SCARLET ORANGE BROWN
Scarlet Orange Brown
Ohio Football. Unfiltered. Unapologetic.
Every week, longtime coaches and diehard fans Ken Carpenter and Chris Huesman deliver sharp analysis, bold opinions, and locker-room-level insight on the Ohio State Buckeyes, Cincinnati Bengals, and Cleveland Browns.
From Ryan Day’s game plans to Joe Burrow’s clutch performances and the Browns’ latest drama, this show goes beyond the box score to give you real football talk—no fluff, no spin.
Whether you’re tailgating in Columbus, pacing through a Bengals fourth quarter, or praying for a Browns breakthrough, Scarlet Orange Brown is your weekly fix for:
- 🔥 Unfiltered commentary
- 🧠 Smart football debates
- 🎙️ Coaching-level analysis
- 😂 Plenty of laughs and real talk
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SCARLET ORANGE BROWN
Buckeye Bye Week to a Browns Surprise and Bengal Blowout
Buckle up for a wild ride through the Ohio football landscape as we dissect a weekend that perfectly captures the unpredictable nature of the game we love.
The #1 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes enjoyed their bye week but face a significant test traveling to Washington to open Big Ten play. Ryan Day's renewed intensity has the team flying out early to acclimate to the Pacific Northwest environment – a sign of his evolution as a head coach. Freshman quarterback Julian Sayin prepares for his first road start while Bo Jackson continues to impress in the backfield. Meanwhile, a defense featuring standouts Caleb Downs, Caden Curry, and Arvel Reese has established itself as perhaps the most dominant unit in college football.
The Cincinnati Bengals experienced the devastating reality of life without Joe Burrow, suffering their worst loss in franchise history – a 48-10 shellacking by the Minnesota Vikings. Backup quarterback Jake Browning struggled mightily behind an offensive line that provided little protection or running lanes. With a murderer's row schedule ahead featuring Denver, Detroit, Green Bay, and Pittsburgh, the Bengals face a critical juncture in their season.
The Cleveland Browns provided the weekend's most pleasant surprise, engineering an improbable comeback against the Green Bay Packers after trailing 10-0 late in the fourth quarter. Their elite defense continues to suffocate opponents, having held three premier NFL running backs to a combined 96 yards rushing. Veteran Joe Flacco did just enough while rookie running back Judkins showed promise in his first significant action.
We also preview the weekend's most compelling college matchups, including LSU-Ole Miss, Oregon-Penn State, and Alabama-Georgia, while discussing fan frustrations ranging from stadium behavior to concession prices. Whether you're a Buckeye, Bengal, or Browns supporter, this episode captures the full spectrum of emotions that make Ohio football so compelling.
Subscribe now and join our growing community of passionate Ohio football fans as we navigate the highs and lows of the season together!
Tune in every week for a new episode!
Today, on the SOB coming off a bye week, the Buckeyes head to Washington to start Big Ten play, the Bengals struggle in their first game without Joe Burrow and the Browns rally late to beat the Green Bay Packers. All this and more next on Scarlet, orange and Brown.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Scarlet, orange and Brown podcast, the show that brings you the best of Ohio football every single week. From the Ohio State Buckeyes to the Cincinnati Bengals to the Cleveland Browns, we've got every inch of the Buckeye State covered Insight, passion and plenty of bold opinions, because here it's all football all Ohio all the time. Here's your hosts coming to you. Live from the Dublin bubble Chris Huseman and Ken Carpenter.
Speaker 1:Hello and welcome to the SOB Scarlet, Orange and Brown podcast. I'm Ken Carpenter.
Speaker 3:And I'm Chris Huseman.
Speaker 1:Well, we had the Buckeyes with a day a week off and they head to Washington to play the Huskies this weekend. Bengals first week without Joe Burrow and they fall to the Vikings 48-10. And the Cleveland Browns pulled off an amazing come-from-behind win and walking off against the Packers. What is your take on this past weekend?
Speaker 3:You know what it just goes. To show you, kenny, that anything can happen in football, especially Ohio football. All right, I mean, we have the number one-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes in there and you know, we just can't rest on that, we just can't be happy. You know, it would be so nice to have to have like two competitive NFL teams out there. And then here my Bengals, you know lose Joe Burrow and you know have the worst loss in franchise history. And how about the Browns being totally un-Brown-like, down 10-0 late in the fourth and come back and be, you know, debatably one of the best teams, if not the best team, in the NFL? I mean, you know it was a crazy week.
Speaker 1:Perfect example of the NFL. I mean, it's like these teams will look absolutely horrible and then they'll play the best team or what you would think is the best team, and then they'll play the best team or what you would think is the best team, and then they pull it off. But you know, vegas and the NFL have something going and you figure it out and let me know, I'll become a rich man. But let's start with the Buckeyes Still sitting at number one after an off week. Only seven and a half point favorites at Washington. First away game for Julian Sane, who maybe I think isn't given quite enough credit for his start to the season, I think the freshman running back, bo Jackson, has stepped into the number one running back role, and Caleb Downs and that defense is just playing lights out. And what do you think is going to happen this weekend at Washington?
Speaker 3:Well, I'll tell you what Ryan Day is thinking. You know we need to get out there earlier and acclimate and take these guys very seriously, not that he wouldn't normally, but you know they're flying out earlier to Seattle and they want to get out there and they want to adjust. And you know, right there, that tells me. You know that Ryan Day has changed. Um, you know, we mentioned on this podcast earlier about how he's um, full of more vigor and full of more fire and he's coaching with it and it's paying off for the Buckeyes and I think this is part of it too. You know, if I had to be critical of the number one team in the nation, let's be more efficient in the red zone, let's, you know, let's utilize Bo Jackson a little bit more. Let's get more rhythmic in the run game and the passing game. Uh, let's have some more passing game. Cohesion, um, and honestly, I think to me it's just. You know, I think Brian Hartline is going to get there. Um, I think it's a good three game trial that we've had so far. Um, I think he's getting better, you know, at the play calling. But you know Brian Hartline's no, chip Kelly, I mean, chip Kelly did this. You know he did this for a living. I mean, he could, you know, wake up in the middle of the night and start calling plays, you know, I mean. And Brian Hartline, you know, with his pedigree and his background, obviously has the potential to do the same thing. So, you know, I think it's a work in progress.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you're right, kenny. I mean the defense is elite. Caden Curry you know, that kid is special. Caleb Downs elite. Arvel Reese specials. You know, I just think, with their schedule coming up at Washington, we got Minnesota at home. I think that just turned out to be a 7-30 game. Illinois is away. They've shown to be very good, even though they got blown out by Indiana. We've got a down Wisconsin team coming in, but it is Luke Fickle's homecoming. Then we've got Penn State at home. So I'm anxious to see what Penn State's going to do, to be honest with you, against this Oregon team coming in, and then I'll withhold my judgment for them. But some exciting times for the Buckeyes coming up.
Speaker 1:Well, I had a chance to go down and check out the Buckeyes at the stadium this past week when they went up against OU, and it looks like they're doing everything right. So it's just a matter of them not playing down to their competition and going out and just trying to just step on every, every team's throat and just put as many points up on the board as they can. And, and you know I the only thing that surprises me so far is there were other captains Brandon Ennis I don't recall if he's even had a reception and you know I know they got Tate and Jewel. You know I know they got Tate and you know number four, and it's just one of those things where it's like, once they get him involved with the tight ends, I think they're just going to be unbelievable. But it's a good start to the season and this will be a huge test for him and what would you think would be a potential score for this upcoming weekend?
Speaker 3:Well, you know, and again we're talking the first Big Ten opener, we're talking number one goes way out to the left coast. We're talking a later game. You, you know, in a beautiful town like seattle, a beautiful campus like washington, uh crowd's going to be in effect. Uh, julian saying his first away game. Um, I'm gonna say ohio state, um 34 okay, I'm gonna go with 28-17.
Speaker 1:I'm surprised that it's only a 7.5-point spread on the game, but, like you said, it's an away game and Washington's got a pretty good team, so it's definitely going to be a fun game to watch and hopefully the Buckeyes can come out on top. Moving on to the uh cincinnati bengals up next, they got the broncos I I I'm still amazed that you take one player off of a team and they they have the game that they had and. But on the other end, I wouldn't be surprised if they bounce back this weekend and win and their offense is just too good. I just think that they're going to need to get defensive stops and the quarterback Browning is going to have to step up.
Speaker 3:Well, you said it, browning's going to have to step up. Let's face it, jake mean Browning's going to have to step up. You know, let's face it. I mean you know Jake started that whole fiasco. You know, when he, you know, started to boot up the middle, all we had to do was score there. It would be a 10-10 game. And you know he's going.
Speaker 3:He had Chase White open and he tries to thread a needle downfield. It gets tipped and gets intercepted. And you know that was all she wrote. And it just goes to show you and you mentioned Joe Burrow it just goes to show you how good Joe Burrow is. Joe Burrow makes that throw to Chase. We go down and score on that drive.
Speaker 3:You know it's a tie ball game, you know, and those things you know just mount up and it just to me, you know, got to the point where it was. You know you're seeing people fumble, like Sam JPine. You know he doesn't fumble. I mean that's why he's been in the league so long and it was very frustrating. The offensive line, to me, has to get it together. They have not, you know, and I'm going to defend Zach Taylor here for a second, um, but if you hold onto the ball and our offensive line holds up a little bit. You know that's a competitive ball game.
Speaker 3:I mean, minnesota wasn't the best team in the NFL, it was just we made them look that way. Um, there's no running game with the offensive line and you know, if you're a defensive coordinator, you're just like blitz, blitz, blitz, you know, and Jake Browning's back there running for his life and he's trying to read passing trees on a very limited play-calling spreadsheet. So, you know, to me it's a lot of things got to happen here. I mean, our offensive line has to. You know, people are questioning their intestinal fortitude and when you do that to a man, you know you tend to rise to the occasion.
Speaker 3:And I think you're right, kenny, I think this Denver game on Monday Night Football is going to be a little bit different. You know, whether we win or not remains to be seen. But, um, you know, hey, we are leading a division, um, and you know, uh, from what I understand, I mean, we're like in fourth, tied for fourth place in the AFC. So, um, you know, it's just one of those things where we have to get back to playing sound, fundamental football, running the football. It's just one of those things where we have to get back to playing sound, fundamental football.
Speaker 3:Running the football, it's going to open up the passing game and you know, I mean we have Denver away, we have Detroit at home, I mean we have Green Bay away, and then we have Pittsburgh at home. I mean the NFL didn't do us any favors. You know, have Pittsburgh at home, I mean the NFL didn't do us any favors, you know. So, um, for a team that finished, you know, third in the uh, in the division, I mean, come on, you know, anytime you're playing the, the NFC North there, I mean that's, you know it is what it is. So, um, I don't know what are your thoughts on that whole thing?
Speaker 1:Well, you know, for whatever reason, the AFC North got hosed pretty bad when it comes to the schedule. But the one thing that's good for all the teams involved in that division is everybody's got losses and you know everybody had the Ravens just tearing it up and you know they're struggling a little bit and there's a chance going into it that, uh, you know it, it could come down to the wire just because of the schedule. They're they're going to get beat up, they're going to beat each other up when they play. So there's a chance. Just, you know, just got to get to the playoffs and then anything can happen at that point and that's to me that's critical.
Speaker 1:And you know, with the Bengals, hopefully they can be, you know, 500 or better by the time Joe Burrow gets back, and you know, maybe they can make a run then.
Speaker 1:But they've got to keep it close and it's not going to be easy with, you know, aaron Rodgers, lamar Jackson, I'm not sold on Joe Flacco, but they've got to just keep plugging the holes and hopefully by the time it comes down to the end, they've got a chance. That's all you can really ask for. I look at the Bengals as a team that, uh, they got a chance. But I just wonder, if they don't pull off a couple wins here in the next few weeks and things start to go south, is that going to affect the whole team? And you know, when you have good wide receivers like they do every team that has a wide receiver they, they kind of have that diva mentality, it seems like will they start turning on each other? I don't think that'll be the case, but you, you got to wonder if things, if they they start start losing because of how things are going right now without Joe Burrow.
Speaker 3:Wow, that's a great point. I guess, looking at history, you know, in the past couple years where we didn't make the playoffs but we ended up having a winning record, you know, I guess I can say they didn't turn on each other and the locker room was good, but that's when they had a healthy Joe Burrow. So I will tell you this, I mean they will not be favored in their next four games. And you know, with Denver, detroit, green Bay and Pittsburgh, you know I mean if we win one of those games then I'll take it, because I think you know I mean if we win one of those games, then I'll take it, because I think you know our schedule is, once we get through the Minnesotas, the Green Bays, the Detroits, you know I mean we've got our hands full in AFC North.
Speaker 3:I mean you know that as well as I do, being a Browns fan at Pittsburgh, baltimore, cincinnati fans at Pittsburgh, baltimore, cincinnati, and then, if you're a Bengals fan, cleveland, baltimore, pittsburgh, you know, and playing those guys twice that's a feat in and of itself. I mean there's no home field advantage there, you know. I mean it's like all right, you got to go to battle twice and then you throw in the NFC North. I mean, my Lord, you know that's a tough road to hoe. So you know the schedules will get a bit easier. But at the same time, you know these next four weeks are going to be rough. Going to be rough to be a Bengals fan.
Speaker 1:The Browns, they pull off a win against the Packers. And next up here's the Detroit Lions for you. Defensively, they are doing everything you could ask. They're tops in just about every category. Miles Garrett is just to me he's the defensive player of the year so far. To me he's the defensive player of the year so far. But they just cannot survive just dumping the ball off five yards the whole game, and that's what they were doing with the Packers, and you know they need to stretch the field.
Speaker 1:Judkins stepped in as the running back and he had a solid game. He's clearly their number one. But when it comes to you comes to looking at a rookie, it's only one game to base it on and he's going to have to step up. But I loved his energy. I just don't know at what point are the Browns going to pull the trigger and move on to one of the two younger quarterbacks, flacco. If he's got a line that can protect him, he can be efficient. But when that line breaks down, there's zero scramble ability and it's going to be tough for him. So at least with Dylan Gabriel and Shador, you have a chance to them running around and making a play, but on the other side of it, you got a 15-plus-year veteran versus a couple rookies, so I'll take the win against the Packers and who knows what the Lions will have to see how that one shakes out. What do you think about the Browns?
Speaker 3:Well, you know, just like you said, the defense is elite. I mean they here. I'll throw out some numbers for you. They held Josh Jacobs to 30 yards rushing. They held Derrick Henry to 23 yards rushing. They held Chase Brown to 43 yards rushing. That is, three of the top backs in the NFL. 96 yards total. Yeah, the defense is elite and you know, joe Flacco does just enough to keep them competitive and in games. I mean, you know, for all intents and purposes, they should have won.
Speaker 3:The Cincinnati game they outplayed the Browns statistically and then they just outplayed. They wanted it more than Green Bay and you know it was very un-Brown-like what I said before. You know, being down 10-0, the old Browns are like, yeah, let's pack it in late in the fourth. But then they turn around and, you know, do enough to win that game. They had five sacks. Special teams. To me was the difference, whereas special teams in the past has let them down.
Speaker 3:Andre, was it Smythe? Is that how you pronounce his last name? Smite, okay, um, yeah, he goes from being the scapegoat and the Cincinnati game to, you know, being the goat and the, uh, green Bay game. So, uh, you know, speaking about quarterback, I, you know, I did see this week that Deion Sanders, you know, swore up and down that Shador would start a game this year for the Browns. I don't know if he has some inside information, but you know I'm kind of thinking, you know, with you, I mean especially with this schedule. I mean, you know now you're gonna go to detroit. You know you get rewarded by going to detroit and playing, and um, you know, you got minnesota coming in at home, who just beat the bingos by 140, um. You got pittsburgh, uh away, um.
Speaker 3:But then here's the bright spot to this and your guys' schedule. You got Miami at home, you got New England away, the Jets away. You do have Baltimore coming in at home, but then you got the Raiders away, tennessee at home, chicago away, no-transcript, even the Baltimore game. I mean, how many times have we seen, you know, a Browns-Baltimore game being 14-13 late in the first quarter? And you know, I mean there's two, four, six, there's seven games right there, kenny, that you know, if they play as well as their defense is playing right now, then I don't see them losing those games. I mean that's eight wins. And I haven't even looked at the rest of the remaining schedule after that. So you know it's promising for um Cleveland. Um, you know it's promising for Cincinnati. Only, on the end we have to play better and win some of those games. You know until Joe Burrow even thinks about coming back, but if we start losing he's not going to be back at all this year.
Speaker 1:Well, let me ask you there Do you have a lock for this week? I have a lock and an upset. My lock is the Rams minus three to the Colts. So I got the Rams one and that one I think the Colts are going to come down to and be. You know, they're playing well, but I think it's time for them to lose. And my upset is Baker Mayfield and Tampa Bay taking one against the Eagles.
Speaker 3:Hmm, Taking what against the Eagles? My lock this week is Pittsburgh plus two and a half at home against Minnesota. Minnesota, I know, scored I'm going to go with 260 points against the Bengals last week, but they're not that good. They're not as good as Cincinnati made them look. They're going to come into Pittsburgh. You're playing Pittsburgh at home and you're giving Pittsburgh points. I'll take it so to me that's the upset special. Let's take Pittsburgh with the points this week at home. That's my upset. If you are looking for a lock this week, go with Buffalo at home against New Orleans. I mean, you know I liked Desmond Ritter when he was at South Carolina, but you know, as far as an NFL quarterback right now I just don't see it. And yeah, I think you know there's 16.5 points on the spread. But I would just take a main line or the money line on that and take Buffalo straight up against the Orioles.
Speaker 1:Well, to throw something in here, there are three games this weekend in college football that I think need some attention and just want to see what you think. Just who's going to win First one is LSU and Ole Miss. Who do you have in that one?
Speaker 3:Well, I did. I have a burner pool that I play. I've already done some research on this one and LSU and Ole Miss one and a half on this. I think LSU is strictly because of the games at Oxford. That's the whole reason, kenny. Since it's at Oxford, ole Miss is going to win the game. It's a home game.
Speaker 1:One of the best places to go out here for a tailgategate. That's for sure. I'm gonna step. I'm gonna step with uh brian kelly, even though I don't like him as a coach. I think lsu's uh gonna continue to roll there. Let's go to the uh the big 10 oregon and penn state um, again, this one was in my poll.
Speaker 3:Uh, you got Penn State as minus 3.5. Right now, oregon's coming in at 4-0. Penn State's coming in at 3-0. Penn State has played nowhere near the caliber of athletes that's walking into the stadium at Beaver Stadium this weekend. Oregon is walking in there. This is a rematch of the Big Ten championship game and there they had what had a year or two ago. It's one of those things where I think it's going to be a high-scoring game. I think the over on it is 51.5, which is one of the higher-scoring games. I do like Oregon in this game, especially with points. If you're giving me the number six team in the nation, oregon Ducks three and a half points. You know they're used to stadiums coming into stadiums and playing. You know at the noise level that's going to happen there in Happy Valley. I like Oregon.
Speaker 1:I'm going to go with the home team on this one Penn State. I just think that they're going to be up for the game, and just the home field advantage alone is going to be enough for them. Next up, Alabama and Georgia. Caleb DeBoer, he's going to feel the heat if he doesn't win this one, and Kirby Smart seems like he's got things rolling there in Georgia.
Speaker 3:Yeah, again, this is 52-and-a-half over. There's going to be some points scored in this game. You know, 2-and-1, alabama ranked 17, and you've got Georgia number 5, 3-and-0. Georgia is going to give Bama three points on this and I like it. I like Georgia minus three on this, strictly the fact that they're playing at Georgia. I think Ugga is going to be wagging his tail and making plays all over the field down there against Bama. Kalen DeBoer has not proven to me that you know he's elite right now when it comes to the preparation for some of these big SEC games. So you know, I'll take Kirby Smart in this one and then I'm going to take Georgia minus three.
Speaker 1:I'm going to totally agree with you on that one. There I think Georgia is just too good and Gunnar Stockton is stepping up and doing what they were hoping he would do as a quarterback. Now I want to just throw in here toward the end, give you a chance to think about it while I do it. But what is something about college or NFL football that just drives you crazy? And I'm going to start off with I think I'm getting old. I in fact I know I'm old.
Speaker 1:I went to the OU game with at with Ohio State and sat down and had decent seats and I'm just amazed at the number of people that show up late to a game and they come up trying to find their seats. They don't know where they're sitting. I sat next to someone and of course he clearly must have been at every practice this season because he knew more about what Ohio State should do than Ryan and I had to listen to that for four quarters and I just dumbfounded that. How many people don't know what's going on in a game, and especially when they got replay and they're sitting there watching the game. I watched a hundred thousand people cheer and they thought there was a fumble and it was a clearly an incomplete pass. The scoreboard operator put up touchdown, a hundred thousand people cheering and I'm like it's an incomplete pass.
Speaker 1:The scoreboard operator put up a touchdown, 100,000 people cheering and I'm like it's an incomplete pass. And they say incomplete pass. And then you got people booing and I'm like, oh my God, I've got to get home and just sit on the couch by myself and watch the game. It drove me crazy. But again, that's probably why I will spend the rest of the season sitting on the couch and yelling from my couch so I can go and get snacks as I want and not have to pay $40 for two bottles of water and well popcorn or whatever. What drives you crazy? Couple things for two bottles of water and well popcorn or whatever, jeez what drives you crazy.
Speaker 3:A couple things. I ran across one this week the price of a beer at stadiums, nfl stadiums. Guess the two that were the lowest, guess the two that were the lowest Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati was the lowest, and there is, I mean there are some stadiums out there that are paying upwards of 18 to 20 bucks for a beer at these stadiums. Now, cincinnati, I think it was 6 bucks and I think Cleveland, it was seven bucks, seven or eight bucks. Pittsburgh, it was 10. You know, I just looked at a couple you know that we're familiar with and so you know these concession stand prices. You know we're here in Columbus, so you get the blue jackets, and you know I mean just the prices of these concession. I mean you talk about big business. It's just amazing to me. Question, or my answer to your question is you know it's tough to take, it's tough to take kids to a game anymore. You know what I'm saying. Oh, yeah, with.
Speaker 3:I look on Twitter or X and threads and all these different social media outlets all the time and it's like you know another fight at the San Francisco um Raider game. You know another fight at the Arizona. You know Seattle game. Uh, you know, another fight at the New York giant, new York jet game. Yeah and um, yeah, another fight at the Cleveland-Bengal game. You know, it just goes on and on. So you know, to me it's like what are we doing? You know, I mean, I think we're. You know, this is, I know, football's life here in the Midwest and things of that nature, but we have to really reevaluate what's going on. If we can't take a child to a football game, or even a baseball game for that matter, um, then you know, to me, I think we're missing the whole point of um, you know what it's there for?
Speaker 1:Well, I think that kind of puts a wrap on this week and um, and you know I'm looking forward to next week and we're we got to have a lot to talk about and I I'm really enjoying getting a chance to do this with you, chris, and you know, maybe we'll step it up again. Last week we had Donnie Nicky. Maybe we'll bring Donnie Nicky back or we'll try to bring a guest on Donnie Nikki back. We'll try to bring a guest up on and you know I'm not even against bringing on just a random Buckeye, bengal or Brown fan just to kind of get their perspective.
Speaker 3:And you know I'm looking forward to next week. Yeah, absolutely, kenny. I mean this podcast is turning out. You know we're looking at our numbers base and it seems to grow every single week and you know, I think it's just a testament to how. You know, how good and insightful. You know, and honest, I mean we're throwing it out there. I mean, yeah, I'm biased for Cincinnati and yeah, you're biased for Cleveland, but you know, at the same time we speak the truth. I mean I want nothing better but Cleveland to win, except for when they play Cincinnati, and you know, I'm sure you're the same when you know on vice versa. So, fact of the matter is we're both diehard Buckeye fans and you know we want to see good things happen for the state of Ohio.
Speaker 1:And that's why I love doing it Well for Chris Huntsman. I'm Ken Carpenter. Thanks for listening to the SOB Scarlet Brown Podcast.