Former Michigan safety Marcus Ray joins senior editor John Borton on the podcast, talking about the Wolverines and Gators.
Ray touches on issues specific to an opener, and how the momentum may have swung to the Michigan sideline with all of Florida's issues.
Here's what he had to say.
Highlights from the podcast include Ray on…
• Michigan's "young" team: "I think this team is young, but it's not inexperienced. They are two different terms. When a team is young, it's what the roster says, their year in school. This team has some guys who played a lot of football last year, and since they've been here. They're not inexperienced.
"Any time you go into a week-one game, it doesn't matter if you're a veteran team or a younger team, there are things like penalties and turnovers, alignments, assignments, missed tackles … there are a lot of things coaches want to see from an execution perspective. That's always a worry — turnovers, lining up right on special teams, just first-game jitters and getting some of the cobwebs off.
"Coaches also worry about guys not responding when the lights turn on for real. You've got players in practice who are All-Americans, then they're not the same guy. Those are some of the concerns for Michigan and Florida."
• Too high expectations for freshmen wideouts Tarik Black and Donovan Peoples-Jones: "Those young players are going to show some flashes tomorrow against Florida, but I can't say I expect them to come out and dominate. It's college football. Just because you're a high school All-American and you're super athletic, there are some nuances you need to learn at the college position, going against different corners, different schemes every game. There is going to be a learning curve for those young players.
"I think Black and DPJ are going to make some plays, but I'm not expecting them to come out and be world beaters and be Dave Terrell on the first day on the job. It took Dave two years to bust out and be who he was. It took Braylon [Edwards] about a year and a half to figure out who he was as a wide receiver.
"With some of these young wide receivers, it may be the same way. They're in a system where it's not pass first, so they're not going to get a ton of opportunities. They're going to need to learn how to block, learn how to read different coverages, know what what routes to run. They may drop a few.
"I do think they'll play well, but they are freshmen. This isn't basketball, where the Fab Five came in and started and went to the national title [game]."
• Michigan's ability to run the ball and passing game coordinator Pep Hamilton's influence on the offense: "Michigan has the capability in the backfield to run the ball, with [fifth-year senior tailback Ty] Isaac and [sophomore tailback] Chris Evans. I don't know if they'll be able to run the ball against Florida. Florida's front seven is pretty athletic.
"Iim [Harbaugh] and [offensive coordinator Tim] Drevno and [tackles and tight ends coach Greg] Frey should be able to scheme Florida a little bit in the run game. Jim has an uncanny knack for what's called splitting gaps. That means he finds a way to get one more blocker at the point of attack than you…
"Pep Hamilton is going to be a great addition. He'll probably be a guy who will help Michigan adjust and see what needs to be done to move the ball if they can't run. If Michigan faces press coverage, that nullifies the short passing game. And Michigan is not a spread offense.
"Now, we haven't seen them, and we don't know how Michigan will come out and line up. But it's hard to execute a short passing game when you have tight ends and fullbacks and a pro-style offense in the game, because technically, you only have two threats. If you roll up and double-team those guys, you've got to work linebackers underneath with the tight ends.
"I'm not sure if the short passing game is going to be an option to substitute for the run, but I do think there will be a screen, a draw, and a boot package in, just in case Michigan is having trouble blocking Florida."
• Florida's personnel issues affecting the outlook on this game: "When I saw this game on the schedule before the season, I gave the edge to Florida, because it felt like they had an ax to grind with Michigan. It was a payback game.
"[Transfer quarterback] Malik Zaire coming in, I thought he might have some affect on the game as well. But mostly, it was because the game wasn't being played at Michigan Stadium. I felt like Michigan hasn't bottled up that home elixer and taken it on the road, or whatever you want to call it — eat your spinach like Popeye.
"That was my thought process. Then Florida became a distracted team, lost some guys. I don't know if they're talented enough to truly plug and play in all those positions, or the most impactful, like receiver, lead tackler, all that stuff. I think the advantage goes to Michigan right now from a mental standpoint, going into this game.
"Michigan is not distracted, and it is week one. At the same time, [Florida coach Jim] McElwain and those guys play in an okay SEC East Division. They've won it twice, and maybe he finds a way to rally these troops and make this a game.
"It won't be good for Michigan if they don't win this game, with all the distractions and missing players that Florida has."
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