Wednesday Skull Session

By Vico on September 18, 2013 at 6:00 am
86 Comments

Wednesday's Skull Session will provide you some items of the day to begin your work week. It's Wednesday, which I guess is "hump day". Woop, woop?

Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike...

 NEW DEPTH CHART RELEASED. In case you missed it, Ohio State released an updated depth chart for this week's upcoming game against Florida A&M. At least, it's updated in the sense that it's current for the Florida A&M game. As far as I know, there are no discernible changes.

The immediate thing for which everyone looked was Carlos Hyde, who Urban Meyer said, on Monday, would be reinstated to the team for this week's game against the Rattlers. His presence is not needed, but the reinstatement was deemed appropriate by Meyer, given Hyde's service to the team during the designated three-game (minimum) suspension. However, I thought he would make an appearance in an otherwise crowded backfield. The tailback depth chart is still Hall, Smith, and Ball or Dunn. Hyde will no doubt play. He is just not on the depth chart.

Kenny Guiton, backup quarterback and folk hero, is still the second-string quarterback. His position on the depth chart has not changed from last week, and the performance against California. He was the second-string quarterback last week before Miller was scratched by Saturday's game against California.

The same holds for Adolphus Washington, who is still listed as starting strongside defensive end over Joey Bosa. Washington was another gametime scratch and Bosa, a true freshman, played admirably in his place, again.

The only subtle comment I could discern from the depth chart -- though not a change on the depth chart -- concerns the second-string weakside defensive end spot. Noah Spence is still clearly the guy, but Jamal Marcus and Steve Miller are listed as "OR" on the depth chart. I think the coaching staff must see Marcus and Miller as almost indistinguishable in relief duties for Spence. Both have played well in various stretches.

To answer your question before you ask it: Kenny Guiton is still the starting holder on special teams.

 YOU WANT TO GO TO GOLD PANTS SOCIAL. I should not need to resort to a Jedi Mind Trick to convince you to snatch up one of the few remaining spots for the shindig Friday night before the Eat Too Brutus tailgate next Saturday. I'm not against it, though.

The Gold Pants Social will be on Friday, September 27, at the Woody Hayes Athletic Complex, starting at 7 p.m. The night before the Eat Too Brutus tailgate, and the subsequent demolition of Wisconsin, you can pregame with Ohio State luminaries like John Cooper, Earle Bruce, Mike Tomczak, Michael Wiley, Dan Wilkinson, Bobby Carpenter, Craig Krenzel, Raymont Harris, and many more. Just the stories that Cooper and Bruce alone have should be enough to induce you to want to be part of that.

After talking with Craig Krenzel about molecular genetics (I am assuming that is what you will want to discuss with him), feel free to take in the great food and drinks we will have for those in attendance. We will have plenty of food on hand for you to eat during the course of the event. Suds will be provided by the Land Grant Brewing Company.

All proceeds from the event go to the Gold Pants Club. You may need to hurry, since space is limited and tickets for the event are running out.

Jerry KillJerry Kill is a good dude in a difficult position.

 IN SUPPORT OF JERRY KILL. I think every Ohio State fan has a second Big Ten team for which it roots, or at least wishes well, whether this is admitted or not. This is either because the school in question looks cool, or several friends went to that school, or a family member may have attended the institution in question. That may not mean we don't want to beat the other Big Ten program by a hundred when the two teams meet, just that, all else equal, we wish them well and would like to see them win all their games, even if our bandwagoning may not be wholehearted.

For me, I find myself enthralled with Minnesota. In a league full of great fight songs, the Minnesota Rouser is woefully underrated. The school colors are unique in the broad scheme of things, as is the mascot. Further, Minnesota is well-removed from Ohio State's radar to make the Gophers non-threatening.

Plus, I love Jerry Kill. In a league full of coaches who range from pleasant (e.g. Gary Andersen, Darrell Hazell) to, well, "unpleasant" (e.g. Bo Pelini), Jerry Kill comes off as the most chill dude of the bunch. I have been aware of his rise through the coaching ranks since he was at Southern Illinois and was optimistic he could do well in the Twin Cities.

While I am not 100% invested in his success at Minnesota, I am nevertheless 100% saddened by his recurring medical incidents. For those unaware, Jerry Kill is a kidney cancer survivor for whom the onset of epileptic seizures coincided with the discovery of the cancer. In true Kill fashion, he made sure to have surgery to remove the cancer during a bye week. The night of the surgery, he was on his phone recruiting.

The head coach of Southern Illinois at the time, Kill used his bout with cancer to start a foundation in his name to assist low-income residents in Southern Illinois with affording costly cancer treatments. It was appropriately named the Coach Kill Cancer Fund, to kill cancer. Kill's surname may be fortuitous for his foundation, but it appropriately captures the sentiment.

Kill unfortunately had another epileptic seizure on the sideline near halftime of the game against Western Illinois, for which the Gophers needed a second half rally to beat the Leathernecks.

Unsurprisingly, this led to some calls from the Twitter masses to give Kill the heave-ho. The logic: if Kill has a disability like this, then he can't effectively make Minnesota a dynasty on par with Alabama because that is the expectation from playing EA Sports NCAA Football 14 in Dynasty Mode. Examples follow:

The list goes on.

Then, there is everyone's favorite CBS Sports columnist, Gregg Doyel. His column, summarized: "Minnesota should force Kill to resign so he doesn't 'die', by which I mean, 'Minnesota could find a better coach and avoid this uncomfortable situation altogether'."

And that seems to be a legitimate risk, given that Jerry Kill has suffered four seizures in 22 games. The math is pretty easy: Since being hired by Minnesota before the 2011 season, Kill has suffered a seizure every five or six games -- and the frequency is increasing. He has suffered three seizures in the last 11 games, and was unable to finish two of them.

 

This is a problem, and a heartbreaking problem at that. You think this is me, coldly and unsympathetically wondering if Jerry Kill should resign? Don't think that. This is me feeling terrible for a man who has devoted much of his life to football, and who reached the pinnacle of his profession in 2011 when he made it into the Big Ten as a head coach -- and who is doing a great job. At Minnesota his teams have gone 3-9, then 6-7, and now 3-0 early in 2013.

Anyone who remembers high school government class would know that Minnesota, as a public institution, would be slammed so hard by an army of lawyers for being in breach of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 if it decided to follow Doyel's advice.

Fortunately, Minnesota's athletic director knows better. Norwood Teague supports Kill "100%" as he works with his disability. Further, support is coming from all over national and out-of-state media. ESPN's Ivan Maisel puts it best.

But athletic director Norwood Teague has no issues with Kill coaching. Kill’s doctors have no issue with him coaching. And Kill has decided that being public about his condition may help others who suffer from epilepsy. He has no issue with coaching, either. In other words, there’s nothing to see here.

As for Jerry Kill, I think he best understands his own situation:

"I've done talked about all those other things enough," Kill said. "This game's not about a head football coach. This game is about the players and that's how we'll approach it today."

Translated: "stop asking me about a disability I can't control and let me do my damn job." Keep doing your thing, Jerry Kill.

OHIO STATE FANS TURN CAL PLAYER AGAINST CAL FANS. Finally, since this is an Ohio State blog, I want to take some time to commend the Ohio State fans that invaded and occupied Berkeley last Saturday. Not only did you make your presence felt, you got Cal's players pissed off at their own fan base for allowing you to do that. Here is Cal wide receiver, Bryce Treggs, politely reading the California fan base the riot act.

When you have one of the other team's starting players calling out the fan base with a delicately worded version of "ARE YOU F*CKING KIDDING ME!?", you've done your damn job. Take a bow.

MISCELLANY. The Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota has pledged its support of Jerry Kill... Taylor Martinez is dealing with turf toe and may be scratched from the game against South Dakota State... The NFL says the Tampa Bay Buccaneers can't wear its creamsicle orange "retro" jerseys because of concerns for player safety... How Deadspin got that audio of Bo Pelini going hard on Nebraska's fans... The Astros are getting beat in the Houston TV ratings by out-of-market WNBA games... RB Leipzig debuts the "8-verts" set play to start a soccer match, and scores.

86 Comments

Prognosticating: Indiana

Dry Goods Contest

Ryan Day Gives Mic-Drop Response When Pat McAfee Tells Him Indiana is “The Real Deal”: “So Are We”

Ryan Day
View 86 Comments