Get Right. Eat Bacon. Beat the Chips.

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FULLER / MGOBLOG

It’s easy to say “where was that the last two weeks?” but…

WHERE WAS THAT THE LAST TWO WEEKS?!?!

It was everything you imagined. A stat line you haven’t seen since Denard. Leading rusher. Leading passer. Bryce did what you thought he’d do in week one against New Mexico, and what Oklahoma would have to plan for in week 2. But we slow played it for whatever reason and paid for it. It’s on paper now. And Matt Rhule is going to have to think about it all week.

Michigan dominated every aspect of Saturday’s game, and minus a “should we be worried?” missed field goal by Zvada, it seemed pretty much perfect. Interim Coach Biff, centrally casted football coach guy, had to use super hero comparison twice in the postgame. And so Bryce might be Batman, and Barham has super hero DNA. Who are we to argue? Michigan dispatches Central Michigan 63-3 and has a whole new bag of tricks heading in to Lincoln.

The UMTailgate house hosted its second soiree, this time Bacon-filled, and man those noon kicks come quick. But we ate, drank, and raised a glass in memoriam of our friend John Dogan. Loved the post-game hang (parking lot owner said we could stay as long as we wanted :) ) and thanks again to those who assisted with the cleanup. Three weeks until The German and a visit from the Badgers. Fingers crossed for a 330 kick!

Way Back When-sday Remembers the UMTailgate Legend John Dogan

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Elder statesman. UMTailgate Hall of Famer. Legend. We learned yesterday that our wonderful friend John Dogan has passed away at 92 years young. He and his wife Sue graced the tailgate with their presence from the very beginning. He will be missed.

All the Photos from the 2025 Oklahoma Experience

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Got Punched by the Gift Horse: Oklahoma 24, Michigan 13

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It made no sense to anyone watching that this was a one score game in the 4th quarter. Those that hung on to hope were the heart-first fans, not the football ones. Michigan didn’t look particularly good in any aspect of Saturday’s affair, but most troubling was that they were seemingly less motivated and less tough. The line of scrimmage was dominated by the Sooners. Tackles were broken. Michigan players couldn’t get off of blocks on defense, and couldn’t keep consistent blocks on offense. Bryce had very little time to make decisions, and nothing was done to mitigate that with the gameplay. While these programs seemed to be a mirror image of each other, Oklahoma did a better job of playing to their strengths (or away from their weaknesses) and took chances with their stars and with their play calling. They succeeded. At this snapshot in time, Oklahoma has built a better Michigan than Michigan. Some of that is a product of more seasoned upperclassmen that have been in that system, some of that is a product of a significantly less conservative offensive approach, and some of that is Sooner players just straight whipped Michigan’s ass. if you take away a 75-yard breakaway scamper (by the best offseason pickup RB in the country) and the countless unforced gifts Oklahoma provided, and this game was a blowout.

Bryce didn’t look great, nor did his sideline skirmish with Haynes, but with an already suspect O-Line that lost its (lone?) anchor to injury early and a gameplan that continued to force the issue as if Joe Moore was in the building, its hard to put blame on the dude who just bought his first pack of cigs last week. The troubling part is that things felt very 2024. And while we all got warm fuzzies about how 2024 ended, I’m not going to be very satisfied if there are four more losses before we “get it figured out.”

So where does Michigan go from here? A get-right game with Central is followed by a second legacy Big-12 matchup on the road, this time against a super motivated Nebraska team with a rich home tradition and a coach that thought sign stealing made a difference. I’d call it a recipe for an upset, but I’m not sure Michigan will be favored going in to that one. Anyway, that will be a test. One that Michigan will need to pass to avoid mass googling of the 2026 schedule. And to pass that test, we are going to need to popsicle stick and chewing gum the O-Line into something better or game plan around it…like let Bryce throw downfield…or let Bryce run…or do something football-coachy that I don’t even understand but that serves us well. Moving forward, a one-game-at-a-time approach is probably the ticket, so lets Eat Bacon and whip the Chips this Saturday before we decide how to defend Dylan Raiola.

A moment about the Oklahoma fan base - let me add to the pile of visitors that was absolutely charmed by the polite ladies and gentlemen of Norman. A cavalcade of well dressed, hand-shaking, well-wishing folks central casted from the people that brought you Yellowstone (the fancy city episodes). An absolute joy to be around all day and even in the stadium. An older fella next to me would exclaim “That call is bullshit” or “That was holding!” and follow it up with a calm turn and a “Where you from?” and “How was the flight?” Looking forward to hosting them next year.

Go Blue

Pictures from the 2025 Season Opening Luau Tailgate

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Thanks to all that forwarded me these amazing pics!