Two days before the start of the start of college football season, this Wednesday Skull Session will bring you some items of the day to discuss. More important than that, we are two days from the start of college football season.
Before we get into it, it is worth reminding Ohio State fans of the important developments yesterday. Ohio State football named its captains, and released its first depth chart of the season. Also, Urban Meyer is on Twitter now. Make sure to read these news items and what it means to the season to start on Saturday.
MICHIGAN STATE HAS A STARTING QUARTERBACK. Mark Dantonio announced yesterday that Andrew Maxwell had won a 4-way quarterback race to secure a second year as starting quarterback for the Spartans.
Maybe your look is as quizzical as mine. Was he not already the de facto starting quarterback? When I talked about teams in the Big Ten without starting quarterbacks, I omitted Michigan State. I just assumed Maxwell was the guy. I was right, eventually.
Dantonio's endorsement is about as enthusiastic as a guy with Dantonio's endorsement can make it.
"I told him, here's the keys," Dantonio said. "Bring them back home. It's important we all go forward together."
Maxwell, a senior, is returning to the starting quarterback position after an underwhelming first season replacing Kirk Cousins in 2012. Maxwell was not terrible, just underwhelming. Sacked 21 times last year, Maxwell was 234/446 for 2,606 yards, 13 touchdowns to nine interceptions. Unless Michigan State had Jeff Smoker waiting in the wings, I just assumed he would get a second year to try to do better.
His primary competition was Connor Cook, a sophomore that Dantonio said would definitely see the field on Friday when the Spartans begin their season against Western Michigan.
Tyler O'Connor, a redshirt freshman, is "also in the mix" at quarterback, though may not play on Friday. Damion Terry is a true freshman who forced his way into consideration for the job, but could ultimately redshirt.
OHIO STATE FOOTBALL HAS A NEW YOUTUBE CHANNEL. Ohio State football's recruiting coordinator and friendly face on Twitter, Mark Pantoni, announced that Ohio State football has a new YouTube channel for you to view and enjoy.
Ohio State football now has a Youtube channel! Check out all the great highlight videos produced by @davidtrichel -http://t.co/Lv9s91SZ0W
— Mark Pantoni (@markpantoni) August 27, 2013
The channel is new, so the quantity of content for Ohio State fans is not there. The quality is. Remember Ohio State football's "job fair" from a few months ago? This channel has a video of it.
That video is also great if you want to see what Dee Miller and Mike Doss look like 10-15 years after they hung up their cleats for Ohio State, and feel old.
Our older fans may remember the name Jeff Logan, who is featured in that video. He was the running back after Archie Griffin. Jeff Logan used to look like this.
I've said this before elsewhere, but one of the understated great things that Urban Meyer has done since arriving in Columbus is open up the program for fans. I just assumed that Fickell, or whoever we would hire to replace Fickell, would rescind fan access to Ohio State football as a consequence of the scandal that brought down the Tressel regime and haunted Ohio State fans for the 2011 calendar year. I would have hated it, but I would have understood it. We would be suffering a cost because of a few bad apples that otherwise impose externalities on all of us, regardless of our intentions.
Meyer and Pantoni have done just the opposite. Whether it's recruiting mailers, or these videos, Ohio State fans and students alike are even closer to the program than they were previously. Now, we have another YouTube channel toward that end.
UNI WATCHIN'. I obsess about college football imagery and art. These include uniforms. It is why, if I were a billionaire booster for the program, I'd throw whatever sum of money was necessary at Ohio State in order to make those red end zones in Ohio Stadium go away forever. I'd like either the old diamond patterned end zones from yore, or a gray end zone derivative of Ohio State's Rose Bowl trips through the 1960s and 1970s. Those looked nice. Really, most things, within reason, would look better than the candy apple red end zones we have now.
It is why I would also throw a large pile of money at Ohio State in order to have veto rights over any uniform alterations. Also, our home jersey needs gray on the sleeve stripe, for which I would also write a large check paid to the order of Gene Smith, for $Ohio dollars and 50 cents.
On the note of uniforms, Uni Watch published a college football preview detailing all the uniform tweaks in college football, down to the gloves, on the eve of the college football season. Assorted comments follow in list form.
- I do not hate black pants on Louisville. I think those would work nicely with a white helmet.
- Connecticut's new helmet is something for which I would need a lot of money to wear. A lot of money from a Connecticut booster.
- ACC teams have a new jersey patch, and it's not #goacc. So, what's the point?
- Most teams should shy from the team name on the front of the jersey. NC State is no different.
- UNC has the potential to be one of the most aesthetically pleasing and unique college football teams in the country and is falling short of that in every way possible.
- Illinois has always struggled to have a nice, unique helmet. Previous helmets were either "Bengals Illini" (from the Bengals helmets when they entered the NFL), or the "Giants Illini" (which they had previously). There's not much Illinois can do, but a simple "Block I" is a step in the right direction.
- Leave Nebraska alone, Adidas. Stop it.
- I don't hate Iowa State's retro unis. In fact, they look quite nice.
- Middle Tennessee State's helmet looks sharp.
- I hate helmet stripes that taper in the back, but, otherwise, a similar comment can be afforded to Southern Mississippi.
- Oregon is doing Oregon things because Oregon.
- I love Tennessee's creamsicle orange and white combination at home, but it struggles to look good in anything else. I thought the 1990s move toward all white with orange numbers and subtle black trim was the best Tennessee could do when not at home. Those new gray uniforms are just gross.
Of note, Buffalo, Ohio State's Week 1 opponent, is given the dubious distinction of winning Uni Watch's "Worst New Uni of the Year" award. It is hard to argue otherwise.
MISCELLANY. Elijah Hood, one-time Notre Dame commit, is now committed to North Carolina... I'm not talking any more about Johnny Manziel. SPOILER ALERT: nothing is going to happen... This forthcoming Rolling Stone story on Aaron Hernandez should be interesting... Holy cow, Legia Warsaw fans... Real mature, Virginia Tech. Come on now... Titus Young's story is not getting any better over time... Nick Saban has no soul, but you already knew this... Meanwhile, Dabo Swinney is billed as the "anti" Nick Saban or Urban Meyer... Florida Atlantic and Miami will honor Howard Schnellenberger... USC's AD says the Trojans will have a starting quarterback after the first or second game of the season, because, sure, why not... The Onion just napalms CNN.
