This time of year, you can count on Michigan Public sports commentator John U. Bacon to talk about college football and the NFL.
But this week, John also gets to talk about something that's far less of a guarantee in the fall: the Detroit Tigers being in the Major League Baseball playoff picture.
Bacon joined Michigan Public Morning Edition host Doug Tribou.
Football this weekend:
Arkansas State at Michigan - Sat., Noon
Prairie View A&M at Michigan State - Sat., 3:30 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Detroit Lions - Sun., 1:00 p.m.
Doug Tribou: The Lions are 1-0 after an overtime win over the L.A. Rams last weekend. They'll host Tampa Bay at Ford Field on Sunday afternoon. What do the Lions need to build on — or improve on — from that first-week win?
John U. Bacon: Well, some first week jitters, for sure, but it was a victory. And in the NFL, Doug, almost all the games are close, so every win is good. Certainly [Lions defensive end] Aidan Hutchinson was the best ranked player by the analytics. He had a great game. So did running back David Montgomery and wide receiver Jameson Williams. That's certainly a good sign. The bad sign is the lowest-ranked player on the analytics was their quarterback Jared Goff. But I stress, he won.
DT: Michigan lost for the first time since December 2022 last weekend. And it wasn't pretty. The Texas Longhorns came to the Big House and left with a 31-12 win over the Wolverines. What went wrong for Michigan?
JUB: This is a short program, right, Doug?
DT: [Laughs] Try to consolidate it.
JUB: I'll see what I can do. The offense was shaky. To be expected. But the defense did not look much better. And that was the big surprise. It's supposed to be a top defense, and that defense seemed to forget how to tackle. That is a problem.
DT: Well, you mentioned the offense. Quarterback Davis Warren completed 22 passes, but he looked off on his timing and placement for a number of those throws. Also threw two interceptions. Should coach Sherrone Moore get junior quarterback Alex Orji into the mix more?
JUB: No question he should, and most analysts are saying that. But I've got to say that Davis Warren did better than expected, frankly. He was 22 for 33 — two-thirds of his passes. Also, Davis Warren is an amazing story. He got leukemia in high school, fought through it, walked on at Michigan, and now he's the starting quarterback. Orji has much better feet than Davis Warren does. So that [could] mix things up this weekend, I'd think.
"The offense was shaky. To be expected. But the defense did not look much better. And that was the big surprise."John U. Bacon on the Wolverines' performance against Texas on Sept. 7
DT: Michigan State is 2-0 on the season and the Spartans will host Prairie View A&M of Texas in East Lansing Saturday. MSU has a very good chance of improving to 3-0. This has been a good start for their new head coach, Jonathan Smith.
JUB: This has been a great start. They were 9.5-point underdogs at Maryland. That's a league game, a Big Ten game and a very solid, gritty win. And it shows that they're playing for their new coach.
DT: Let's turn to some off-field football news. Four former Michigan football players, including Braylon Edwards and Denard Robinson, have filed a $50-million lawsuit against the NCAA and the Big Ten Network.
They say they and other Wolverines who played before 2016 are entitled to compensation for the use of their names, images and likenesses, which current players can now get paid for. What makes that pre-2016 date significant?
JUB: Actually, Doug, that 2016 date is largely arbitrary and made by the NCAA itself, and that's from a previous settlement where they agreed to pay $3 billion — that's with a "b" — dollars to former and current college athletes who could not get NIL [money] going back to 2016. So we're in the vast territory of nobody knows what's going to happen next. And this is the Pandora's box that is now open.
DT: The Tigers have a winning record, but the bigger news is that they're now playing well enough to be in the playoff hunt. Basically, for the Tigers to get a wild card spot, they need to keep winning, and they need Kansas City and Minnesota to do some more losing.
You've written about leadership and coaching, and I wonder what the keys are for a team that's suddenly in a pressure situation when the expectations really were much lower, even just a few weeks ago.
JUB: I would say two things. One, it's always more fun to attack the castle than to defend the castle. And right now, Detroit is attacking the castle. Enjoy that experience.
Second of all, in baseball, you see the scores of your opponents on the scoreboard all night long. Wherever Kansas City's playing or Minnesota is playing, you'll see that. Don't look up. It doesn't help you.
You have to win your game. You can only control your game. Just do your job. And they've got a shot.
Editor's note: Quotes in this article have been edited for length and clarity. You can hear the full interview near the top of this page.
The University of Michigan holds Michigan Public's broadcast license.
