toledoblade.com -- Chat About College Football

Get your game paint on, football fans! The all-new weekly chat on college football, Wednesdays at 2:00 p.m. on toledoblade.com

Ask host Ron Musselman about your favorite teams, coaches, and rivalries.

Kevin Cesarz: (2:00 P.M. ET ) Welcome to today's college football chitchat. Ron is ready to receive. Here’s the kick. No fair catch, run that ball out, Ron.

Bob (Toledo) Mr. Musselman, If I went by your logic with regards to your comments about Coach Amstutz (last week), one can assume that you probably feel Jim Tressel has no control over his program down in Columbus. Is it safe to say that you feel Jim Tressel’s program is out of control, and there is a "lack of discipline" in his program? You take plenty of shots at UT, but not at Tressel or Ohio St. Why is that?

Ron Musselman: (2:03 P.M. ET ) Bob, rarely does anyone ever call me Mister. I have been called many bad names, so thanks for the kind words. Why have I never criticized Tressel and Ohio State? No one has asked. Just like Toledo, I think Tressel has a ton of discipline problems that need to be taken care of. To my knowledge, he has kicked a few players off the team and disciplined others – and I’m not talking fourth-stringers here. So, there you go. Just ask and you shall receive.

Chris (Toledo) Hi Ron, the season is almost here. What are the best and worst factors for the Rockets going into Minnesota? Predictions on the game?

Ron Musselman: (2:07 P.M. ET ) It should be a heck of a game. The Rockets are loaded on offense and Minnesota has running backs coming out of the woodwork. It should be an offensive explosion. However, I like the Golden Gophers to win at home, maybe by three points. Minnesota is ranked in the Top 25 and Toledo lost there two years ago because they kept passing up field goal tries when Jason Robbins was struggling in that area. Please note: I wouldn’t be one bit surprised if Toledo pulled this one out.

Paul How does Ohio State look going against its former defensive coordinator (Mark) Dantonio and the Bearcats this weekend? One or two caught passes and the game results would have been much different in their last meeting.

Ron Musselman: (2:13 P.M. ET ) I think this will be a tough opener, but I think Ohio State will win. Cincinnati returns something like 17 starters, including 25-to-30 players who played in that 23-19 loss two years ago at Paul Brown Stadium. The Bearcats are decent and could scare the Buckeyes. But OSU is tough at home, where it has won 16 in a row, although it has a lot of questions that need to be answered, both offensively and defensively.

Mark (Bowling Green) What Mid-American Conference matchups with BCS teams will put numbers in the W column for the MAC teams this season?

Ron Musselman: (2:19 P.M. ET ) Six MAC schools are playing Top 25 teams this weekend. I could easily see the MAC going 0-6. Toledo, I think, is the only team that has a chance to win at Minnesota. I see BG getting dusted at Oklahoma. Miami will get ripped at Michigan, minus Roethlisberger. Kent State is a joke, will lose at Iowa. Central Florida has a bad resume – sorry that’s the coach, George O’Leary – and will get drubbed at Wisconsin. Northern Illinois loses at Maryland. And, sorry, but I think Toledo loses at Minnesota.
That’s 0-6, as the Big Ten has one big MAC sandwich.

Kevin Cesarz: (2:22 P.M. ET ) Rock on, mighty Gophers. They were never assumed to be victors when I lived there.

Bill Krall (Toledo) UT -vs- Minnesota. My prediction as one of the most avid rockets in history is as follows; If both offenses click, the outcome will be determined by our untried and inexperienced defense. Let's face the reality that last year's up front defense was mediocre at best, so their graduation was not really a big loss. If the new defensive players can at least start out this year as well as the old defense played at the end of last season, UT has a very good shot at an impressive win. If the rocket defense struggles then the likely winner will be who ever scores the last touchdown. I strongly feel that if the Rockets win their opener that we stand an excellent chance of going undefeated until the Northern Illinois game, which my gut feeling tells me that we'll loose. What is your opinion of my predictions?

Ron Musselman: (2:27 P.M. ET ) Bill, I am afraid I am going to be out of breath until I answer all your questions, and that’s saying something, considering how big my mouth is. But I will try my best. I agree both offenses will be good in the Toledo-Minnesota game. I think both defenses are iffy, and have major question marks. I expect both teams to let loose. I wouldn’t be shocked, as I said earlier, if Toledo won. But my gut feeling is, Minnesota wins in a squeaker. The Gophers are favored by 11, but I think that's way too much.

Paul (Toledo) How do you think Ohio State would fair as an independent?

Ron Musselman: (2:33 P.M. ET ) It’s really difficult to make it as a Division I-A independent now. Notre Dame is really the only major team left, and they have struggled mightily. The problem is scheduling. Because of the conferences, few teams have open dates where they want to play big-name schools in the non-conference portions of the schedules. Most of them would rather settle for a cupcake and an easy victory.

A football fan (Toledo) Will Ohio State win the national championship? What about Maurice Clarett?

Ron Musselman: (2:37 P.M. ET ) I do not think Ohio State will win the national championship. I see the Buckeyes losing three or four games, to tell you the truth. They lost 14 players to the NFL, so there’s going to be some drop-off. As for Clarett, out of sight, out of mind, he hasn’t been sighted in Columbus in months. And that’s OK with OSU officials. I wouldn’t be surprised if Clarett never becomes a starter in the NFL.

Sean (Toledo) How will Miami perform without Big Ben (Roethlisberger) and when will the win streak come to an end?

Ron Musselman: (2:41 P.M. ET ) I think Miami will be fine without Big Ben, but in no way can they make up for his abilities and his strong arm. The RedHawks have won 14 in a row, the longest winning streak in the nation, but that streak will be over in three days when Michigan rolls them. However, the RedHawks had a really good player from Toledo in Ryne Robinson (Central Catholic). He is a solid receiver and outstanding punt returner. Make sure you check him out.

Tim (Ann Arbor) How do you think Matt Gutierrez will perform as Michigan’s QB?

Ron Musselman: (2:46 P.M. ET ) Gutierrez hasn’t lost a game since his freshman year in high school. He will make some mistakes early in the season, but I think he will be fine. I am more worried about UM’s tailback situation than the quarterback spot. I expected talented freshman Chad Henne to get some playing time at QB this season. He is the best quarterback on the Wolverines’ roster and has been awesome in preseason camp.

Mike Hey Ron. Tressel says he'll play both (Justin) Zwick and (Troy) Smith against UC (Cincinnati). If Smith outperforms Zwick, do you think Tressel will make a switch at starter?

Ron Musselman: (2:51 P.M. ET ) I think Tressel would be open to making a change, but honestly, I don’t see it happening. If Smith was better than Zwick, he’d already have the starting job. However, I can see Smith entering the game in certain situations where OSU may want its QB to run the ball on a particular series.

Jason Ziegler (Sandusky) Mussie, Do you think defensive guru, Mark Dantonio can bring Cincinnati to a top 10 team in the country? You got to think he feels that the Bearcats can get there. Why else would he leave Ohio State?

Ron Musselman: (2:55 P.M. ET ) Jason, I do not see Dantonio leading Cincy to the Top 10. He took the job because it was an opportunity to be a head coach. He is a good coach, especially on defense, but winning at Cincinnati on a regular basis is much too difficult. I don’t see that changing.

Kevin Cesarz: (3 P.M. ET ) We thank Ron for being in a fairly decent mood today and we hope all your questions were answered. See y’all next week, when who knows, Ron might savagely rip your favorite team. Hope you all can stay up for the late Gophers-UT game from the Metrodome on Saturday. If not, check out later editions of The Blade and toledoblade.com for the result.

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