December 30, 2025 • 44 mins
We’re back from our one-week hiatus to get you ready for Ohio State against Miami in the Cotton Bowl Classic. The Buckeyes and Hurricanes figure to be one of the better matchups in the quarterfinals, and it should be an interesting game.
Before we get into our preview, we discuss the latest Ohio State players to have their black helmet stripes removed. Practices between the end of the regular season and the bowls is always vital, and so it was for linebacker Eli Lee and tight end Brody Lennon, who both became “official” Buckeyes just two days before Christmas. That’s a pretty cool gift from Santa.
Following our OSU camp news, we dive into Michigan’s hiring of former Utah coach Kyle Whittingham. As far as trying to erase the stench of the scandal-filled Jim Harbaugh and Sherrone Moore years, that school up north could hardly have found a better candidate to lead the football team in the right way. Whittingham’s teams are always hard-nosed, physical teams that run the ball and play sound defense. That said, will he be a good fit in the midwest? He hasn’t exactly moved around as a head coach, so it will be interesting to see how he adapts to Ann Arbor (and how the Wolverines adapt to him). Urban Meyer now has branches of his coaching tree on both sides of the greatest rivalry in college football.
Finally, we go into a lengthy discussion of the Miami Hurricanes, who will present some challenges for Ohio State, especially when the Buckeyes have the ball. Indiana sacked Julian Sayin five times, and the Hurricanes’ strength is on the defensive line, so the slobs up front for Ohio State will have their work cut out for them.
We talked briefly about Miami’s win at Texas A&M, broke down many of the key players Buckeye fans should watch out for, and discussed the critical matchups. We also provide our Ohio State player picks to click and tried our hand at predicting the final score of the Cotton Bowl.
We’ll be back next week to see how we — and the Buckeyes — made out.
We would love to hear from you, so please reach out with your feedback and questions below in the comments section or send us an email at SilverBulletsPod@gmail.com Any questions directed toward us will be answered on our next show.
Be sure to subscribe, rate, review, share, and follow the show over on Twitter at @SilvrBulletsPod.
As always, thanks for listening!
0:20 - Buckeye black stripe removals and Michigan has a new coach.
15:15 - Our lengthy look ahead to Wednesday night’s showdown with Miami in the Cotton Bowl
Before we get into our preview, we discuss the latest Ohio State players to have their black helmet stripes removed. Practices between the end of the regular season and the bowls is always vital, and so it was for linebacker Eli Lee and tight end Brody Lennon, who both became “official” Buckeyes just two days before Christmas. That’s a pretty cool gift from Santa.
Following our OSU camp news, we dive into Michigan’s hiring of former Utah coach Kyle Whittingham. As far as trying to erase the stench of the scandal-filled Jim Harbaugh and Sherrone Moore years, that school up north could hardly have found a better candidate to lead the football team in the right way. Whittingham’s teams are always hard-nosed, physical teams that run the ball and play sound defense. That said, will he be a good fit in the midwest? He hasn’t exactly moved around as a head coach, so it will be interesting to see how he adapts to Ann Arbor (and how the Wolverines adapt to him). Urban Meyer now has branches of his coaching tree on both sides of the greatest rivalry in college football.
Finally, we go into a lengthy discussion of the Miami Hurricanes, who will present some challenges for Ohio State, especially when the Buckeyes have the ball. Indiana sacked Julian Sayin five times, and the Hurricanes’ strength is on the defensive line, so the slobs up front for Ohio State will have their work cut out for them.
We talked briefly about Miami’s win at Texas A&M, broke down many of the key players Buckeye fans should watch out for, and discussed the critical matchups. We also provide our Ohio State player picks to click and tried our hand at predicting the final score of the Cotton Bowl.
We’ll be back next week to see how we — and the Buckeyes — made out.
We would love to hear from you, so please reach out with your feedback and questions below in the comments section or send us an email at SilverBulletsPod@gmail.com Any questions directed toward us will be answered on our next show.
Be sure to subscribe, rate, review, share, and follow the show over on Twitter at @SilvrBulletsPod.
As always, thanks for listening!
0:20 - Buckeye black stripe removals and Michigan has a new coach.
15:15 - Our lengthy look ahead to Wednesday night’s showdown with Miami in the Cotton Bowl
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Looking everybody at It's time for another episode of the
Silver Bullets podcast. I'm Michael Citraw.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
And I'm Chipmanick Chip, I hope you and.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Yours had a fantastic Christmas and Festivus holiday. I know
you celebrate the feats of strength and the airing of
the grievances every year. I had a good one as well.
I got to go on the road see family up
in North Carolina for a few days. So everything's good.
We had a good refreshing week off from the podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Yeah, happy to hear that you had a wonderful holiday season.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Yeah, and here we are. We got to get back
to work because the Buckeyes on New Year's Eve will
be taking on the Miami Hurricanes. I'm sure you probably
got a chance to watch at least some of the
Texas A and m Miami game. It was a very
low scoring, defensive struggle of a game. To some degree,
(01:10):
the win had a lot of effect on the game,
but in the end, just a really poor showing from
Texas A and M's quarterback. Really, to me was the
difference in that game.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
I think you hit it right on the head.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
I think it was more of Texas and and not
really doing much offensively. Not to take anything away from
Miami because obviously they're a very talented team, but yeah,
I definitely I did watch it, and I'm happy to see,
you know, how a high state matches up with Miami
in a few days.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Yeah, it'll be exciting, and we'll get into our preview
a little bit later. Why don't we start chip with
some news, some Ohio state news, and it's minor, but
you and I would like to celebrate the removals of
the black stripes. I think we missed a few in
November early December, but the latest Bucky to have their
stripes removed got an early Christmas present on December twenty third,
(02:04):
as linebacker Eli Lee and tight end Brody Lennon had
their black stripes removed. And congratulations to those young men.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Yeah, they both red shirted.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
I remember seeing them very sparingly way back in the
Grambling game, which seemed like almost everybody if you were
going to be playing that, you know, as a true freshman,
that was going to be your opportunity to do it.
But yeah, congratulations to them both and looking forward to
how they contributed twenty twenty six and beyond.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Yeah, Brody Lennon might be the most tight end name ever.
I would agree, Yeah, very very tight end oriented name.
All right. Yeah, I think we missed Carter Lowe on December,
third offensive tackle, Justin Terry another offensive tackle, red shirt
freshman back on November nineteenth, and then also earlier in November,
(02:57):
there was a Dorian Williams wide receiver, and Glory and
goth All of those players also have lost their their
black stripes. So that takes us all the way back
to Isaiah West in October. So I think we're caught up.
I think you're right, all right, Chip, big news from
that school up north this week as Kyle Whittingham from
(03:20):
Utah has taken that job. And you know, it raised
a lot of eyebrows when Utah announced that Kyle Whittingham
was going to be stepping down as head coach. I mean,
he's not super old, but you know, the worry when
I ever see a coach like that who's kind of
an institution step down, you worry, you know, is there
health okay? But apparently it help's okay because now he
(03:42):
is going to be Michigan's head coach. Everybody is largely
around the college football world and pretty much unanimously calling
this a home run higher by the University of Michigan.
And you know, it's of course, it seems on the
surface to be just that, but you never know what
it's going to be. You never know how a coach
(04:04):
is going to come in and adopt or adapt, I
should say, to the to the new school. I mean,
we also saw everybody lauding the Jonathan Smith higher at
Michigan State, and we saw how that went.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Yeah, I do think that this is a home run
hire when you consider the fact that, you know, the circumstances,
we are still weeks away from finding out the full
scope of what happened with shirl and Moore, you know
the I mean, he's facing serious felony charges, you know,
for his his actions. You know, following is firing and
(04:41):
the investigation into the athletic department has concluded. But I'm
of the belief that Kyle Winningham, I mean, he's just
he's just a really good football coach. I mean, in
terms of I had the opportunity earlier in the day
on the Big ten Network to watch his press conference.
One of the things that kind of impressed me is
that he said something along the lines of when you
(05:04):
come here, you know it's it's to change you. You
are not going to change us, meaning that you know,
his his philosophy he very much. Which I think bodes
well for Michigan is that he is that that that
it's going to be a very intensive, defensive type a squad.
(05:26):
You know, his his teams at Utah were always very physical.
So running the ball, good defense, you know, it sounds familiar, right,
So I think it's not going to be that drastic
of a of a of a change for him. Now
what's going to be interesting is that, you know, we're
recording this a few days before the transfer portal opens,
so everyone's wondering, Okay, well, he made an abundantly clear
(05:50):
about retaining players, which which kind of speaks why Michigan
they couldn't wait. Even though I was kind of thinking
like maybe Pogi was going to be the guy. Biff
Pogi the interim was going to be the because they
were striking out.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
It just was fortunate for them that Kyle Winningham was available.
I mean, think about it.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
They don't have to pay a buyout for Sharon Moore
because they fired him for cause, they don't have to
pay a buyout for Kyle Winningham because he resigned from Utah.
I mean, they and they've got a really good Hall
of Fame caliber coach. So it'll just be interesting to
see as the days and weeks progress, which players decided
to stay, which players decide to lead, which coaches are retained,
(06:28):
because that's certainly going to be something to keep an
eye on. But I think Michigan, I think they did
a really good job getting a really good coach.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Yeah, I'm not skeptical of him succeeding there. I just
I always I'm a little bit leery of, you know,
anointing anyone in any given situation. It's just like, okay, well,
we'll see how it works out. It seems on the
surface to be a good move. We'll see how it goes.
Ord Manuel still has a job, which is surprising to me.
(06:56):
And you never kind of you kind of always want
to see what's going to happen if there is a
change at AD because the Ads like to hire their
own guy. They don't like to inherit people. So we'll
see how it all works out. But they had to
pull the trigger on that, and they did, and you know,
like I said, it does look like it's a good thing.
(07:17):
And the main thing for Michigan that it needs to
be is it needs to be a situation where they're
bringing someone in and saying enough with the scandals, no
more scandals. Kyle Whittingham is that kind of guy, or
at least he I don't know him personally, seems to
be that kind of guy, and I think that's maybe
(07:39):
the most important part of this hiring.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
I would completely agree with you.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
I think Kyle Whittingham, his reputation is impeccable. You know,
I didn't know this until listening to him, but he,
I mean, not only has been the head coach at
Utah for you know, twenty some years, he was a
former player at BYU, which kind of and this is
not to imply that people that go to BYU are
(08:04):
you know, you know, completely, you know, without fault, but
it's just that you know, there's pretty you usually the
stereotypical thing is that at b YU there's some pretty
strict codes associated with going to school there. So my
point being is that you never heard anything about any
kind of you know, improprieties while kaya Whittingham was the
(08:26):
head coach at Utah. What I found humorous was when
they brought up the topic of coaches. He said something
along the lines of, you know how he consulted with
urban Meyer about this, and he said, I'm not sure
if that's considered like a four letter word in this room,
but I mean, that's the thing is that urban Meyer
(08:49):
was the head coach at Utah before he went to Florida.
Kyle Winningham succeeded him, has done a tremendous job. So
let's that's again.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
You know, I completely understand where you're coming from. You know.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
If anything, I just think the main point that you raised,
which I completely agree with, is that, all right, we
are going to move beyond the Jim Harbaugh Sharon Moore
scandals and we are going.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
To move forward.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
And again we'll wait and see what the results of
the investigation and the trial what turn up. It might
might be kind of sorted. But you know, I think
Kyle Whittingham is the kind of guy that is is
well equipped to kind of help move Michigan forward from
what they've been dealing with. Obviously, the stories that just
continue to come out about Sharon Moore obviously for the
(09:38):
last not just this season, but for the last few years.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Yeah, I don't think once Pogei said what he did
this last week, I don't think they could have named
him the head coach. I mean, he talked about how
he had been, you know, how bad it had been
there in terms of like what had been going on
and how I mean, were one of the leading guys there,
like it was going on under your nose too, So
(10:04):
it doesn't really speak well for your you know, candidacy.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
I guess no, I think you, like I said, I
think you raised a really good point.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Anything.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
My my thing was the clock was ticking, you know,
like all of the you know, all of the hype
about Okay can they continue to wait for Kaitlin to
bor and it's like, guys, he's he's not coming to Michigan.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
It's not that's not going to happen.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
And the fact that Kenny Dillingham, you know, that was
kind of a type dream that just never really gained
any kind of traction.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
From what I understand, Jeff Brown was a name that.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Was making social media rumor circles, but Jeff Brown was
never contacted.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
So the fact, I mean it just really worked out.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
For Michigan in the sense that how Winningham was available.
He has a really good reputation. His teams play the
style of football that traditionally has served the Wolverines well.
Like I said, defensive, running the ball. It just remains
to be seen, all right. Is Bryce Underwood gonna want
to stick around or other players gonna want to stick around?
And you know how you know, what is the coaching
(11:11):
staff going to look like after the bowl game on
New Year's Eve?
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Yeah? Interestingly enough, if things don't work out at Michigan
and Michigan State, just two schools can just swap coaches.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
There you go, there you go, all right.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
As far as Ohio State news, one more bit of news.
We talked after the Big Ten Championship game Chip about
how poorly tegerishable have played in that game. Turns out
he was hurt and playing hurt. And then we heard
after the game how he'd been playing through some stuff
that he apparently wasn't able to play through because he
just was not effective at all and eventually was benched
in that game. But he is out for the rest
(11:49):
of the year, is my understanding. And then so we'll
have to see if the Buckeyes can count on gab
Van Sickle and Joshua Padilla to play right guard and
to do a good job against what is a good
Miami defense.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
Without question, my my belief is it's going to be
gay Van Sickle because josh Badia. Also, part of the
reason why he's been in and out of the lineup
is because of injury issues.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
I don't know how severe they are.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
And you know, let's let's hope that you know, Tiger
Shibola that whatever this injury is, that you know, Ohio
State wins this game against Miami, that you know he's
able to come back and contribute because he's been a
vital part of that offensive line. Granted he's had his
struggles and issues, but it would be nice to see
if he can come back and be a contributor for
the buck Eyes later on this season.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Yeah. Also, we heard that surprisingly like Jeremiah Smith had
an injury that might have kept him out three or
four weeks and managed to only miss one game.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
Yeah, I that was kind of you know, if anything,
you know, props to Jeremiah Smith for playing as well
as he did. You know, Ryan Day was very emphatic
about you have no idea how difficult it was for him,
you know, for him to tough that out up in
ann Arbor. He obviously played extremely well, but by all
(13:06):
indications is that the injury has healed and he's at
one hundred percent health going into this game against the Hurricanes.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
That was the big thing is that he needed that time.
He needed that time frame, and you get three weeks off,
you know, twenty five days between games, you can heal
a lot of bumps and bruises and pulled muscles and
those kinds of things. So it will be interesting to
see a fully weaponized Jeremiah Smith against Miami. And honestly too,
(13:33):
you know some of the slights that you know, he
has had to endure, like not winning the blittani coff
even though he was voted the best the conference's best
wide receiver, he still lost to Blittnikoff to a fellow
wide receiver in the conference.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Yeah, that was.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
Like I said, I think some of those slights are
also coming from Hurricane fans who still have not gotten
over the fact that Jeremiah Smith didn't sign with them,
you know. So, like you said, a fully weaponized Jeremiah
Smith is going to be interesting to see how he
performs against the Hurricanes When the ball gets kicked off.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
Well, some of those Kanes fans haven't gone over the
fact that they did not get away with the past
interference in the end zone.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Yeah tell me, but I actually watched that on It
was ESPN or he has been to this afternoon after
you know, watching some NFL games, I figured, okay, there's
you know the thirty for thirty. You know about that,
you know, so just to kind of get myself in
the right frame of mind for our podcast this evening.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
Well, Buckeye fans know that that game should never gone
to overtime because Ohio State got screwed in regulation before
they punted and gave up a big punt return that
allowed Miami to tie the game exactly. So you know,
if you got screwed, well, we got screwed first, that's
all I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Very true.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
So the correct result happened. That's all that matters.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
I agree.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
All right, Chip, We've got our preview of the Cotton
Bowl game against Miami coming right up, and we'll get
to that right after this. All right, Chip, we are
back and Miami and Ohio State. Now it's this is
(15:18):
not the first meeting since the National Championship meeting these
teams have met a couple of times before. In fact,
Ohio State had went over Miami vacated because they vacated
things back then rather than the way they do it now,
which is like, oh, we can't punish the poor kids.
Yeah whatever. But yeah, they've played twice and they've split
(15:41):
those games.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Yeah, this is the first time since twenty eleven when
Miami actually did defeat Ohio State. That was during the
loop fickle year, you know. But yeah, it's they are
still They are still riping and nursing that wound from
over twenty years ago.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Love it, love it. And you know that's much better
than me having to nurse that wound for over twenty
years of them not calling. Michael Jenkins getting held coming
out of his break and catching the ball in bounds
and then missing both of.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Those, I would agree. Was it Jenkins or was it
Chris Gamble?
Speaker 3 (16:21):
I know, I know, I know that it was a
Whoever it was had a fist full of jersey, that's all.
I mean, it doesn't matter bit. It's like I thought
it was Chris Gamble. I know that Chris Gamble.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
It might have been Gamble because he was.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Also the one involved in the play that I think
it was Jenkins.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
I think it was My memory wants to say it
was number twelve.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
I know that Jenkins was involved in the fourth and fourteen.
You know that that was crucial. I mean like that,
that's you know, but it doesn't really matter.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
It doesn't matter, Like I said, it matters. What all
that matters is the correct result. Happened exactly, and we
don't need to you know, we don't need to put
wrong put right what once went wrong, like they did
on Quantum Leap way back in the day.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
I'll take you. I'll take your word on that one.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Not a Quantum leapwatcher. Huh No, well you you have
a new show to binge. All right, all right, let's
talk about Miami, because Miami is a formidable team and
for a long time they were ranked in the top five.
This year, a lot of a lot of people like
them coming out of the a c C. They did
(17:30):
not they had the couple stumbles, did not make the
ACC title game. But they're probably head and shoulders above
the rest of their league. And just if anybody was
paying attention this weekend, the a CC went one in
three in bowl games on.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Saturday, Yeah, I'll say this much.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
I mean the I think the hype that has been
built up around Miami, uh, yeah, they you know, they
had some impressive wins. But when you when you dig
deeper in to the A C C, I mean, the
reality is like the A C C is just I mean,
you know, for example, one of those one of those
Bowl losses, you know, Clemson, uh to Penn State. Uh
(18:13):
you know, you know, and Clemson certainly did not look
that formidable. Uh you know, So I just I agree
with you. I think the ACC overall is not doing well.
And you know, Miami is probably the best team.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Of the of the group. Yeah. Georgia Tech lost also
on Saturday, and I thought I thought they had a
good chance of beating b YU. But and they they
played pretty well from much of that game. But b
why you pulled it out.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Yeah, I would agree.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
So Miami Chip, if you look at just the rankings, uh,
their defense is far ahead of their offense. The you know,
the Carson Beck gets all the the hype and the
inc famously transferring there, but the offense scoring offense is
number twenty eight in the country. It's their highest rank
in anything. Thirty two points a game, rushing offense is
(19:07):
seventy fifth in the country, although they ran the ball
effectively against Texas A and M, mostly just on a
couple of big plays one hundred and fifty one point
nine yards per game. The passing offense is number thirty
two in the country, two under sixty two and a
half yards per game. In total offense is number thirty five,
four hundred and fourteen in zero point five yards per game.
(19:27):
That's that's pretty good. Four hundred yards a game average
is a good average.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
I would agree.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
You know, and you reference the game against Texas A
and M. You know, one of the players that was
prominently involved in saving that game for the Hurricanes, Mark Fletcher,
you know, had a really big game against Texas A
and M.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
He at one time. We say this all the time
when it comes to recruiting. We don't follow it.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
But he was going to be in Ohio State Buckeye
and changed his mind to become a Miami Hurricane.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
So he is certainly going to be uh one.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Of the key players at Ohio State's defense is going
to need to key on when they when they suit up.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Absolutely. I wrote a wrote a column about you know,
players that Ohio State has to contain last week, and
then he was one of the players coming off a
big game, and of course you got to just know
that Ohio State's defensive coaches every day are like, hey,
this guy didn't want to come here.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
Yeah, well, I think maybe the money might have might
have been a little bit more of the issue, because
that's kind of what the the rumor about Miami with
you know, with recruiting, is that, Okay, all of a sudden,
these guys that were going elsewhere, like to Ohio State,
all of a sudden, you know, they make the decision,
(20:48):
all right, I'm gonna I'm gonna be a hurricane and
and to each your own, you know, if that's what
your motivation is, that then that's fine. But you know,
I just think, you know, it's one of these things
where sooner or later, you know you're gonna have to
kind of you know, there's going.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
To be a reckoning if the results don't don't match up.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
I mean, in this case, Miami did make the College
Football Playoff, but in previous years you and I would
have kind of joke about the fact that Miami players
would be shivering on the sidelines at the Pinstripe Bowl
or you know the you know, the Fenway Bowl or
something like that, and it's like those donors aren't aren't
paying big, big money to going to those kind of
bowl games. This year, the fact that they're in the
(21:28):
playoff maybe you know, it's a good thing for the
Hurricanes now.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
Well, they're where they are now chip because their defense.
They are number four in the country and scoring defense
thirteen points a game, that's almost the exact number that
Indiana's at. They're they're one of the top five defenses
easily in limiting opposing teams scoring rushing defense number seven
(21:54):
in the country eighty seven yards per game on the
ground that they give up passing defense number thirty two
in the country one hundred and ninety fo point five yards,
and total defense they are tenth in the country two
hundred and eighty one point five yards per game. Very formidable.
And the strength of the Miami defense is that front seven,
but primarily the front four. And you can even I
(22:16):
mean that defensive line is legit.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
Oh yeah, you know, I know that we are several
months from from the NFL Draft, but you know, when
it comes to you know, NFL draft productions you know,
a very popular name is that of ruben Bain, you know,
and he is you know, he has like.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
Seven and a half sacks.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
He's one of these guys that you know, Miami when
it comes to the Ohio State offensive line, that that
ruben Bain will be a preoccupation. Another one is a
key Messador who has eight and a half sacks. So,
like you said, the front seven is especially formidable, but
those two defensive linemen are the most prominent names that
(23:03):
kind of jump out that the Ohio State offensive line
has to make sure that they're blocking. As Ryan Day
said in one of his press conferences.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
And Mesodor really flashed in the second half of that
game against Texas A and m He was just he
had the quarterback running for his life and they flip
flopped the two guys from time to time. Mesodor will
be mostly on the defense's left, so that that means
Philip Daniels has a big job ahead of them.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
And we'll see what changes that we were talking earlier
about gay Van Sickle, what kind of changes that the
Ohio State coaches led by Ryan Day. Of course, because
Ryan Day is going to be calling the plays, what
kind of in terms of their game preparation, in terms
of the scheme, what they're going to do to I
(23:50):
don't want to say neutralized, but I think to try
and help Philip Daniels, you know, on that right side,
because you know, he had some issues. Like I said,
I think this is just again my belief that that
gave Van Sickle when he came in in the second
half in place of Taker Shable, he played fairly well.
(24:10):
So that's why I'm I keep saying his name at
right guard. But we'll see, you know, in terms of
what they're going to do. Are they going to have
a tight end end to help you know, block on
that right side uh on on passing downs? But you know,
again we'll have to kind of see what the what
the strategy is.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
Yeah, and it's really picked your poison because you can't
really pull protection away from Bain either.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
No, you want to talk about someone who's gonna who's
gonna have his hands full, and not that he's he's
played poorly, but Austin Sirivell is gonna need you know,
You're gonna need to to make sure that you that
you're giving him assistance on that left side of the
blindside of Julian saying as well.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Yeah, well, it would be interesting to see if Ohio
State can run the football against a team that doesn't
give up a lot of yards rushing. If Ohio State
can run the football, that's going to be a huge,
huge advantage for Ohio State. But really, I think this
could come into play with just avoiding turnovers. Fire Stake
can avoid turnovers. They'd done a pretty good job of it. Offensively,
(25:13):
they have enough weapons that they can score some points,
especially knowing that they have not the number ten total
defense in the country, but the number one total defense
on their side.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Yeah, I think.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
Turnovers field position, capitalizing on opportunities in terms of you know,
if there's one on one matchups when Ohio State has
the ball, being able to get the ball to their playmakers.
Like you said, I think yards are running on the ground.
It's gonna be tough to.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
Come by, but you have to do it.
Speaker 3 (25:45):
I mean we I think you and I are a
similar mindset that you know, just because it's difficult, it
doesn't mean that you have to abandon it because then
you become completely one dimensional.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
So don't get I guess this is more for our listeners.
Speaker 3 (25:59):
Don't get discouraged and disheartened if the High State running
game isn't clicking as effectively as.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
You would hope or that you might be expecting.
Speaker 3 (26:08):
But I do believe that there's going to be the
running game is going to play a part, even if
it's just for minimal yards, you know, two yards, three yards,
whatever it might be. You know, just to kind of,
you know, put the o High State offense in more
manageable yardage situations.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
Now you have to be patient, and then those two
yard gains in the second half may be four or
five yard games game.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Correct.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
You really just got to stay with it because you
have to keep those defensive if pass rushers honest, and
you can't do that, if you're willing to abandon the run,
then you're just putting Julian say in harm's way. So
let's talk a little bit about more about Miami's offense.
Carson Beck obviously a big name there. He's got three thousand,
one hundred and seventy five passing yards. He is completing
(26:54):
seventy four and a half percent of his passes, which
is not quite at Julian Saying levels, it was pretty high,
but he does put the ball in harm's way to
some extent. He's got twenty six touchdowns to ten interceptions,
so two and a half touchdowns per interception, which is
not necessarily what you want.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
No, you know, when it comes to Carson Beck, he
certainly can be forced into mistakes, and I think that's
going to be a key part of the Ohio State
defensive game plan.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
Yeah, and we saw that a little bit in the
A and M game.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
I mean, he's he's not much of a running threat,
and you know, when it comes to the losses that
Miami had, you know, his mistakes were proved costly in
the losses that.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
Miami had this season.
Speaker 3 (27:41):
So we'll see in terms of blitzing, in terms of
if the Ohio State defensive line is able to generate
enough adequate pressure to kind of force you know, either
incompletions or hopefully interceptions. But you know the fact that
Carson Beck can be forced into mistakes is something that
(28:03):
I'm sure that the Ohio State defense is scheming with
their game plan.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
Yeah. Mark Fletcher, you mentioned Mark Fletcher Junior is a
junior's eight or fifty seven yards rushing, ten touchdowns, and
what struck me about him watching him he's a hard
guy to bring down. You think you had a beat
on him, and he just kind of shrugs you off.
I mean, he's he's a tough runner, and I was
impressed with Miami's ability to give him creases that he
(28:30):
could then exploit, like the contact was coming at the
linebacker level. He was able to, like I said, shrug
off those smaller guys. So the defensive lineman for the
Buckeyes have to get their hands on him.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
Oh yeah, he is definitely.
Speaker 3 (28:44):
He's he's kind of, you know, kind of almost like
that bowling ball type back, you know, real, you know, sturdy,
but he's he's going to be one of these guys
that we were just talking about the patients of Ohio
State fans. With the Ohio State running game, You're going
to have to also be patient with the fact that
Miami's going to stick with their running game as well,
(29:06):
knowing that Mark Fletcher is capable of wearing down the
opposing defense. So in this case, you know, Ohio State,
they just have to come ready to play for the
full sixty minutes.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Also, giving backtime to throw behind that good offensive line
will allow him to find his targets. So Ohio State's
going to out need to get pressure on him. They
got a couple of good seniors and Keilan Marrion and CJ. Daniels,
But the guy that really flashes is the freshman Malachai Tony.
He's got almost a thousand yards, receiving eight touchdowns and
will also run the ball on the end a round,
(29:38):
probably three or four times in the game.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
Yeah, he's not the biggest guy, but he's electric.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
I mean in terms of just when when he you know,
is in the open field, like you said, you know,
they try to get him. They are very creative and
trying to get him the ball because they know that
he certainly has explosive playmaking abilities. So whoever gets that
assignment of having to try to cover Malackaye Toni is
certainly gonna need some assistance.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
I think as well.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
Yeah, we'll see. We'll see if if they go Davis
and Igbuinosen, if they if they keep guys on the
their side of the field. I A mean, Matt Patricia
is gonna have to He's got his work cut out
for him. But he is passed every test this year.
I mean, even Indiana's prolific offense, yes is held to
thirteen points.
Speaker 3 (30:25):
Yeah, I would agree with you and personally, and this
is not meant as an indictment on Davison Igbinosen because
he certainly doesn't lack for confidence.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Is I would if I had, if I had my say,
which I don't, but if I did, I would.
Speaker 3 (30:42):
I would prefer even with you know, some some challenges
during that Indiana Big Ten Championship game, I would prefer
Jermaine Matthews to draw the malackaye Tony's you know assignment.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
We've talked about the.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
Necessity for any defensive back to have a short memory,
and I just think when it comes to overall coverage,
I think that Jermaine Matthews is a is a better
puver guy. I think that Davison Igmunosin as I. You
and I are of a similar mindset.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (31:14):
Love the love, the confidence, love the physicality. Unfortunately, you
know what is it that you know not to get
all you know religious here like love the you know,
hate the sin, hate the or love the sinner. Kind
of a thing with the sin that we you and
I mutually hate. Uh, you know it's the past interference
(31:34):
and that's what I my fear, that's That's my fear
is that I'm not trying to say that that you
know that Davison Igmnosen can't play without getting past interference.
But I think that the possibility of we're gonna we're
gonna send Tony deep on igmnosin and him clutching and
grabbing and then the next thing, you know, it's like, okay,
(31:55):
automatic first down, you know, whereas that I I would
just prefer the reason I'm kind of stammering over there,
I would just think that the Jermaine Matthews in terms
of coverage, would be less prone to make that kind
of a mistake.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
But I could be mistaken.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
Well, we'll see how it goes. I think that Tony
will be in the slot enough times that he will
draw Matthews, you know, and coverage and you know, Matthews
a little. Not to spoil my Monday column that has
already dropped, you guys can go read it, but you know,
I wrote about four positions on Ohio State that have
to be better against Miami than they were against Indiana.
(32:31):
One of those was Jermaine Matthews. But part of the
problem with Matthews is the big plays he gave up
he was out, he was outsized. I mean, you know,
he was trying to get h keep up with Becker
on that deep ball late in the fourth quarter when
Ohio State was trying to get the ball back on
that third and long and then the touchdown he gave up.
(32:52):
He gave it up to a tall receiver in Elijah
Suratt six to two. He's given up a few inches there,
so you know, he was he was beaten. He was
in pretty good coverage for Surat, but Sarat was too
big for him and Becker got behind him. But he
was also a bigger, more physical player. So, uh, Tony's quick,
(33:13):
but he's not He shouldn't overly physically overmatch a Jermaine Matthews.
Speaker 3 (33:18):
I completely agree, you know, Malick, I Tony, like I
said earlier, he's not the biggest guy.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
He's like five.
Speaker 3 (33:22):
I think he's listened like five to eleven. Uh, you know,
I think I may be mistaken. I think he's under
two hundred pounds. I mean he's just not physically. That's
not to imply that he's not a good players, just
that like physically he doesn't present like you said, you know,
like the height, the you know, like just the physical
nature of or style of play that those players from
(33:43):
Indiana represented. That's kind of where to me, like, I
think the the advantage might go to Jermaine Matthews, but
we'll see when when the game kicks off.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
Yeah, because Tony's going to try to beat you with
speed and quickness and guile, whereas those guys can even
if you cover them well, they can still overpower you.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
You got it.
Speaker 1 (34:03):
So anyway, we're at the part of the podcast chip
where we uh, we got to make some predictions about
what's going to happen. So start with our picks to
click and our last picks to click. We started offensively,
so we'll start defensively this time. Who on that vaunted
Ohio State defense do you like as your pick to
click this week?
Speaker 3 (34:24):
I've got to take him just because he's you know,
he's there, and that is Caleb Downs.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
I just have to I just have.
Speaker 3 (34:31):
To go with the fact that you know, I know,
we were just talking, you know, extensively about you.
Speaker 2 (34:37):
Know, coverage and with Igbinosen.
Speaker 3 (34:39):
And Matthews and and I'm not trying to discount, uh,
you know the importance of the run defense, you know,
especially the high State defensive line causing issues. But I
just think Caleb Downs, here's your opportunity to be, you know,
that dynamic player all over the field. So that's why
I'm going with him.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
Okay, it's a good because Miami's gonna run, They're gonna pass.
Caleb Downs defense both very well, and he'll be a
factor in the game. For sure. He would have been
my pick had you not taken him. I'm gonna go
ahead and take rvel Rees, who's kind of the other
free spot on the defense. And what I like about
(35:20):
rvel Reese's matchup in this game is, like you said,
Carson Beck is not going to scramble a ton, which
means rvel Reese is not going to have to be
a spy for this game. It's most likely he's going
to make more plays, either dropping into space or coming
on the pass rush. So I like his opportunity here
to present another guy coming outside of Kenyatta Jackson who
(35:43):
can maybe get to Carson Beck in the backfield.
Speaker 2 (35:46):
I like it very much.
Speaker 1 (35:47):
So in my offensive side, we talked about him maybe
having a little bit of a chip on his shoulder
and being a really good player who might be fully
healthy now and that's Jeremiah.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
Smith like, you would have been my pick.
Speaker 1 (36:02):
Yeah, if you're good, if you're going to attack this
Miami defense, I feel like you got to attack them
through the air. I think they're vulnerable at the back
if you can protect the quarterback. And that's obviously going
to be a key for Ohio State. We didn't talk about,
but you know, they gave up five sacks against Indiana.
You know that that was addressed in the last three weeks.
Speaker 3 (36:20):
Oh, I completely I completely understand. So this is gonna
seem kind of a strange, possibly a strange selection.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
We talked about.
Speaker 3 (36:29):
The the Miami pass rush and how crucial that is.
I think Max Claire is going to be one of
those checkdowns that Julian saying is gonna I'm not saying
that he's gonna be looking to every time, but I
think Max Clair is certainly going to.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
Be a viable checkdown option. So that's where I'm gonna
go with him.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
Yeah, I like it. I think that they're going to
have to get the ball out quickly in this game.
They're gonna have to make sure that, you know, I
think Julian Sayan has been really good all year. In fact,
maybe to a fault about you know, going one thousand
and one, one thousand and two in his head, and
if he doesn't see his guy breaking open already, he
checks down. We've seen a number of times where it's like, oh,
(37:12):
if he held the ball one more second, you know,
Carnell Tates wide open down the field or Smith is
wide open. But he did what he needed to do
to stay out of a negative play. And that's kind
of as a freshman quarterback, first year starter. That's what
Ryan Day has probably been impressing upon him all year
is don't don't take sacks, you know, don't let yourself
(37:33):
get pressured, get the ball out. If your first read
is not there, check down. And I think he's okay
with that, and it has worked throughout the year. We
can't really argue with the results, so I think it's
max clear. It makes a lot of sense, Thank you,
all right. What might not make sense is our score predictions,
but we usually come up with something that's somewhat similar.
(37:56):
So I'm interested to see what do you think is
going to be on the scoreboard at the Cotton Bowl
down in Arlington, Texas And at the end of the game,
what's going to score going to.
Speaker 2 (38:07):
Be all right.
Speaker 3 (38:09):
So I been talking about the need for patients from
the o Higo State fan base because I do believe.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
The first quarter, I'd be surprised.
Speaker 3 (38:18):
I'd be surprised if points are scored in the first
quarter by either team simply because I think it's going
to be kind of almost like trying to figure out
what the other one is doing, you know, playing I
don't want to say conservatively, but cautiously. And you know,
I it'd be great if Ohio State came out and,
you know, erupted for points and proved me wrong. But
(38:39):
I do believe it's going to be higher scoring than
the game that Miami was in.
Speaker 2 (38:46):
But I do I do like Ohio State. I'm going
to go twenty one to ten Ohio State with the.
Speaker 3 (38:50):
Idea that it's close in the second third quarter and
then in the fourth quarter, Ohio State kind of starts
to pull away.
Speaker 2 (38:58):
So that's why I'm going twenty one ten.
Speaker 1 (39:01):
All right. I am also once again very similar to you.
I'm going to go twenty three sixteen. I think the
kickers are going to have to come to play in
this game. And I know there's been a lot of
hate out there for Jaden Fielding. I know there's been
some nasty things said to him, which I hate to
see people talking about that on social media. I'll defend
(39:23):
Jayden Fielding. He contrary to what Ohio some Ohio State
fans think, he does not suck. He's been solid and
that's a difference. The difference is we're so used to
excellence that when someone is merely solid, we think they suck.
But he's in the top third and percentage of field
goals made this year in the country. The top third
is not a place where people who suck reside.
Speaker 2 (39:47):
Very good point.
Speaker 1 (39:48):
That kick that he missed against Indiana was costly. It
was also his first career miss from under thirty yards.
He only has three misses from under forty yards in
his career, I believe, and two of them were in
the same Michigan game when he was playing hurt. And
that's not an excuse, because if the coaching staff didn't
think he was healthy enough to kick, they shouldn't have
had him out there. But that's not on the kid's fault.
(40:09):
The kid wants to play. Very good point where he
has struggled chip and it's a very consistent struggle is
he has not kicked a field goal over fifty yards
and he is exactly oh for one each of the
three years he's been the starting kicker.
Speaker 3 (40:26):
Yeah, I definitely think it's it's a combination of physical
limitations as well as confidence when when we get to
the longer yardage field goals. So it'll be interesting to
see how how Ryan Day approaches it if that situation presents.
Speaker 2 (40:43):
It's all against against Miami.
Speaker 1 (40:46):
Yeah, and you and I I think have agreed in
the past. It's like, hey, if you get a chance
to kick a fifty five yarder against Grambling, go ahead
and kick it. Yes, I mean, do it now when
it's not likely to make a difference in the game.
Speaker 2 (41:01):
And yeah, I mean we'll just we'll just see, you know.
Speaker 3 (41:04):
Obviously, you know we're not privy to conversations that have
been had, you know, because you know, similar to the
loss to Indiana, this game is going to be inside,
you know, so no worries about the wind or the weather,
you know, so everything. You know, if the opportunity presents
itself for a forty or fifty yard field goal, you
(41:27):
know how Ryan Day approaches it.
Speaker 2 (41:30):
It's it's it's going to be.
Speaker 3 (41:31):
Like I said, I think points are going to be
at a premium. I think field positions is going to
be at a premium.
Speaker 1 (41:35):
Yeah. And obviously mistakes of all kinds are going to
be magnifying a game like this. Penalties, critical penalties, turnovers,
obviously those are the types of things that can hurt you.
You got it, all right, And don't kick the ball
when it's about to turn midnight. That's the key to everything. Yeah,
really kicker for Ohio State and he missed badly on
(41:58):
that one. That Oh yeah, I went up at eleven
fifty nine, it turned twelve in the air and nothing
went right exactly. All right, You have anything else before
we get out of here, anything else about the Cotton
Bowl or anything else on your mind?
Speaker 3 (42:12):
No, just I guess the the general request to anyone
of our listening audience is to have a safe and
happy New Year, you know, to definitely take advantage of
uber or lyft or those kind of things if you're
going to be out and about.
Speaker 2 (42:32):
You know, I can tell you that missus Minnick and I,
you know, we're not big New Year's.
Speaker 3 (42:36):
Eve people like the fact that the Cotton Bowl is
going to be going on just times perfectly like you said,
hopefully you know, not in the same manner as as
what we.
Speaker 2 (42:47):
Experienced a few years ago against Georgia.
Speaker 3 (42:49):
But I'm not much into the whole you know, Ryan Seacrest,
Dick Clark New Year's Eve show anyway, So it's like
back that I get to watch Ohio State play as
as the counterflips to twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2 (43:04):
That's that that suits me. Well.
Speaker 1 (43:06):
Yeah, and of course, if Ohio State wins the game,
like you and I have predicted, you've got a New
Year's Day full of seeing what the next opponent's gonna
look like.
Speaker 3 (43:18):
Yeah, I mean, if anything, Yeah, well, New Year's Day
is gonna be is gonna be great just because I
think I the you know, just the the Hollege football
playoff bracket. We're gonna we're gonna get a better understanding.
So it'll be great to wake up into twenty twenty
six and watch football all day.
Speaker 1 (43:35):
Absolutely, all right, that's gonna do it. Chip, Why don't
you remind our listeners where they can find you and
your fine work online.
Speaker 3 (43:43):
I can be found on Twitter at Chipmanik. Last name
is spelled M I N N I c H. I'm
a contributor to Buckeye Huddle dot com as well as
Saturday Glory dot com.
Speaker 1 (43:54):
All right, you can find me on Twitter or Blue
Sky at Mike thirty six. Fan can also find my
writing at Landgrant Holyland dot com every Monday, and of
course you can also follow Silver Bullets Podcast on Twitter
at Silver Bullets Pod. No e in the word silver
s I l v R Bullets Pod. We'd like to
(44:15):
have you over there as a follower. So with that,
there's only one thing left for us to do before
we go off and get ready for the Cotton Bowl,
and that is to sign off the way we always
do by saying, go Box, Go Box,
Looking everybody at It's time for another episode of the
Silver Bullets podcast. I'm Michael Citraw.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
And I'm Chipmanick Chip, I hope you and.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Yours had a fantastic Christmas and Festivus holiday. I know
you celebrate the feats of strength and the airing of
the grievances every year. I had a good one as well.
I got to go on the road see family up
in North Carolina for a few days. So everything's good.
We had a good refreshing week off from the podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Yeah, happy to hear that you had a wonderful holiday season.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Yeah, and here we are. We got to get back
to work because the Buckeyes on New Year's Eve will
be taking on the Miami Hurricanes. I'm sure you probably
got a chance to watch at least some of the
Texas A and m Miami game. It was a very
low scoring, defensive struggle of a game. To some degree,
(01:10):
the win had a lot of effect on the game,
but in the end, just a really poor showing from
Texas A and M's quarterback. Really, to me was the
difference in that game.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
I think you hit it right on the head.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
I think it was more of Texas and and not
really doing much offensively. Not to take anything away from
Miami because obviously they're a very talented team, but yeah,
I definitely I did watch it, and I'm happy to see,
you know, how a high state matches up with Miami
in a few days.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Yeah, it'll be exciting, and we'll get into our preview
a little bit later. Why don't we start chip with
some news, some Ohio state news, and it's minor, but
you and I would like to celebrate the removals of
the black stripes. I think we missed a few in
November early December, but the latest Bucky to have their
stripes removed got an early Christmas present on December twenty third,
(02:04):
as linebacker Eli Lee and tight end Brody Lennon had
their black stripes removed. And congratulations to those young men.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Yeah, they both red shirted.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
I remember seeing them very sparingly way back in the
Grambling game, which seemed like almost everybody if you were
going to be playing that, you know, as a true freshman,
that was going to be your opportunity to do it.
But yeah, congratulations to them both and looking forward to
how they contributed twenty twenty six and beyond.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Yeah, Brody Lennon might be the most tight end name ever.
I would agree, Yeah, very very tight end oriented name.
All right. Yeah, I think we missed Carter Lowe on December,
third offensive tackle, Justin Terry another offensive tackle, red shirt
freshman back on November nineteenth, and then also earlier in November,
(02:57):
there was a Dorian Williams wide receiver, and Glory and
goth All of those players also have lost their their
black stripes. So that takes us all the way back
to Isaiah West in October. So I think we're caught up.
I think you're right, all right, Chip, big news from
that school up north this week as Kyle Whittingham from
(03:20):
Utah has taken that job. And you know, it raised
a lot of eyebrows when Utah announced that Kyle Whittingham
was going to be stepping down as head coach. I mean,
he's not super old, but you know, the worry when
I ever see a coach like that who's kind of
an institution step down, you worry, you know, is there
health okay? But apparently it help's okay because now he
(03:42):
is going to be Michigan's head coach. Everybody is largely
around the college football world and pretty much unanimously calling
this a home run higher by the University of Michigan.
And you know, it's of course, it seems on the
surface to be just that, but you never know what
it's going to be. You never know how a coach
(04:04):
is going to come in and adopt or adapt, I
should say, to the to the new school. I mean,
we also saw everybody lauding the Jonathan Smith higher at
Michigan State, and we saw how that went.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Yeah, I do think that this is a home run
hire when you consider the fact that, you know, the circumstances,
we are still weeks away from finding out the full
scope of what happened with shirl and Moore, you know
the I mean, he's facing serious felony charges, you know,
for his his actions. You know, following is firing and
(04:41):
the investigation into the athletic department has concluded. But I'm
of the belief that Kyle Winningham, I mean, he's just
he's just a really good football coach. I mean, in
terms of I had the opportunity earlier in the day
on the Big ten Network to watch his press conference.
One of the things that kind of impressed me is
that he said something along the lines of when you
(05:04):
come here, you know it's it's to change you. You
are not going to change us, meaning that you know,
his his philosophy he very much. Which I think bodes
well for Michigan is that he is that that that
it's going to be a very intensive, defensive type a squad.
(05:26):
You know, his his teams at Utah were always very physical.
So running the ball, good defense, you know, it sounds familiar, right,
So I think it's not going to be that drastic
of a of a of a change for him. Now
what's going to be interesting is that, you know, we're
recording this a few days before the transfer portal opens,
so everyone's wondering, Okay, well, he made an abundantly clear
(05:50):
about retaining players, which which kind of speaks why Michigan
they couldn't wait. Even though I was kind of thinking
like maybe Pogi was going to be the guy. Biff
Pogi the interim was going to be the because they
were striking out.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
It just was fortunate for them that Kyle Winningham was available.
I mean, think about it.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
They don't have to pay a buyout for Sharon Moore
because they fired him for cause, they don't have to
pay a buyout for Kyle Winningham because he resigned from Utah.
I mean, they and they've got a really good Hall
of Fame caliber coach. So it'll just be interesting to
see as the days and weeks progress, which players decided
to stay, which players decide to lead, which coaches are retained,
(06:28):
because that's certainly going to be something to keep an
eye on. But I think Michigan, I think they did
a really good job getting a really good coach.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Yeah, I'm not skeptical of him succeeding there. I just
I always I'm a little bit leery of, you know,
anointing anyone in any given situation. It's just like, okay, well,
we'll see how it works out. It seems on the
surface to be a good move. We'll see how it goes.
Ord Manuel still has a job, which is surprising to me.
(06:56):
And you never kind of you kind of always want
to see what's going to happen if there is a
change at AD because the Ads like to hire their
own guy. They don't like to inherit people. So we'll
see how it all works out. But they had to
pull the trigger on that, and they did, and you know,
like I said, it does look like it's a good thing.
(07:17):
And the main thing for Michigan that it needs to
be is it needs to be a situation where they're
bringing someone in and saying enough with the scandals, no
more scandals. Kyle Whittingham is that kind of guy, or
at least he I don't know him personally, seems to
be that kind of guy, and I think that's maybe
(07:39):
the most important part of this hiring.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
I would completely agree with you.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
I think Kyle Whittingham, his reputation is impeccable. You know,
I didn't know this until listening to him, but he,
I mean, not only has been the head coach at
Utah for you know, twenty some years, he was a
former player at BYU, which kind of and this is
not to imply that people that go to BYU are
(08:04):
you know, you know, completely, you know, without fault, but
it's just that you know, there's pretty you usually the
stereotypical thing is that at b YU there's some pretty
strict codes associated with going to school there. So my
point being is that you never heard anything about any
kind of you know, improprieties while kaya Whittingham was the
(08:26):
head coach at Utah. What I found humorous was when
they brought up the topic of coaches. He said something
along the lines of, you know how he consulted with
urban Meyer about this, and he said, I'm not sure
if that's considered like a four letter word in this room,
but I mean, that's the thing is that urban Meyer
(08:49):
was the head coach at Utah before he went to Florida.
Kyle Winningham succeeded him, has done a tremendous job. So
let's that's again.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
You know, I completely understand where you're coming from. You know.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
If anything, I just think the main point that you raised,
which I completely agree with, is that, all right, we
are going to move beyond the Jim Harbaugh Sharon Moore
scandals and we are going.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
To move forward.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
And again we'll wait and see what the results of
the investigation and the trial what turn up. It might
might be kind of sorted. But you know, I think
Kyle Whittingham is the kind of guy that is is
well equipped to kind of help move Michigan forward from
what they've been dealing with. Obviously, the stories that just
continue to come out about Sharon Moore obviously for the
(09:38):
last not just this season, but for the last few years.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Yeah, I don't think once Pogei said what he did
this last week, I don't think they could have named
him the head coach. I mean, he talked about how
he had been, you know, how bad it had been
there in terms of like what had been going on
and how I mean, were one of the leading guys there,
like it was going on under your nose too, So
(10:04):
it doesn't really speak well for your you know, candidacy.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
I guess no, I think you, like I said, I
think you raised a really good point.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Anything.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
My my thing was the clock was ticking, you know,
like all of the you know, all of the hype
about Okay can they continue to wait for Kaitlin to
bor and it's like, guys, he's he's not coming to Michigan.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
It's not that's not going to happen.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
And the fact that Kenny Dillingham, you know, that was
kind of a type dream that just never really gained
any kind of traction.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
From what I understand, Jeff Brown was a name that.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Was making social media rumor circles, but Jeff Brown was
never contacted.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
So the fact, I mean it just really worked out.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
For Michigan in the sense that how Winningham was available.
He has a really good reputation. His teams play the
style of football that traditionally has served the Wolverines well.
Like I said, defensive, running the ball. It just remains
to be seen, all right. Is Bryce Underwood gonna want
to stick around or other players gonna want to stick around?
And you know how you know, what is the coaching
(11:11):
staff going to look like after the bowl game on
New Year's Eve?
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Yeah? Interestingly enough, if things don't work out at Michigan
and Michigan State, just two schools can just swap coaches.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
There you go, there you go, all right.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
As far as Ohio State news, one more bit of news.
We talked after the Big Ten Championship game Chip about
how poorly tegerishable have played in that game. Turns out
he was hurt and playing hurt. And then we heard
after the game how he'd been playing through some stuff
that he apparently wasn't able to play through because he
just was not effective at all and eventually was benched
in that game. But he is out for the rest
(11:49):
of the year, is my understanding. And then so we'll
have to see if the Buckeyes can count on gab
Van Sickle and Joshua Padilla to play right guard and
to do a good job against what is a good
Miami defense.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
Without question, my my belief is it's going to be
gay Van Sickle because josh Badia. Also, part of the
reason why he's been in and out of the lineup
is because of injury issues.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
I don't know how severe they are.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
And you know, let's let's hope that you know, Tiger
Shibola that whatever this injury is, that you know, Ohio
State wins this game against Miami, that you know he's
able to come back and contribute because he's been a
vital part of that offensive line. Granted he's had his
struggles and issues, but it would be nice to see
if he can come back and be a contributor for
the buck Eyes later on this season.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Yeah. Also, we heard that surprisingly like Jeremiah Smith had
an injury that might have kept him out three or
four weeks and managed to only miss one game.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
Yeah, I that was kind of you know, if anything,
you know, props to Jeremiah Smith for playing as well
as he did. You know, Ryan Day was very emphatic
about you have no idea how difficult it was for him,
you know, for him to tough that out up in
ann Arbor. He obviously played extremely well, but by all
(13:06):
indications is that the injury has healed and he's at
one hundred percent health going into this game against the Hurricanes.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
That was the big thing is that he needed that time.
He needed that time frame, and you get three weeks off,
you know, twenty five days between games, you can heal
a lot of bumps and bruises and pulled muscles and
those kinds of things. So it will be interesting to
see a fully weaponized Jeremiah Smith against Miami. And honestly too,
(13:33):
you know some of the slights that you know, he
has had to endure, like not winning the blittani coff
even though he was voted the best the conference's best
wide receiver, he still lost to Blittnikoff to a fellow
wide receiver in the conference.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Yeah, that was.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
Like I said, I think some of those slights are
also coming from Hurricane fans who still have not gotten
over the fact that Jeremiah Smith didn't sign with them,
you know. So, like you said, a fully weaponized Jeremiah
Smith is going to be interesting to see how he
performs against the Hurricanes When the ball gets kicked off.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
Well, some of those Kanes fans haven't gone over the
fact that they did not get away with the past
interference in the end zone.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Yeah tell me, but I actually watched that on It
was ESPN or he has been to this afternoon after
you know, watching some NFL games, I figured, okay, there's
you know the thirty for thirty. You know about that,
you know, so just to kind of get myself in
the right frame of mind for our podcast this evening.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
Well, Buckeye fans know that that game should never gone
to overtime because Ohio State got screwed in regulation before
they punted and gave up a big punt return that
allowed Miami to tie the game exactly. So you know,
if you got screwed, well, we got screwed first, that's
all I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Very true.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
So the correct result happened. That's all that matters.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
I agree.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
All right, Chip, We've got our preview of the Cotton
Bowl game against Miami coming right up, and we'll get
to that right after this. All right, Chip, we are
back and Miami and Ohio State. Now it's this is
(15:18):
not the first meeting since the National Championship meeting these
teams have met a couple of times before. In fact,
Ohio State had went over Miami vacated because they vacated
things back then rather than the way they do it now,
which is like, oh, we can't punish the poor kids.
Yeah whatever. But yeah, they've played twice and they've split
(15:41):
those games.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Yeah, this is the first time since twenty eleven when
Miami actually did defeat Ohio State. That was during the
loop fickle year, you know. But yeah, it's they are
still They are still riping and nursing that wound from
over twenty years ago.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Love it, love it. And you know that's much better
than me having to nurse that wound for over twenty
years of them not calling. Michael Jenkins getting held coming
out of his break and catching the ball in bounds
and then missing both of.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Those, I would agree. Was it Jenkins or was it
Chris Gamble?
Speaker 3 (16:21):
I know, I know, I know that it was a
Whoever it was had a fist full of jersey, that's all.
I mean, it doesn't matter bit. It's like I thought
it was Chris Gamble. I know that Chris Gamble.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
It might have been Gamble because he was.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Also the one involved in the play that I think
it was Jenkins.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
I think it was My memory wants to say it
was number twelve.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
I know that Jenkins was involved in the fourth and fourteen.
You know that that was crucial. I mean like that,
that's you know, but it doesn't really matter.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
It doesn't matter, Like I said, it matters. What all
that matters is the correct result. Happened exactly, and we
don't need to you know, we don't need to put
wrong put right what once went wrong, like they did
on Quantum Leap way back in the day.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
I'll take you. I'll take your word on that one.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Not a Quantum leapwatcher. Huh No, well you you have
a new show to binge. All right, all right, let's
talk about Miami, because Miami is a formidable team and
for a long time they were ranked in the top five.
This year, a lot of a lot of people like
them coming out of the a c C. They did
(17:30):
not they had the couple stumbles, did not make the
ACC title game. But they're probably head and shoulders above
the rest of their league. And just if anybody was
paying attention this weekend, the a CC went one in
three in bowl games on.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Saturday, Yeah, I'll say this much.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
I mean the I think the hype that has been
built up around Miami, uh, yeah, they you know, they
had some impressive wins. But when you when you dig
deeper in to the A C C, I mean, the
reality is like the A C C is just I mean,
you know, for example, one of those one of those
Bowl losses, you know, Clemson, uh to Penn State. Uh
(18:13):
you know, you know, and Clemson certainly did not look
that formidable. Uh you know, So I just I agree
with you. I think the ACC overall is not doing well.
And you know, Miami is probably the best team.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Of the of the group. Yeah. Georgia Tech lost also
on Saturday, and I thought I thought they had a
good chance of beating b YU. But and they they
played pretty well from much of that game. But b
why you pulled it out.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Yeah, I would agree.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
So Miami Chip, if you look at just the rankings, uh,
their defense is far ahead of their offense. The you know,
the Carson Beck gets all the the hype and the
inc famously transferring there, but the offense scoring offense is
number twenty eight in the country. It's their highest rank
in anything. Thirty two points a game, rushing offense is
(19:07):
seventy fifth in the country, although they ran the ball
effectively against Texas A and M, mostly just on a
couple of big plays one hundred and fifty one point
nine yards per game. The passing offense is number thirty
two in the country, two under sixty two and a
half yards per game. In total offense is number thirty five,
four hundred and fourteen in zero point five yards per game.
(19:27):
That's that's pretty good. Four hundred yards a game average
is a good average.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
I would agree.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
You know, and you reference the game against Texas A
and M. You know, one of the players that was
prominently involved in saving that game for the Hurricanes, Mark Fletcher,
you know, had a really big game against Texas A
and M.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
He at one time. We say this all the time
when it comes to recruiting. We don't follow it.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
But he was going to be in Ohio State Buckeye
and changed his mind to become a Miami Hurricane.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
So he is certainly going to be uh one.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Of the key players at Ohio State's defense is going
to need to key on when they when they suit up.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Absolutely. I wrote a wrote a column about you know,
players that Ohio State has to contain last week, and
then he was one of the players coming off a
big game, and of course you got to just know
that Ohio State's defensive coaches every day are like, hey,
this guy didn't want to come here.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
Yeah, well, I think maybe the money might have might
have been a little bit more of the issue, because
that's kind of what the the rumor about Miami with
you know, with recruiting, is that, Okay, all of a sudden,
these guys that were going elsewhere, like to Ohio State,
all of a sudden, you know, they make the decision,
(20:48):
all right, I'm gonna I'm gonna be a hurricane and
and to each your own, you know, if that's what
your motivation is, that then that's fine. But you know,
I just think, you know, it's one of these things
where sooner or later, you know you're gonna have to
kind of you know, there's going.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
To be a reckoning if the results don't don't match up.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
I mean, in this case, Miami did make the College
Football Playoff, but in previous years you and I would
have kind of joke about the fact that Miami players
would be shivering on the sidelines at the Pinstripe Bowl
or you know the you know, the Fenway Bowl or
something like that, and it's like those donors aren't aren't
paying big, big money to going to those kind of
bowl games. This year, the fact that they're in the
(21:28):
playoff maybe you know, it's a good thing for the
Hurricanes now.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
Well, they're where they are now chip because their defense.
They are number four in the country and scoring defense
thirteen points a game, that's almost the exact number that
Indiana's at. They're they're one of the top five defenses
easily in limiting opposing teams scoring rushing defense number seven
(21:54):
in the country eighty seven yards per game on the
ground that they give up passing defense number thirty two
in the country one hundred and ninety fo point five yards,
and total defense they are tenth in the country two
hundred and eighty one point five yards per game. Very formidable.
And the strength of the Miami defense is that front seven,
but primarily the front four. And you can even I
(22:16):
mean that defensive line is legit.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
Oh yeah, you know, I know that we are several
months from from the NFL Draft, but you know, when
it comes to you know, NFL draft productions you know,
a very popular name is that of ruben Bain, you know,
and he is you know, he has like.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
Seven and a half sacks.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
He's one of these guys that you know, Miami when
it comes to the Ohio State offensive line, that that
ruben Bain will be a preoccupation. Another one is a
key Messador who has eight and a half sacks. So,
like you said, the front seven is especially formidable, but
those two defensive linemen are the most prominent names that
(23:03):
kind of jump out that the Ohio State offensive line
has to make sure that they're blocking. As Ryan Day
said in one of his press conferences.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
And Mesodor really flashed in the second half of that
game against Texas A and m He was just he
had the quarterback running for his life and they flip
flopped the two guys from time to time. Mesodor will
be mostly on the defense's left, so that that means
Philip Daniels has a big job ahead of them.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
And we'll see what changes that we were talking earlier
about gay Van Sickle, what kind of changes that the
Ohio State coaches led by Ryan Day. Of course, because
Ryan Day is going to be calling the plays, what
kind of in terms of their game preparation, in terms
of the scheme, what they're going to do to I
(23:50):
don't want to say neutralized, but I think to try
and help Philip Daniels, you know, on that right side,
because you know, he had some issues. Like I said,
I think this is just again my belief that that
gave Van Sickle when he came in in the second
half in place of Taker Shable, he played fairly well.
(24:10):
So that's why I'm I keep saying his name at
right guard. But we'll see, you know, in terms of
what they're going to do. Are they going to have
a tight end end to help you know, block on
that right side uh on on passing downs? But you know,
again we'll have to kind of see what the what
the strategy is.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
Yeah, and it's really picked your poison because you can't
really pull protection away from Bain either.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
No, you want to talk about someone who's gonna who's
gonna have his hands full, and not that he's he's
played poorly, but Austin Sirivell is gonna need you know,
You're gonna need to to make sure that you that
you're giving him assistance on that left side of the
blindside of Julian saying as well.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Yeah, well, it would be interesting to see if Ohio
State can run the football against a team that doesn't
give up a lot of yards rushing. If Ohio State
can run the football, that's going to be a huge,
huge advantage for Ohio State. But really, I think this
could come into play with just avoiding turnovers. Fire Stake
can avoid turnovers. They'd done a pretty good job of it. Offensively,
(25:13):
they have enough weapons that they can score some points,
especially knowing that they have not the number ten total
defense in the country, but the number one total defense
on their side.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Yeah, I think.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
Turnovers field position, capitalizing on opportunities in terms of you know,
if there's one on one matchups when Ohio State has
the ball, being able to get the ball to their playmakers.
Like you said, I think yards are running on the ground.
It's gonna be tough to.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
Come by, but you have to do it.
Speaker 3 (25:45):
I mean we I think you and I are a
similar mindset that you know, just because it's difficult, it
doesn't mean that you have to abandon it because then
you become completely one dimensional.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
So don't get I guess this is more for our listeners.
Speaker 3 (25:59):
Don't get discouraged and disheartened if the High State running
game isn't clicking as effectively as.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
You would hope or that you might be expecting.
Speaker 3 (26:08):
But I do believe that there's going to be the
running game is going to play a part, even if
it's just for minimal yards, you know, two yards, three yards,
whatever it might be. You know, just to kind of,
you know, put the o High State offense in more
manageable yardage situations.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
Now you have to be patient, and then those two
yard gains in the second half may be four or
five yard games game.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Correct.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
You really just got to stay with it because you
have to keep those defensive if pass rushers honest, and
you can't do that, if you're willing to abandon the run,
then you're just putting Julian say in harm's way. So
let's talk a little bit about more about Miami's offense.
Carson Beck obviously a big name there. He's got three thousand,
one hundred and seventy five passing yards. He is completing
(26:54):
seventy four and a half percent of his passes, which
is not quite at Julian Saying levels, it was pretty high,
but he does put the ball in harm's way to
some extent. He's got twenty six touchdowns to ten interceptions,
so two and a half touchdowns per interception, which is
not necessarily what you want.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
No, you know, when it comes to Carson Beck, he
certainly can be forced into mistakes, and I think that's
going to be a key part of the Ohio State
defensive game plan.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
Yeah, and we saw that a little bit in the
A and M game.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:28):
I mean, he's he's not much of a running threat,
and you know, when it comes to the losses that
Miami had, you know, his mistakes were proved costly in
the losses that.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
Miami had this season.
Speaker 3 (27:41):
So we'll see in terms of blitzing, in terms of
if the Ohio State defensive line is able to generate
enough adequate pressure to kind of force you know, either
incompletions or hopefully interceptions. But you know the fact that
Carson Beck can be forced into mistakes is something that
(28:03):
I'm sure that the Ohio State defense is scheming with
their game plan.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
Yeah. Mark Fletcher, you mentioned Mark Fletcher Junior is a
junior's eight or fifty seven yards rushing, ten touchdowns, and
what struck me about him watching him he's a hard
guy to bring down. You think you had a beat
on him, and he just kind of shrugs you off.
I mean, he's he's a tough runner, and I was
impressed with Miami's ability to give him creases that he
(28:30):
could then exploit, like the contact was coming at the
linebacker level. He was able to, like I said, shrug
off those smaller guys. So the defensive lineman for the
Buckeyes have to get their hands on him.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
Oh yeah, he is definitely.
Speaker 3 (28:44):
He's he's kind of, you know, kind of almost like
that bowling ball type back, you know, real, you know, sturdy,
but he's he's going to be one of these guys
that we were just talking about the patients of Ohio
State fans. With the Ohio State running game, You're going
to have to also be patient with the fact that
Miami's going to stick with their running game as well,
(29:06):
knowing that Mark Fletcher is capable of wearing down the
opposing defense. So in this case, you know, Ohio State,
they just have to come ready to play for the
full sixty minutes.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Also, giving backtime to throw behind that good offensive line
will allow him to find his targets. So Ohio State's
going to out need to get pressure on him. They
got a couple of good seniors and Keilan Marrion and CJ. Daniels,
But the guy that really flashes is the freshman Malachai Tony.
He's got almost a thousand yards, receiving eight touchdowns and
will also run the ball on the end a round,
(29:38):
probably three or four times in the game.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
Yeah, he's not the biggest guy, but he's electric.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
I mean in terms of just when when he you know,
is in the open field, like you said, you know,
they try to get him. They are very creative and
trying to get him the ball because they know that
he certainly has explosive playmaking abilities. So whoever gets that
assignment of having to try to cover Malackaye Toni is
certainly gonna need some assistance.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
I think as well.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
Yeah, we'll see. We'll see if if they go Davis
and Igbuinosen, if they if they keep guys on the
their side of the field. I A mean, Matt Patricia
is gonna have to He's got his work cut out
for him. But he is passed every test this year.
I mean, even Indiana's prolific offense, yes is held to
thirteen points.
Speaker 3 (30:25):
Yeah, I would agree with you and personally, and this
is not meant as an indictment on Davison Igbinosen because
he certainly doesn't lack for confidence.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Is I would if I had, if I had my say,
which I don't, but if I did, I would.
Speaker 3 (30:42):
I would prefer even with you know, some some challenges
during that Indiana Big Ten Championship game, I would prefer
Jermaine Matthews to draw the malackaye Tony's you know assignment.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
We've talked about the.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
Necessity for any defensive back to have a short memory,
and I just think when it comes to overall coverage,
I think that Jermaine Matthews is a is a better
puver guy. I think that Davison Igmunosin as I. You
and I are of a similar mindset.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (31:14):
Love the love, the confidence, love the physicality. Unfortunately, you
know what is it that you know not to get
all you know religious here like love the you know,
hate the sin, hate the or love the sinner. Kind
of a thing with the sin that we you and
I mutually hate. Uh, you know it's the past interference
(31:34):
and that's what I my fear, that's That's my fear
is that I'm not trying to say that that you
know that Davison Igmnosen can't play without getting past interference.
But I think that the possibility of we're gonna we're
gonna send Tony deep on igmnosin and him clutching and
grabbing and then the next thing, you know, it's like, okay,
(31:55):
automatic first down, you know, whereas that I I would
just prefer the reason I'm kind of stammering over there,
I would just think that the Jermaine Matthews in terms
of coverage, would be less prone to make that kind
of a mistake.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
But I could be mistaken.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
Well, we'll see how it goes. I think that Tony
will be in the slot enough times that he will
draw Matthews, you know, and coverage and you know, Matthews
a little. Not to spoil my Monday column that has
already dropped, you guys can go read it, but you know,
I wrote about four positions on Ohio State that have
to be better against Miami than they were against Indiana.
(32:31):
One of those was Jermaine Matthews. But part of the
problem with Matthews is the big plays he gave up
he was out, he was outsized. I mean, you know,
he was trying to get h keep up with Becker
on that deep ball late in the fourth quarter when
Ohio State was trying to get the ball back on
that third and long and then the touchdown he gave up.
(32:52):
He gave it up to a tall receiver in Elijah
Suratt six to two. He's given up a few inches there,
so you know, he was he was beaten. He was
in pretty good coverage for Surat, but Sarat was too
big for him and Becker got behind him. But he
was also a bigger, more physical player. So, uh, Tony's quick,
(33:13):
but he's not He shouldn't overly physically overmatch a Jermaine Matthews.
Speaker 3 (33:18):
I completely agree, you know, Malick, I Tony, like I
said earlier, he's not the biggest guy.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
He's like five.
Speaker 3 (33:22):
I think he's listened like five to eleven. Uh, you know,
I think I may be mistaken. I think he's under
two hundred pounds. I mean he's just not physically. That's
not to imply that he's not a good players, just
that like physically he doesn't present like you said, you know,
like the height, the you know, like just the physical
nature of or style of play that those players from
(33:43):
Indiana represented. That's kind of where to me, like, I
think the the advantage might go to Jermaine Matthews, but
we'll see when when the game kicks off.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
Yeah, because Tony's going to try to beat you with
speed and quickness and guile, whereas those guys can even
if you cover them well, they can still overpower you.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
You got it.
Speaker 1 (34:03):
So anyway, we're at the part of the podcast chip
where we uh, we got to make some predictions about
what's going to happen. So start with our picks to
click and our last picks to click. We started offensively,
so we'll start defensively this time. Who on that vaunted
Ohio State defense do you like as your pick to
click this week?
Speaker 3 (34:24):
I've got to take him just because he's you know,
he's there, and that is Caleb Downs.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
I just have to I just have.
Speaker 3 (34:31):
To go with the fact that you know, I know,
we were just talking, you know, extensively about you.
Speaker 2 (34:37):
Know, coverage and with Igbinosen.
Speaker 3 (34:39):
And Matthews and and I'm not trying to discount, uh,
you know the importance of the run defense, you know,
especially the high State defensive line causing issues. But I
just think Caleb Downs, here's your opportunity to be, you know,
that dynamic player all over the field. So that's why
I'm going with him.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
Okay, it's a good because Miami's gonna run, They're gonna pass.
Caleb Downs defense both very well, and he'll be a
factor in the game. For sure. He would have been
my pick had you not taken him. I'm gonna go
ahead and take rvel Rees, who's kind of the other
free spot on the defense. And what I like about
(35:20):
rvel Reese's matchup in this game is, like you said,
Carson Beck is not going to scramble a ton, which
means rvel Reese is not going to have to be
a spy for this game. It's most likely he's going
to make more plays, either dropping into space or coming
on the pass rush. So I like his opportunity here
to present another guy coming outside of Kenyatta Jackson who
(35:43):
can maybe get to Carson Beck in the backfield.
Speaker 2 (35:46):
I like it very much.
Speaker 1 (35:47):
So in my offensive side, we talked about him maybe
having a little bit of a chip on his shoulder
and being a really good player who might be fully
healthy now and that's Jeremiah.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
Smith like, you would have been my pick.
Speaker 1 (36:02):
Yeah, if you're good, if you're going to attack this
Miami defense, I feel like you got to attack them
through the air. I think they're vulnerable at the back
if you can protect the quarterback. And that's obviously going
to be a key for Ohio State. We didn't talk about,
but you know, they gave up five sacks against Indiana.
You know that that was addressed in the last three weeks.
Speaker 3 (36:20):
Oh, I completely I completely understand. So this is gonna
seem kind of a strange, possibly a strange selection.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
We talked about.
Speaker 3 (36:29):
The the Miami pass rush and how crucial that is.
I think Max Claire is going to be one of
those checkdowns that Julian saying is gonna I'm not saying
that he's gonna be looking to every time, but I
think Max Clair is certainly going to.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
Be a viable checkdown option. So that's where I'm gonna
go with him.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
Yeah, I like it. I think that they're going to
have to get the ball out quickly in this game.
They're gonna have to make sure that, you know, I
think Julian Sayan has been really good all year. In fact,
maybe to a fault about you know, going one thousand
and one, one thousand and two in his head, and
if he doesn't see his guy breaking open already, he
checks down. We've seen a number of times where it's like, oh,
(37:12):
if he held the ball one more second, you know,
Carnell Tates wide open down the field or Smith is
wide open. But he did what he needed to do
to stay out of a negative play. And that's kind
of as a freshman quarterback, first year starter. That's what
Ryan Day has probably been impressing upon him all year
is don't don't take sacks, you know, don't let yourself
(37:33):
get pressured, get the ball out. If your first read
is not there, check down. And I think he's okay
with that, and it has worked throughout the year. We
can't really argue with the results, so I think it's
max clear. It makes a lot of sense, Thank you,
all right. What might not make sense is our score predictions,
but we usually come up with something that's somewhat similar.
(37:56):
So I'm interested to see what do you think is
going to be on the scoreboard at the Cotton Bowl
down in Arlington, Texas And at the end of the game,
what's going to score going to.
Speaker 2 (38:07):
Be all right.
Speaker 3 (38:09):
So I been talking about the need for patients from
the o Higo State fan base because I do believe.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
The first quarter, I'd be surprised.
Speaker 3 (38:18):
I'd be surprised if points are scored in the first
quarter by either team simply because I think it's going
to be kind of almost like trying to figure out
what the other one is doing, you know, playing I
don't want to say conservatively, but cautiously. And you know,
I it'd be great if Ohio State came out and,
you know, erupted for points and proved me wrong. But
(38:39):
I do believe it's going to be higher scoring than
the game that Miami was in.
Speaker 2 (38:46):
But I do I do like Ohio State. I'm going
to go twenty one to ten Ohio State with the.
Speaker 3 (38:50):
Idea that it's close in the second third quarter and
then in the fourth quarter, Ohio State kind of starts
to pull away.
Speaker 2 (38:58):
So that's why I'm going twenty one ten.
Speaker 1 (39:01):
All right. I am also once again very similar to you.
I'm going to go twenty three sixteen. I think the
kickers are going to have to come to play in
this game. And I know there's been a lot of
hate out there for Jaden Fielding. I know there's been
some nasty things said to him, which I hate to
see people talking about that on social media. I'll defend
(39:23):
Jayden Fielding. He contrary to what Ohio some Ohio State
fans think, he does not suck. He's been solid and
that's a difference. The difference is we're so used to
excellence that when someone is merely solid, we think they suck.
But he's in the top third and percentage of field
goals made this year in the country. The top third
is not a place where people who suck reside.
Speaker 2 (39:47):
Very good point.
Speaker 1 (39:48):
That kick that he missed against Indiana was costly. It
was also his first career miss from under thirty yards.
He only has three misses from under forty yards in
his career, I believe, and two of them were in
the same Michigan game when he was playing hurt. And
that's not an excuse, because if the coaching staff didn't
think he was healthy enough to kick, they shouldn't have
had him out there. But that's not on the kid's fault.
(40:09):
The kid wants to play. Very good point where he
has struggled chip and it's a very consistent struggle is
he has not kicked a field goal over fifty yards
and he is exactly oh for one each of the
three years he's been the starting kicker.
Speaker 3 (40:26):
Yeah, I definitely think it's it's a combination of physical
limitations as well as confidence when when we get to
the longer yardage field goals. So it'll be interesting to
see how how Ryan Day approaches it if that situation presents.
Speaker 2 (40:43):
It's all against against Miami.
Speaker 1 (40:46):
Yeah, and you and I I think have agreed in
the past. It's like, hey, if you get a chance
to kick a fifty five yarder against Grambling, go ahead
and kick it. Yes, I mean, do it now when
it's not likely to make a difference in the game.
Speaker 2 (41:01):
And yeah, I mean we'll just we'll just see, you know.
Speaker 3 (41:04):
Obviously, you know we're not privy to conversations that have
been had, you know, because you know, similar to the
loss to Indiana, this game is going to be inside,
you know, so no worries about the wind or the weather,
you know, so everything. You know, if the opportunity presents
itself for a forty or fifty yard field goal, you
(41:27):
know how Ryan Day approaches it.
Speaker 2 (41:30):
It's it's it's going to be.
Speaker 3 (41:31):
Like I said, I think points are going to be
at a premium. I think field positions is going to
be at a premium.
Speaker 1 (41:35):
Yeah. And obviously mistakes of all kinds are going to
be magnifying a game like this. Penalties, critical penalties, turnovers,
obviously those are the types of things that can hurt you.
You got it, all right, And don't kick the ball
when it's about to turn midnight. That's the key to everything. Yeah,
really kicker for Ohio State and he missed badly on
(41:58):
that one. That Oh yeah, I went up at eleven
fifty nine, it turned twelve in the air and nothing
went right exactly. All right, You have anything else before
we get out of here, anything else about the Cotton
Bowl or anything else on your mind?
Speaker 3 (42:12):
No, just I guess the the general request to anyone
of our listening audience is to have a safe and
happy New Year, you know, to definitely take advantage of
uber or lyft or those kind of things if you're
going to be out and about.
Speaker 2 (42:32):
You know, I can tell you that missus Minnick and I,
you know, we're not big New Year's.
Speaker 3 (42:36):
Eve people like the fact that the Cotton Bowl is
going to be going on just times perfectly like you said,
hopefully you know, not in the same manner as as
what we.
Speaker 2 (42:47):
Experienced a few years ago against Georgia.
Speaker 3 (42:49):
But I'm not much into the whole you know, Ryan Seacrest,
Dick Clark New Year's Eve show anyway, So it's like
back that I get to watch Ohio State play as
as the counterflips to twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2 (43:04):
That's that that suits me. Well.
Speaker 1 (43:06):
Yeah, and of course, if Ohio State wins the game,
like you and I have predicted, you've got a New
Year's Day full of seeing what the next opponent's gonna
look like.
Speaker 3 (43:18):
Yeah, I mean, if anything, Yeah, well, New Year's Day
is gonna be is gonna be great just because I
think I the you know, just the the Hollege football
playoff bracket. We're gonna we're gonna get a better understanding.
So it'll be great to wake up into twenty twenty
six and watch football all day.
Speaker 1 (43:35):
Absolutely, all right, that's gonna do it. Chip, Why don't
you remind our listeners where they can find you and
your fine work online.
Speaker 3 (43:43):
I can be found on Twitter at Chipmanik. Last name
is spelled M I N N I c H. I'm
a contributor to Buckeye Huddle dot com as well as
Saturday Glory dot com.
Speaker 1 (43:54):
All right, you can find me on Twitter or Blue
Sky at Mike thirty six. Fan can also find my
writing at Landgrant Holyland dot com every Monday, and of
course you can also follow Silver Bullets Podcast on Twitter
at Silver Bullets Pod. No e in the word silver
s I l v R Bullets Pod. We'd like to
(44:15):
have you over there as a follower. So with that,
there's only one thing left for us to do before
we go off and get ready for the Cotton Bowl,
and that is to sign off the way we always
do by saying, go Box, Go Box,
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