The Men of the scarlet and Gray Podcast #2

August 5, 2015 by Leave a Comment

The gang is finally back together. Jeremiah Sharpe and Chip Minnich help kick off a new season of college football that is right around the corner. We are joined by Mark Cerimele who is a contributor for this site along with doing some side work for the Phil Steele magazine.

This week we discuss possible Big Ten expansion, Our Final Four college football playoff picks, the Buckeye suspensions. Mark gives us some behind the scenes of what its like to put out the college football bible, Phil Steele magazine.

Hope you guys enjoy the show. Have to shake off some rust but great being back in the saddle again. Can’t wait to discuss more Buckeyes football with some Big Ten and other leagues this year.

Filed Under: B1G Football, College Football, College Football Playoff, Ohio State Football, Podcast Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Let Me Fix Your Team – Michigan Wolverines

October 31, 2014 by Leave a Comment

I look around college football and I see a lot of disgruntled fan bases. They aren’t happy with their team whether it’s the coaching, the play on the field, all of the losing or a combination of these three. When I see these problems I start to think of a solution for these teams, but I never put them on paper before. But in you’re luck now downtrodden schools! Now I’ve decided to use my expertise to help you through your issues. With my help you’ll be a winner in no time. Just call me Doctor Josh! After helping Florida with their problems, I decided to take on an even bigger problem this week. It’s my toughest patient yet…

Patient: Michigan Wolverines
Status: 3-5 (1-3 in Big Ten)
Current Fan Base Mood: Most of the fan base is starting to realize their program hasn’t been relevant in decades, which has led to depression and heavy drinking. Also: #FireHoke #FireBrandon
Most Embarrassing Moments: Getting shutout by Notre Dame, losing to Minnesota, concussion management of Shane Morris, Brady Hoke’s press conferences, Dave Brandon in general, getting beat by their “little brother” (Mike Hart’s words, not mine) Michigan State, Devin “Pastry Chef” Gardner serving up turnovers and suffering a humiliating blowout loss to Ohio State. Wait that last one hasn’t happened. Yet.

Devin the Pastry Chef

Dr. Josh’s Advice: Well it’s good to hear Michigan fans are starting to accept what they are: a shell of how great their program was back when they were winning multiple national titles in the 1800s when there were only two other teams playing football. People say Notre Dame has issues with this, but at least they went to a national championship game in the last decade (even though they got smoked). Anyway the point is accepting your football team sucks is the first step.

Next you need to go out into the wilderness and go on a spiritual quest to discover who should be the true “Michigan Man” to lead your program back to being great. Of course the wilderness you’ll probably be taking your journey in is located in Ohio because that’s where the greatest Michigan Man ever came from. Come to think of it most great coaches around the country come from Ohio (Urban, Tressel, Stoops, Miles, etc.).

One more thing: I know it’s going to be tough getting through the rest of the season, so you might as well pick up some Domino’s pizza and a Coca-Cola. You should at least have some comfort food in your time of misery.

Prescription: As a certified college football doctor, I’ve sat back and watched fans along with “experts” say who should be the next head coach at Michigan. I laugh at these suggestions though because they’re all wrong. The Harbaugh brothers seem like fine gentlemen, but they don’t fit the recent competitive culture of the program. You’re overreaching and they’re unlikely to leave the NFL. Then there’s Les Miles, who is from Ohio and has previous ties to the program of course. Makes perfect sense, doesn’t it? Wrong! He’s currently a head coach in the SEC, which is the greatest conference God has ever delivered to mankind according to Paul Finebaum and the College Football Playoff Committee. You can lose three games in that conference and still compete for a national title. No way he’s leaving easy street.

Rich & Les

Last, but not least I’ve seen Ron Zook’s name thrown out there as a “joke” candidate. That’s just wrong, man. This is a serious situation and as you know I take my job quite seriously. Just look at the fine prescriptions I made for Illinois and Florida. Their fans have done nothing but praise my miracle work.

I have the perfect coach in mind for the University of Michigan. This man was born right in Ann Arbor, Michigan! He’s fairly young at 49 years old and played at Michigan State in college. In fact he was a starting center for three years and earned All-Big 10 Conference honors. He was the co-captain of the team when they defeated USC in the Rose Bowl in his senior season. Not only a great player, but a great student too! He was the first ever graduate student to play on the football team at Michigan State. In addition to this Big Ten experience and hometown lineage, he has three years experience of being a head coach in the NFL and is currently the offensive coordinator for one of the hottest offenses in the league. Aren’t you dying to know who this is?

Can I get a drumroll please? This man deserves it!

This mystery man and the guy I feel should be the next head coach of the Michigan Wolverines is…

Pat Shurmur!

Shurmurnator

You won’t find another coach that battles as hard as this guy. He battled so hard that the Browns had to fire him because they knew he was going to deliver success and battle them to Super Bowls, something that the football gods won’t allow. So I’m going to list the reasons this is a homerun hire: 1) He’s forthright and open about injuries, something that is the exact opposite of Hoke. Proof? This quote describes Shurmur after his first preseason game with the Browns: “When his first game was over, he was open about injuries and honest in his assessment of individual players.” 2) You would be sticking it to your rival Michigan State, just like you stuck that spike in their field before losing to them last Saturday, which led to Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio sticking a late touchdown right up Michigan’s…. well you know. 3) It would bring back to life the once greatest parody account in Twitter history, fake Pat Shurmur. Fake Shurmur could then have epic Twitter battles with the current greatest parody account, Fake Bo Pelini. So if you’re losing you still get entertainment!

I don’t think I need to list any more reasons at this point because you’re probably at Shurmur’s front porch right now begging him to come to Michigan. In fact since you guys like hashtags so much, here’s one for you: #ShurmurToMichigan. I’m a genius!

Happy Halloween Michigan fans! For next week’s post I would like to take questions from you the appreciative audience. It’ll be a Q&A session where Dr. Josh can solve any problems you may have or are curious about. You can put those questions in the comments sections below or send them to Twitter: @SchottJosh. Be sure to send some questions!

Filed Under: B1G Football, College Football Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Michigan State Preview

January 7, 2014 by Leave a Comment

OSU LogoWhat: Ohio State vs. Michigan State
Where: The Breslin Center, East Lansing, MI
When: Jan. 7th, 2014 @ 9:00 PM (ESPN)

NOW the Big Ten season can begin.

Ohio State’s schedule up to this point has been fair-to-middling up to this point. Solid wins against Marquette and Notre Dame adorn Ohio State’s schedule but it could be said Michigan State is a little more battle tested. They got off to a fast start, beating Kentucky and a decent Texas team but they also lost to an average (for them) North Carolina team. Michigan State has struggled early in games (down at the half against Texas and, more recently, Penn State) and despite their relative experience they really don’t have an identity.

Shannon Scott's defenseOhio State, on the other hand, does have an identity. It begins and ends with their defense, which according to KenPom is the #1 AdjD (Adjusted defensive efficiency – An estimate of the defensive efficiency (points allowed per 100 possessions) a team would have against the average D-I offense.) in the nation. Led by Aaron Craft and Shannon Scott’s nagging defense, Ohio State’s defense has kept this team in games while the offense has struggled to find consistency.

Ohio States #1 defense will be going up against Michigan State’s offense which KenPom ranks as the 27th best. The trio of Craft, Scott and LZJ will go against MSU’s talented back court of Keith Appling, Gary Harris and Travis Trice (a member of the “I wish he was a Buckeye” All Stars). Harris and Appling are the focal point but I think Trice’s defense and athleticism could be the difference. Harris is hurt and I imagine Craft will keep a close eye on Appling. These match-ups are key but may end up playing each other to a stalemate.

Michigan State’s ace in the hole against Ohio State has always been Adrian Payne. Payne has always given Ohio State trouble. Seriously. It seems like he’s troubled the Buckeyes for like seven years. Is this guy a PhD student or something? He’s a stretch four that can play away from the basket and with his back to it. Amir Williams has struggled to defend him in the past and simply doesn’t have the footwork to guard him outside-in. Payne can get past him which is probably going to lead to foul trouble for Amir. If they have to go small, like they did against Purdue, I don’t like the Payne/Ross match-up.

LaQuinton Ross has been steadily improving through the first fifteen games, but he’s going to need another big night against the Spartans. He will cause match-up problems against Michigan State, and if their recent bouts of foul trouble continue, Ross may be able to make a living taking the ball to the hoop.

The back court match-ups may even up but I like our chances with Ross.

Michigan State is experienced. They’ve faced better competition (although they do bear a blemish on their record). Ohio is still inconsistent offense. The Breslin Brats make for a hostile environment for the visiting team. I think Ohio State has a chance, but it’s going to need to shoot the ball well and get a good game from its bench, particularly from Marc Loving, whose athleticism and relative newness should cause headaches for The Spartans to defend. Either way, this is going to be a great game, a clash of the class of the Big Ten. The victor grabs an early edge in the B1G Conference Race.

My head says MSU: 68 OSU: 63
My heart says OSU: 70 MSU: 66

Filed Under: Ohio State Basketball Tagged With: , , , ,

College Football is Finally Here: B1G Preview for the Weekend Ahead

August 30, 2013 by 1 Comment

After many long months of waiting college football season has finally arrived! As much as I love baseball, college football holds a special place in my heart. I especially enjoy watching B1G football.

Every year the B1G is expected to step it up and produce some impressive results on the field, with this year being no different from the rest. Last year the conference was hurt by two of its most illustrious programs, Penn State and Ohio State, being punished with bowl bans. Now that the Buckeyes have served their penalty, high expectations return to Columbus. Ohio State is the consensus favorite to not only win the conference, but run the table and play for it all in Pasadena. As far as the next best team in the B1G? That’s anybody’s guess.

In the Leaders Division Wisconsin lost Montee Ball, but have 10 other Wisconsin-like running backs waiting in the wings (namely James White and Melvin Gordon). Penn State is in year two of their bowl ban and break in two new quarterbacks. Indiana has a lot of starters returning to the team and the pressure is on head coach Kevin Wilson to get the team to a bowl game. Illinois head coach Tim Beckham is already on the hot seat in Champaign, despite the fact that its only his second season with the program. Purdue breaks in new head coach Darrell Hazel (former Buckeye coach) and look to begin rebuilding their program.

In the Legends Division Nebraska has Taylor Martinez return for what feels like his 10th year in the program, but their defense is a huge question mark. Michigan State is the exact opposite of Nebraska. They have a great defense, but four different players competed for the QB position. Northwestern is receiving the most preseason hype in decades, but many are unsure if they can handle the high expectations. Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz has been getting bashed by the media and fans all offseason and looks to silence the doubters. Minnesota looks to continue to build off their 6-6 season last year and move up the ladder in the conference. And the team up north finally has an actual quarterback again, but do they have enough to be considered an elite team?

Enough chatter, let’s get to the opening week games:

Thursday, August 29

Indiana State @ Indiana – If this was a basketball game taking place in the 70’s, with Larry Bird lacing it up for the Sycamores, I would be pretty psyched about this game. But instead it’s a football game in 2013. Even though I’m not thrilled about this match-up, these two actually played a tight game last season in the opener. Indiana only won 24-17 and only led by a touchdown at halftime also. I expect Indiana to learn from last season and dispatch Indiana State with ease.

UNLV @ Minnesota – This is another non-conference rematch from last season. And it was even closer. Minnesota needed triple overtime to defeat the Rebels, 30-27. Close games like this are what make the B1G look bad. B1G teams aren’t supposed to have close games with teams like UNLV. I hope the Golden Gophers win this game, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this is another close game.

Friday, August 30

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Filed Under: B1G Football, Ohio State Football Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,