SCARLET ORANGE BROWN

How Ohio State Dominated Purdue While Cincinnati Regroups And Cleveland Searches For Answers

Ken Carpenter and Chris Huesman Season 1 Episode 12

A 34-10 win can look routine on paper, but the Buckeyes made it a statement about depth, discipline, and timing. We unpack how Julian Sayin’s precision and Jeremiah Smith’s red-zone gravity paired with a steadier kicking game to control Purdue for 60 minutes. The conversation moves past the box score into the quieter edges that decide November: interior O-line shuffles, defensive communication, and the snap-count strategy that’s kept Ohio State’s starters fresher than most of the Big Ten. With UCLA, Rutgers, and a trip to Ann Arbor ahead, we weigh the Heisman chatter against the need to get the backup quarterback real reps now, not later.

From college to the pros, the mood shifts. Cincinnati used the bye to open Joe Burrow’s return window and a path back to complementary football. The issue is simple and stubborn: missed tackles, soft pressure, and late-game busts don’t survive AFC North fights. We break down why simplifying calls, tightening run fits, and letting Burrow feed YAC monsters could flip a season hanging by a thread. On the lake, Cleveland’s special teams miscues and penalty spikes overshadow flashes from Jerry Jeudy and a rising rookie linebacker. We sort rumor from reality on the quarterback talk and outline how smarter tight end usage and situational discipline can salvage respect, if not a playoff push.

If depth wins titles, Ohio State is building the right kind of margin. If details win Sundays, the Bengals and Browns have a clear checklist. Hear our take, bring your own, and join the debate. If you enjoy the show, follow, share with a friend, and leave a quick review so more Ohio fans can find us.

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You're locked into the SOB Scarlet, Orange, and Brown podcast.

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And west in the backfield with quarterback Julian Sand, who's gonna throw? Sand stops, looks, fires down the left team toward the end zone. Smith with a catch with a touchdown. 35 yards strike through the air. Julian Sand and Jeremiah Smith gives the Buckeyes their second TD of the day. And Ohio State has a 13 to 3 lead over Purdue.

SPEAKER_01:

That's only a handful of games left. Do you feel realistic that if this team gets confined and all together, Clay, in your mind, can this still be a playoff team?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, you know, our division is wide open. There's a lot of I think Pittsburgh's five and four at this point. We play them this week. So you know everything is still there in in front of us. It's very rare that our division looks like this, but it does it's here, and so you know, I think we'll be at least in it until the end.

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Insight, action, 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 Husman and Ken Carpenter.

SPEAKER_02:

Hello and welcome to the SOB Scarlet Orange and Brown podcast. I'm Ken Carpenter.

SPEAKER_06:

And I'm Chris Husman.

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And this week we saw the Buckeyes take a 34-10 whooping on the old Purdue Boilermakers. Cincinnati Bengals relaxed this week with a bye, and the Cleveland Browns. Solid 27-20 loss to the Lowly. I don't even want to call them a jet. I'd call them an airplane. But um, yep, that's uh that's the week of football in Ohio. What was your thoughts?

SPEAKER_06:

Uh it's about the same as you, Kenny. Uh I mean uh Bengals uh Bengals had a bye. I mean, the only it seems like the only thing we had going for us this weekend was uh the Buckeyes. And you know, they put a they put a pretty good beat down on Purdue, um, you know, giving up 10 points, but that last seven was you know against I think third teamers that were in there. Um so yeah, I think the uh Buckeyes are the only thing we had going for us this weekend.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Well the Buckeyes had 13, I think it's 13 straight wins for him. And uh 60-minute football game with Purdue in 40 minutes was Ohio State offense. Uh Sam, 303 yards. It almost seemed like it was a down passing effort for him. He was 27 to 33. But Jeremiah Smith, 10 receptions for 137, and uh defense just shutting them down again.

SPEAKER_06:

Yeah, they're I mean, I the only concern I had with the is with the interior offensive line last week. Um, Daniels, Padilla, uh, they missed the game. Um left Ian Moore, uh, the freshman, red shirt freshman, to start. Did pretty good. Um Shabola, he gave up a sack. He still shows flashes of brilliance, but then you know, all of a sudden we'll forget an assignment. So I think that interior offensive line, um, you know, uh to me when it comes to the running game, you know, now I'm starting to look more at the interior offensive line and their blocking. Um, because I think you're right, Kenny. Julian Saiyan's the Heisman favorite, in my opinion. Um, after that game that um Fernando had against uh um Penn State, I just don't see it. Um he's middle of the road in a Big Ten uh when it comes to pass efficiency. So yeah, I just I I think there's a clear separation there now. Um but the running backs, I think Bo did very well. Um I and and we talked about this, you know, uh a couple weeks ago, Kenny. The Isaiah West, um, I really like how he runs. Um I saw how he blocks, and now I know why he's not playing all the time. Uh you talk about running a ball. I mean, man, he he runs well. Um I think both those guys combined for 135 yards. And with uh Tate out uh for you know, just he had a he was nursing an injury, and um Ryan Day just said, hey, we're just gonna keep him out this game. But Smith stepped up, did work. Ennis stepped up, did really well. Um but I think Smith was the fastest wide receiver at Ohio State to reach 25 touchdowns. And that's saying something with the wide receivers that we have there uh and had graduated there, uh and then are in NFL now. It's just that's that's quite a feat. Um the only other things I can think about there, Kenny, was uh fielding. Let's throw fielding some uh kudos for once. I mean, he hit a 49-yarder and he had a 45-yarder. You know, to me, if we can if we have a kicking game that is consistent in the 40s, uh, then that's just gonna make us all the more stronger when it comes down to the playoff stretch. Um, and yeah, you're right. The old silver bullets, I think, are back. And um, you know, they really just didn't have any problem with Purdue, in my opinion. Um, you know, it leaves us with UCLA coming up at 7.30, Kenny, uh, this weekend. And uh we got a Rutgers game that they still don't know what time they want to start that game next week. Um, and then we're at Fishigan um at noon to uh wrap it all up. One of the things I'd looked at, Kenny, and I wanted to run this by you, is I looked at Michigan's schedule. I mean, they have a pretty decent um, you know, I mean, it's not just you know, roll over and and you know, wait to the highest state game. I mean, they're at Northwestern, and I think they're playing that game at Wrigley Field. And that's a noon game. And then they're at Maryland, which Maryland's always tough at home. And then, of course, the Ohio State game. But, you know, I wanted to get your thoughts on you know what they have coming up.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, I think with Michigan, they're I I really think that they're probably going to be okay with Maryland and Northwestern. Um, you know, I think they're both uh I think Northwestern has a better chance of of hanging with them. But uh it's college football, you never know. But you watch every weekend something crazy happens. But you know, I I think the big thing now is both Michigan and Ohio State fans are just sitting there going, all right, we need to be ever have everybody healthy going into the big game. And uh, you know, I think Ohio State's doing everything they can. And I know they've had some injuries on the line in different places, but I think it's only going to help in the stretch run that they got some guys with with playing experience. The only concern I have though is I would like to see Lincoln Keenholz get more than a couple turnaround handoffs at the end of the game. He needs to get he needs to get a quarter playing time. And I know you want to say in to you know to get his numbers for Heisman and everything, but Keenholz needs to get you know some serious playing time with the ones, and you know, because I I don't know, I think it's just important that a backup, especially at the quarterback position, needs to get that. But the question I've I wonder if Satan stays on this track that he's on, takes it into next year, and continues, is he the best quarterback ever at Ohio State?

SPEAKER_06:

I mean, you know, you gotta think about when was the last time we talked about a freshman quarterback being a Heisman. We briefly touched upon it for a second with Drew with Howard. Um, but there were just too many other guys out there, you know, Schadur and you know, all these other guys out there, um, Bo Knicks and all of them. I mean, um, you know, that's a great question, Kenny. I mean, we've had some good ones go through here, but um, man, you know, I'm just trying to think in the NFL, you know, who's been one of the longest quarterbacks in the NFL that was an Ohio State quarterback.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, it's uh they usually there haven't been a whole lot of buckeye quarterbacks, I guess you could say, but it's uh I think with Brian Day being there, he's turning in uh turning out more quarterbacks that can play at the NFL level. It'll be interesting to see you know come the stretch run there because Mendoza had that throw at the end of the game, and they said that's his Heisman moment, you know. But I think it was more on the uh receiver who made just an unbelievable catch and you know got got a foot down. So I I I don't know. It's it's gonna be interesting, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_06:

Well, and I think you called it too, Kenny. Um you know, uh the way that they're resting their players, and I think they touched upon it too. Uh the announcers did in the game last week, but you you were on it several weeks before that, you know, just touching upon, do you want to touch upon that again briefly about how much they're resting their players and what that equates to game-wise?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I I read a stat where this was going into this week's game, I think, where the Ohio State starters have played like playwise at least one game less than Indiana for the whole season, and it's even more than some of the other teams in the Big Ten. So I think it's gonna benefit them down the down the stretch. But you know, I sit and watch games other than Ohio State, and you know, you're watching this team lose or whatever, then you're sitting there going, all right. Let's just say Ohio State, everything goes their way. They win the Big Ten, win the Big Ten championship game, they're gonna be the number one seed. But that that 12th team that gets in the playoffs, wow, it could it, you know, it could be a tough game for them, you know, their first matchup they play, be just because it's there's there's no easy way about it. And you know, at least if it's uh, you know, they'll have a real good idea how good they truly are if they face Indiana in the champ Big Ten Championship.

SPEAKER_06:

Well, and that's the other thing I looked at too, Kenny, was um I looked at Indiana's schedule, um, and they only got two games left. Um pretty, you know, one is Purdue, which is an in-state rivalry game, but they got a week off before that. So, I mean, they're gonna heal up uh as well. Um and, you know, I think right now the standings with IU at 7-0 and OSU at 6-0, and then you get a trio of teams at 5-1, USC, Oregon, and Michigan. Um, you know, I I think it's gonna come down. I, you know, high state, they got a pretty, you know, UCLA, and then you got a ranked team Michigan um as well. So yeah, it'll be interesting to see uh how that all plays out.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Well, moving on to the uh Cincinnati Bengals, I just saw where they opened up the uh three-week window for Joe Burrow and the possibility of a Thanksgiving night return against the Baltimore Ravens, which I think just seeing Burrow in uniform and practicing with them, I think that's got to be a huge lift for the whole entire Bengal team.

SPEAKER_06:

Well, and that's what I was just getting ready to allude to, Kenny, was you hit upon it. Is you know, when you look out there and you see Joe Burrow, and I mean, you know, this guy at Turf Toe, and from from all the information that I gathered and had heard about is Turf Toe is one of the worst injuries you can get. And then here he is already out here, you know, practicing, and you know, as a as a defensive guy, you got to be looking at you know, this guy's coming back early to practice and when you know I'm leading the league in missed tackles, you know. And I just think it gives everybody, like you just said, it gives everybody a boost when it comes to uh morale, and and morale has been you know something that Cincinnati these past two weeks can definitely use, a booster for. And you know, I just think there's no better timing than um than Burrow coming back on that. And you know, we just need to get back to start uh playing complimentary football. You know, it's just like uh back in back in the old days, you know, when the offense had a long drive and gave the defense some nice rest over there, they came out and got a stop, and then you did it all over again, and that's how you wore teams down. Uh, but it's just like the Browns, you know, the Browns cannot just consistently be on the field with their defense um, you know, the majority of the game out there and expect to win. I mean, and stay healthy nonetheless. So, you know, now I hear that uh Hendrickson's questionable. Um, you know, I I it's tough for me because the main path to me uh for the postseason for the Bengals is through the AFC North. And we're only two games back. Um, Pittsburgh didn't look good. Um, you know, they're at home, they looked really good against Indianapolis. Um and then they go out there and lay an egg against uh the Chargers, who I didn't think was that good. Um, but yeah, I mean, you know, it's just one of those uh AFC North things, I guess. But, you know, we're giving up an average of 27 points the last eight games. And we just can't do we can't try to outscore our opponents every single week, you know, where we've got to we've got to score 35, 38 points, you know, just to be able to be in the game. I mean, that's just ridiculous, you know, it really is. And um, we're not getting any pressure on the quarterbacks, especially uh, you know, with the high rate of missed tackles that we got, uh, late game collapses, um, ineffective uh new um schemes that Al Golden's coming up with that just aren't you know, there's no communication, people aren't covering right, you know, which was evident by that 50-yard touchdown, um, you know, that Williams threw to Lovelin uh in the Chicago game that broke our backs because it was a missed coverage. You know, how can you can't have missed coverage uh you know when there's 40 seconds left in the game. And um there's absolutely zero linebacker play. None. None at all. You know, I looked at the stats today, Kenny, and you know, we're giving up 31.6 points per game. That's obviously last in the NFL. Um, you're giving up 408 yards per game. Guess where that's at in the NFL? That's last. We're giving up 6.2 yards per play. All right. Well, that only shows you you run two plays, you get a first down. So that's obviously last in the NFL. Um first downs allowed. I mean, we're last in the NFL. Third down stop rate. We can't get off the field, Kenny. Uh, we're 31st, next to last on that. And then rushing yards per carry. We are 30th out of 32 teams in the NFL. So those are not some stats you want to hang your hat on. And um, you know, that right there tells you why you're you're three and six.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I but but the one thing that they have going for them, they have a quarterback who understands I need to throw the ball to my best weapons, and he does it. And he gives the Bengals a chance because one, he's got the experience, and two, you know, he's accurate. He gets them the ball, and and if you throw the ball to the two receivers you got there in Cincinnati, it's not just a reception, it's usually yards after the catch, which is what they do really good, and they're really good at, and I think it's just uh you know, they're playing the Steelers. It's gonna be another one of those tough games, and I don't know what's going on with Aaron Rodgers, but you know, he he's in his forties, but so is Flacco. So it's gonna be one of those games where I think there's probably gonna be a lot of scoring again, and it might come down to who has the ball last. And you know, with the Bengals, hopefully it it's it's them that has it versus Mike Tomlin and the Steelers.

SPEAKER_06:

Yeah, and I I agree. I you know, for the Steelers playing a uh a left coast game uh on a Sunday night and you know have some substantial injuries, um, then having to basically take a whole entire day on Monday to travel across uh to the right coast, um you know that that takes it out of a team. And then you got to turn around and uh you know maybe get your first practice in today of the week. So um, you know, I don't think they're gonna be too fresh uh coming in. Meanwhile, Cincinnati had a buy. So uh hopefully it works out for us.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, but I you know, I sat and watched this week, and I just don't understand the NFL. I mean, the Bills lose terribly to the Dolphins. Uh yeah, Steelers look good one week, they look bad this week. It just seems upside down, and not I'm convinced they want the NFL wants you know, a couple teams that are elite, 90% of them at 500, and a couple really bad teams, which that leads me into the next group of teams, and that's the Cleveland Browns and the New York Jets. And um the if I were to tell you there was a player named up put up this week for rookie of the week in the NFL. Who do you think it would be off the Cleveland Browns?

SPEAKER_06:

Um, that would be probably that linebacker, what's his name?

SPEAKER_02:

Um, it was uh Dylan Gabriel, 17 to 32 with 167 yards.

SPEAKER_06:

I mean, that briefly crossed my mind for a second, and then I thought, no way. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Um, you know, and you know, if if you watched any of the the game, I I felt like I was watching Army versus Navy when it came to the Jets offense back in 20 years ago. They they threw for 42 yards passing. They said, here we're going, we're running the football, but no, we're gonna let you run a touch uh kickoff and a punt return. And I watched both of them several times, and only one player got a hand on the runner, and I'm just sitting there going, I you gotta stay in your lanes. I I I don't know. I mean, it I'm just mind-boggling how much of a disaster special teams was, and you know the thing I just came across before we we hit the record here was a potential trade, is possibly Cleveland. And tell me what you make of this. Cleveland gives up two third-round picks, one in 26, one in 27, and they give up a quarterback, Shador Sanders, for Kyler Murray out of Arizona.

SPEAKER_06:

Well, um, you know, to me, Kenny, I mean, if you have to drastically do something to change something that's drastic, you know what I mean? And um I I just don't think it's gonna be, you know, a band-aid for a band-aid here, or this guy's pretty good. I mean, that's what you guys thought about Deshaun Watson. You know, I mean, it was like, oh, Deshaun, we got Deshaun Watts. We're oh it here we go, you know, and then look where we're at. So I think Kyler Murray is more um uh succumbed to the fact that he's ready to go back to the MLB and try out for Major League Baseball. So I'm not sure about that one.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, that just I just read that one today, and I'm telling you, you could put Kyler Murray on Dylan Gabriel's shoulders, they wouldn't be as tall as Joe Flacco.

SPEAKER_06:

No. That's why you know, a couple weeks ago we were on here, Kenny, and I just simply said, hey, I just think it's something that we have a 6'6 quarterback that's able to see over a line that's all 6'5 and 6'6. You know, I mean, we have uh two ends that are 6'8, uh, or tackles that are two six eight. And I mean, you know, sometimes I wonder, it's like uh Baker Mayfield, you know, I mean, he might be 5'11, you know. And sometimes I wonder, how can you see over a line that's that big? And I it just it befuddles me the whole the whole thing. And I'm right there with you, Kenny. I uh you know, with with uh the NFL and and a lot of stuff that goes on with that, uh believe me. I mean, being a Bengals fan and being a uh a Browns fan, you learn to appreciate the wins when you get them. Um but you were right, Kenny. Special teams just killed you guys with two returns, untimely penalties, uh, mental errors. Uh Tommy Reese, you know, the new OC, I think at times showed promise with Gabriel, especially with the naked boots, and as you know, that waggle out. Um sacks became an issue, though. I mean, there was a couple times I think Gabriel, you know, he had some wide open receivers and he ended up taking a sack. Um, that was concerning. Um Judy, in my opinion, showed up Sunday. Um I don't think they're utilizing the tight end fan enough. Uh that guy's tough to guard out there. I mean, they threw to him, I think he had four four catches, uh, maybe five, but I want to say four uh catches. And you know, to me, that's just not enough using a tight end. Uh, you got to use him more. I know Najoku did have a touchdown, but you know, they only target him like once. Um, but this rookie linebacker, Carson, um, you know, how do you bring his name, Sweshinger? Yeah. Um man, I'm thoroughly impressed with him. I mean, you got a good one there. That was a great draft. Um, and you know, we see how important linebackers are, especially because Cincinnati doesn't have any. I mean, Cincinnati called up two uh linebackers from their practice squad today. You know, just to just to have, and you know, it's sad. So, but you know, I think penalties extended drives. Um, fields was not good at all, like you said. Um, they just said we're not throwing the ball for some reason. And you know, he threw for over 300 yards against Cincinnati the week before, so I'm not, you know, or two weeks before, so I'm not quite sure what happened there. But you know, let me run this by you, Kenny. Here's your schedule. You're home against the Ravens, you're at the Raiders, you're home against the 49ers, you're home against the Titans, you're at the Bears, you're home against the Bills, you're at the Steelers, and you're at Cincinnati. Now, to me, you know, some of your harder games are at home, most of your harder games are at home.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_06:

So, I mean, there's a situation there, you know, you got eight games left that um you could do some damage, you know, in that in that in that run right there.

SPEAKER_02:

I think they could, I think they there's a potential to possibly win three, maybe four. Yeah, just be a spoiler at this point because they're not going to do anything when it comes to playoffs. But I have a friend who lives in Cleveland and he listens to the talk radio up there, and he said it's just it's unbelievable. I I can't even imagine that uh Andrew Berry, Kevin Stafansky, and Dylan Gabriel cannot leave their house. It it would have to be impossible to do that because you the the whole city is just so fed up with them. And you know, and then you sit there and and they announce today that Deshaun Watson's not uh he's he he's not gonna get opened up to to play this season. So I mean there's you know, it's just I I can't imagine having that kind of money to just throw out the window, and that's that's what they do. And it's it's so frustrating to be a Cleveland fan right now. But you know, I wonder, okay, put Shador in. But what if he fails? Bailey Zappi. And and the thing that you think about, they had six quarterbacks going into the season: Pickett, Flacco, Shador, Gabriel, Deshaun Watson, and now Bailey Zappi, I think. And you're telling me when they started the season, they said our quarterback room's gonna consist of Gabriel, Shador, and Bailey Zappi. I mean, you just you're not really giving yourself a chance to win.

SPEAKER_06:

You're not, and when you have the caliber of backups out there, I mean, there's guys on practice squads, Kenny, out there that are, you know, in my opinion, they're pretty daggone good. Yeah. And, you know, just to make a play for you know, something similar to like what Dallas did to the Bengals, you know, hey, all right, we'll throw you a seventh round draft pick just to take your starting linebacker. You know, I mean, there's there's stuff that Cleveland can do. I mean, they got plenty of draft picks and um over the next couple years, you know, that they can't throw out there and get a you know, top line backup quarterback that you know you wouldn't be afraid to throw in there.

SPEAKER_02:

I mean, yeah, so I don't know. It's uh it's Cleveland, and I guess they're expecting a huge uh influx of millionaires and billionaires to move to Cleveland for I believe was it 2029 when they open up the new uh indoor stadium, and I think I saw where one ticket, if you were a seasoned ticket holder now, is gonna be$140,000. And uh the the parking pass alone for eight games is gonna be eighteen hundred dollars. So I mean, who's gonna go to the games?

SPEAKER_06:

I mean, you know, uh it's just Cleveland's a blue-collar town, and uh, you know, to put up with that, you I just don't see it. I don't see it happening, Kenny. It's that's the reason it hasn't happened in Cincinnati. I mean, probably uh tickets are expensive enough in Cincinnati as it is right now. Um, you know, they got their own problems with the county and and and um you know improvements and stuff like that being made to uh this the jungle down there. So um, you know, you it's just like homes anymore, Kenny. I mean you can't tax yourself, you can you can tax yourself right out of a home, yeah. You know, if you if you're in the right spot. And Ohio is not the right spot. I mean, let's face it. I mean, we got Cleveland, we got Cincinnati, and you know, this isn't we're not talking about you know Green Bay and Kansas City and you know here. I mean, it's you know, the we're we're lucky to have what we have.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, exactly. Well, who's your upset and who's your uh your luck for this week?

SPEAKER_06:

I guess my uh upset would be Cincinnati over Pittsburgh, uh, but I'm going uh with the spread, uh that's five and a half. I think five and a half points is um uh you know it's gonna be a lot. It's gonna be cold, you know. Uh it's gonna be a high scoring game. I just don't think you know that there's gonna be a big difference there. It's gonna be a closer game than you think. My lock is gonna be Miami over Washington. Um, I think it's two and a half points uh that Washington's getting. So I'm yeah, I'm taking Miami. They're playing very well right now uh over Washington.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, I got uh up to that, I got the Bears getting three with the Vikes. I'll take the Bears there. And uh my lock, I'm gonna say, is the Cowboys over the Raiders, and they're giving up uh three and a half. So should be uh should be an interesting week of college and NFL football, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_06:

Well, we're starting to get down to the nitty-gritty here in the end, and uh people are starting to jockey for a position for these conference championships, so it's gonna be interesting to see.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, definitely. Well, do you have anything to add before we wrap up this week?

SPEAKER_06:

Um not not uh, you know, it's there's gonna be a lot of buildup coming up to this Michigan game, Kenny. And um, you know, I think four years in a row is enough. I think this uh year has to be the year that we uh knock off Michigan. I think every game they've played has been, you know, pretty much a game. It's um, you know, there's been they've had one or two blowouts in there, but you know, they're lower level teams. So, you know, this has to be that year that we go into Michigan Stadium and um we have to put that L on them and start our streak back.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, no doubt about that. Well, it's uh another great week of uh football here in Ohio for the SOB podcast. I'm Ken Carpenter.

SPEAKER_06:

I'm Chris Usman.

SPEAKER_02:

Thanks for listening to Scarlet, Orange, and Brown.

SPEAKER_06:

SOB.