Rutgers Rewind and TTUN Preview

TheBuckeyes beat Rutgers by 33 points with both starting wide receivers (and a key backup receiver) tied behind their backs on Saturday. Ohio State’s 42-9 rout of the Scarlet Knights took a while to build up some steam, but the defense’s continued bludgeoning of opponents eventually let the offense catch up. Julian Sayin made good use of Max Klare and Bo Jackson and his fellow running backs ran wild, while Caden Curry made the Rutgers backfield his own personal playground.

As we normally do, we checked our score predictions from last week, broke down all the key players, moments, and stats from the game, and checked on our picks to click to see how they performed. 

Following our Rutgers rewind, we discussed the other results around the Big Ten. Once again, Wrigley Field delivered a solid game, as Northwestern reached bowl eligibility when Minnesota missed its last-second field goal. USC couldn’t stop Oregon’s offense in what we thought was going to be a good game. Iowa had to stage a furious fourth-quarter comeback to beat Sparty at home. Nebraska was a no-show in Happy Valley. UCLA is bad again, while Maryland remains bad. 

There are a lot of good rivalry games this week in the Big Ten, and we’re particularly excited about Farmageddon on Friday as well as the Oregon-Washington battle in Seattle. Rutgers and Penn State will meet with bowl eligibility going only to the winner, and we don’t expect that to be the Scarlet Knights. 

Finally, we looked forward to The Game Saturday at noon. Everyone with any sense of taste is tired of hearing about the current streak, but there’s only one way to shut those yaps, and that is to win the game in the greatest rivalry in sports. Ohio State will have to shut down the run and make life difficult for Bryce Underwood while hopefully Julian Sayin will have his primary weapons because the Wolverines have a stout run defense but have had issues defending the pass. We discuss the matchup, make our picks to click, and try to predict the final score. We think it will be a tightly contested game. 

 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 [e-mail]. 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 - Rutgers fought hard but was outmatched on Saturday. Ohio State rested some players and hopefully that will pay off in the big rivalry game coming up. 

20:23 - The rest of the Big Ten offered up only a couple of close games, and the best of those was (surprisingly) Minnesota vs. Northwestern. 

48:37 - The Buckeyes have a series of scores to settle. We’ll find out on Saturday if they can settle them. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:19):
Clog and everybody, it is time for another episode of
the Silver Bullets podcast. I'm Michael Citrow and.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
I'm chipping in it.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
Chip. The Buckeyes have improved to eleven wins, no losses,
and as you know, no ties because we haven't had
those in a while, and they will go into the
game undefeated after a forty two to nine victory over
the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
Yeah, I couldn't ask for anything more.

Speaker 1 (00:47):
Well, it was an interesting game in that we did
not see any of Carnel Tait again. You know, for
for Ohio State saying this is precautionary, it's not a
big deal. Players missed three games in a row. That
sounds like a pretty big deal.

Speaker 2 (01:06):
I'm I guess I'm we're gonna have to disagree. I
think I think they're being cautious. I just I hope
your rather I'd rather than holding him out. And I
don't think you play them against a team that you
know that you're going to win very easily. You want
to make sure that these one hundred percent.

Speaker 1 (01:25):
So me, I I agree with that part. I just
don't think you say you're holding them out of a
game three games ago, just precautionary, not a big deal.
And then he misses two more games in a row.
That tells me maybe there's a little bit more to it.
But plus, what Brian Day said after the game was
on television was, you know, we'll see, we'll see how

(01:47):
they're doing after this week of practice. And that again,
does it sound like, yeah, they can definitely go next week?
And well, I guess we'll find out on Saturday exactly,
all right, So buck Eyes went at forty two to nine.
Look back at our scores. I nipped you this week. Chip,

(02:10):
you had thirty five seven. I had thirty eight to nine,
and it was forty two to nine. So I was
right on Rutgers and a couple of points off of
Ohio State. We both underestimated the number of points that
the Buckeyes would score. And of course, one of those
touchdowns set up by the defense, and in fact, let's

(02:31):
be honest, scored by the defense, but they didn't review
it and it had it stood as called on the field.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
Yeah, I would agree with that, all right.

Speaker 1 (02:40):
So let's get into it. It was a low scoring
first half, as it took a while for Ohio State,
Julian saying to kind of get on the same page
as some of his receivers. A lot of backups in there,
no Tate, no Smith, also no Porter, so they were
down several receivers in this game. And then on top

(03:02):
of it, Milon Graham didn't seem to be on the
field much, maybe at all in the first half. We
saw him in the second half, and Rogers I don't
think I saw him a whole lot in the first half.
I know he was on the field certainly much earlier
than Graham was in this game, but it was a
very odd to see so much reliance on walk on

(03:25):
David Adolf at wide receiver.

Speaker 2 (03:28):
I guess maybe it was just it was because it
was senior day and in terms of where he is
on the depth chart that they probably wanted to give
him as much opportunity as possible. That's the only thing
I can think of.

Speaker 1 (03:38):
Well, he certainly got a lot of opportunity in this game.
He and Max Clair were targeted quite a bit, and
you know, ultimately a comfortable win, but it did take
a little while to get going and just some really
kind of shoot themselves in the foot kind of times too,
especially on the first drive where they had no trouble

(04:00):
going all the way down the field, and then Bo
Jackson fumbled the ball as he's about to go in
again a short yardage situation where the offensive line gets
stood up and Jackson runs into the backside of one
of his linemen and loses the ball. So you'd like
to see a little bit more push against one of
the worst defenses against the run.

Speaker 2 (04:20):
The one thing that I when it came to that fumble,
I never saw it, you know, like I obviously Rutgers
wind up with it, you know as a touchback. I
just never saw how it all came about. I just
saw I mean like that. It was just kind of
a bizarre thing like where while I was watching with friends,
we were just kind of like, Okay, we saw the funnel,

(04:42):
but where was the where was the touch back? I
just didn't see it.

Speaker 1 (04:46):
Yeah, they didn't do a good job on the on
the replay for that play it there was some discussion
on the field of how how is that a touchback?
And there were several comments that I saw in response
to that tweet where they said from the one angle,
you could definitely tell it was recovered in the end zone,
But I didn't see it on the one replay that

(05:07):
they showed from behind and the one that they showed
from the side, I don't think ran long enough to
show the recovery. So it was I think not the
best broadcast by Fox this week.

Speaker 2 (05:19):
No, I would agree with that anyway.

Speaker 1 (05:22):
Bo Jackson made amends. He scored a fifteen yard touchdown run,
the only scoring in the first quarter, and the Buckeyes
led seven to nothing. Rutgers got on the board with
a field goal that was helped by I think a
phantom one of two phantom pass interferences on Jermaine Matthews.
I'm not sure what you're allowed to do as a defender.

(05:43):
I think Davis en Iigbuinosen does more than what he
did on either of his penalties on any given play.
But I mean all he did was like stand between
the quarterback and the receiver. He grabbed them a little bit,
but the ball was basically on the ground by the
time he really grabbed him, and the receiver kind of
fell down. To sell it a little bit, it kind
of kept the drive alive.

Speaker 2 (06:04):
Yeah, I agree with you. I think it was just
kind of a strange penalty for sure, And.

Speaker 1 (06:09):
The one down by the goal line that he got
later in the game. That's just a little bit of
hand fighting by both guys, and he looked at the
quarterback played the ball in the air. I didn't think
there was any interference on the second one either, I
would agree, But it was an interesting game from an
officiating standpoint, as so many of these are. Brandon Inness

(06:30):
scored on a seven yard touchdown pass from Julian Say
in the second quarter, and it was fourteen to three
at the half.

Speaker 2 (06:36):
Not a.

Speaker 1 (06:38):
Nobody was worried about Ohio State, but boy Gus and
Joel in the booth were very excited about how close
Rutgers was and how they were hanging in there.

Speaker 2 (06:50):
Well, I look at it like this. I think Ryan Day,
if you were to ask him, he would have been
completely content to finish the game right there. And if
the files score had been fourteen, I think he would
have been completely fine.

Speaker 1 (07:02):
You may be right, although he did look a little
aggravated after the first drive of the second half, but
which was a three and out, And I gotta say
I have mixed emotions about the kickoff return to start
the second half. I like the call, but I think
Brandon Innis has to be a little bit wiser with

(07:24):
his decision making that he had to run a long
way to get to the ball. It was a short kickoff,
he had to field it on the hop that completely
disrupted the timing of everything, but he still tried to
lateral it across the field to James Peoples, and James
Peoples it was way over his head. It was all
he could do just to get back to the ball,
and they lost fourteen yards in the exchange. And if

(07:46):
if Innis had just fielded on the hop and gone
straight ahead, he would have at least been a close
to the thirty yard line, certainly so. At any rate,
the uh The Buckeyes did score Max claire eleven yard
pass from Julians Say, and it was wide open, which
was good because they were going backwards from the one

(08:08):
yard line after Cayden Curry scored on the sack strip recovery.
Looked to me like he caught the ball in mid
air as he's going over the offensive lineman and the
ball broke the plane before his butt hit the ground.
So I don't really understand why that one wasn't looked at.

Speaker 2 (08:23):
More carefully, I would agree.

Speaker 1 (08:27):
Bo Jackson added a ten yard touchdown run in the
third quarter as Ohio State took control. It was twenty
eight three after three quarters, and then in the fourth
quarter you got a five yard run from CJ. Donaldson.
Rutgers responded after the pass interference that again wasn't with
Antoine Raymond scoring from one yard out to make it
thirty five to nine. They went for two and it

(08:49):
was intercepted by Devin Sanchez, and then James Peoples went
forty nine yards to cap the scoring forty two to nine.

Speaker 2 (08:58):
Chip very happy for James People's just because the way
that the season started off with so much hype about
him being the starting or the projected starting pailback and
his role has been supplanted, but he's certainly giving great
efforts skill So that touchdown run and I thought was
kind of emblematic of how good it is to have

(09:19):
him on Ohio State's roster.

Speaker 1 (09:20):
Yeah, and he did a great job picking up the
blitzer on the touchdown pass to Brandon Innos. Don't if
you saw that but say it would have been wiped
out if he hadn't picked that up.

Speaker 2 (09:33):
Yeah, that's I think that's one of the most underrated
aspects of his game, is that he certainly is very
good in terms of fast protection.

Speaker 1 (09:42):
Shit, before we get into the stats, why don't we
talk a little bit about the Lincoln Keenholes package.

Speaker 2 (09:49):
Okay, I thought it.

Speaker 1 (09:51):
Was a very oddly used package this week. And I
know a lot of people are concerned that Lincoln Keenholes
was throwing the ball. I'm not that concerned about him
throwing the football, considering the fact that if he never
throws it, nobody ever has to, you know, sort of
defend that. Nobody has to worry about, oh, he might
pass the football. So I'm not mad that they called

(10:12):
a few pass plays. I didn't really like it. On
a fourth and two play, Luckily there was a roughing
the passer that kept that drive alive. Otherwise that would
have been a tremendous failure to score points on that drive.
And you know, they just he threw behind Brandon Innis
once and Brandon Ennis got hurt on the play, and

(10:32):
you don't want another starting receiver hurt. And then it
was weird because they were just when you thought that
Julian Sayd's day was over with. In the third quarter,
keen Holes goes out there for a couple of plays
and then saying comes back in and then keen holes
comes in it. It was a very strange use of
that package.

Speaker 2 (10:48):
I thought I would agree with that. I thought it
was kind of discombobulated that at some point. I found
it very puzzling with as you reference the fourth and two,
the fact that, yeah, they were they were bailed out
on I'm not saying that it wasn't roughing the passer,
but I mean, if I'm Greg Chiano, I'm not really

(11:11):
ripping into that defensive lineman on the sideline like that.
That just seemed kind of okay, you know, you want
to call it, that's fine, but I'm not going to
I'm not going to be if I'm the opposed coach
getting really upset at my player. It didn't seem like
it was a like what I'm truly consider a roughing
the passer. But back to the point about having Lincoln

(11:32):
keynotes in the game and then pulling him out for
Julian saying it just kind of I've always been very
much an advocate of you need to get the backups
in and get them meaningful reps. And as I said
a few moments ago at the half when it was
fourteen to three, I'm not disagreeing with you. I think
Ryan Day certainly wasn't happy with with everything that he saw.

(11:55):
But the main point of this game was a get
out of the game, hopefully no more injuries to anyone,
get ready for Michigan, you know. And so I just thought, Yeah,
the way that they were kind of bouncing back and
forth between Lincoln called Keenholks was was very was very puzzling.

Speaker 1 (12:16):
Unfortunately, it didn't get through the game without any more injuries,
as Lorenzo Styles Junior picked up a shoulder injury in
this game and did not return, and we saw a
little bit more of Devin Sanchez. We saw a little
bit more of Devin Sanchez getting picked on after that change.
But hopefully Lorenzo Styles Junior will be healthy enough for
the game this week.

Speaker 2 (12:37):
I have every confidence.

Speaker 1 (12:39):
All right, Let's take a look at the stats and
check in our picks to click. Julian sand was thirteen
of nineteen one hundred and fifty seven yards, two touchdowns,
no interceptions, no sacks. Lincoln Keenhols was one of three
for nineteen yards, no interceptions, no sacks. Bo Jackson had
a nice game nineteen carries on Hunred nineteen yards, sorry,

(13:01):
one hundred and ten yards. He had one hundred and
nineteen in gains nine and lost yardage for one hundred
and ten, two touchdowns and a five point eight yard average.
James Peoples had three carries for fifty five yards and
a touchdown and an eighteen point three yard average. That
long woe certainly helped. Isaiah West had eight carries for

(13:22):
forty eight yards. He averaged six yards. So you had
Isaiah West, I had Bo Jackson as our picks to
click on offense. We both clicked chip.

Speaker 2 (13:32):
Oh, okay, you're very you're being very very. I guess
generous is the term that I'm stet because Isaiah West
I really thought they would play him more. Yeah, you know,
I really did, you know obviously, I mean like Bo
Jackson had had a tremendous game. My rationale, I I'll
freely admit it is I think Bo Jackson is one

(13:55):
of those guys that is moving into the categories of
all right, guys that we don't want to get hurt.
Not that not that Bo Jackson has shown any sign
of that, but I know in high school that's what
you know, he missed a significant portion of his senior
year of high school. So it's like same thing with
Isaiah West. I just thought, all right, they're going to
probably lean more on Isaiah West, which was kind of

(14:16):
why I figured. But yeah, Bo Jackson certainly had a
tremendous game.

Speaker 1 (14:20):
Yeah, the reason I would give West a click with
six yards of carry, he can't control how many times
he's given the ball, so what he was asked to
do he did well. Okay, then on the receiving and
Max Claire had his best day as a Buckeye seven catches,
one hundred and five yards and a touchdown. David Adolph
also his best game as a buck Eye two catches

(14:42):
twenty three yards. Really wasn't a big day for the
wide receivers at all. Johnnie Thurman had to catch, Bo
Jackson had to catch. Brandon Innis had two catches but
just ten yards and a touchdown. Bennett Christian had one catch.
Mylon Graham did not have a catch. Neither did Sorry

(15:02):
Bryson Rogers. So really didn't use the backup wide receivers
like we thought they did. They just kind of leaned
on Max Claire a little bit, hit some of the
backup tight ends, and used David Adolf.

Speaker 2 (15:14):
Yeah, I really think I said this a couple of
weeks ago that I think the mindset is, all right,
we're gonna we're gonna just use these games, meaning like
Purdue UCLA and this one as let's work on some things.
Hopefully nobody gets hurt, especially this one, nobody gets hurt

(15:34):
or further injured. And with the idea of the running
game and kind of relying more on the tight ends
like those kind of things, I think it's just kind
of what the mindset was. I'm not disagreeing with you
that was kind of surprising that Mylon Graham and Bryson
Rodgers weren't more involved in the passing game. But I

(15:57):
do believe that it was kind of like the focus was,
all right, let's just shorten the game by running the ball.
Make sure that we're good running the ball, which they
obviously were, and then you know, as far as like
the whole Dave Adolph thing, I genuinely believe it's, you know,
like where he is on the depth chart, it was
more of all right, this is this is it for

(16:18):
Dave Adolph, probably in terms of meaningful minutes, you know,
as you head into not only the Michigan game. But
the but the Big Ten championship, possibly in the college
football playoffs, so you know it's a home game, why
not try and shine the spotlight a little bit more
on him. That's just a thought.

Speaker 1 (16:35):
Yeah, I get what you're saying. I think that you know,
I agree with you about opportunities to get backups, meaningful snaps,
And I thought that going into the weekend of the game,
that's to me that that seems like a little bit
of a warning sign. Not using Rogers and Graham Moore
might mean let's not get them hurt because we don't

(16:58):
know if we're going to have Tayton Smith. Okay, I
don't know. We'll see again. It all depends on what
happens this weekend. If I think if Tate and Smith
can play, they certainly will play.

Speaker 2 (17:12):
I agree with you.

Speaker 1 (17:13):
Right on the defensive side of the ball, Kayden Curry
had a huge game. Six tackles, two tackles for lost,
two sacks of force, fumble, a fumble recovery, should have
had a touchdown. To me, he was the player of
the game.

Speaker 2 (17:27):
I believe that the coaches agree with you, because I
saw that he was named the defensive player of the game.

Speaker 1 (17:34):
Okay, well that's good. He gets a click, and he
was my pick on defense. Your pick was Peyton Pierce,
who played a lot of snaps in this game and
finished tied for second on the Buckeyes with five tackles.
No TFLs or anything, but you finished in the top
two in tackles, you get a click. So I'd say
Peyton Pierce did a good job.

Speaker 2 (17:54):
Again, you're being very generous. I appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (17:57):
He just seemed to always be around the ball. It's
not his fault that, yeah, I know that that the
linemen were taking care of it before he was getting
there a lot of times.

Speaker 2 (18:05):
Oh no, I definitely think he's one of those guys.
He's kind of a throwback, you know, like in terms of,
you know, where he is in terms of like linebackers.
It's not to imply that he doesn't have athleticism, it's
just that I just think that, you know, he's kind
of more of a traditional, you know, Ohio State middle linebacker.
You know, like you said, he definitely hasn't noticed for

(18:25):
the ball, that's for sure.

Speaker 1 (18:27):
I thought he did a good job from what I
saw in coverage as well, because I didn't see eighth
and caliacmanis you know, being able to check down who
his tight ends a lot.

Speaker 2 (18:36):
Very good point.

Speaker 1 (18:38):
All right, So there you go. Anything else we need
to cover on.

Speaker 2 (18:42):
This game, Chip, No, I mean, if anything, Rutgers, it's
it's setting up for just the way that we had predicted.
Michael that Okay, Rutgers, Purdue, Rutgers, Penn State. You know
they have to get to magic number six next week.
So and I say that, you know, smiling and sarcastically,
because I mean, like with Rutgers, this definitely was predicted

(19:05):
that it was Okay, it's going to be it was
going to be a tough slog for them to get
to six wins. The Penn State side of it, you know,
nobody could have told you could not have told me
back in August. Hey, by the way, Penn State's going
to be fighting for bowl game eligibility the last week
of the regular season.

Speaker 1 (19:24):
Yeah, nobody expected that. And and congratulations to James Franklin
who got a new job this week.

Speaker 2 (19:32):
And when you know that all those recruits that were
all set for Penn State are now giving Virginia Tech
a very strong consideration.

Speaker 1 (19:41):
So it's a good program. So we'll see what James
Franklin can do with it and how his recruiting there
affects Penn State's recruiting. And I thought it was a
nice we'll talk a little bit about the Penn State game, obviously.
I thought it was a nice touch by Penn State's
players to hold up signs saying hier Terry Smith on
the sideline on Saturday. I agree, all right, Chip, you

(20:03):
and I will get to the rest of the scores
around the Big Ten. We'll look ahead to the games
this week, even though only one game really matters, and
of course we'll look ahead to that team up north.
We'll get to those things right after this, all right, Chip,

(20:23):
I was very excited about some of the games this
weekend that were in other time slots, but only one
game turned out to be really good. Around the rest
of the Big Ten this weekend.

Speaker 2 (20:34):
Okay, I really enjoyed. I really enjoyed watching Oregon USC
and I was very surprised to see the outcome of
Wisconsin and Illinois.

Speaker 1 (20:46):
Yeah, I mean, I guess I didn't see any of
the Iowa Michigan State game. I guess it was a
good finish there, at least if you're an Iowa fan,
but I did not. I did not think. I thought
it would be a closer game Oregon and USC was
not as close as I expected it to be. USC
could not stop the run at all.

Speaker 2 (21:05):
That now that I did expect. I did expect that
that USC that has been the weakness of their their defense,
and for Oregon to be able to run at will
didn't surprise me. I'm just surprised that USC wasn't able
to kind of keep pace a little better.

Speaker 1 (21:25):
Yeah, I didn't think that they had a good game
offensively either. That you know, if you're going to if
you're going to go up and play Oregon and you
don't have a good ability to stop the run, you
got to keep pacing points. And I felt like there
was some really odd play calling there were that was
really letting Oregon keep USC behind the chains in that game.
But we'll get to it. Ohio State beating Rutgers made

(21:50):
Ohio State eleven to oh eight. No Big Ten play
Rutgers five and six in the Big Ten two and
six and two and six and Big Ten five and
six overall, should say USC loses. It was forty two
twenty seven. It was a pretty good game. I think
really where the game turned was the punt return touchdown.

Speaker 2 (22:08):
All without question, without question.

Speaker 1 (22:11):
From then on, it just seemed like USC was just
deer to headlights.

Speaker 2 (22:18):
Yeah, I think USC now it's just a matter of
all right, you're just going to be this This upcoming
week they have a rivalry game against UCLA. It's it's
the it's in the LA Coliseum. If you're a US,
you want to try and be as impressive as possible
to try and improve your bowl game destination because you're
not going to make the comp football playoff.

Speaker 1 (22:40):
USC eight and three overall, six and two in the
Big Ten ore again ten and one, seven to one,
and Big Ten play still alive if something strange happens
this weekend and and to get into the Big Ten
title game, certainly they've done enough already to make the
football playoffs.

Speaker 2 (23:01):
I would agree with that.

Speaker 1 (23:03):
Chip. Michigan went to Maryland and the Maryland Terrapins. It
turns out not a good football team despite October or sorry, September, Maryland,
the rest of Maryland is not good.

Speaker 2 (23:19):
No, I'm not surprised that Michigan won. I'm surprised that
they won so easily, considering the fact that they were
starting their third string former walk on tailback. They I mean,
ran all over Maryland. But that is another program where Okay,
you recruit really well, but you need to do a

(23:39):
better job with recruiting on the defensive side of the
ball and getting better at stopping the run because that
kind of shows itself. Like you said, Michael, year after year,
Maryland starts out four and oh or three and oh,
I should say, at least a non conference and then
when they get into big ten games against physical teams,
they're unable to stop them.

Speaker 1 (23:59):
Yeah, Maryland bad against the run, but on the other hand,
bad against the past.

Speaker 2 (24:06):
Yeah. Like I said, defense is that is WillFull.

Speaker 1 (24:09):
And again, more problems for Malik Washington. I thought he
put the ball in harm's way and made poor throws
when he had time several times in this game. You
got to live with that as a freshman, But you
know at this point you've played eleven games. This was
your eleventh game. Maybe maybe he was here in footsteps.

Speaker 2 (24:27):
I don't know, entirely possible. Mike Loxley will be back
for another year. They I'm not saying surprisingly, but the
fact that he's he's got another year to improve Maryland's program.
We'll see if he's able to do it.

Speaker 1 (24:46):
Fear the Turtle in September.

Speaker 2 (24:49):
I would guess so. Yeah, but no other time, No
other time.

Speaker 1 (24:53):
Michigan's nine to two, still hoping to get into the
College Football Playoff seven and one Big Ten Play, and
I really think Michigan, if they beat Ohio State, I
think they'll be in the College Football Playoff. I don't
think they get in with the lost to Ohio State.
Maryland is four and seven overall, one and seven in
Big Ten Play.

Speaker 2 (25:14):
Yeah, Michigan, everything is completely dependent on them pulling off
the upset in ann Arbor.

Speaker 1 (25:22):
So you know the Bluck guys are gonna get their
best shot they always do. Wisconsin hosted Illinois, and I
did watch a good chunk of this game, and Wisconsin's
defense was really, really solid in this game. The Badgers
win at twenty seven to ten. They really gave problems
to Luke Altmeyer and the Illinois running game all day long.

Speaker 2 (25:45):
Yeah, I really thought Illinois was going to have no
problem whatsoever up there. I really thought Brett Bielima, being
former Wisconsin head coach, was going to try to do
everything he could to kind of embarrass Wisconsin if given
the opportunity, and it just never came about. And Wisconsin
credit to Luke Fickle and the players, because you know,

(26:10):
it was just looking so ominous I mean a month ago.
That's not to imply that Wisconsin should be happy right
now that they have that four and seven record, but
you know, if they can if they can pull off
another win, you know, to finish up the way that
they had the season started, I think that's a that's
a really good thing for So I'm happy for Luke

(26:31):
Fickle in Illinois. They got to Bryan get back on
a winning note because right now, I mean they're just
kind of, you know, muddling along with like a seven
and four record.

Speaker 1 (26:42):
Yeah, it would have been easy to quit on this
season if you're a Badger. But I think it speaks
highly of Luke Fickle that his team is still.

Speaker 2 (26:49):
Scrapping for him, I would agree with that.

Speaker 1 (26:52):
Illinois seven and four in the Big Ten four, I'm sorry,
seven and four overall, four and four in the Big Ten,
Wisconsin four and seven overall. Two you with six in
the Big Ten. They once looked like the worst team
in the Big Ten. They do not look like the worst.

Speaker 2 (27:05):
Team in the Big Ten anymore, they do not.

Speaker 1 (27:10):
Probably the most exciting game in the Big Ten this
week took place at Wrigley Field.

Speaker 2 (27:15):
Chip that one another surprise. Now, in fairness to Northwestern,
I didn't realize this up until the win against Minnesota.
Northwestern every time that they had games at Wrigley Field,
they had lost yep, and I genuinely thought that Minnesota.

(27:36):
It's been one of these things where Minnesota has sometimes
looked extremely good, and then when they've been on the
road like they were, they've looked extremely bad and they
had the lead but couldn't hold on to it. Northwestern
came back and won that game.

Speaker 1 (27:52):
And sometimes they've looked extremely good and extremely bad in
the same game. True, which is kind of what happened
in this game. They look great in the second quarter.
Northwestern wins it thirty eight thirty five, and Minnesota had
Chantza at a tying field goal late and did not
make the field goal. So the Gophers fall to six
and five, four and four in the Big Ten. Northwestern

(28:13):
congrats to the Wildcats. They're Bowl eligible at six and five,
four and four also in the Big Ten.

Speaker 2 (28:19):
Never I never thought Northwestern would be full eligible just
based on the way that they played last year. So
I mean, give give credit to David Brown for I mean,
he's taken that team to bowl games two out of
his three years there. That's impressive.

Speaker 1 (28:38):
Scrappy Northwestern and they play hard for their coach. You
gotta like it when a coach's team plays hard for him,
because you know those are not easy places to win,
not easy places. You're not guaranteed a bowl game every
year at places like Northwestern, So I think it speaks
highly of what he's done with that program.

Speaker 2 (28:58):
I agree.

Speaker 1 (28:59):
Michigan's State went to Iowa Chip. This would have been
the weirdest result of the weekend up until the end,
but Michigan State fell behind seven to nothing after the
first quarter, then led this game seventeen to seven in
the fourth quarter, gave up thirteen unanswered at the end,
and lose twenty to seventeen. I am shocked that Iowa

(29:19):
struggled against Michigan State.

Speaker 2 (29:22):
I am shocked, but I'm also it's one of these
things where where you know, you mentioned a moment ago
about give credit to Northwestern and they're playing hard for
their coach. I mean, that basically is what Iowa kind
of you know what they traditionally have done under Kirk Farence.
And as far as with Michigan State, I mean you

(29:42):
want to talk about just getting your heart ripped out
because they had their first Big Ten win well within
their grasp and if anything like they were able to
snatch the feet from the jaws of victory.

Speaker 1 (29:59):
They could have just got one more score or prevented
one more score, they would not be to eight into
Big Ten. But that's what the Spartans are. Eight in
the Big Ten, three and eight overall. Iowa improve to
seven and four, five and three in the Big Ten,
and uh, maybe I would just fill a little hangover
from the last couple weeks. They've had some tough games.

Speaker 2 (30:19):
Yeah, very very very possible.

Speaker 1 (30:22):
Nebraska went to Penn State. Again. I thought this would
be a good game chip, but Penn Stage has had
no problem with Nebraska. They went thirty seven to ten,
and they ran the ball extremely well on the corn Huskers,
which I did not expect.

Speaker 2 (30:36):
The thing that I think if you're a Penn State fan,
and this is not meant to bloat or mock how
their season went, but the fact that that Penn State
under Terry Smith, that they've rediscovered that they really do
have a solid offensive line and two very capable running backs.
It just makes you wonder if perhaps you know they're

(30:59):
off it's a philosophy or focus earlier in the season,
if they had had had this much commitment to the
running game, maybe things might have turned out a little differently.

Speaker 1 (31:10):
Well, we definitely know that that things started to go
off the rails in the Oregon game, and they went
off the rails because Oregon could not stop their run
in that overtime and they decided to throw and throw
an interception exactly. I mean, I don't know if it
was just a was it just maybe them saying, look,

(31:31):
Drew Aller's really good. We didn't miss on him, and
so we're gonna prove it. We're gonna let him make plays.
Because Drew Aller was not good.

Speaker 2 (31:39):
No, he it was just a bad fit. I just
think that that was just a bad scheme fit. And
I think if you know now that James Franklin he's
at Virginia Tech, I think maybe you know just kind
of recognizing, all right, the style of offense that I
would like to run, you know, I having a traditional

(31:59):
D passer is not is not really what works for
me offensively.

Speaker 1 (32:04):
Yeah, all right, Nebraska is seven and four overall, four
and four in the Big Ten. Penn State improved a
five and six, two and six in league play. And
as you mentioned, Penn State will play Rutgers. The winner
of that game gets to go to a bowl game
and the loser does not.

Speaker 2 (32:21):
And I'll tell you what this I mean, this should
be a really good game. I'm being completely serious. I
think Rutgers they're not the I mean what you saw,
you know, I think they were. They were challenged by
Ohio State. But I say, as arguably the best defense
in the country the Rutgers has, you know, with with

(32:43):
caliak Mannus, they can throw the ball, good running game,
good passing game, you know, and I just mentioned it,
you know, like with Penn State, they have a really
good running game. This this has has the potential to
be a really good sleeper of a of a good game.

Speaker 1 (32:57):
Yeah, I agree with you. It'll be interesting to see
how Rutgers can run the football against Penn State. In
the middle part of the Ohio State game, Chip Rutgers
ran on like five consecutive first downs and made five
yards or more on all of them good point. So
if you could do that against the best best defense

(33:18):
in the country, I mean, that's that speaks pretty well
of how your offensive line and your scheme is uh
is working.

Speaker 2 (33:26):
Yeah, I mean, if anything, Rutgers, the the thing that
they are good at is you know, usually it's usually
running the ball. Now they're starting to kind of come
into that, but they're also usually pretty strong defensively. That's
where they're where you know, the issues issues are. So

(33:48):
that's what I'm saying. It's like this, this could be
a very entertaining game.

Speaker 1 (33:51):
Yeah, I think what you just brought up about Rutgers
defense against the run is why I'm going to take
Penn State to win that game.

Speaker 2 (33:58):
I understand.

Speaker 1 (33:59):
I'm Washington throttled Ucla on the road forty eight to fourteen. Chip.
I don't know if UCLA has reverted to form, if
Washington is reverted to form, or if both things are true.

Speaker 2 (34:11):
I think both things are true. I think Ucla, I mean,
they were playing with a lot of heart after the
firing of Deshaun Foster, and you know, they had that
three game winning streak. But I think they certainly come
back down to earth and then as far as Washington
kind of battling through some injuries. But I think Washington
is kind of showing that they're a pretty talented bunch.

(34:34):
So I think it's kind of a little of both.

Speaker 1 (34:36):
Yeah, So forty eight to fourteen to win. There, Washington
improved to eight and three overall, five and three in
the Big Ten. Ucla the opposite three at eight in
all games and three and five in the Big Ten,
So a mirror image of each other. Let's turn our
attention to the weekend after Thanksgiving. Can you believe Thanksgivings
already here?

Speaker 2 (34:56):
Chip, No, I cannot.

Speaker 1 (34:59):
Well it's true, so hopefully you guys got all your
shopping done.

Speaker 2 (35:03):
We do, we do, believe me. It's one of the
things that I pretty much say to missus Minnick that,
all right, I want nothing to do with going to
any grocery store whatsoever the week of Thanksgiving, just because
of the mayhem and craziness that takes place there.

Speaker 1 (35:20):
All right. Well, the league schedule, Chip, as you know,
always on Thanksgiving week starts early. We got Pharmageddon on
CBS at noon on Friday, as Iowa takes on Nebraska
on the road.

Speaker 2 (35:33):
Should be a good game. It usually is between these
two programs, and I will just say that, you know,
when it comes to Nebraska, I think they're really eager
to try and end the season on a winning note.
Not to imply that Iowa doesn't care, but I think,
you know, with Nebraska, I think, all right, the fact

(35:56):
that it's at home, I'm going to go with Nebraska here,
but I think it should be another close game.

Speaker 1 (36:02):
Yeah, I think this game comes down to who doesn't
turn the ball over. I think this can be a
close game and almost identical records. They're both seven and four.
Iowa one game better than the Big Ten. On a
neutral field, I would take Iowa at Nebraska. That gives
the Huskers a good chance. And I really think it's
going to come down to can can one of these

(36:24):
teams not throw interceptions or fumble the football?

Speaker 2 (36:28):
Very good point.

Speaker 1 (36:30):
Iowa may have an advantage there because they have good
special teams as well. So we'll see rivalry game. Chip
in West Lafayette seven thirty pm Friday on NBC and Peacock,
Indiana goes to Purdue. This is going to be ugly, yes, I.

Speaker 2 (36:48):
Mean it's it's it's in ross Aids Stadium. But even so,
I think Indiana. They have Indianapolis very much within their sights,
and so I just think they're just gonna common and
just let Purdue have it.

Speaker 1 (37:03):
I agree, And I don't think Indiana let's up. I
don't think there's any worry about Oh, we got to
protect our star players. I think they're just going to
go out and try to win fifty to nothing.

Speaker 2 (37:12):
Yeah, entirely possible.

Speaker 1 (37:15):
All right, Saturday, big nude Saturday. I'm sure you've seen
the stupid commercial five hundred thousand times already with stupid
Colin Cowherd.

Speaker 2 (37:26):
I haven't, but I'm glad that. I'm glad that, you
know part of the reason why I kind of abstain
from watching television on Sunday. So, yeah, I haven't seen it.

Speaker 1 (37:36):
If you watched NFL and Fox today, you saw the
commercial like thirty times, and it's annoying anyway. Ohio State
will go to ann Arbor a rarity chip. Both quarterbacks
will be in their first iteration of the game.

Speaker 2 (37:52):
Very good point. I completely overlook.

Speaker 1 (37:55):
That, So you know, I don't know how many times
we got to hear it. Oh, the team that wins
the battle and rushing wins the game. I don't think
that is a necessary statistic. I think it's just kind
of an anomaly at this point. You go and you
do what you're good at and then you you know,
you get points, and you win by scoring more points.

(38:15):
I don't think you have to outrush the other team.
Ohio State has gone ten games now CHIP without allowing
one hundred yard rushing. I think Michigan will get one
hundred yards rushing. Okay, I hope I'm wrong because I
think it's a good defense. But I do think Michigan's
good enough. They will pop a couple of runs. It

(38:36):
will pad their average a little bit. I think they
will eclipse one hundred yards. Now, I'm not saying that
they'll run for more yards, but they very well could.

Speaker 2 (38:44):
Okay, but we'll.

Speaker 1 (38:47):
Talk about that game a little bit more in depth.
Oregon goes to Washington Chip. This is a good game.
I'm really excited about this one. And this one is
at three point thirty on CBS, so we'll get to
watch it.

Speaker 2 (38:58):
Yeah. I'm looking forward to it this one, certainly until
Washington stubbed their toe at Wisconsin had kind of the
you know, like this this is the kind of thing
where it's like all right possible college football playoff. You know,
birth and Washington will be on the outside looking in,
but they still have the potential to to beat Oregon

(39:20):
at home. I think Oregon certainly has shown that they
have talent running the ball, passing the ball, so you know,
it should be like you said, it should be a
really good game to watch at three thirty.

Speaker 1 (39:33):
Yeah. I don't know if Washington has done enough to
even even with a win over Oregon, could get in
the college football playoff, but I think they'll be in
the discussion if they do.

Speaker 2 (39:45):
Yeah, I mean right now, I mean they're not. I
mean they're not in the in the ranking, so I
mean they'd have to make a I mean there would
have to be some major upheaple, which is not completely
far fetched, but you know, for them to get up
in the conversation. But that would also include a win
over Oregon, so it just remains to be seen.

Speaker 1 (40:04):
They would need to win and I think be impressive
in that win. Yes, be in the discussion and have
quite frankly, have some results elsewhere go their way.

Speaker 2 (40:13):
Exactly.

Speaker 1 (40:14):
So it's at Husky Stadium, so the Huskies have a chance. Yep,
Wisconsin will go to Minnesota Chip. What are they playing for?

Speaker 2 (40:25):
They are playing for the Axe. Paul Bunyons X.

Speaker 1 (40:29):
Paul Bunions ACX three p thirty on FS one. If
I'm PJ. Fleck, I'm concerned about this game all of
a sudden because the Minnesota has not been playing well
the last couple of games.

Speaker 2 (40:39):
They haven't been But I also know that PJ. Fleck,
he's the kind of guy that you know when it
being a rivalry game, I think that he will have
his guys ready to go. And I think Wisconsin, while
they're they're stout defensively, I think they're still trying to
figure some things out offensively. Like I said, like that

(40:59):
was the the big surprise that they were able to
be so successful against Illinois. I don't know if they'll
be able to do that against Minnesota. Should be a
good game, but I think Minnesota ends the ends the
regular season on a winning note.

Speaker 1 (41:12):
Tarder on the road for sure, but one thing they
might want to do is not kick the ball to
cooy parents.

Speaker 2 (41:20):
Yeah, I would agree with that.

Speaker 1 (41:21):
You had another big game returning kicks against Northwestern. Penn
State goes to Rutgers. That's a three thirty BTN game.
I like Penn State just because I don't think Rutgers
can stop the run.

Speaker 2 (41:32):
Yeah, I think Penn State. And then then it's going
to be interesting to see. I mean, you talked about
Terry Smith. Will that be enough to get him the job?
I mean, it's you know, decisions have to be made.
I mentioned this, you know, mentioned this that this is
not you know, meant to imply that Terry Smith is

(41:53):
not up for the job or is not capable of
doing the job, but getting closer and closer to not
only the early signing period for recruiting purposes, but in
my mind, I'm thinking if I'm Penn State or if
I'm any of these other programs. That is kind of
in the process of deliberating on a coach. It's also
you've got the transfer portal window, so you really can't

(42:17):
afford to wait too too long. So it's going to
be interesting to see if Penn State wins this, if
they pull the trigger and make Terry Smith the full
time head coach.

Speaker 1 (42:26):
It will be interesting. I think it would help if
he would close a few deals. I haven't been. We're
not recruit guys, we're not recruiting followers. You know closely.
We don't do that, but I can tell you Ohio
States closed the deal on several players in the last
week and a half. I haven't heard the same amount
of Penn State. And that kind of to me is

(42:47):
what's going to make the difference for Terry Smith is
can he recruit we don't know?

Speaker 2 (42:51):
We don't And to be fair to the young men
that were on Penn State's verbal commitment lists that have
decided to reopen their commitment or you know, possibly you know,
go elsewhere when you don't know who the head coach
is going to be, I mean it, I mean you're
you're talking about a very important life decision. So you know,

(43:14):
the longer pen Sate pries to deliberate this, the more
long term impact it's going to have on their program.

Speaker 1 (43:20):
And they would help Terry Smith's cause if a few
of those suddenly waffling recruits would reaffirm their commitment to him.

Speaker 2 (43:27):
I can only yeah, once they once they make that
decision about who's the head coach.

Speaker 1 (43:33):
Four point thirty on NBC, we got a rivalry game
chip UCLA at USC. I don't expect UCLA to win
this game, but I think it will be an exciting
game because Ucla USC usually is and I think USC
just is too strong for UCLA, and they're probably feeling
a little bit angry after coming off that Oregon loss.

Speaker 2 (43:56):
And and UCLA, I mean, I think with Tim Skipper,
I think he is certainly a guy that potentially had,
you know, maybe could have been in the consideration for
the full time thing. But again, you know, like the
way that UCLA is kind of, you know, struggled down
the stretch, I think UCLA will probably want somebody else

(44:18):
as the head coach. But I would I would give
strong consideration and Tim Skipper for being on the staff.
And yeah, like Nico Ima Leva, I mean, he sustained
an injury against Washington, who remained no idea if he'll
be able to play. So I think USC wins this game.
And then if you're a UCLA, you've got to make
that decision on who's going to be the next head coach.

Speaker 1 (44:38):
Yeah, I think that if nothing else, they may have
found themselves an offensive coordinator. Of course, that's dependent upon
who's head coach. You got it, all right? Seven o'clock
we get to the night games. Maryland goes to Michigan State, Chips.
Someone has to win this game.

Speaker 2 (44:55):
That's true. You know something, I I'm going to go
right now, I'm I'm I'm going to go out and
say that Michigan State gets their their first Big ten
win of the season. Like you said, Maryland, I mean
they're They're not that Michigan State is a good defensive
team either, but Maryland, I mean they they kind of
showed that they really want no part of stopping the run.

(45:18):
Michigan State, they have their issues being able to run
it effectively, but I think that they're better at it.
So I think Michigan State gets their first Big ten
win of the season.

Speaker 1 (45:27):
Yeah, that's why I'm leaning. I think just being at
home kind of tilts it just barely in their favor.
I think it'll be a close game.

Speaker 2 (45:34):
Mm hm.

Speaker 1 (45:35):
And another rivalry game at seven thirty on Fox. Chip
Northwestern goes to Champagne to play Illinois, and they what
will they be playing for?

Speaker 2 (45:44):
Chip the Lincoln, like the like the Lincoln Hat? I
think I think, Okay, so no, because it's like I'm
just trying to like picture it, like what like if
there was like a different name, like I know, obviously,
you know, like the whole Like NOI Land of Lincoln thing,
and I just didn't know if there was like an
official title to the trophy.

Speaker 1 (46:06):
I just hear them always say the Battle for Abe
Lincoln's Hat. Okay, so I don't I'm sure it has
a more official name than that, but I don't know
what it is. It's just the stovepipe hap that you know,
Lincoln war. It's not the actual hat that he wore.
That would be really cool or.

Speaker 2 (46:25):
Kind of scary actually, but.

Speaker 1 (46:26):
Yeah, I probably wouldn't be in a very good shape. No, yeah,
I don't know. I don't know what it's exactly called,
but that they just always say it's for Abe Lincoln's Hat,
and you know that's cool. I guess yep, it is
called the Land of Lincoln Trophy Official.

Speaker 2 (46:48):
Thank you? Okay, that like I just yeah, so yeah,
I'll tell you what. In the Land of Lincoln. That
kickoff time is at seven point thirty and I can
just promise you that in the Midwest this time of year,
that is I mean, bundle up. You might be wanting
to borrow that that Lincoln hat. You know, it's going

(47:08):
to be like thirty five degrees outside, so.

Speaker 1 (47:11):
You know, bundle up if it's only thirty there.

Speaker 2 (47:15):
Yeah, well thirty five degrees doesn't doesn't care about the time.

Speaker 1 (47:20):
Yeah, that's actually true. So yeah, it's it's just a
hat on top of a like a wooden mounting thing. Okay,
it's it's not kind of doesn't look like Abe Lincoln's had.
It kind of looks like the mad Hatters hat. Do
you want to be honest? Okay, Okay, anyway from the
don't come around here No More Tom Petty video, I

(47:42):
think that's that's where that is. Any any games that
you're really especially looking forward to this weekend other than
the game Chip.

Speaker 2 (47:49):
Other than the game, I would say that, you know,
just because I'm I'm I love the whole Black Friday,
you know, sitting on on on the cow, you know,
in the afternoon with a plate of you know, leftover
so like Iowa, Nebraska, and then you know probably you know,

(48:09):
I would say that, you know, just because not so
much that it has a bearing on Ohio State, Michigan,
but just because I think they're too talented teams Oregon
and Washington that three thirty game.

Speaker 1 (48:22):
Yeah, that's that's what I'm thinking. But I'm going to
try to watch as many of these as I can,
because there's some good matchups, some trophies on the line,
a bowl game on the line. So lot's going on.

Speaker 2 (48:32):
Yeah, exactly, all right, Chip.

Speaker 1 (48:35):
The game is Saturday at noon, and we don't know
if Ohio State will have one both neither of the
starting wide receivers in this game. Certainly hope so, because
you know, they they've done a lot to get this
team to where it is right now, and I don't
think that Ohio State would like to go into that

(48:56):
game wanting to get in the type of game that
Michigan likes.

Speaker 2 (49:01):
No, they don't. I can tell you you know, you know,
in terms of the weather, you know it's going to
be you know, when you look up the ann Arbor
weather forecast, it's it's supposed to be you know, thirty degrees,
possibly snow. You know. So it's it's a kind of
thing where you know, you certainly don't want to play

(49:21):
the game on Michigan's terms. So you know, if they
can go, I really think that they will.

Speaker 1 (49:27):
Michigan's got a good defense seventeenth ranked nationally, so again,
not going to be easy even if you have everybody healthy.
Ohio State running the football. It is We'll say, several
weeks in a row, the Buckeyes have not run the
football particularly well in the first half. They were better

(49:48):
against Rutgers, but again it was Rutgers. They've played pretty
well in the run game in the second half. They've
found some things in the second half. So that's that's
kind of the thing is is you got to you've
got to keep this thing under control through halftime and
make those same kind of of adjustments. And I think
that actually in the last several games of this streak

(50:10):
that Michigan's on Michigan has made the better adjustments at halftime.

Speaker 2 (50:14):
I would agree with that. I also think Ryan Day
we just kind of alluded to it. I think Ryan Day,
for whatever reason, in previous iterations of the game, was
bound in, determined, for whatever reason, to try and play
the game the way, you know, like kind of like
to prove a point that oh yeah, we're tough for
physical and instead of just winning, you know with okay,

(50:38):
like you said, it's like, you know, all right, Michigan,
you you out rushed Ohio State. But if Ohio State
beat you by you know, a field goal or one point,
does that really matter? It doesn't you know, like you know,
like to get over that perceived psychological slight. You know.
So I think Ryan Day all indications are that he

(50:59):
has learned into that.

Speaker 1 (51:00):
Lesson, I hope. So Michigan's got a good run defense
to eleventh in the country in that category, surprisingly only
fifty second against the pass. I think that there's some
safety issues with Michigan.

Speaker 2 (51:14):
There are, And that's kind of where to your point
from a moment ago about running the ball and sticking
with it, not stubbornly, but sticking with it, and that
things are too kind of work. They're way much better
in the second half. I think that also opens up
for Ohio State the opportunity for like play action passing

(51:37):
that you know, Michigan would be susceptible to. So, you know,
I think Ohio State, I mean, they have to go
into this game plan with the idea of, yeah, we're
going to run the ball, but we're not going to
try and do something you know, that is detrimental to
the team's overall possibilities for success.

Speaker 1 (51:57):
And this Buckeye team has not lost since the Chigan
game last year, and it's it seems like this team
is on a mission to get to and win the
game and get back to Indianapolis. That seems like it's
been the overriding thing. It's like, Okay, we've won the
national championship. That's great. We'd like to win another one
this year and it's great, but let's take care of
some of the other goals that we have not been

(52:17):
able to achieve.

Speaker 2 (52:19):
Yeah. Ryan Day mentioned it postgame on Fox about you
know how the team just going to kind of paraphrase
it is kind of eager to try and win some hardware,
meaning that Okay, nobody on this team has a pair
of gold pants. Nobody on this team has been to
the Big Ten championship, you know, so they you know,

(52:40):
in terms of being able to win those. And so
I just think every every indication is that I would
agree with you that, all right, the focus is there.
But I also think that lessons learned from the stubbornness
of last year of trying to play the game, you know,
like in the way that Michigan would prefer. I really

(53:01):
do think that that Ryan Days has learned something. So
we'll see, you know, I understand your concern. I'm not
trying to imply that I'm not concerned, but I genuinely
believe that both Jeremiah Smith and Colonel Tate will play.
How much they play, I don't know. I don't want to.
I don't want to imply that, oh, they're going to
play the entire game, but I think that they I
think if they can, they will, and then it might

(53:26):
kind of turn into a chess match of Okay, maybe
that they're out there and if they're if they're healthy,
then okay, yeah, have them fully a part of the
game plan. If they're not fully healthy, have them out there.
And now all of a sudden, you're diverting a lot
of a tent that that pass defense that is kind
of susceptible. Okay, if you want to double cover Jeremiah,
even though he's not the primary receiver on this play,

(53:47):
going ahead and we'll make we'll take advantage of it.
So that's that's my thinking. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (53:52):
So Michigan comes into this game averaging twenty nine points
a game offensively, giving up about eighteen a game defensively.
Uh is They have played an okay schedule, It's not
a great schedule. They obviously have lost some of their
biggest games. Jordan Marshall was their their leading rusher. They're

(54:15):
they're down to Bryson Kudzel, now right.

Speaker 2 (54:19):
We don't know. I mean, if we're going to play
this game of cat and mouse with you know, like
I mean seriously, like Jordan Marshall heat and it made sense,
is all right? You know, a full will like you'll
be able to run against Maryland as Bryson Putcil demonstrated
and be successful. You know, no need to further aggravate

(54:40):
an injury for Jordan Marshall. Now, is Jordan Marshall gonna
be one hundred percent? I don't know anyone at this
stage of the college football season, just in terms of
seriously with like all the bumps and bruises that are accumulated,
is going to be one hundred percent? I think he'll
definitely be. He'll he'll be the guy if he's if
he's able to ad, I think he will be the
primary focus of the Ohio State defense.

Speaker 1 (55:02):
All right. So obviously Justice Haynes Yep also over eight
hundred yards this year, and he'd been banged up as well,
so he's out and he was out for the.

Speaker 2 (55:13):
Year at least for the regular season. It hasn't been
hasn't been determined officially. I think if like if there
is a college football playoff or you know what I mean,
like or whatever, but yeah, Haynes will not be He
will not be playing in the regular season.

Speaker 1 (55:29):
And one thing Ohio State has to do is they
have to keep someone on Bryce Underwood because he does
run the football a lot. He has three hundred and
twenty two yards and five touchdowns rushing, and once he
gets in the open field, he's very dangerous passing the football.
Underwood has completed sixty two percent of his passes, which
is respectable, twenty one hundred yards, nine touchdowns, five interceptions,

(55:52):
though he's he's put the ball in arms way at times.

Speaker 2 (55:55):
Yeah, I have not been impressed in terms of the passing.
I mean, I mean everything don't be wrong. When I
look at when I look at Rice Underwood, to me,
I see, you know, a young Cam Newton. And so
the physical skills are there. I mean, you see, like
you said, like the rushing ability, the passing, he's not

(56:17):
only the inaccuracy, but also the fact that almost every
pass is just like coming at you like one hundred
miles an hour. There's there's very little touch. I mean,
he does not have remotely any of the kind of
accuracy and touch that Ohio State fans have grown accustomed to.
With Julian saying so that, I think the talent is there,

(56:39):
and I think eventually it'll it'll start to come to,
you know, to blossom. But I think right now, I
think that Digit is trying to get through this season
and then work even more so on kind of his
his passing technique.

Speaker 1 (56:54):
Defensively, the name to remember seems to be.

Speaker 2 (56:56):
Derek Moore, pretty good pass rusher. I think it'll be
the kind of thing where Julian's saying he has shown
the ability to step up in the pocket and I
don't want to say make guys miss, but you know,
like he recognizes when pressure is coming. So I think,
you know, it'll be how High State handles the pass

(57:16):
rush because weink Martinell, the defensive coordinator, loves to blitz.
If saying can make them pay for that, especially if
receivers are isolated in one on one situations, should be
interesting to see.

Speaker 1 (57:31):
All right, Well, now it's time for us to get
to our picks to click chip for the last regular
season game of the twenty twenty five Ohio State season.

Speaker 2 (57:40):
And then it always goes by way too fast.

Speaker 1 (57:43):
It does, all right. We started on the offensive side
last week, Chip, so defensively for the Buckeyes, who's going
to click against the Michigan Wolverines.

Speaker 2 (57:53):
I don't think there's a wrong answer on this, but
I am I'm going to take the I'm gonna take
rvl Reese because I just think when it comes to
Bryce Underwood, you know, he is going to present his problems.
As I said a moment ago, very talented young man,
and I think if rvel Reese can shadow him and

(58:16):
if he does break out of the pocket, uh, you know,
to kind of limit you know how how long those
rushes are as well as you know in terms of
pass rushing. So I think rvel Reese is my guy.

Speaker 1 (58:28):
It's a good pick. I am going to for many
of the reasons you just stayed. I'm going to take
Caleb Downs.

Speaker 2 (58:35):
If you had gone first, I was gonna and taken Reese.
I would have taken Caleb Downs simply for the fact
that I think with Michigan their passing game relying so
heavily on tight ends, I think Caleb Downs is bound
to be involved in making some critical stops.

Speaker 1 (58:50):
And I know that the quality of the opponent wasn't
where it will be this weekend for Cayden Curry going
against Rutgers. But I think Kayden Curry found a second
win against Rutgers and was just all over the field.
He was making plays inside, outside, pass, rush, run defense.
I think that he's going to have a good game
as well.

Speaker 2 (59:11):
I would agree, all right, let's.

Speaker 1 (59:13):
Go to the offensive side of the ball and chip.
Because I don't know the status of the starting wideouts,
I'm going to take Max Clare as my pick to click.
I think that this was a dry run. It's like, Okay,
if these guys can't play, what can Max Clair do?
Turns out Max Claire can do a lot of good things.

Speaker 2 (59:29):
He very much, and he was going to be my pick.
I definitely my rationale. There was the fact that I
mentioned it a moment ago that when it comes to
Wink Martineal, the Michigan defensive coordinator, wanting to blitz, I
think that this is going to present opportunities for Max
Claire to take advantage of a linebacker or a safety

(59:51):
who may not be able to adequately cover Max Clair.
So I like it. So since you mentioned the fact
that we don't know really the status of the wide receivers,
and you selected Max Claire. I'm just gonna go with
Bo Jackson in the sense that I think not looking

(01:00:11):
for him to be It would be great if he did.
You know, I have like a twenty carry game, but
I think that he's going to be called upon. I
think patience is going to be a necessity in this.
You know, I think that Michigan run run defense pretty good.
They're going to be, you know, crashing down on him
a lot. But I could see the potential for Bo

(01:00:33):
Jackson to have some big plays, definitely in the second half.

Speaker 1 (01:00:38):
All Right, we're locked in with our picks to click.
Now we've got to predict the final score. Chip. What
do you like to see on the scoreboard or what
do you think we'll see on the scoreboard at the
Big House at the end of the game on Saturday.

Speaker 2 (01:00:54):
All Right, you can say that I'm I'm looking at
this through scarlett colored glass, but I do believe that
the four game losing streak is going to come to
an end this weekend. I mentioned the early weather forecast
is supposed to be about thirty degrees chance of snow
later in the afternoon, So hopefully. If I'm an Ohio

(01:01:17):
State fan, I'm thinking, you know, if the game ends
at three point thirty and then all of a sudden
the snow starts to follow, that would not be a
bad thing. But I like Ohio State. I'm going to
say Ohio State twenty eight, Michigan seventeen.

Speaker 1 (01:01:30):
Okay, twenty eight seventeen. This is one of those where
I have a score in mind if I know Tate
and Smith are healthy and playing, and I have another
score in mind, and that's the one I'm going to
give you, and I'm going to say twenty four to
twenty buck guys. I think Ohio State gets done. Even
if those guys can't go much or at all, I

(01:01:51):
think they can still get it done because I think
they can put twenty four points on the board. I hope,
certainly hope they can. I think Ohio State's offensive line
will work on some of the things they didn't do
well this week. I thought that they had some breakdowns
and pass cover, pass protection, and I think that they'll
get some of that stuff cleaned up. I don't know
still if if Ryan Day knows what he wants to

(01:02:16):
do at right guard.

Speaker 2 (01:02:19):
Yeah, I think that, you know, kind of what confounded
the issue was that Josh Badia, you know, you want
to talk about, you know, not knowing what the health
that he was withheld, and then you know, the inconsistency
that Tiger Shibola and then with gay Van Sickle. I think,

(01:02:41):
you know, it's just kind of added a layer of uncertainty.
So hopefully, like you said, hopefully they get that figured out,
especially in what has now become the biggest game of
the season. It is every year to me, absolutely, But yeah,
I think part of part of the what gives me

(01:03:01):
confidence is that Ryan Day just kind of about the
idea of, Okay, we have our process and you know,
we're you know, this is you know, working on this
and you know, kind of instead of I'm not trying
to imply that he's not making the game a priority,
because it is, but I think that I think he's

(01:03:22):
kind of recognized, all right, we need to you know,
work on the things that need improvement, accentuate the things
that that we do well and good things, and be
confident that think that good things are going to be
a result.

Speaker 1 (01:03:37):
Yeah, I think the important thing is not to overthink it.
Do what you're good at Uh yeah, you know, do
your scouting, figure out ways that you think you can
attack them, and just go with it. I don't think
you need to improve anything. You don't need to be Oh,
we're gonna beat them at their game. We're gonna play manball.
We're gonna run the football at all costs. If it
ain't working, use the pass to set up the run.

Speaker 2 (01:03:58):
I would agree.

Speaker 1 (01:03:59):
So, I mean, he's it's not like he's never beaten Michigan.
He beat him this first game in twenty nineteen. This
wasn't a narrative, it was the narrative was absolutely the
other way, like Michigan can't beat Ohio State ever, and
now it's it's flipped in just a few years. Doesn't
take long for everybody to get a new narrative.

Speaker 2 (01:04:18):
Yeah, well, I mean that's the thing, like you remember,
I know that you know, we joke about, you know, like, oh,
you know back in the day, but you know, it
was when when Earl Bruce was was fired and Ohio
State went up to ann Arbor. And I don't want
to say it was a miracle, but the fact that
they beat Michigan, you know, despite the fact that Earl

(01:04:39):
Bruce had been fired, and then about a month later,
Ohio State hired John Cooper, and it was kind of
the narrative then was like, okay, well this guy, he
he beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl when he was
at Arizona State. And then the next thing, you know,
it's like, oh my god, you know, you know, what
did we do kind of a thing. So, you know,

(01:04:59):
so it's just you know, and then you know, Trussell
came in and again, like the narrative was flipped there.
So it's I definitely think it's certainly within Ryan Day's
power to change it. I think, like you said, very well,
to not overthink it. And I think that's what he
learned last year in that stretch run to the National championship.

Speaker 1 (01:05:19):
Yeah, from Tressel to Meyer to Day's first year, it
was pretty good, pretty good sailing against Michigan. The you know,
the rivalry under Earl Bruce was about fifty to fifty,
which is what it had been, you know in the
ten year war. I mean Woody and Bow, I mean,
you know, they take turns. It's always a hard game.

(01:05:43):
You don't usually have streaks. Michigan had a streak because
Cooper couldn't get it done. Even when he had vastly
superior teams on the field, like teams that were like
no losses or one loss against Michigan, teams that had
three or four losses, he still couldn't get it done
and would come down to some kick that got missed
usually or something like that. So we'll see how it goes.

(01:06:04):
I think that Ryan Day is a good coach. I
think he's proven that. I don't think you can go
and just destroy four teams the way he did and
win four playoff games by double digits to win a
national championship if you can't coach. And I think if anything,
the team, despite having an inexperienced quarterback, a new offensive line,
a new defensive coordinator, has done everything this year better

(01:06:28):
than last year. Just about everything has been better. So
I think that there's no reason that they can't go
out and win this game.

Speaker 2 (01:06:35):
Yeah. I do believe that Matt Patricia is kind of
the ace in the hole. I really do. When it
comes to it, sounds like I'm taking shots at Jim Knowles,
but let's face it, you know Jim Knowles, and sometimes
you know like it was more evident when in the
twenty twenty two game where you know, coverages were blown

(01:06:58):
that it was just kind of like what you know,
like even Urban Meyer I remember on the Fox broadcast
like what are they? You know, what are they doing?
Kind of a thing, you know, keep everything in front
of you, and I just you know, say what you
will last year, You're never going to convince me that
Will Howard wasn't concussed and they just didn't have any
confidence in Devin.

Speaker 1 (01:07:16):
Brown and so injury to the kicker certainly played a
factor in that.

Speaker 2 (01:07:21):
That's right. Yeah, So I mean, so that's that's the thing, like,
and it's just that players only meeting between Ryan Day
and from the players that has come to light about,
you know, just kind of like a no holds barred,
very candid, very I can only imagine probably wasced with

(01:07:43):
profanity from the players at Ryan Day. But that seemed
to kind of like you said, you know, it just
seemed to kind of like all of a sudden, he
snapped out of overthinking things. And I haven't seen any
kind of a change back to you know, trying to
you know, outstrategize anybody so far the season. That's what,

(01:08:05):
like I said, I just have a confidence that Ohise
they're going to play the game. I'm very optimistic in
the sense that I think if Jeremiah Smith and Carnell
Tait can play, that they will. I just don't know
how much they will, and I think that I think
Ohyas can do it.

Speaker 1 (01:08:22):
We'll find out on Saturday, Chip yep, and then we'll
come back next week. We will dissect what happened in
the game, and we will talk about whatever's next. Hopefully
that will be a meeting in Indianapolis. Probably with Indiana.
I don't hold a lot of hope out for Purdue
getting a win there, and even if the Purdue does,
I think Indiana is in pretty good shape in terms

(01:08:44):
of still getting in. So we'll see how that goes.
One thing before we leave, I do want to give
a shout out to Jackson Smith and Jigbu who became
the all time single season franchise record holder for yards
for Seattle Seahawks today. He's got over He's got almost

(01:09:04):
fourteen hundred yards receiving Chip.

Speaker 2 (01:09:07):
Yeah. He's certainly has shown very underrated, you know, coming
out of college because of the injury concerns, and he's
certainly demonstrating to Seattle that that was a tremendous act,
tremendous selection.

Speaker 1 (01:09:24):
I will never forgive Notre Dame for hurting him.

Speaker 2 (01:09:27):
I understand, all.

Speaker 1 (01:09:29):
Right, Chipping, anything else before we get out of here.

Speaker 2 (01:09:31):
No, I just want to wish you and all of
our listeners are very happy thanksgiving.

Speaker 1 (01:09:35):
Absolutely all right. Chip. Remind our listeners where they can
find you on the internet and obviously in your work.

Speaker 2 (01:09:42):
I can be found on Twitter at Chipmanic. Last name
is spelled m I N N I c H. And
I'm a contributor to Saturday Glory dot com as well
as buckeyehuddle dot com.

Speaker 1 (01:09:55):
Oh, I see what you did there? You reverse the
order you usually say buckeyehud. Yeah, equal billing now, Chip, Yes,
all right. You can follow the Silver Bullets podcast on
Twitter at silver Bullets Pod, but no e in the
word silver s I l v R Bullets Pod on Twitter.
You can also write to us silver Bulletspod at gmail

(01:10:18):
dot com that one you spell out correctly s I
l V E R b U l l E T
s p O D at gmail dot com. We'd love
to hear from you. You can follow me on Twitter
or blue Sky at Mike thirty six fan. We'd love
to hear from you there. You can find my work
on Monday. Every Monday. You can find it at Landgrant
holy Land dot com. And I am the grumpy old

(01:10:39):
buck GUYE. So yeah, I got probably twelve hundred words
on what annoyed me about the Rutgers game. And if
you don't think that there's twelve hundred words worth of
annoying things from that game, well you just read my column.
I will spell them out for you. Very good. All right,
we'll be back next week. Chip. Best to you and

(01:10:59):
your family over the holiday. Enjoy your turkey and your football,
and we'll see you on the other side of the game.

Speaker 2 (01:11:06):
Thank you, Happy Thanksgiving, all right the anything.

Speaker 1 (01:11:09):
Let for us to do sign off the way we
always do by saying.

Speaker 2 (01:11:11):
Go Bucks, Go Bucks.

Speaker 1 (01:11:13):
Beat that team up North.