Happy Tuesday everybody, and welcome to your morning Skull Session. It is almost officially fall, but truthfully I think we all know this autumnal equinox thing is a load of BS to sell magazines, as concocted by a group of 8 farmers in Indiana who write the Farmer's Almanac every year. Football = Fall. The end. I don't need the relative angle of the earth to the sun to tell me when or when not to stuff my face with hot dogs and watch a sport that is far too emotionally draining for hours on end; I've got TV to do that for me. Anyway, several interesting tidbits to get to today, including a creepy graphic not made by yours truly, a mascot with an even longer history of emotional instability than Rufus Bobcat, and a nice little profile on a guy who deserves some love. But first, as always:
D-d-d-depth Chart! During the Ohio game, there were a rash of injuries at the cornerback spot, but I am pleased to announce that Devon Torrence is just fine and is listed as the starter in the depth chart for the week of September 20th. This is not entirely unexpected, as he seemed fairly chipper after the game and is overall a pretty tough dude to begin with. His backup, Travis Howard, was also injured, although in his case it seemed to be much more serious and potentially season-threatening. So, in this edition of the depth chart, Travis Howard has been replaced with... wait for it... Travis Howard. Wait, what?
Apparently Travis' injury is not that serious (at least, not serious enough to warrant him being taken off the depth chart), which is a huge sigh of relief for people anxious about our depth in the secondary. Other than that, the depth chart remains more or less the same from last week, and hey, if it ain't broke...
This Is Maybe A Little Creepy As most of you know, Mark Dantonio suffered a heart attack after Michigan State's win over Notre Dame. It was apparently mild and the coach is in good condition, but it is a hell of a scary occurrence, especially for a guy who by all outward appearances does not seem to be quite as heart-attack prone as, say, a Mangino or a Weis would be (unless a perpetual case of the frownies contributes to your risk factor). What is also kind of scary is this infographic put together by the Detroit Free Press, detailing in step by step fashion exactly what happened to Dantonio that night, including what the winning play was. My questions: People keep acting like the fake field goal at the end up the game helped cause his heart attack, but does anyone even mention the result of the game if MSU wins in a blowout? Do different trick plays cause different medical problems? Like, if Dantonio had called for a hook and lateral, would he be in the hospital for type 2 diabetes? Do flea flickers cause appendicitis? C'mon science, get on this.
Sometimes Quiet Guys Need Love Too For being as good as he is, Ross Homan may be one of the most overlooked defensive players in the Big Ten, probably at least in part because the man is less talkative than an Ent that has turned treeish in Fangorn forest (I was reading the Two Towers today; sorry to crush the fantasies of all our female readers, but it turns out that I'm a tremendous nerd). In any case, despite his quiet disposition, Homan is one of the the ball-hawkiest defenders on a ball-hawking defense that is already +10 in turnover margin for the year. Keep up the good work, young man.
Rufus, You Are Small Time Oh, you say you had this all planned out? You say you'd do it all over again? That's cute, but you've still got a long, long way to go if you want to challenge the mastah (NSFWish).
