Podcast: What to watch for, predictions — Michigan vs. Northwestern

On this episode of The Wolverine Podcast, Clayton Sayfie, Anthony Broome and Chris Balas preview Michigan Wolverines football vs. Northwestern, make predictions for the game and pick college football week 12 games against the spread.

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Here are estimated time stamps for each topic:
(00:00) Intro
(3:51) Michigan vs. Northwestern overview
(11:00) Gametime ad
(12:23) Michigan offense vs. Northwestern defense
(31:31) Michigan defense vs. Northwestern offense
(39:19) BetMGM ad
(39:51) Michigan vs. Northwestern predictions
(43:47) No Man Knows The Future

The hosts started out by discussing what kind of game it could be for Michigan.

“This is a capable team that really hung in at USC, you could argue would’ve, could’ve should’ve beaten Nebraska on the road,” Sayfie said. “Michigan won at Nebraska by three. This is a team that can give Michigan a game.”

“They play hard,” Balas said. “They’re physical. I like their offensive line. I’ve been watching them all year. We watch as many Big Ten games as we can, whether we see them live — not as many, obviously — or we go back and watch some film. They do push some people around up front. They’ve got a capable back who gets yards after contact. They’re physical. I think they’re well-coached. I think they’ve got an identity, though they can’t throw the ball.

“This is the kind of game where — and I’m writing this in the keys to the game as we speak — you really want to match their intensity early, because it seems like it’s going to be a lower scoring game, where big plays probably aren’t going to be the norm and you’re just going to have to grind one out and be that physical type of team. [Michigan head coach] Sherrone Moore said it, he said we’ve already talked about this challenge with our defensive line, with our linebackers, that it’s going to be kind of a manhood game, as one of my buddies likes to call it.

“They’ve got some players. They don’t have the talent that Michigan has, but they play really, really well together. I don’t think it’s going to be a fun game to watch, fellas, if you’re one of those guys that likes a lot of offense and a lot of passing offense, unless maybe Bryce Underwood gets going a little bit and Michigan’s pass blocking improves.”