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Duck Tales (2/25)
Thursday, February 25th, 2010 | Episodes | No Comments
Ty and Dan briefly discuss Oregon’s last turmoil and Admiral Ackbar before delving into a wide array of listener voice messages and e-mails.
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Coaching Carousel (12/1)
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 | Episodes | 1 Comment
Ty and Dan examine the firing of Charlie Weis and the resignation of Bobby Bowden, as well as the wacky week in college football. Plus, voice messages and a winner in the Solid Verbal fantasy league!
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Going Old School (10/29)
Thursday, October 29th, 2009 | Episodes | No Comments
Ty and Dan kick it old school by flying solo with an extravaganza of voice messages, e-mails and week nine picks. Plus, a quick game of “overrated/underrated”, more additions to pool of potential Solid Verbal host cities, and some secret news on the life and times of Dan Rubenstein.
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Boomer Sooner (10/1)
Thursday, October 1st, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
Ty and Dan are joined by Josh McCuistion from SoonerScoop.com to discuss Sam Bradford’s visit to Dr. James Andrews, the reputation of the Big 12, and the possibility of non-BCS team playing for the BCS Championship. Plus, voice messages, e-mails, and the beginning of the open competition for The Solid Verbal’s host city in 2010.
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Thursday Matinee (9/24)
Thursday, September 24th, 2009 | Episodes | No Comments
Ty and Dan record a special matinee edition of the Solid Verbal and are joined by Bob Condotta from the Seattle Times to talk about Washington’s upset of USC, matchups within the Pac-10 and the future of Jake Locker. Plus, voice messages from all corners of the country, scathing e-mails, and details about Ty and Dan’s respective trips to Georgia and Oregon.
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X’s and O’s (9/18)
Thursday, September 17th, 2009 | Episodes | 5 Comments
Ty and Dan invite Chris Brown from SmartFootball.com to talk about the intricacies of the spread offense, including Ohio State’s misuse of Terrelle Pryor against USC, Michigan’s ability to keep Notre Dame guessing, and whether Tim Tebow classifies as a “system quarterback” or not. Plus, loads of voice and e-mail messages from the Solid Verbal faithful.
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Horseshoe Battle (9/10)
Thursday, September 10th, 2009 | Episodes | No Comments
Ty and Dan welcome Ken Gordon from the Columbus Dispatch and BuckeyeXtra.com to discuss Saturday’s big showdown between USC and Ohio State, the Big Ten conference, and the progression of Terrelle Pryor. Plus, witty voice messages, a ton of e-mail, and a very special announcement.
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Preseason Countdown: Ohio State (7)
Thursday, September 3rd, 2009 | Blog, Team Preview | No Comments
Throughout August and September we will be counting down the top 25 teams (as listed here) going into the 2009 season. Today I do my very best not to make cheap, easy jokes about the Ohio State football program because, really, the Buckeyes are really good, and have been for years. Until big games. Damn, I tried.
First Impression
While the Ohio State’s rap is to fold in big games, they probably shouldn’t be known ONLY for that. They routinely dominate their conference, produce NFL draft picks like the Ivy League pumps out Daily Show writers, and are among the 5-7 most recognizable college football institutions in the country.
My impression of Ohio State this season is that it’s most likely a transitionary year, but Terrelle Pryor will do some otherworldly things to give Buckeye fans false hope that this is the Year of Ohio State. It isn’t.
Last Year
By all accounts, 2008 was a good year for Ohio State. The Buckeye program, from the players to the administration to the fans, expects to make a BCS game year in and year out. Obviously, this is probably a little overblown, but not totally unreasonable.
USC was an embarrassment early (sans Beanie Wells), but the team was in the midst of turning to Terrelle Pryor and USC’s defense was essentially a giant, unrelenting wall of brutality.
The rest of the offseason briefly featured a blip of a scare by Ohio, but was otherwise uneventful. They were simply winning games while trying to find an identity beyond Terrelle Pryor and some top notch upperclassmen defenders.
A win on the road over a down Wisconsin team was last minute. A lazy victory over a terrible Purdue team begat a thrashing of a ranked Michigan State team, which begat a abysmally bad football game (and loss) against Penn State in Columbus.
The Buckeyes quickly focused to take Northwestern in a healthy, impressive fashion. The next week was similar as Wells and Pryor ran all over the shockingly sloppy Illini in Champaign.
Michigan is/was terrible and OSU rightfully slaughtered the Wolverines and then primptly lost their 3rd (three for three) marquee game of the season against Texas in the Fiesta Bowl, albeit in the last minute.
Like I said earlier, it was a good year. The defense really only played one bad game (USC), but the offense with Pryor under/near center was far too green to take the Buckeyes over the top.
People
Terrelle Pryor is and will be the face of Ohio State for the next two years, and rightfully so. He’s casually the best athlete Ohio State has had in recent memory and is running the show, for better (running) or worse (passing).
What makes 2009 a transitionary year more than anything is the lack of experienced offensive skill position players that surround Pryor. WR DeVier Posey should be a considerable threat on the outside, but beyond him, there isn’t too much (and yes, I know about Ray Small and Dane Sanzenbacher). An offensive line that got consistently manhandled by the better teams the Buckeyes played doesn’t help much either.
The big losses come mostly on defense and at receiver. Brian Robiskie and Brian Hartline were solid playmaking receivers, if not unspectacular on the outside, but losing LBs James Laurinaitus, Marcus Freeman, and CB Malcolm Jenkins creates a sizable crater on D.
It’s still Ohio State, though, they’ve still recruited well, and they’ll still plug in talented newcomers at important positions.
This Season
USC coming to the ‘Shoe is clearly the most anticipated non-conference game of the college football season, A lot has been made of USC’s struggles and losses at key positions, but the same can be said (to a lesser extent) about Ohio State. At this point, I don’t see how it won’t be closer, though I still see USC being double digits better than Ohio State.
A quick Toledo jaunt shouldn’t be cause for alarm, but the following week should be. The Bucks host an enigmatic Illinois team that appears to be loaded with experienced talent, something OSU seems to be devoid of at the moment.
From there, the schedule softens (@Indiana, Wisconsin, @Purdue, Minnesota, New Mexico St), which should leave Jim Tressel’s bunch with, at the very least, a 4-1 record.
The November 7th game in State College should be Ohio State’s best chance to win a big one and move out from underneath the considerable weight of losing the bigger games on their schedule. Will they? Probably not, but we shall see.
Conclusion
Jim Tressel and his staff have Ohio State firmly entrenched where they should be -- at the top of the Big 10. There’s little indication when you look at the next year or two that anyone will be able to consistently dethrone the Buckeyes.
That said, this could be the both the worst Buckeyes team of the past few years and, at the same time, a team that finishes with double digit wins and another Big 10 title, if that makes any sense.
Prediction
9-3, but 2010 could be scary if the Pryor takes a major step forward this fall.
Game Highlights Set to an Unfortunate Music Medley
-Dan
Fantasy Land (8/14)
Thursday, August 13th, 2009 | Episodes | No Comments
Ty and Dan recap their college fantasy football draft and discuss how it differs from more conventional fantasy leagues. Plus, SI.com’s Stewart Mandel stops by to chat about the Coaches’ Poll, USC’s potential QB controversy, and which coach he’d pick to give a best man’s speech. And, of course, your wacky e-mail messages. (Episode #51)
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August Countdown: The Iowa Hawkeyes (25)
Monday, August 3rd, 2009 | Blog, Team Preview | 1 Comment
Beginning today, we will be counting down the top 25 teams (as listed here) going into the 2009 season. We begin with Iowa, whose state bird is the Carduelis tristis, or the American goldfinch. Not a hawk. Go figure.
First Impression
Iowa always feels like one of those teams that’s either better or worse than expected, which technically makes the Hawkeyes guilty only of not building on previous success or simply underperforming and then performing to their capable level. Even I’m confused after writing that sentence.
Also, does Iowa really need to do everything it can to lock up Kirk Ferentz? Since 2004’s 10 win season, Ferentz has fielded teams that have lost 5, 7, 6, and 4 games. The results are respectable, but not to the point where WE CAN’T LET HIM GO ANYWHERE NO MATTER WHAT!!! Throw in 1 or 20 arrests and you have a pretty dubious crush on a football coach if you’re the Iowa Athletic Department. Just sayin’.
Also, Iowa games are tough to watch. Maybe it’s because I’m treated to Pam Ward at 9 AM PST calling a 16-13, 30-carry Shonn Greene game against Michigan State, but nobody’s accidentally using the phrase “wide open” or “heart-pounding” to discuss these sorts of games that the middle of the pack Big 10 teams always seem to find themselves in.
Last Year
Last season saw a respectable/average finish of 5th, with a big win over Penn State, close losses to the two teams directly above them in the conference standings (Northwestern, Michigan State), and a close loss on the road to a woefully underachieving Illinois team. Beyond that, they beat everyone else – which they should’ve anyway in a down Big 10. And yes, they missed Ohio State on the Big 10 schedule.
People
Ricky Stanzi, the quarterback who handed the ball off to Shonn Greene a quadrillion times is back. If Jewel Hampton, the new RB (and possible porn star) is able to consistently run behind nearly the same line as Greene did last year, Stanzi will be handing it off to Hampton a quadrillion times.
In a conference chock full of offenses built to control the line scrimmage for 3-5 yards at a time, it’s never ideal to lose both starting, successful defensive tackles, as the Hawkeyes have. The linebackers, especially Pat Angerer (awesome, appropriate last name), are very good, but if the middle of the defensive line gets pushed around, everyone immediately looks worse.
This Year
This season shapes up to be fairly ideal, schedule-wise. They have four absolute winnable non-conference games, with the toughest being against a semi-rebuilding Arizona in Iowa City. In a perfect black and gold world, they’ll be 3-0 going into Happy Valley September 26.
A cush fourth non-conference game against Arkansas State (still tasting Texas A&M blood on their tongues) is followed by a home game against an improved Michigan team. This is one of those games that will appear to mean more for Michigan, but should mean just as much for a Hawkeyes team looking to fight for that 3-4 Big 10 spot.
They’ll lose to either/both Wisconsin and Michigan State on the road (consecutive weeks), but it’s not the end of the world, mostly because the pot o’ gold at the bottom of the rust belt rainbow is Indiana the very next week.
It’s a pleasantly balanced schedule – they miss what should be a drastically improved Illinois team, and finish with Northwestern, Ohio State, and Minnesota. Since only Ohio State (L) is on the road, it’s not unreasonable to have them finishing the season winning two out of their last three.
The Conclusion
There’s no way this team loses four games again. Say what you will about Kirk Ferentz, but you can’t say he’s consistently anything. The soft Big 10 scheduling is nice – even probable road losses to Penn State and Ohio State probably won’t lead to carryover losses the following weeks. Bring it Arky State Red Wolves!
The Prediction
7-5
The losses come against Arizona, PSU, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Ohio State. Kirk Ferentz is immediately given another extension.
Game Highlights Set to Unfortunate Music
-Dan
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