Michigan Wolverines 2022: The Best Team In The Country?

Michigan Wolverines Off To A Hot Start

A.J. Reilly: let’s talk about a team that actually does have an iconic uniform, and that would be the Michigan Wolverines. Eric, are the Michigan Wolverines the best team in the country?

They stomp Penn State, and many people including, the armpit of America, Ohio’s own Urban Meyer said, Oh, they’ll shut down this run game from Michigan. You can guarantee that. No, no, they won’t because Blake Corum went for, I think 166 and two touchdowns, and Donovan Edwards went for 16, carries for 173 yards and two touchdowns.

Yeah, Good job shutting down the run game there at Penn State. These are now two good defenses that they have gone against. 

Eric Vincent: Yeah, they put up almost 400 rush yards, rushing yards, not total rushing yards alone against a top-five rush defense at Penn State. I don’t wanna say they’re the best team. You know me, while I am extremely impressed with what they’ve done thus far.

A.J. Reilly: You hate Jim Harbaugh. 

Eric Vincent: I don’t like Jim Harbaugh, so I cannot, I don’t wanna doubt him because again, for what they’ve shown that they’re capable of, they’re proving it right now. Again, they have been fantastic in terms of their run game. They do a great job at keeping JJ McCarthy protected. Like while you’re getting him developed, you’re not gonna be able to get him, showing his potential if he’s getting hurt all the time.

He hasn’t been getting touched really at all from what I’ve seen. They’ve been doing a great job of that. The defense is, well, they still are just dominating games. They’re a defensive line. They need to make a plane and get off the field. Penn State was a team that thrived on getting big plays. They’re not gonna drive the field on, 10, or 12 plays.

That’s not their thing. And Michigan did a good job of getting them off the field and giving their offense short possession. So, I don’t wanna say that they’re the best team in this country yet. , I wanna see what they do against Michigan State, even with Michigan State struggling. I wanna see what they do against them.

Obviously Ohio State, but, I think they’re well capable of going up there and winning a Nettie. From what I’ve seen, they’re more than capable of doing it. But are they the best team right now? I can’t say that yet. Not yet. 

A.J. Reilly: So it’s interesting that we’re talking about this topic and there was a Facebook memory that popped up for me today, and I’m gonna share something with you and completely put myself on blast.

But when I lived in Texas, I worked at a cigar shop and had some great friends there when I was there hanging out, watching college football, and realized one Saturday that I had inadvertently dressed this. way Like old Mr. Harbaugh 

Eric Vincent: you look like his intern. What is this? 

A.J. Reilly: We were watching the game and one of my buddies there, was like you must really be a Michigan fan. I was like, What? And I looked and I go, Oh no. So I was like, You gotta take a picture of it just to make fun of like myself in perpetuity. But you know, as much as I may have unintentionally dressed like Jim Harbaugh during my time in Texas, that does not change the fact that, no, I do not believe that Michigan is the best team in the country right now.

And there’s a reason for that. Right. Have they been playing really good football? Yes. They have been playing really good football on both sides of the ball. If you think about it over the last two games, Indiana and Penn State how many points have they given up in the second half of those two games?

Four total quarters. Three points. Unbelievable. That’s it. They shut Indiana out in the second half, and then they only gave up three points to Penn State. And truthfully, if you think about it, they got, I’m trying to make sure that my math is correct, but they gave up 17 total to Penn State and one of those was a pick-six, right?

So they really only gave up 10 defensively 10 points, but, and that, one touchdown was on a long-busted assignment run by Sean Clifford, right? The 108-year senior. And so they’re playing really good football. Do I think that Michigan State stands a chance when they come back from the buy?

I really don’t think Michigan State stands a chance when they come back from the buy. Do I think any team stands a chance against Michigan right now? No. I don’t think any team stands a chance until they get to Columbus. And that Columbus game could very well create. A lot of chaos, right?

Michigan loses maybe Ohio State goes on to lose like there’s with Tennessee and Ole Miss actually being in the conversation in Alabama only having one loss right now, the fact that Ohio State and Michigan cannot meet in the Big 10 championship game is hurting the Big 10 in a lot of ways. I would say a hundred percent.

Yep. I don’t want them to change so that we don’t get the game in the regular season. I don’t want the game to be dependent upon them being in the Big 10 championship, but that hurts them because whoever loses that Ohio State, Michigan game is out of the college football picture. Right. Playoff picture, because you do not have the championship appearance and then get in. 

Right. So, is Michigan the best team? No, I don’t think that they’re the best team in the country right now. But I think they’re close like you said. I think that come, November, whatever that date is in Columbus.

They’re definitely gonna be in the conversation for that, especially if, Alabama’s down a little bit. Especially if, a couple of lost SEC teams if Tennessee falls off their high horse and isn’t making it through, like, I think there’s definitely an opportunity there. But we’ll see.

 We’ll see. Definitely, It’s exciting. Clearly, I wear the colors proudly. It may be disingenuous to say this, Eric. But if you were to look at JJ’s state line, you were to look at Cade’s stat lines from last year. Are they much different? 

Eric Vincent: No, I saw, I looked at the same thing. No. They’re basically the same. 

A.J. Reilly: And I’m not using that as an argument to say that, you know, Cade needs to be the guy that gets into, the game and, and all that. That’s not the argument I’m making cuz clearly JJ is the better person for the job. I just wanna see him open it up and I just wanna see him throw the ball a little bit. 

Eric Vincent: Yeah. Just for our sake, just for our viewing sake 

A.J. Reilly: I’m not one that needs to be entertained because. I watch football differently. I can watch them run the ball with Blake Corum 28 times and gain 163 yards and be like, That’s darn good football, right? if it’s working, don’t fix it. It’s not broken, don’t fix it. Right. So there’s, it’s just funny to me that everybody clamored because Cade couldn’t throw the ball and his stats were just terrible. And you got JJ now, and the game plan hasn’t changed much.

About The Show:

Subscribe To Our YouTube Channel

– Beyond the Box – Looking beyond the Box Score – Hosts AJ Reilly and Eric Vincent dive into the latest hot topics of the week in Football. New episodes LIVE Monday.

Check out gearupdetroit.shop and get 25% off your purchase by using coupon code BTB25OFF.