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Michigan football podcast: The Balas and Skene Show, post-Washington

Chris Balasby: Chris Balas5 hours agoBalas_Wolverine
Michigan Wolverines football quarterback Bryce Underwood. (Photo by Lon Horwedel / TheWolverine.com)
Michigan Wolverines football quarterback Bryce Underwood. (Photo by Lon Horwedel / TheWolverine.com)

Michigan used a big second half to pull away from Washington in a 24-7 win, getting great quarterback play from Bryce Underwood, a career day from running back Jordan Marshall, and outstanding defense to win going away. Left tackle Evan Link‘s injury put a damper on the victory … Blake Frazier replaced him and played relatively well, but the line depth took a hit.

It was an emotional week after the Michigan loss to USC, and Moore admitted they got after each other a bit at Schembechler Hall.

I”n this position, you’ve got to hold everybody accountable and I’ve got to hold myself accountable,” the Michigan coach said. “I hold the coaches accountable, the players accountable, so that’s just part of it. And same thing coaches to players, players to coaches, all those things. That’s just part of football. 

“It’s part of great organizations when you do that. You’ve got to do that. You’ve got to have those conversations. We talk about hardship plus commitment plus trust equals connection, and we wanted to stay connected. I felt like we had some hardships last week. We ask and see everybody that’s committed, and at the end of the day we all have to trust each other. And if we did that, we would end up winning this game and be connected.”

And that’s what happened. Now it’s on to Michigan State, a team that’s reeling. This game is essentially the Spartans’ season, but the Wolverines need it to stay on track. Win the next four and it could set up a winner-take-all game with Ohio State.

“Right now, in terms of the goals, we just need to focus on this next week,” Moore said. “We can’t worry about what’s going to happen or what team’s going to win or what team’s going to lose. We’ve just got to win each game, and it starts with this next one next week.

“That’s a big one. It’s a huge one. We all know the implications. We all know the rivalry; we all know what it’s about, so we’ve got to do everything we can to prepare mentally, physically, emotionally for that game, and then let everything fall where it may.”

Chris Balas and former Michigan offensive lineman Doug Skene break it all down in today’s podcast.