Senior left guard and captain Ben Bredeson joined Jon Jansen on the In The Trenches podcast this morning. Bredeson looked back on the blowout win over rival Notre Dame last week and looked ahead to Maryland and beyond.

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"The rain adds a nice aesthetic to it," Bredeson said. "Nice memory for all the guys and we were just on top of the world."

The rain and wind made for tough conditions against the Fighting Irish.

"You can’t control the weather," he said. "That’s something you just got to fight through no matter what. I feel like with the rain, we ran the ball a little more than normal. Just because throwing the ball in those conditions is tough. We knew, as an offensive line, we were going to have to rely on the run game and felt like we were able to pull through with that.

U-M ran for 303 yards against ND, and it has come to life in recent weeks.

"I feel like, specifically from an offensive line stand point, I feel like once you establish that run game, it slows the pass rush down, those guys are on their heels a little bit," he said. "I feel like you’re able to control the pace more and dictate what the defense is going to do rather than have them dictate our sets if you’re leaning back and passing all the time.

"Obviously, we’re big fans of getting out there early and establishing the run game and I feel like it just sets up the offense very well from there."

Fellow senior offensive lineman, Stephen Spannellis, was seen blocking a ND player all the way down the sideline and almost into the stands, late in the game. Bredeson said it was a great sight, although he missed it live.

“Yeah, I didn’t see it live," Bredeson said. "Full discretion, didn’t see it live. All the sudden you get in the locker room and you just hear the rumors of ‘Did you see Spam’s block?’

"Charles Woodson is tweeting at him. I finally saw the video and it was something out of a movie, he just never stopped. He was able to put the guy so clean right onto his back at the end. It was perfect. It was awesome to see."

The U-M vs. ND rivalry is one that has great moments over the years. Jansen asked Bredeson if there was a moment from the rivalry's most recent chapter that comes to mind for him.

"I don’t think that one’s hit me yet," Bredeson said. "Nothing really sank in until the first-string o-line got pulled and we were able to just sit back and realize that we were just able to put 270 rushing yards at the time, ended with 303.

"It was just a great performance. Feels better when your position group does a great job, too. It puts a cherry on top of the win.

"Being able to be a part of the very historic rivalry, the Michigan Notre Dame game, that’s something that every college football fan pays attention to, no matter where your allegiances lie. Being a part of it two times, winning the game at home under the lights in the rain, you can’t really draw up a better win than that."

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It hasn't just been the run game, but the offense as a whole that has been having much more success lately.

"I think in that second half in Penn State, that was one of the first real times in a game, collectively as an offensive unit, we felt like we were hitting our stride perfectly and running the offense the way it’s supposed to be ran," the senior captain said. "We had flashes of that in spring ball in camp where you start feeling that that’s the way this offense is supposed to be setup.

"We were hitting our reads and everything. I think it started in that second half of the Penn State game and we just carried it on all the way through Notre Dame.

I think we’re just finding our niche, really, finding the way this offense is supposed to be run. Everyone is learning how to do their position the most effective way possible.

"I think we’re all working on the cohesion and we’re getting a lot better with that. We started playing with a swagger, playing with a confidence and if that game was five minutes longer in Penn State, I think we come out there winning, but you can’t look back on that now. You just got to learn from it and move on, and I feel like we bounced back really well this week.

"Something that we work on every single day is our pass protection. It starts with Cesar Ruiz in the middle. I don’t think he’s messed up an identification or a point yet, especially in the last two games.

"Everything has been right where it needs to be. Everybody has been on the same page — offensive line, running backs. Shea [Patterson] knows where his reads need to be and where his hot throws are. Shea is getting the ball out a little faster. That always makes our job a touch easier.

"I feel like the offensive line, the running backs, the quarterbacks, the pass protection has jelled really well the last few weeks. The running backs know what their job is and when things get a little shaky, Shea can make plays, he’s a playmaker. His ability to scramble and throw on the run is a huge asset for us and he’s been able to do that the last few weeks.

Bredeson also says this is the most comfortable the offense has been in the new system, under first-year coordinator Josh Gattis.

"The most comfortable this season," he admitted. "I think it’s something that’s grown every single week and it’s definitely hit its peak this past week against Notre Dame. You can see how this offense is supposed to work. You establish the run game, get the pass game going, get those reads and when everything’s read correctly, those plays are wide open. It’s an exciting offense to be a part of."

"Hassan has been one of those guys, he came in here as an athlete. He bounced around between running back, linebacker, back and forth depending on the week, wherever we needed a guy.

"Lately, in the last few weeks, he’s found his home at running back and he’s made some great strides. I think once he fully dove into that position, he was able to put all his attention to it, and he’s made some great strides. His vision is a lot better, he’s fast, he can make a guy miss, obviously he can jump as you saw in the game, he jumped right over the safety. He’s a very athletic guy and he’s fun to block for."

Jansen asked Bredeson if there's a difference in how he and the offensive line block depending on which back is in the game.

"I think across the line, and I’m sure you can attest to this, you’re just trying to get as much movement as possible," he said. "You do know, though, that with Zach, he’ll lower his shoulder and run a guy over. And with Hassan, he’ll probably make a cut and run around a guy.

"Each of them has their own style and each one works extremely well. They’ve each had their share of 100-yard games so far this year and been doing well.

"Personally, I try to just keep it the same and take my guy as far out of the play as possible and let them cut off the blocks, but their vision has gotten a lot better and I think each one of them is playing to their skill set really well."

"It’s something that you learn as you go on in college football. I feel like when you first come in, you feel like everything has to be perfect and one loss or two losses ruins the season, but our goals are still ahead of us. They’re harder to attain now, but we’re just trying to take it every single week.

"It’s a learned skill to kind of move on and just focus on the next opponent. It’s easy to latch on to old losses, easy to latch on or lose hope or look too far ahead, and it’s a lot harder to stay in the zone every single week.

"That’s something that’s learned and, as an older guy, we’re always trying to bring the younger guys along and see that it’s the right thing to do and the best thing to go about things is to do your job every week and let the chips fall.

Bredeson acknowledged that it can be hard to avoid a letdown after a big win, especially against a rival like ND.

"It starts in practice," he said. "This whole week in practice, it’s just holding each other to a higher standard.

"Like you said, it’s easy to have a letdown after a big game and kind of let your guard down like you’re all hyped up for it.

"Maryland’s a good team. As you saw earlier in the year, they were putting points up on people and shutting people out. They’ve got a good team there. We need to have a good week of practice here going into this week. I feel like we will.

"I think the team’s focus this year has been outstanding and has really bought into the week by week basis. We’ve done a really good job of fixing things from last week and moving on. I think it’s going to be the same thing going into this week against Maryland."

"It’s flown. Absolutely. I’ve tried to latch on to every single moment and milk everything out of the season. This thing goes a lot faster than you planned it to. As a senior, I’ve just been always trying to milk every single thing you can, milk every single drop out of this experience and we’re just looking forward to finishing these last few games the way we want to."

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