00:00Rico, it is now time for college football teams to start working out.
00:07Fall camp has started.
00:09Yeah.
00:10And so around these parts, with all due respect to Eastern, Central, Western, and Wayne State,
00:18the focus, of course, is on Michigan and Michigan State.
00:21Both teams have new coaches this year, which means at least on, well, for Michigan,
00:28both sides of the ball, new coordinators.
00:30Michigan State brought back their defensive coordinator, right?
00:32Joe Rossi.
00:33Yeah, Rossi came back.
00:34He came back.
00:35But, you know, Pat Fitzgerald and, you know, Kyle Winningham.
00:38So you have new coaches, same quarterbacks for both squads.
00:44So 248-539-9797.
00:47Just want to ask a simple question.
00:48As we get ready, we're a month away from real games, basically.
00:53What are your realistic?
00:55And I put realistic in capital letters, realistic expectations for your favorite team this season.
01:04248-539-9797.
01:07Well, it's funny because I've been asked this question a ton of like, who do you think, you
01:12know, how many games do you think the state's going to win?
01:15And I've said it over and over and over again.
01:18I have no idea.
01:19Now, Milojojevic, the quarterback coming, he looked good late in the season, Stoney.
01:25But as you know, there was really no pressure.
01:28At that point, you kind of knew the coach was going to be fired.
01:30The quarterback had already been benched and he was playing with house money.
01:34So what happens when you are now the hunted?
01:36What happens when it's now your team and you're not just a substitute teacher?
01:41We're going to find a lot out about him, you know, week one against Toledo.
01:45But really, when they go to Notre Dame on the road, how do you handle going up against
01:49a top five program?
01:51Do you lose your composure or do you rally and you all of a sudden you pull off a big
01:56upset?
01:57Looking at this, I look at what the team was last year and Jonathan Smith, I thought,
02:03mismanaged three games that they could have won.
02:07If Fitzgerald is that much better as a coach, which I think he can, Stoney, my goal is can
02:13you get to six and six?
02:15Can you just get to some meaningless bowl game, but it actually will mean something for
02:21these players because Lord knows they haven't played in a bowl game since I think Kenneth
02:24Walker was there.
02:25So let's say realistically, and it's all hypothetical, let's assume, I know what happens when you
02:32assume that you win your first two games, which is Toledo and Eastern Michigan at home.
02:38Assuming you're going to lose at Notre Dame.
02:39So you need four Big Ten wins to get there.
02:45Let's look at the schedule in detail for the Spartans.
02:48Well, I think Wisconsin's a team on life support.
02:52I think they're about to fire Luke Fickle.
02:54They're on the road.
02:55Some people think they're going to be better this year.
02:57I don't know.
02:57I think I tend to agree with you, but that's a road game.
02:59At home, they have Nebraska, Illinois.
03:03Nebraska is a game that I thought they should have won last year.
03:07Yeah.
03:07They found a way not to.
03:08You get the game at home.
03:10Illinois, they're a lot better, but the funny thing about it, it's going to be Caden Houser,
03:15former MSU quarterback.
03:16Right.
03:16Three former MSU quarterbacks will play in Spartan Stadium, but from Noah Kim, Aiden Childs,
03:21Caden Houser, because then the next week.
03:24Kim's where, Eastern?
03:25Hmm?
03:25Where's Kim?
03:26Kim's Eastern.
03:26Yeah.
03:27So, you got, yes, after Illinois, they have Northwestern comes in with Aiden Childs.
03:33Now, you know that's a game that I think that Fitzgerald is going to put a bounty out.
03:37Oh, my God.
03:38Guys, I'm going to hold your pets hostage.
03:39Lose this game, and Fluffy ain't coming home.
03:42Going up against the Brian Kelly, no, Chip Kelly, offensive coordinator for Northwestern.
03:48And then they go to UCLA, who, you know, that was the game that really screwed up Penn State
03:56last year, and Michigan State as well, right?
03:59UCLA coming in to Spartan Stadium last year, didn't they?
04:02Yeah.
04:02Yeah.
04:03Because they were flailing.
04:05They had just fired their coach.
04:07They had the interim coach, and you just thought that this thing was over.
04:10Right.
04:10And then all of a sudden, what just happened here?
04:13And I think that's when the pressure got on Jonathan Smith.
04:15Right.
04:15It was like, dude, they just fired their coach.
04:18Right.
04:18And now they-
04:19The quarterback was a bum.
04:19Now they have a new coach who comes from the Cignetti tree, because he replaced Cignetti
04:24at James Madison.
04:26Then it's at Michigan.
04:28Your second favorite Big Ten team, Washington, is coming to Spartan Stadium.
04:32And then Oregon, you know, back-to-back home games.
04:36Actually, the Oregon game is a night game.
04:38Fox.
04:39Friday night.
04:39Friday night.
04:40And then they finished the season at Piscataway.
04:43We talked about Rutgers earlier in the week.
04:45So, if they get the four wins out of those, you got to think you're right.
04:51Wisconsin, Northwestern, Rutgers.
04:56Wisconsin, you can get Northwestern.
04:58I think Nebraska's won, and at that point, between Rutgers and UCLA and Illinois, if you
05:06can steal one of those games, I'm thinking that's a good-
05:10And honestly, of the games, Sony, you probably want to win the Rutgers game, because you may
05:16be on a three-game losing streak going into that at Michigan, Washington, Oregon.
05:21Right.
05:22You don't want to limp into the bowl game.
05:24You want, okay, we won our final game.
05:25We made it into the bowl.
05:26But I think that's the bar that I'm setting for Fitzgerald.
05:31That being said, really have no idea.
05:33This is the first time.
05:34I'm at the spring game, and I'm looking at that chart like, wait, who's this guy?
05:39Who's this guy?
05:40Who's that guy?
05:41I mean, the guy that people maybe should get excited about is Cam Edwards, right?
05:47The running back.
05:48He's from Connecticut, and Michigan State has had some success with a former kid.
05:52Carter was from Connecticut, too, right?
05:54When he came to Michigan State, right?
05:56I believe so.
05:56Yeah.
05:57So, they have some success there.
06:00They have, obviously, a ton of new players that you really don't know if they're going
06:04to be good.
06:06Michigan, on the other hand, you know, forgetting that, look, they have, some people say they
06:11have the hardest schedule in the country.
06:14So, realistically, you know, forgetting about the brand and all that stuff, I think if Michigan
06:22can win nine games, that would be a pretty damn good season.
06:25I think if Michigan wins nine games, then Willingham's probably going to be up for Big Ten
06:29Coach of the Year.
06:29I don't have them at nine.
06:31No, I've made like eight.
06:34That's why I said nine would be good.
06:35Eight is probably more realistic.
06:37Week two is going to tell me a lot about this team.
06:39Yep.
06:41Underwood put a lot of pressure on himself saying stupid things over the summer.
06:44But you're going up against Oklahoma, a team that beat you last year.
06:48Can you, you know, come back out here, beat them?
06:51Because if you can beat Oklahoma, then the nine and three at that point is actually obtainable
06:56because you're going to have, well, you've got Indiana at home, but you're at Oregon,
07:03you're at Ohio State.
07:04Those are three games that I think are losses.
07:07Right.
07:08And, you know, you have Michigan State at home, you have Penn State at home.
07:12Penn State, who knows, they've got a new coach.
07:14Now, the Michigan State thing, Stoney, and it goes back to 95, two coaches that had never
07:23coached as a head coach in the game.
07:25Right.
07:27And there was Saban and there was Lloyd Carr.
07:29Because normally, who's ever the rookie to that game loses.
07:33Right.
07:33I think Mel Tucker was the only one that won his first time.
07:37Everybody else, their first time around, loses.
07:40Right.
07:41If Whittingham wants real pressure, lose that game to the Spartans and watch the fans turn
07:46on you.
07:47But, yeah, Penn State, I don't know what Penn State is.
07:51Iowa got good at the end of last year, so I don't know, but it's at Michigan.
07:55So, that helps you as well.
07:57Michigan has their first four games at home.
08:00You've got to hope they're at least going to be three and one.
08:02And then it's at Minnesota, by Penn State and Indiana at home, at Rutgers, Michigan State
08:09at home, at Oregon, and they've closed out with UCLA at home and at Ohio State.
08:14Like I said, I think nine wins would be a good season for them.
08:18I believe eight is probably more realistic.
08:21I'm not going to make our final predictions right now, but that's what I think.
08:26And, you know, we mentioned Cam Edwards for Michigan State.
08:30The guy I really want to look forward to seeing, and I feel bad for Jordan Marshall because
08:36he's going to be the number one running back, but I really want to see how good Saving Heider
08:40is.
08:40Is he going to be, as legit as they say, number one running back in the country last year?
08:44But, there's a history there when Michigan takes the number one running back in the country.
08:48Can you say, Derek, fat green?
08:51Oh, yeah, with the teal turquoise suit.
08:54I remember that.
08:55Yeah.
08:56For me, for Michigan, it's Bryce Hunter.
08:59Oh, I know.
09:00Because you've got to take that next step.
09:03Year one, here's the thing.
09:05You did everything I expected you to do in year one.
09:08The Michigan fan base, and he thought, I'm going to light the world on fire.
09:13Son, nobody walks into college and lights the world on fire.
09:17Trevor Lawrence, that's it.
09:18Right.
09:19One of one.
09:20Most guys need that redshirt gear.
09:23You couldn't redshirt.
09:24They had to play you.
09:25I thought that they did you a disservice.
09:27They did.
09:27You should have redshirted, hit the ground running.
09:30This is the year I'm going to find out if you're legitimate or if you're going to end
09:35up hitting the portal because Michigan's going to run you out of town.
09:37Actually, redshirting probably wouldn't have helped them much because they didn't even have
09:40a quarterback coach there.
09:41Because I don't put a ton.
09:44It's like preseason football.
09:47But what I saw in that spring game was awful.
09:53What is going on here?
09:54And I get it.
09:55The defense knows the plays, but he finished with like, what, 40 yards?
10:01He did not look good.
10:02So hopefully fall camp, we hear decent things, but who knows?
10:052-4-8-5-3-9-97-97.
10:09What is a realistic expectation?
10:12Are there any players you're looking to see?
10:15Units?
10:15I do think Michigan's defense will be pretty good.
10:17And if their offensive line shapes up, they should be able to run the ball because that's
10:22what Winningham does, too.
10:23They're going to run the ball a lot.
10:242-4-8-5-3-9-97-97.
10:27It's the Valenny Show with Rico.
10:28Stoney in for Valenny here on 97.1.
10:30Stoney in for Valenny here on 97.1.
Comments