Good morning Buckeye faithful and welcome to your Tuesday Skull Session. What a weekend it was, and this is just the start of a sports fan's dream: The college football season is back, the NFL is set to kick off next weekend, and the baseball regular season is heating up as the playoff deadline grows closer and closer.
For those who enjoy watching Ohio State make little Mid American Conference teams say "uncle," I'm sure you're salivating over the upcoming game against the Toledo Rockets on Saturday. For me, personally, I'm enjoying the last moments of watching my Cleveland Indians shoot themselves in the foot at every opportunity, and also sleeping easy at night realizing mother nature crapped all over Brady Hoke's debut. Oh, and that whole 42-0 shutout by the Buckeyes isn't hurting too much, either.
Anyway, let's get started with a busy Tuesday:
THE CAPTAIN CAROUSEL. With Luke Fickell's commitment to having no permanent captains this season (so far), the players named to the post for week two have been announced and they are Joe Bauserman, Andrew Sweat, and Nate Ebner.
Bauserman certainly deserves the captain spot for this week, not just because he enrolled in 1978, but also because of an unexpectedly phenomenal performance against Akron last Saturday. Sweat also had a great afternoon against Akron, tallying the team's lone interception. Former walk-on and defensive back Nate Ebner, who had one of Ohio State's five sacks, is a surprising choice to serve as weekly captain.
While I'm still not a fan of the idea of rotating captains, I certainly do like this idea of rewarding players a captain's spot for great play on the field. This week's group of captains certainly earned it and it should be interesting to see how Fickell proceeds moving forward.
TRESSEL FEELS PRYOR'S PAIN. According to an AP report, Jim Tressel will be suspended for the first six regular-season games of his new position as an instant replay consultant for the Indianapolis Colts. The report states that the idea of suspending the former Ohio State coach came from Tressel, himself, who never seems to shy away from the blame in order to palliate a situation.
Tressel made the right decision in this case. While I have very few positive feelings towards Terrelle Pryor, I thought his NFL suspension for five games was unjust. Why should the NFL punish Pryor for something that happened under the jurisdiction of the NCAA? Even if NFL commissioner Roger Goodell wasn't going to suspend Tressel on his own, I'm glad the Colts managed to fight through the hypocrisy and suspend him. If Pryor is going to serve a suspension, then all other guilty parties who escaped NCAA punishment unscathed must bare the same punishment. Tressel, as much as I thought he got a bad wrap amid his final days at OSU, must be held to the same standards as Pryor.
Now the real question that emerges is will Tressel be rocking the sweater vest during his new gig?
OHIO STATE AND TEXAS: THE SAME BUT DIFFERENT. The Plain Dealer's Doug Lesmerises published an article yesterday addressing the sad state of the Big 12. Lesmerises points out that the reason the Big 12 is in such disarray is Texas' greed via their Longhorn Network TV deal. Since the Big 12 doesn't have equal revenue sharing, like the Big 10 conference does, the smallfolk of the Big 12 are now starting to revolt, and this has left the conference in a troubled state that could ultimately be the end of it.
Like Texas, Ohio State is the king of its conference. However, as Lesmerises points out, OSU's commitment to equal revenue sharing in the Big Ten benefits the conference. Sharing is caring, after all. Instead of teams running away, as we've seen with the Big 12's loss of Texas A&M, the Big Ten is adding new members like Nebraska.
NOT THE ONLY QUARTERBACK CONTROVERSY ON THE BLOCK. Possibly one of the most anticipated match ups for a Big Ten team will be this weekend as #2 Alabama comes up to Penn State for a rematch of last year's game down at Alabama. Much like Ohio State, both teams still have a decision to make at the quarterback position. Unlike Ohio State, both Alabama's quarterbacks and Penn State's quarterbacks played poorly against Kent State and Indiana State, respectively.
It's worth looking out for whether the teams resolve their quarterback issues before the game. Make no mistake about Penn State being unranked, they're still a competitive team, so this match up could be more difficult for both teams than they already think if they don't have clear plans at quarterback.
Despite AJ McCarron's two interceptions against a weak Kent State team, I expect to see him emerge as the starter for Alabama this week. He displayed that he can move the football, and that he was much more comfortable than his competition Phillip Sims. However, with Penn State nearing ever closer, there still appears to be no clear starter for Nick Saban's Tide.
Penn State's quarterbacks faced off against Indiana State, and while they didn't make many mistakes, they didn't make much noise either. Matt "Excessive Moxie" McGloin and Rob Bolden were a combined 12-20, with 114 yards, and 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. Boring numbers, I know, which have to make Penn State fans nervous about what to expect from their offense come this Saturday. I will be looking for Matt McGloin to get the starting nod, but this battle seems to have no clear answer as well.
LOS LINKS. Terrelle Pryor appeals his five-game suspension only to find out Tressel will be suspended as well... It's never too early to be thinking about Michigan... Evan Spencer's catch never gets old for me... ESPN in a perfect Twitter world... Luke Fickell's wrestler approach to coaching... Joe Bauserman's and Russell Wilson's former baseball careers.
