday.
00:17Programming note, if you want to hear about the Lions,
00:20it's going to be very limited today.
00:22They played a corpse.
00:23The game was atrocious, and the trade deadline is tomorrow.
00:26Much more appropriate to do Lions tomorrow.
00:29It's Michigan, Michigan State, because something actually happened.
00:32A stunning result.
00:34And look, I'm leaving it a little open-ended, as Rico is,
00:38where I want you guys to just call in with where you want to go with it
00:42versus something topically.
00:44I think your headlines are clearly, if you're a Spartan,
00:48I'm thrilled for you guys.
00:49If you still have a passion that I've lost, you deserve it, man.
00:53You've been given nothing.
00:55You know, we talk about Whittingham filling his pants.
00:58That's basically what the school's done to you for five years.
01:02You needed something.
01:03You've been adrift at sea, and somebody threw you a life raft.
01:06If it's going to work for Fitz, you'll look back at a night like Saturday,
01:10and that's where it started.
01:11You've got to have something to sell.
01:13If you're a cheerleader, if you're a CEO type, if you're a messaging coach,
01:18a culture coach, the way that Fitz purports to be,
01:21you've got to have something on your shelves.
01:23Yep.
01:24So at least for a night, he convinced a bunch of mercenaries to buy in
01:29and play like old-school college football.
01:31The flip side, Michigan looked like a Vegas hoe.
01:37They were on to their next John.
01:40Oh, this wasn't a good appointment.
01:42Well, I got a date with Bob at the Excalibur.
01:45That was as pathetic as it gets for Michigan, but hilarious.
01:50It was.
01:51For Fitz, he finally has a real win and not a bunch of try-hards, almost won.
01:59We hung in at Notre Dame.
02:01Hey, look what we did with Illinois.
02:03Like, he finally has something tangible, a win that he can hold up to his team
02:08and say, this is what happens when we all play together.
02:12For Michigan, you didn't understand the assignment.
02:15You didn't understand.
02:17Even though, once again, people try to tell you, and I said,
02:21he's your Jonathan Smith.
02:22This guy is not ready for this game.
02:24He is telling you in spades, I'm not ready for this.
02:28And it showed the team looked just like they didn't have any inspiration to go out there
02:35and defend their turf, to defend their home.
02:38The fans knew it.
02:40As you start saying, okay, State kicked the field goal.
02:44Okay, we can still win.
02:45By the time State kicked their third field goal, that was it.
02:49People could leave.
02:50Because Michigan, once again, didn't even score at the half.
02:54It was bad.
02:55You were getting bodied by Michigan State's offensive and defensive line.
03:01I didn't think I would ever utter that phrase.
03:03But you did.
03:05You had no answer.
03:06And Rieger put it really best.
03:08He texted this to us.
03:10It was 18 players out.
03:1213 of them are starters.
03:13And that includes the linchpins to the defense, right up the middle.
03:18One of the best defensive tackles in the Big Ten.
03:20You can laugh at it.
03:21Ben Roberts had a massive season.
03:23He's out for the year.
03:24Jordan Hall is a classic, downhill, Big Ten, run-stopping linebacker.
03:29He's essentially been out for the year.
03:31And then up the middle with the safeties, where MSU has been ravaged by injury.
03:36Like, there's no world Michigan shouldn't be able to grind out some level of a run game.
03:42You didn't.
03:43And then defensively, I would love to know what exactly those players were out there doing.
03:49Because here's what it felt like.
03:50It felt like the Western game.
03:52But nothing MSU did was flashy.
03:54They don't have the talent to be flashy.
03:56They just dominated them.
03:58Four yards at a time.
04:00And the funny thing is, Mike, it reminded me a lot, because I've often said it there.
04:04They remind me of a college version of Minnesota with a great defense and a mid-offense.
04:09And how did the Lions beat them?
04:11They just ran right at them.
04:12Wear them down.
04:13What did Western do?
04:14They wore them down.
04:16What did Iowa do?
04:17They wore them down.
04:18What did State do?
04:19They just wore them down.
04:21We're not going to try and pass the ball on you, because that's what you want us to do.
04:24You can't stop the run.
04:25But I'll say this.
04:26It was huge.
04:27And I had no idea.
04:28I'm man enough to tell you.
04:31No rumor of it.
04:32No whisper of it.
04:34I was floored when I got a text in the afternoon, Alessio was going to give it a go.
04:38And I went, what?
04:40And then apparently, he's out there in pregame warm-ups, and you could see what the injury.
04:45You could see the deal.
04:46He's got his thumb in a wrap.
04:49And unless I'm hallucinating, a lot of those handoffs were left-handed.
04:53He wasn't handing it off with his strong, take my strong hand.
05:00But Alessio, the experience versus starting a true freshman in Cade Kaufman or a redshirt freshman in Leo Hannon, it
05:08was just enough.
05:10Like, a couple of the times, Michigan was bringing it.
05:13And Alessio hung in, did a little Jordan Love off the back foot, and was able to hit some crossers,
05:18hit some things.
05:19It was just enough for State to survive.
05:22And see, that's why I thought that maybe you go to Bryce, because, look, Carr knows the rivalry game.
05:28I mean, he grew up in the rivalry.
05:31But you saw he was in over his head.
05:33His passes were high.
05:34He was missing wide-open guys.
05:35He was throwing picks.
05:37That's why I thought, okay, you know what?
05:38Maybe you go to Bryce, because Bryce also knows this.
05:41And it'll mean he'll have some pride, because maybe that—
05:44He's got a 3XL mouthpiece, man.
05:46Yes, he does.
05:46I didn't see pride with Michigan.
05:48I just saw a team that was out there saying—
05:51No, they're gutless.
05:51Coach, they're not supposed to be this good.
05:53You're telling us they stunk.
05:54But that's what upsets me about the sport.
05:56I should never be able to say in a rivalry game, they're gutless.
05:59They're gutless.
06:01That's why, look, I laugh at it.
06:03I'm thrilled for fans.
06:05Like I said, my brother-in-law is still a gigantic Sparty.
06:08I love it.
06:09I'm happy for Andrew.
06:10It's wonderful.
06:11For me, I just go, this is every reason why I can't love this anymore.
06:16Michigan State was everything it used to be.
06:18Rico, you nailed it.
06:19They went in with a plan, and they cared.
06:21For a night, they cared.
06:22Right.
06:23Guys, we don't have the best players out there, but let's just go out there and punch them
06:28in the mouth and see what happens.
06:29Michigan just took it.
06:30And they were like, well, Coach, they punched us.
06:33Yeah.
06:34Did they?
06:35Are they supposed to do that?
06:36First of all, I'm not sure if Whittingham got punched, he would even feel it.
06:40Whittingham is the equivalent of like an auto pen.
06:44More active on the sidelines, Biden or Whittingham, 248.
06:49I mean, it's the same thing.
06:51You have an auto pen running your program.
06:54Yeah.
06:54Biden during that running again for election.
06:57Or wit.
06:59It's an auto pen.
07:00I may go with Biden.
07:02Don't tell me that guy's running practices.
07:04Don't even try to tell me that.
07:05Don't tell me that headset's plugged in.
07:08How do you shake hands with a coach with your headset?
07:11It isn't wired.
07:13Why are you wearing it?
07:15He may as well have shaken hands with a sombrero.
07:18Who are you talking to?
07:19You have Michael Scott coaching your team.
07:23That's what you have.
07:24Again, it's insane.
07:25I'm starting to wonder if he's like a Chinese spy.
07:28Honestly, like Jensen Huang's not the only one who's going to answer some questions.
07:32Was this dude hired by Urban Meyer?
07:34This is, he's been sent here to destroy us.
07:38Maybe that's it.
07:39He pulls off the mask and is really urban.
07:41I got you.
07:43I mean, everything that he did in that game from not even trying to jumpstart the team
07:49with Bryce to going for two when you score.
07:52Are you sure you're trying to win this thing?
07:55No, he's not there.
07:57Rico, he's staring.
07:59He's coaching with a full diaper.
08:02Rico, when they cut to him, can you name one actionable thing you see?
08:06Is he engaging players?
08:08No.
08:08Is he engaging staff?
08:09No.
08:10I mean, is the headset even down?
08:11No.
08:12Is it wired?
08:13Not convinced.
08:14Rico, seriously.
08:15Look, I know you make fun of it, but I think you would even like it if he just clapped
08:19his hands and did something.
08:21Anything.
08:21Anything.
08:22Put a meter on his ass, and if he farts, he gets bonus points.
08:26Anything.
08:28David, don't be mad at me.
08:30It's your coach.
08:31I'm not mad at you.
08:33I'm not mad at Rico.
08:33I'm disappointed because you're right.
08:36This is what I see on the sidelines every week with this guy.
08:40It's wild.
08:41I don't know if he's there.
08:43He's not.
08:44And once again, we should have saw, read the tea leaves, you struggled against Rutgers
08:50the week before.
08:52You were a 16 and a half point favorite, and Rutgers gave you everything, and it's like...
08:56And they lost to Western.
08:57That's what anybody says.
08:58That's Rutgers.
08:59This is more credibility.
09:00They lost to Western.
09:02Let's go to D.
09:02You know what?
09:03I can't fight you on it.
09:04I can't help it.
09:05D, what's going on, brother?
09:06Good to talk to you again.
09:07Man, you know I was going to call again, man, after Friday.
09:10I had to put aside my busy schedule and say, look, I am furious.
09:18I'm not putting up with it.
09:20I'm burning the whole damn thing down.
09:24The whole thing.
09:26And start all over.
09:28Fitzgerald didn't do anything special.
09:31You know what he did?
09:32He's the king of coaching teams with no talent.
09:36He came from Northwestern.
09:39I don't got no talent.
09:41All you do is go out there and say, hey, man, this is Michigan, and they saw.
09:46And that's all he did.
09:48He wasn't no great coach, and they had five field goals.
09:51Anybody could have did that.
09:53This is Michigan versus Michigan State, and we have never respected you.
09:58The only time we respect you is after a loss.
10:01If you notice, usually when you guys beat us, then we'll wake up, and then we'll run, you know, except
10:09for D'Antonio, we'll run two, three, four in a row, and then our heads will get back big again,
10:14and then we'll do the same thing over and over.
10:19Did it when I was in school.
10:20They're doing it now.
10:21Now, the coach that we got now, that ain't nobody, but Ella B, and what's the guy from Duke that
10:29coached us?
10:29Tommy Amaker.
10:31That's what that is.
10:33We had all that talent during Ella B, and Amaker, and we didn't win nothing because they didn't care about
10:42me.
10:42But, D, that's, you know, and again, I'm not going to argue much of it.
10:46I would just push back on two things.
10:49Look, man, we rolled in with Ford Stringers, and you have all the NIL money in the world and a
10:55bunch of big-time recruits, and we went belt to ass.
10:58You got to give Fitz some credit there.
11:00Don't say anybody could have done that.
11:01Because you couldn't do it.
11:03Well, that's my whole point.
11:04He got a group of kids, young men, to believe for a night that the cause mattered, and you were
11:11out there like a bunch of hoes.
11:14The other part of it is, D, it's 11-9 the last 20 games.
11:2120-year sample size, MSU 11, Michigan 9.
11:26No offense, but that tired 1970s trope, you know, let's at least be fair about it now.
11:332020, State won.
11:352021, State won.
11:36Yes, you won a couple in a row here.
11:38But, man, it's like when they throw up the damn graphic about the rivalry, and it's like, well, why don't
11:42we parse out the record since State was in the Big Ten?
11:45Man, since you played the first 30 games in Ann Arbor with your hand-chosen refs.
11:49Buddy, you realize that since D'Antonio, every head coach except one has a now winning record against Michigan.
11:59Correct.
12:00Even Mel Tucker.
12:01Say what you want was two and one.
12:03I say nothing.
12:04We'll get more to people.
12:06That's all.
12:07And it's fine.
12:08You have every right to be upset, but don't act like anybody could have rolled in.
12:11Right.
12:11Don't yell at us.
12:12Yell at your program.
12:14Don't yell at us.
12:14Don't yell at us.
12:14Don't yell at us.
