The game you've been waiting for all season... is a week from tomorrow.
For now, you're stuck with Ohio State at Rutgers.
Considering the opponent, I decided to throw this week's guests one or two questions related to Ohio State football but more than a few are totally off the board.
So welcome our very own Ramzy Nasrallah, Kevin Harrish and David Wertheim to the query smorgasbord.
Since it’s Rutgers week and nobody is really that interested in the game, let’s go off the board. You can have one last meal but it has to be from a fast food or fast casual establishment. Which spot are you going with and what are you ordering?
Ramzy: Double Holy entire chicken from Hot Chicken Takeover with a Double Holy sandwich sidecar, double mac and banana pudding. Assuming this last meal exercise means I’m on death row for my crimes against blogging, so I’m going to intentionally choke on a bone just to force the guards to save my life prior to my execution; a master stroke of irony. That also buys my digestive system enough time to process the Double Holy and make my exit into the void as fiery as possible.
David: According to its Wikipedia page, Skyline Chili can be considered fast casual. Thus, it's a no-brainer. Give me a large chili spaghetti and 2 coney's, with extra crackers. I'll wash it down with a Pepsi.
Kevin: I'm insulted you even had to ask this question, but the answer is Arby's (though that might fall more in the "fine dining" category than "fast food," depending on who you ask). The entire menu is perfect, but I like to keep it simple – double roast beef sandwich combo with curly fries and a cup of cheddar on the side.
Welp, it’s still Rutgers week so let’s keep it going. What’s the best sports movie ever made?
Kevin: I'm not sure I could give you just one, but the answer is somewhere in here: The Natural, Miracle, The Replacements, Cool Runnings, Space Jam, Radio, Friday Night Lights, Waterboy, Happy Gilmore, Hardball, Major League.
David: First off, let me admit that I am not exactly the biggest movie buff around. My ADHD makes it almost impossible to sit in one place for several hours at a time. Therefore, movies are not exactly my favorite activity. With all that said, I'll go with The Sandlot. Baseball is my favorite sport (a little hypocritical to be writing on Eleven Warriors dot com, but I digress), and The Sandlot is just a pure, wholesome movie which brings me back to the days of my buddies and I playing wiffleball in the spring and summer.
In terms of an "adult" sports movie, BASEketball is really, really funny.
Ramzy: Honorable mentions: Cinderella Man, Victory, Jerry Maguire, One Day in September, Munich, Raging Bull, Bang the Drum Slowly, The Karate Kid, Chariots of Fire, When We Were Kings, A League of Their Own. But ever since I openly sobbed in the theater watching Major League while on a date in high school, it’s been my number one.
Still Rutgers week.. You’re a major leaguer heading to the plate with the bases juiced in game seven of the World Series. What’s your walk-up music?
Ramzy: Nothing. The ambient sound of 40,000 people’s anxiety is my walkup music.
Kevin: The Oompa Loompa song from the original Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie. It low-key slaps.
David: I've thought about this question for a long time and I think I've figured it out. Let me just say that I would absolutely be one of those players who changes his walk-up song every single week, and I'd probably have more than one song for any given game. But here's what I would go with:
- As a rookie/youngster, I'll probably be pretty amped, so I'll go with something by Goldlink. Have You Seen That Girl and U Say would probably be my choices, but there's a lot of good ones.
- If I'm in my prime and a little more reserved, I'll run with Lowdown by Boz Scaggs or Everybody Loves the Sunshine by Roy Ayers Ubiquity. Maybe A Long Walk by Jill Scott.
- And if I'm the old veteran looking to win one last ring before I retire, I'll close with some class: Sunrise in the Morning by Frank Sinatra.
It's a diverse group that I think has a lot of potential to get some crowd interaction while at the same time getting me ready to deliver a big base hit.
Do those old dudes still man the cannon at Rutgers games? That’s not your question, just inner dialogue. Rank the following from best to worst: Coke, Dr. Pepper, Sprite, Mountain Dew and Pepsi.
David: No. 1 Pepsi, 1a. Dr. Pepper, 1aa. Sprite, 4. Coke, 200. Mountain Dew.
Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, and Sprite are all interchangeable in that they hit a certain spot. It's hard to rank them because they all do different things. Pepsi of course is that sweet, basic cola that is always there for you. Dr. Pepper is basically that, but cherry flavored, if you want to get a little extreme. And Sprite has that citrus twang whenever you need a little extra kick. It's hard to compare those.
Coke is worse than Pepsi, but good overall. I enjoy drinking it.
Mountain Dew is just bad. I've never understood why people walk into a store or sit down at a restaurant and purchase/order a Mountain Dew. The spinoff flavors (Baja Blast, Code Red, etc.) are substantially better than the original. If you put the Liberty Brew flavor on this list, it would be at or near the top. But, traditional Mountain Dew is bad and not very refreshing.
Ramzy: I cannot remember the last time I had a soft drink. Coke from my youth, maybe? The rest is just a slow boat to diabetes. My pancreas deserves more worthy calories.
Kevin: Dr. Pepper................................, Pepsi ....., Mountain Dew, Sprite. I'm not really a lemon-lime guy, and at any given moment my blood is probably about 0.0012% Dr. Pepper.
I just looked it up and Ohio State still plays Rutgers tomorrow but let’s at least get back to something regarding the Buckeyes. Who is the most underrated player to suit up for the scarlet and gray since Urban Meyer arrived in 2012?
Kevin: I'm going with Tyquan Lewis. With Joey Bosa, Nick Bosa, Chase Young and even Sam Hubbard all playing with him or shortly after him, he's absolutely going to get overshadowed in history a bit. But he was a three-year starter, actually put up better numbers than Joey Bosa did in 2015, and was the Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year.
Ramzy: Has to be Andrew Norwell, who started for multiple seasons, went undrafted and then five years into his NFL career he signed a $66.5MM contract making him the highest-paid offensive guard in NFL history. That’s a lot of ramen.
David: There's a couple of really solid players that can be put on this list. I think, really, a lot of players were under-appreciated, rather than underrated. It's hard for Ohio State fans to underrate a player. If anything, it usually goes the other way and Buckeye fans tend to overrate guys. But for the sake of answering, I'll go with Cincy boy Adolphus Washington, who was as consistent as anyone up the middle, Tyquan Lewis, who was overshadowed by the Bosas, and Jamarco Jones, who was an absolute iron-man and provided excellent stability at the tackle spot.
Okay, let’s do one question about the game tomorrow. Which will have the highest total – Rutgers rushing yards, Rutgers passing yards or Ohio State sack yards?
David: Rutgers passing yards... since Chase Young didn't get cleared. Watch out, Penn State.
Kevin: Rutgers is going to finish with negative rushing yards, so it sure ain't that. I also don't know how much they're just going to drop back and throw it against his pass rush, so there might not really be opportunities for sacks. So I'll go with Rutgers passing yards, simply because screens exist.
Ramzy: Ohio State should have more sack and penalty yards than Rutgers will have anything yards.
Ohio State heads to Piscataway as a 52-point favorite and the Buckeyes have covered the spread eight straight games. Do they make it nine in a row? Give us your final score and game MVP.
Ramzy: 91-0 Ohio State. The entire travel roster is going to get playing time. Drue Chrisman will get in for 13 plays, all PAT holds. Let’s give the MVP to Javontae Jean-Baptiste, since his high school coach is currently Rutgers head coach (!) and we appreciate a neat little storyline, especially for a game that shouldn’t exist.
David: The Buckeyes don't cover, but it'll be close. I'll go with 59-10 Ohio State, Master Teague scores twice and Zach Harrison comes up with a couple of sacks.
Kevin: Ohio State is winning this game by 80. This is the Chris Chugunov revenge game! He never got that Rutgers offer out of high school, and he's going to make them pay. Having a backup quarterback with a chip on his shoulder and something to prove is always good news when you're trying to cover a 52-point spread. That, and the other team being absolutely atrocious.
