Trevor Woods from SB Nation's Maize n Brew previews Michigan vs. USC with The Athletic's Antonio Morales.
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The Block M Podcast Network: A University of Michigan Podcast
Getting to know USC with The Athletic's Antonio Morales
Now, two pigeons and coach prime bemoaning the fact you can stream Direct TV satellite-free. These humans get the biggest college football games on Direct TV. And we don't even get a satellite dish. Enough squawk it. It's coach prime. Bring it in. Sure, they can get all that college football without a dish, but you still got your passion, your drive, your resolve, your incredible career as a football icon. No, that's me. Stream the biggest college football games, no satellite dish. Visit Direct TV.com. This episode is brought to you by Allstate. Some people just know they could save hundreds on car insurance by checking Allstate first. Like you know to check you have the tickets in your wallet first before you drive two hours to the big game. Seriously, you had one job. Now the closest you'll get to the 50-yard line is parking lot D. Yeah, checking first is smart. So check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate. Savings vary, terms apply, Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois. Breaking news and this one is almost unbelievable. Yeah, it's all about new customers at Bet365 because they get $200 in bonus bets when they bet $5. And even better bonus bets can be used on the spread, totals, and player props. There you have it. Bet $5 to get $200 in bonus bet and see why. It's never ordinary. At Bet 365, the gambling problem, color text 1 and 100 gambler, 21 plus only. Must be physically located in Colorado, terms and conditions apply. Forever Woods here with the Block M podcast. Today we are previewing USC at Michigan, number 18, verse number 11. But programs that are on different trajectories to start this season. The Trojans coming off a big win over Utah State, their first shutout. Since 2011, a 48-nothing victory. Michigan scoupled last week against Arkansas, say, 28 to 18. And the week before that, they look quite bad against number one Texas. Today, we're going to be previewing the Trojans Wolverine's matchup with the athletics, Antonio Morales. You can follow him on Twitter at Antonio C. Morales. How are we doing today, Anthony? Good man, good, just getting ready for this first big 10 road trip as a USC beat rider. So exciting times, different from the past 12 years, but looking forward to trying new stuff. Yeah, I'm excited for you and I'm excited you get to come to the Midwest and Arbor in particular, when it's going to feel a lot more like Southern California weather. I've been quite hot here, but the Trojans have been quite hot as well this year. And Tony, you had a great article that I read in February. It talked about Lincoln Riley and how he wanted to emulate Michigan. And Riley said in that article, the only way that model works, you go get the best developers of talent and you get the best high school players a reason why they would want to sign with USC. Riley went on to say they built it in a lot of ways, did it the right way. Obviously, Michigan won a national championship last year, but you've been covering this program. What have you seen from USC throughout spring ball, fall camp, and now into the season where progress is being made from Lincoln Riley and the Trojans that quest for national championship prominence? It's only two games, but Lincoln Riley made hired a really well regarded coaching staff on defense this offseason, starting with coordinator Dan Mullin. Then they obviously went and got Matt and the head coach in North Dakota State to be the linebackers coach, they hired Doug Belk, who was the defensive coordinator at Houston last year to coach the secondary. And then one of the biggest coups was hiring defensive line coach Eric Henderson from the Rams, and you guys know Sean Nua at Michigan. He remained on the staff, but I think on paper that's probably it's probably USC's best defensive coaching staff since the Pete Carroll era, and he made it clear back in February he wanted to develop and I think that's he wanted to develop these players and I think that's one of the things we've seen so far through two games is players just look better and more confident than they did last year and that's not something USC's always been able to do. The defense has been pretty bad now for about 15 years. The last elite defense they had was 2008 probably never since then. It's been really, really up and down. And they've had some stars some singular stars here and they're like a seal of cravings and a Dory Jackson and Leonard Williams. But the team defense has been very, very bad and this year through two games, they've aced their tests so far holding LSU to 20 points and winning that game and coming up with some critical stops in the fourth quarter and then shutting out Utah State. Utah State's not great, but if you're a good defense, you're going to shut them out. And that's what they did. So I just think development is something that they prioritize and I think that's something we've seen guys like Mason Cobb, linebacker Mason Cobb looks like a completely different player in that wind scheme than he did in Alex Crench's. Jalen Smith has improved the cornerback. linebacker Eric Gentry has been more effective in this scheme. Demon's lineman Anthony Lucas has been more effective. So you just see guys who are playing with more confidence and they just look like different players than they were a year ago. It's only two games, so we'll see how long that lasts and if it can last the whole season, but positive sign so far. Yes, that was my next question because obviously a lot of improvement on the defense and the side of the ball and you have a defense coordinator that in Lynn who has been in the NFL as a secondary coach for a few different teams, some other staffers who have been in the NFL. What is the scheme looking like? Do you consider it more of a pro type model of defensive philosophy? What should we be expecting from that defense? Yeah, it's a really versatile type of scheme to where they line up in a bunch of different looks down by down, series by series. I think you have to look back at Danton Lynn's background. He was with the Ravens for a couple of years before he took over at UCLA last year. So it's that kind of Ravens background that Michigan fans are familiar with. Talk to Danton Lynn and you asked about the defense and he's like, everyone who runs it, it's going to look different. And his does look different right now. I think they're getting a lot of out of their linebackers. The secondary is held up really well. Safety Kumar Ramses really stood out and he's been kind of one of the bright spots on this defense just the way he's tackling and everything like that. And the defense line, they haven't generated a ton of pressure. So I think the thing Danton has been doing is trying to be creative with how he dials up the pressure just because there aren't a ton of national natural pass pressures on this team. So I think that's something we're going to have to watch out for. Well, like you said, the defense has been a problem for a long, long time. And this could be the best since the Pete Carroll era, which bodes well for an offense has had a lot of star playmakers in these past 15 years, including the number one pick and kill Williams last year. So offensively, seeing a quarterback in Miller Moss and you've seen plenty more snaps than me. But from what I have seen is a quarterback who is a man of this offense, maybe not as mobile as somebody like Williams, but definitely has a firm hold on what is being asked of him. 72.7% completion rate this season, but it hasn't just been Moss. It hasn't just all been on his shoulders. A couple of good running backs as well in the equation lead led by Woody Marks. Did you find this offense to be more balanced in years past or what's clicking on that end because they look quite formidable and dangerous in their own right? We'll see how balanced they are in the first game. They didn't have a ton of balance USC against LSU. Yeah. And last week they did have a ton of balance, but that was against Utah State. So we'll see what it is against Michigan. This will be the best defense they've seen so far. I have questions about USC's offensive line, particularly the right side of the line with Mason Murphy and Alani Noah. I think that'll be critical for their chances against Michigan this week and seeing if they can block guys like Mason Graham decides to hurt and everyone else on Michigan is deep into front. So I'm curious to see how the balance will go because that'll go a long way in determining this game. Woody Marks has been good though. They're running back from the Mississippi State transfer. He's played a key role in both wins, obviously scoring the last second touchdown against LSU than running for 100 yards last week. So I think he'll be a key person for Michigan to watch out for and Miller's done well in terms of spreading the ball around. I think he's hit about 10 different receivers both games and one of the things that's impressive is he's colored in the lines when it comes to this offense and keeping things on time and within the structure of the system, I think Caleb Williams brought a lot of good with his improbability, but I think a lot of times it was just him trying to create something out of nothing. And that wasn't good for the timing and the flow of the offense sometimes. And I think Miller's done a good job of kind of coloring in the lines and playing within the flow of the offense and keeping everything on schedule. Now, have you had a chance to watch any of Michigan this season? I watched some of the Texas game and some of the Arkansas State and some Fresno State. Are there any things that you saw that jumped out to you that as far as Michigan's weaknesses, the USC can really exploit with some of their strengths? I'm curious to see how Lincoln Riley approaches the game play calling wise. These are key Z and obviously got that defense moving from side to side and had them running and kind of tired the tire them out a bit. I'm curious to see how that goes and the third down defense. I know they struggle against Texas and they had some some vulnerabilities earlier against Arkansas State. So a lot of that's going to come down to time and whether this on the line can provide time for Miller Moss. And then I think USC's defensive backs can hold up really well against Michigan's receivers and kind of take them out of the game. Michigan's passing offense is obviously left a lot to be desired with the first three games. So I think a lot of it's going to just come down to whether USC can stop the run and hold up against that against that Michigan running offense in the line of scrimmage. Well, hey, Antonio Morales, thank you so much for coming on and can you tell people where to find your stuff and where to follow you and everything else? Yeah, you can find me on Twitter at Antonio C. Morales and you could read me at the college ball section of the athletic. Yeah, great work. As always, encourage everybody to check your stuff out. Before I get out of here today, there's some big news to share. I'm excited to be partnering again with Autograph, a fandom company co-founded by Michigan hero, Tom Brady. They're amazing at autograph. It's now about all Michigan fans to give his die hardwell ring fans like you a one stop shop for your Michigan fandom. Autograph has all the best Michigan fan content in one place and awards you for all the things you're already doing as a fan, like listening to this podcast. Find exclusive content from passing current players plus all the true voices of Michigan fandom on autograph, score a one swag and rewards just for proving your fandom. And oh, yeah, get ticket to the big house with no fees. That's right. Autograph covers your ticket fees so you can witness even more unforgettable moments, download the autograph app in the app store or Google Play Store today for free and use referral code and brew. That's referral code and brew the autograph app where your Michigan fandom lives. Thanks again for listening. This has been Trevor Woods from the Block M podcast. You can follow me on Twitter at Woods football and we'll be talking to you guys again very soon. Take care, Michigan fans. [BLANK_AUDIO]