Men of the Scarlet and Gray

BlogPoll Ballot Week #11

Men of the Scarlet and Gray Ballot – Week 11

Rank	Team	Delta
1	LSU Tigers	–
2	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	1
3	Stanford Cardinal	1
4	Boise St. Broncos	1
5	Oklahoma Sooners	3
6	Oregon Ducks	–
7	Alabama Crimson Tide	-5
8	Arkansas Razorbacks	-1
9	Clemson Tigers	3
10	Virginia Tech Hokies	-1
11	Michigan St. Spartans	4
12	Houston Cougars	-1
13	Kansas St. Wildcats	–
14	Georgia Bulldogs	4
15	Penn St. Nittany Lions	-1
16	Wisconsin Badgers	1
17	Cincinnati Bearcats	-1
18	Texas Longhorns	2
19	Michigan Wolverines	–
20	Nebraska Cornhuskers	-10
21	Southern Miss. Golden Eagles	2
22	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	–
23	Ohio St. Buckeyes	–
24	Auburn Tigers	–
25	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets	–
Dropouts: South Carolina Gamecocks, Arizona St. Sun Devils, West Virginia Mountaineers, TCU Horned Frogs

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings »

Saturday Instant Analysis

I will go into more details later this week about the OSU vs Indiana game that we saw yesterday. Brief synopsis OSU can run the football really well and can pass the ball really badly. Nothing new there it has been the case all year. Defensively they continue to have let downs on occasion but do enough to win games. I will have a lot more on that later. Special Teams continues to be the most consistent part of this team. A win is a win right?

Around the B1G Iowa showed what most Non-scUM fans already knew this team is pretty much the same it has been the last few years. They are improved some but still have a ways to go and Denard still sucks at the QB position. Before the year started I picked Northwestern to win their division. Yesterday they finally showed me why I made such a bold prediction beating Nebraska in Lincoln. MSU escaped with a win against a revitalized Minnesota team. Wisconsin showed Purdue what a cornered Badger will do and Monte Ball proved he is a 1st team all B1G RB. Penn St. had the week off but I will have a note about them at the end.

The “Game of the Century” proved to be a worse game then PSU vs Illinois. Both Bama and LSU didnt score a TD as LSU won on a FG in OT 9-6. If ESPN thinks this is awesome football they would love B1G football but they really hate defensive games with horrible offenses right Mark May? The SEC bias is so huge they are drooling over a horribly executed football game.

Penn State fans before you go nuts posting replies on this post realize Pennsylvania State Law requires any suspected Child Molestation to be reported to the Dept. of Public Welfare by oral communication within 24 hours and written communication in 48 hours. So many people at PSU broke this law when they didn’t report Jerry Sandusky raping of a suspected 10 year old boy in the Football locker room witnessed by a Graduate Asst. back in 2002. JoePa was told and just casually passed the info onto his boss who had an interview with the Grad Asst. and then shoved the info under the rug. Joe Pa and several others in the know never contacted police and just “Banned Sandusky from bringing kids to campus” basically saying hey go rape kids just don’t do it in our locker room showers any more please. This story is just breaking and if even 1% of it is true is without a doubt the most horrific scandal to ever happen in the NCAA. If you want more info on this story read HERE and HERE as this story continues to unravel it will only get worse so look for more on this story later in the week.

Indiana Live Game Chat

Ohio State vs. Indiana Preview

So 2011 has been a roller coaster of a year for the Buckeyes. After a huge win over Wisconsin last week you just hope as a fan that OSU wont have a huge letdown and run off the tracks killing everyone on board. The good news is OSU has a flat track in front of them in the 1-8 Indiana Hoosiers. Their only win on the season coming against Div. Who knows South Carolina State. Indiana may very well be the worse team OSU has faced this year if not in the last 20 years. Their defense is horrible at 114th in the nation in points allowed at 36.2 points a game. their offense is nearly as anemic at 89th in the country scoring 23.2 points a game.

On offense the Hoosiers have turned the QB spot over to Tre Roberson a 6’1″ 184 lb. true freshman from Indianapolis. He is a dual threat QB with good speed and accuracy. He is completing 60% of his passes while rushing for 4.3 yards a rush. He has 4 total TDs on the season. His main issue will be WR. Late last week Indiana kicked DeMarlo Belcher off the team due to breaking team rules. They also lost their 3rd WR Duwyce Wilson to injury for the rest of the season. Offensive juggernaut they will not be.

On defense the Hoosiers are just plain awful. They can’t stop the run or pass with any consistency and they give up points by the handful all day long. They are led on defense by Ohio native Adam Replogle. Replogle has 39 tackles and 4 sacks on the year.

Ohio State will be without Devier Posey (suspension), Jaamal Berry (suspension), and most likely Jordan Hall (injury). If ever there was a week to let Braxton Miller throw the ball 20+ times this is it. The game should be a glorified spring game giving them a chance to keep Braxton’s on the job training moving forward. Boom Herron and Carlos Hyde will carry the workload of the running game which should please Hyde who has been down since losing his carries. Hopefully both will get 15+ carries in the game. Defensively OSU needs to work on closing out games strongly so look for Coach Fickell to work hard at keeping them focused and determined to keep the Hoosiers off the scoreboard.

So that leaves us with the weekly questions……

1.) Will OSU pitch a shutout on defense?
2.) Will OSU score any defensive or ST TDs?
3.) How many passing attempts will Braxton get?
4.) Who has more yards Boom or Hyde?
5.) What is the final score?
6.) Per SportsMonkey’s request a bonus question….. Will Guiton see any playing time this week?

Indiana by the Numbers

Presented, always, without comment. But this bears stating: Ohio State has allowed opponents into the red zone five times in three games.

As always, stats are grabbed from cfbstats.com.

Inside Buckeye Football [Video]

I think they need to check the furnace filters here at work — it just got REAL dusty in my cubicle.

Jamaal Berry Charged

Multiple reports out have confirmed that 4th string running back and El Kaiser’s main man Jamaal Berry has been charged with misdemeanor assault and disorderly conduct for allegedly punching a person in the face after getting into a verbal argument on October 21st at 2:30 A.M. A second witness says that Berry bragged about beating up a “White Boy”. No serious injuries were caused in the altercation. Arraignment is scheduled for Dec. 1. The alleged victim has filed a civil lawsuit in Franklin County seeking unspecified damages.

From OSU: Ohio State spokesman Jerry Emig said in a statement that Berry had been suspended from the team “for violating the university’s student-athlete code of conduct.”

The statement added, “Berry will remain suspended until charges filed against him have been resolved.”

This isnt Berry’s first run in with the law as a recruit he was charged with Felony Drug Possession. Also in September he was involved in a strange case where he allegedly wrestled a student to the ground and was incoherent when the police arrived. He spent time in a hospital but all tests came back negative. He was not charged with any crime from that case as of yet.

Clearly Jamaal has got some real inner demons. He has all the talent in the world but has failed to live up to expectations. Not sure he will survive this latest set back and remain on the team. A very sad situation for all involved for sure.

Google Plus Interruption

Quick programming note…

Google has (temporarily, we hope) suspended our G+ account due to “violations of the Google Plus names policy.” When we set MotSaG up, we used our standard Google account that has been in place since 2006.

Until Google rolls out their G+ business pages, this is technically a violation (since “first name: MEN; last name: OFTHESCARLETANDGRAY” is not a proper name). Go figure.

We’ll be trying to work this out and will keep you posted on progress. In the meantime you can always catch us on Facebook if you prefer.

Stay tuned for future updates.

Big Ten Title Game…Who Wants It?

This year marks the first ever Big Ten Championship game thanks to the addition of the Nebraska Cornhuskers. One of the reasons I absolutely love the idea of a playoff in college football is because I believe it would make the regular season that much more entertaining and add drama to an already action packed fall. The addition of a championship game in the Big Ten does the same thing. Right now there are 6 teams in contention for the B10 title game.

First let’s take some time to briefly list the pretenders:

Indiana
Purdue
Iowa
Minnesota
Northwestern
Illinois

Iowa may still be a contender, but have a tough road to hoe and we will learn a lot about them this Saturday vs. Michigan. The rest of them are just not going to contend…but could play the role of spoiler…but probably not.

A 3 team race has taken shape in the Legends division with Michigan, Nebraska and Michigan State all tied at 3-1 in conference play. This has been a very evenly matched division with the three top teams trading blows. November will decide it.

Michigan is left with Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and Ohio State. The first two games are on the road and they finish at home with two tough contests. Does anyone really know how good Michigan is? They have played 1 ranked opponent in Michigan State and were beaten up pretty much all day. Their defense is much improved and but their offense has come down to Earth from last years startling production. Denard Robinson has started to split snaps at QB with Devin Gardner. Robinson continues to struggle throwing the ball, while continuing to light in up with his legs. The question is; will he survive the rest of the reason:

Nebraska controls their own destiny. They have already played and beaten Michigan State and they have a road game at Michigan. If they win out, they will represent the Legends division in the championship game. This is another team I’m just not that sure of. They beat up on Michigan State and beat Ohio State (thanks ginger) but them lost badly to Wisconsin. Their offense is your standard college option offense. Their QB is very similar to Denard Robinson. Taylor Martinez lights it up on the ground, but becomes a turnover machine when he throws it. The finish with Northwestern, Penn State, Michigan and Iowa….certainly a difficult task.

Michigan State in my mind isn’t as good as their record indicates. They squeaked by Ohio State in Columbus and did so when OSU wasn’t quite jelled on offense yet. They also lost badly to Notre Dame and Nebraska. They did beat up on Michigan and have the tie breaker there. The may end up winning the division simply because they have a fairly easy remaining schedule. Minnesota, Iowa, Indiana and Northwestern…not exactly murderers row.

Should be fun to see these three teams duke it out, but I see Michigan State running the table and taking the division…simply because of their lollipop end of season schedule.

3 teams realistically have a shot at the championship game in the Leaders division. Penn State, Wisconsin and Ohio State.

Penn State is 5-0 in conference play and certainly control their own destiny. However, they are undefeated against Indian, Iowa, Purdue, Northwester and Illinois. They have barely beaten all of those teams. Their defense is outstanding as they have the best scoring defense in the Big Ten. They run the ball well with Silas Redd, but that’s about it. They run a two QB system, but Matt McGloin gets most of the reps. He is not a very good QB…Rob Bolden is worse. They finish with Nebraska at home and have Ohio State and Wisconsin on the road. Good luck with that. They have a bye week this week, so we will see just how good they are vs. Nebraska on November 12th. I just don’t think they are that good.

What on Earth happened to Wisconsin? Oh, that’s right…this happened:

Wisconsin is 2-2 in conference play and will finish with Purdue, Minnesota, Illinois and Penn State. They need to win out and Penn State to lose twice and Ohio State to lose one more time. They do have a very good offense, but their defense is suspect. I look for them to win out.

Ohio State has come on like gang busters of late. After two gut-wrenching losses to Michigan State and Nebraska, Ohio State is 2-2 in conference play after a thrilling homecoming victory vs. Wisconsin last Saturday night. Ohio State finishes out with Indiana, Purdue, Penn State and Michigan. I see wins vs. Indiana and Purdue and then something happens…Devier Posey comes back. When Mike Adams and Boom Herron came back from suspension this team completely transformed…I think Posey has a similar impact on the passing game. By them, Miller will have two more games under his belt and be ready for the stretch run. This has been missing from the OSU offense:

I see Ohio State winning out and Penn State losing twice. I just don’t think Penn State is all that good this year. Sure, Joe Paterno has done an amazing job coaching this year as always:

Sorry, but I don’t believe he coaches a thing…and I’m tired of him getting credit for wins. I’m tired of him getting credit for breaking records. He is the exact same thing as the Queen of England. They are both a thousand years old, they both wear the same brand of diapers and they are meaningless figureheads. From time to time they say funny things and make appearances here and there, but at the end of the day, they aren’t important. If anyone thinks Paterno is coaching Penn State they are crazy. He sits in a box in the stadium without a headset and watches the game while his assistants do the heavy lifting. End rant.

Even if Wisconsin wins all their remaining games, OSU has the tie breaker with them head to head. Plus I think Wisky losses to Penn State via a last second hail mary…again. It’s going to be an exciting 4 weeks of football to determine who goes to the first even Big Ten Championship game.

Buckle up.

Poll Dancing: Week Nine, or Another Two Bite The Dust

When previously unbeaten Clemson and Kansas State went down this week, you have to think that whoever still likes the BCS system got a little more comfortable and started imagining how everything was going to work out just fine yet again.  Virtually a given is that the winner of this weekend’s LSU/Alabama showdown will cruise through to the big game, joined by…

…oh, wait…

There are two other undefeated teams remaining from automatic-qualifying conferences, and the BCS needs one (and only one) of them to stay perfect along with the LSU/Alabama winner to ensure that the defense of their system isn’t completely laughable.  Those two teams are Oklahoma State and Stanford, not exactly traditional powers used to dealing with heightened expectations.  As the unfamiliar media spotlight (and pressure to perform) increases, so does the difficulty of the schedule.

Both teams face a much tougher road ahead than the one they’ve already traveled and this is where things could get ugly for the BCS.  Oklahoma State’s opponents so far have won just 54% of their games.  The opponents they’ll need to beat to make the title game have won 72% of theirs.  Similarly, Stanford’s first 8 victims won 43% of the time, while their next 5 (including the Pac-12 championship game, almost certainly against Arizona State) have won 60%.

This weekend, Oklahoma State faces Kansas State, fresh off their first loss.  They’ll close out the year against the team that beat KSU (Oklahoma), the team that beat Oklahoma (Texas Tech), and the team that just beat Texas Tech (Iowa State).

Stanford will travel to Oregon State for their second straight road game and may be a bit worn out from the triple-overtime thriller against USC.  The real test will come next weekend though, when the Cardinal hosts Oregon.  Admittedly this isn’t last year’s Duck team that averaged 47 points a game and lost only to Auburn in the national championship.  No, this year’s version is averaging 47.5 points a game and has lost only to potential national champion LSU.

So, of the six undefeated teams still out there, one is guaranteed to lose this week, two will be facing significantly tougher challenges from here on out than they have yet, and the other two are Boise State and Houston.  We know that Houston, regardless of how they finish, is not going to make the championship game, but Boise presents an interesting dilemma for the BCS.  What if we end up with unbeaten LSU, unbeaten Boise, and everyone else with at least one loss?  Can the Broncos, whose schedule features just one AQ-conference team (albeit the respectable Georgia), be a viable #2 over potential one-lossers Alabama, South Carolina, Arkansas, Stanford, Oregon, Clemson, Virginia Tech, Penn State, Nebraska, Michigan, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Kansas State, or even Cincinnati?  As much as I support the opportunity for any undefeated team to earn a championship in a playoff system, I can’t see a justification to give Boise State a shot under the BCS format (probably the main reason I hate the system to begin with).

If Boise does get the spot, and gets murdered by LSU/Bama (which is what would happen), then the outcry from the one-loss AQ teams will be just a shade less deafening than the one from Idaho if Boise doesn’t get the spot, especially if the game is still a blow-out (again, very likely) and the Broncos win their bowl.

Of course, maybe I’m wrong, maybe the Cowboys or the Cardinal will navigate the gauntlet and come out with a goose-egg in the L column.  Hell, maybe they both will.  Oops, that would be a totally different kind of BCS disaster…

Stepping into manhood

We’ll have the Wisconsin game recap (Spoilers: we won!) up soon but for now:

Blogpoll Ballot, Week #10

Men of the Scarlet and Gray Ballot – Week 10

Rank	Team	Delta
1	LSU Tigers	–
2	Alabama Crimson Tide	–
3	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	2
4	Stanford Cardinal	–
5	Boise St. Broncos	-2
6	Oregon Ducks	2
7	Arkansas Razorbacks	–
8	Oklahoma Sooners	1
9	Virginia Tech Hokies	6
10	Nebraska Cornhuskers	3
11	Houston Cougars	5
12	Clemson Tigers	-6
13	South Carolina Gamecocks	1
14	Penn St. Nittany Lions	5
15	Michigan St. Spartans	-5
16	Cincinnati Bearcats	4
17	Wisconsin Badgers	-5
18	Georgia Bulldogs	7
19	Michigan Wolverines	2
20	Texas Longhorns	4
21	Arizona St. Sun Devils	2
22	West Virginia Mountaineers	–
23	Southern Miss. Golden Eagles	–
24	Auburn Tigers	–
25	TCU Horned Frogs	–
Dropouts: Kansas St. Wildcats, Texas A&M Aggies, Texas Tech Red Raiders, USC Trojans

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings »

Big win helps OSU land Big Recruit

The huge exciting win on Saturday against Wisconsin is already starting to pay off big time on the recruiting trail. Ohio State was hosting several top football recruits and they all have been very vocal about the experience and atmosphere. Some going so far to brag about rushing the field with the team and fans after the victory.

It didn’t take long for one of those recruits to give his verbal. Michael Thomas a 6’4″ 203 lb WR from Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia gave his verbal today after his father gave his endorsement of the young mans decision last night after the game. Thomas is a 4 star player according to rivals. Thomas played High School football at California Taft and enrolled at Fork Union due to grades after being an Under Armor game player last year. He just happens to be the roommate of Cardale Jones an OSU QB recruit who will be enrolling in January with Thomas as well. Thomas is also the nephew of Keyshawn Johnson. Fork Union also should be well known to OSU fans as they once upon a time gave us a player named EDDIE GEORGE.

Another update on the game and recruits Bri’onte Dunn the highest ranked recruit in this years class who has been rumored to be questioning his verbal to OSU by a lot of the pundits continues to show his love and support for OSU. He wears a Go Bucks wristband in every game and was fully decked out in all OSU gear for the game on Saturday. He always says he is 100% committed and his actions have backed that up to this point no matter what those pundits say.

The 2 biggest recruits OSU are chasing HS teammates Dwayne Stanford and Adolphus Washington from Cincinnati were at the game and they are scheduled to announce their verbals after Stanford visits Oregon on Nov. 10th. All signs seem to point to the tandem signing with OSU this year.

Lastly, Se’Von Pittman the no. 1 recruit in Ohio this year who has verballed to MSU earlier this summer was at the game and refused to say his commitment to MSU is solid and that he loves Ohio State. Causing many to wonder if Fickell can steal the recruit back since Pittman was always a heavy OSU lean before verbally committing to Dantonio and Co.

It is amazing how playing good football and winning a big game can do to help heal some wounds and get things going in the positive. OSU still awaits their fate from the NCAA before some of the better recruits will make a final decision but for now kicking some Badger Butt and making Bret Bielema cry on Barry Alvarez’s shoulder all night has gotten everyone excited about OSU football especially the future recruits.

Wisconsin Live Game Chat

Week 9 Open Thread

We’ll be in and out during the day, killing time waiting for the 8 PM kick-off of the Ohio State/Wisconsin game. That doesn’t mean we still can’t discuss football happening in other parts of the country. Join us during the day, chime in on whatever strikes your fancy, give us your best College Game Day sign ideas, whatever. (Any other year, ESPN is in Columbus this week, right? I guess an LSU/Alabama matchup is pretty exciting, too).

Look for updates throughout the day.