In the Trenches 602 - Oklahoma Preview

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1:04We're closing in on another Michigan game day. Now let's get you set for Saturday's matchup with our keys to the game edition of In the Trenches, presented by Meyer, presenting sponsor of the 2026 Michigan football season and crowds the border of hundreds of local sports teams across the Midwest. Now here's John Chanson. Coaches preach that the biggest improvement, especially in college football, is from week one to week two. Plenty for this Michigan football team to work on. We'll see what some of those improvements are. And we'll get to our keys in just a moment. But start or end your college game day experience at one of the great Main Street Vets your restaurant group locations where they craft sophisticated yet tempting culinary dishes and provide a dining experience that is both vibrant and inviting. This is what they call exemplified excellence. Visit real seafood company for the freshest fish and seafood. Paleo for authentic Italian or the chop house for premium,

2:05US DA prime stakes and chops, whatever the craving, these and our locations are ready to satisfy your every desire. They offer full bars, extensive wine, this craft cocktails and delectable desserts and a cigar bar located at the chop house at Main Street Ventures restaurant group. They strive to offer unmatched hospitality to every single guest at every single location. Because to them, you're not just a customer, you're their most valued guest. Visit Main Street Ventures Inc.com to select your culinary destination and make a reservation, come hungry and ready for an unforgettable experience. Offense. I'm not going to focus a lot on Oklahoma. We know that there is going to be a jump up and talent, jump up in speed, jump up in athleticism, going from week one to week two, what this week needs to focus on is getting back to the basics. Offense number one, get lined up,

3:07listen to the call and pay attention to details. If you're on the ball off the ball, left, right, if you're in the slot, you've got to pay attention to all those details, have some awareness for those that are lined up around you and quarterback. You know what the formation is supposed to be. Take a look out there and, hey, you're not in the huddle long and a lot of times you're getting set up at the line of scrimmage. Take a look, go through your checks and make sure that everyone is where they're supposed to be. If one of the receivers is supposed to be on the ball, just a nice little reminder, move up on the ball and receivers. The referee can be your friend. Look out there, they'll tell you, they'll give you a nod. Yeah, you're on the ball, know you're off, and they'll give you a thumbs up. Use them as a reference point and offensive line. Get up to the ball, hustle up there and get set. Everything is going to get set after you are. So you've got to make sure that you start the play with a chance for success.

4:08No pre snap penalties. We didn't have, you know, hey, you're not jumping off sides. That's a positive, but we can't have drive killing penalties. Number two, offensive line. To get the run game going, you've got to get onto the linebackers. How do we do that, you ask? Well, it's not that difficult. Here's what you have to do. You've got to use good footwork. That will be dictated by what the play is. You should know coming to line of scrimmage. What type of footwork I'm going to use. Now it may adjust with where the defense lines up. And you've got to use good footwork to put yourself in a position that if you're having a double team, and it appears at the snap of the ball, that you are the one that's going to come off on the linebacker. Most first and foremost, you have to get movement on that defensive line. Get in there, hip to hip, shoulder to shoulder. Drive that defensive line, and off the ball, strain, get them off the ball. But keep that off hand out of the block. You don't have to have four hands to for each guy on the block.

5:11It should be two hands. One with, you know, if I'm the right tackle, I'm working with the tight end. It is right hand on the block, his left hand. And then if that linebacker presents himself to me, now all of a sudden, I can come off because I'm not engaged too much with that down line. It's the same thing for guards, centers. You've got to make sure that you're free so that you can come off on that linebacker. And when you do, do your palisolid. Give them a nice lift, raise them up. Hey, whoever's staying on that block, if it's the tight end, now all of a sudden, hey, they could take it over and they could put them on their backside. You get off on that linebacker. Now you have a chance for success to be able to move the ball on the ground. You gotta get movement up front and you've got to be able to get to the linebacker. There's number three, the quarterback. Get to your second and third options. Hey, if the first one's there, and you should know pre-snap if he's gonna be there or not, now all of a sudden, hey, get the ball out to him, get the ball out of your hands and let's move on to the next play.

6:12But don't predetermined where the ball is going. Don't stare down your receivers. It move the safeties and the defense with your eyes. You may know where you wanna go to the ball, but that's the beautiful thing. You know the play, they don't, don't telegraph it. So make sure that you're using your eyes to your advantage, using your body to your advantage. And if that first read's not there, hey, bump over to second, bump over to the third. Protection has to allow him to do that, but against a Bret Vennibles defense, hey, this defense is gonna lie to you. They're gonna tell you a lot of things pre-snap. That's not true after the ball is snapped. So you've gotta make sure that you are, you have a heightened sense of awareness and go through the keys and the tells that you've learned throughout watching film, throughout practice, trust what the coaches are telling you and get the ball down feeling. Defense. Number one, turnovers. You must get the ball out and whether that ball is getting punched out, knocked out, torn out, get it on the ground,

7:12recover it if it's in the air. Hey, we were in position to get an interception. We just didn't complete the process of the entire play. Got flagged for a penalty, but if you're gonna do all the hard work of being in position, then finish the play with the ball in your hand. So we've got to create turnovers, more opportunities for the offense and for the opponents. This week it's Oklahoma, get them out of their rhythm, get them questioning what they're doing. Get out, sets in. You've got to find ways to turn the ball over. You've got to get sudden change situations. It is a game changer for everyone. And the play is made on defense, but now all of a sudden offense is fired up. Maybe they go out there and they get points on the board, especially teams fired up. They make something big happen. It's a snowball effect. Be the one that gets the ball rolling. Number two, gap integrity. Know where you fit in and then get in. Defensive line and linebackers. All right. We talk about block and movement offensively. If you are moving as a defense

8:12and hey, I'm starting into big gap as a defensive tackle, but I know I'm going to the A, make sure you're on the same page with your linebackers so that they know where to fit in. Don't give them any false reads. Make sure you go, you, you fill fill your one, one, 11th so that the reads, there's nothing that is left to guesswork. You can't have two guys in a gap because I guarantee you in this, against this offense, whether it's John Matier, one of the backs, one of the receivers because they like to hand them the ball as well, they're going to make you pay if you make a mistake. So minimize the mistakes. Know where you get you, where you fit in and get there. And number three, discipline, discipline, discipline. You had a nice game against Western Michigan to be able to see what it looks like to have a quarterback that's going to run the football. And they did exactly what Oklahoma did last year. If they had to get two yards, they got two and a half. They had to get four yards, they got four and a half. That's what it felt like last year with John Matier operating in this offense.

9:12And that's what they want to be yet again. Now, hey, a little bit different because they do have the ability to go down field. So you got to be disciplined as a corner, as a safety, anybody in the, in the secondary, make sure you understand what your reads are. And if don't drop a receiver because you think you handed the ball off, it leads to big plays. You got to make sure you're disciplined. And on defense, that quarterback has the ball, but you've got the running back. Make sure you understand that, hey, I can't crash down if my responsibility is the running back. I got to make, I got to make certain running back doesn't have the ball. And now it's about pursuit. So be disciplined. There's going to be a lot of distractions, a lot of bells and whistles in this offense, a lot of motions, a lot of, a lot of people moving around pre-snap, but you know what your assignment is and make sure that you do what you're supposed to do. Special teams. Last week we talked about consistency.

10:12And a lot of that comes with just making good decisions when to catch the ball, when to run, when to fair catch, when to let it bounce. Those things are predetermined. Some of it on kick returns. We talked to Coach Wittingham earlier in the week. Some, you know, it depends on how deep you are in the end zone. Some of it will depend on the score of the game. If they want you to try and make a play, they will communicate that clearly with you but make good decisions. We can't have the ball on the ground at any point, but especially on special teams. Number two, pursuit. This is a team last week that took one to the house in the punt return game. They are extremely dangerous in the return game. They do a nice job of setting up their returns. They do a nice job of getting to the wall, setting the wall and getting behind it and going to the house. We've seen it already. It's on film. So you must make sure that you are in good pursuit. And also in that, when you are before they even receive the ball,

11:13don't get stacked up. Well, what does that mean? You have to stay in your lanes. You shouldn't be following somebody down with the same color jersey as you. If you are, you're wrong. Make sure you bump over, get in your lane. Don't leave any gaps or holes in the coverage. Number three, field position. This is going to be a tough game. It's going to be a fight from start to finish. Every yard is going to matter against Oklahoma, field position. So if you're on the punt team, nice job last week of forcing the fair catches of, hey, some of it's hang time, some of it's location of where the punter kicks the ball, but make sure that pursuit gunners get down field. Make that return man make a decision early that they're going to fair catch it. Same thing in the kick cover team. You've got to make sure that you get down field and if they're going to bring it out and trust me, they got the athletes to do it. So make sure you get down field and don't let them even get to the 25 and give yourself a chance at good field position

12:15and return game. It's exactly the opposite. Pick up a first down, get some yardage. So it's less for the offense, less work that the offense has to do. Every yard is going to matter against Oklahoma. Insurance isn't one size fits all. That's why customers have enjoyed Progressive's name your price tool for years now. With the name your price tool, you tell them what you want to pay and they'll show you options that fit your budget. So whether you're picking out your first policy or just looking for something that works better for you and your family, they make it easy to see your options. Visit progressive.com, find a rate that works for you with the name your price tool. Progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates, price and coverage match limited by state law. Ever wonder who's out there making the world go round? It's truckers. Who unites baristas with coffee beans? Truckers. Who unites dogs with their favorite shoe toy? Truckers. That's why Progressive offers truckers even more protection with cargo plus coverage to keep truckers moving right along.

13:16Quote truck insurance today in as little as eight minutes at progressivecomershell.com. Progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates, coverage subject to policy terms, limits and conditions, not yet available in California, New York and Virginia. Now it's time for John's locker room speech. When this game kicks off at 12, 14 noon in the big house, the only thing that you need to be thinking about is not what happened last year, not what happened last week, not what happened Sunday through Friday. It's all focused on what you are doing today to win for Michigan. It's about discipline. It's about making sure that all the details are taken care of. And that happens in the Sunday through Friday that you're watching film, that you're getting amped up, that you're getting prepared and you are taking what you see on film to the practice field. And then you got to take what you're doing on the practice field to the game field. No, there's no question that this is a talented Michigan football team.

14:20Now it's a matter of execution. Coaches are going to put you in the right position. They're going to give you the right place. They want you to be successful. Now it's a matter of going out there and performing. This is the next opportunity for you to determine what this Michigan football team is going to be. Is this going to be a team with an identity that is physical, that is tough, that is resilient. And that's what it's going to take coming out of what we had last week, not a perfect performance, not even close, but it's not about perfection. You came away with the win. And now it's about continuing to get better. Show improvement, go out there, be the more physical team, be the team that runs the ball better, be the team that makes the least amount of mistakes. And if you do that, you're going to have a chance to win in the fourth quarter. And then it's about who's going to step up to make plays in every three phases, offense, defense, special teams. We need players to go out there and make plays. It happened last week. JJ Buchanan called upon to do something special

15:23and he rose to the occasion. Who's it going to be this week? Make it be you. Here we go. Go Blue. Thanks for listening to this edition of In the Tretches with John Janssen, presented by Meyer, presenting sponsor of the 2026 Michigan football season and proud supporter of hundreds of local sports teams across the Midwest. In the Tretches is part of our Michigan Athletics podcast network, M. Go Blue Podcasts. The preceding is a lear field presentation of the Michigan Sports Network. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home and auto policies. Try it at Progressive.com. Progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates potential savings will vary, not available in all states.