Wolverine TV podcast: Michigan basketball win over Rutgers, matchup with Illinois, spring football and more

TheWolverine.com’s Chris Balas, Anthony Broome and Clayton Sayfie discuss Michigan Wolverines basketball’s 71-62 win over Rutgers Wednesday night, the upcoming matchup with Illinois and the road ahead, as well as spring football storylines — quarterback battle, offensive line, defensive system — and more.

Many are wondering how Michigan football will replace so much production on the defensive side of the ball, with seven starters from last year’s team no longer on the squad. But Broome brought up a point that not many have considered to this point during this offseason — that Michigan was in a similar spot a year ago at this time but it all worked out.

“If you really think about it — and maybe we don’t have the answer to this right now — but does this defense have more questions going into this year than last year’s defense did?” Broome asked. “We didn’t think that … David Ojabo was just a guy, and Aidan Hutchinson was like, OK, that’s probably a seven to 10 sack guy who’s probably a first-round pick.

“It’s too early, but I somehow feel like not too worried about this defense. They’re going to take a step back because they surpassed expectations, but I don’t know that they have more question marks. So we’ll see about that.”

An aspect of Michigan football that not many are talking about is the special teams. The Wolverines got kicker Jake Moody and Brad Robbins back for a fifth and sixth year, respectively, which goes a long way towards the team’s success. Sayfie recalled a quote from head coach Jim Harbaugh that displays how important the kicking game is, especially.

“Jim Harbaugh has said before that to win a championship, you need a great quarterback, a good defense and a good kicker, OR a good quarterback, a great defense and a good kicker,” Sayfie said. “So the kicker is the constant.”

For more Michigan football and basketball talk, watch or listen to the podcast below.

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