Veterans Day Skull Session

Specific #shoutout to all the American veterans out there. Feel free to log-in, tell your story, and collect your upvotes accordingly. 

ICYMI:

• The local ball team is No. 3, baby! Clemson, Alabama, and Notre Dame roundup the playoff field as it stands. Undefeated Iowa looms at No. 5! Overall, the Big Ten leads the way with six teams in the Top 25. America's second-best conference, the SEC, was next with four teams.
• Judge fined J.T. Barrett $400, suspended his license for 180 days and ordered him to a three-day alcohol class as punishment for his Halloween O.V.I. citation. 
• Five-star 2016 DE commit Nick Bosa recovering after ACL surgery.
• B1G teleconference recap.
• Hoops preview: Replacing D'Angelo Russell. 

 JOSHUA PERRY EARNING MONEY. "Wow," was my piping hot #take when Joshua Perry defended that Minnesota RB's wheel route in the second quarter on Saturday night.

I am, as are we all, a Perry respecter,  but even I was surprised by the smooth athleticism displayed by Perry. Perhaps I shouldn't have been.

From Dane Brugler of CBSSports.com:

Joshua Perry, WLB, Ohio State, Sr. (6-4, 254, 4.67, #37)
When discussing the top NFL prospects on Ohio State's roster, Perry is rarely among the first names mentioned and that's understandable considering he plays in a defensive front-seven with first round talents like Joey Bosa, Adolphus Washington and Darron Lee. But he deserves more attention for his outstanding senior season and scheme-diverse skill-set that will be in high demand by NFL teams.

On Saturday against Minnesota, Perry showed his impact as a blitzer, run stopper and cover man, finishing with 10 total tackles, 1.0 tackle for loss and a pass break-up. But his best play of the night only shows up as a quarterback hurry. In the second quarter on third-and-six with Minnesota backed up inside their own red zone, Perry executed a perfectly timed A-gap blitz, forcing Gophers quarterback Mitch Leidner to hurry his throw, which was intercepted and returned for a pick-six by Buckeyes safety Vonn Bell to break the scoreless tie.

Earlier in the second quarter, Perry, who has the size of a defensive end but moves like a safety, showed his ability in coverage, taking on a block at the line of scrimmage before peeling off the blocker to pick up a running back on a wheel route. He stayed stride for stride with the Minnesota back and got his head turned around downfield to knock the ball away for the incompletion. Perry is a highly respected individual in the Ohio State program and has the skills to be an every-down linebacker in the NFL.

Watch Perry fall to the fourth round and get picked up by the Patriots.

Perry would embody the "Patriot Way," if, you know, the "Patriot Way" weren't actually garbage patch fit for the Atlantic ocean.

 NEW (TALENTED) FACES LURK. The 2016 NFL Draft is going to decimate the Buckeyes as we've come to know and love them. Yes, this will likely mean a talent drop-off (such is the nature of losing seven NFL players), but it will also mean talented guys stuck behind those NFL players will get their short.

Chris Worley (Darron Lee's backup) from Cleveland Glenville is one such player.

From Cleveland.com:

But here's the thing that keeps Worley, a redshirt sophomore, going: That he, along with many other players on Ohio State's roster, will have their time eventually. Ohio State could be on the verge of major roster turnover after this season -- Lee being included in potential departures -- and the Buckeyes have some talented youth on the bench who could help Urban Meyer's team make that transition. 

"There's really not much of a drop off if I were to go down and Chris Worley were to come in. Really, not any type of drop off," Lee said. "Chris Worley is really good. I have no doubt in my mind that if he were to go into a game he's going to make as many plays." 

That may seem like simply something nice to say about a teammate, but what we've seen from Worley in his limited time -- think Penn State -- there has seemingly been some truth to that. 

We knew the expectations would make the 2015 season "championship or bust." We knew that it wouldn't be as fun as it was in 2014. Next year, however, is an unknown.

Consider me intrigued about the 2016 season. If the cookie crumbles the right way, it could go down as one of Meyer's best coaching jobs during his 300-year tenure.

 THE MEAT OF THE D-LINE. Tyquan Lewis is proving why he had so many fans entering this year, but the heart of the defensive line is found in the combination of Joey Bosa and Adolphus Washington.

It's an ironic landing point considering Bosa once replaced Washington, another highly-touted recruit, at DE. Now, they can both maul inside during Ohio State's use of its Rushmen package.

From ProFootballFocus.com:

Let’s start with Bosa, who with a grade of +54.1 so far this year is once again our highest-graded edge defender after blowing away the competition a year ago. He might only have four sacks this season, but he’s added 17 hits and 29 hurries, showing that he is indeed still putting pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Saturday’s win was his highest-graded game both as a pass rusher and overall since the beginning of the 2014 season. Proving that you can’t measure a pass rusher purely in sacks, he registered three hits and nine hurries on 43 pass-rushing attempts, giving him a pass rushing productivity rating of 21.4 for the game. 

[...]

Washington might not be quite as dominant, but his +34.5 grade in 2015 is the ninth-highest amongst all defensive interior players. He’s been solid against the run, but it’s as a pass rusher where he has been at his most dominant. Oregon’s DeForest Buckner is the only player on the defensive interior with a higher grade in that regard. For the year he has produced three sacks, six hits and 21 hurries, giving the Buckeyes a consistent pass-rushing threat from his defensive tackle spot. Like Bosa, Saturday saw him post his highest overall and pass rushing grade, registering five hurries and finishing the game with five defensive stops. If the Buckeyes are to run the table, look for these two defensive linemen to continue to impress.

Remember, folks: Adolphus Washington almost walked away from it all when Bosa supplanted him. He's a testament in faith in Urban Meyer and perseverance.

 BUT WHAT DO THE MYSTIC RUNES SAY? Nate Silver, the numbers guru behind 538, updated his College Football Playoff projection model. Clemson is up, and most everyone else is down. The Buckeyes, however, held steady.

From FiveThirtyEight.com:

Other interesting rankings: Michigan State (10% to 10%) and Michigan (8% to 6%). 

Hard for me to argue with those numbers.

And yes, I will be talking trash about Notre Dame until the Irish prove me wrong. (As a 28-year-old they have yet to prove me wrong in my adult life.)

 MEYER AND HERMAN "TALK REGULARLY." I suppose it should come as no surprise but it's still great to see Tom Herman and Urban Meyer are just two bros.

From ESPN.com:

Urban Meyer has been able to catch a few Houston games to watch his old offensive coordinator Tom Herman work his first-year magic, and he's "really excited for him." "I've watched them and I speak with Tom regularly," Meyer said. "We miss Tom, he's great and we'll always be very close. ... I knew he would be great."

The inevitable playoff matchup between these two is going to be a certified #banger. The padawan may be the only one capable of meeting Meyer where he's headed.

 HOKE: MY NAME IS MY NAME. Michigan RB De'Veon Smith, while defending his love for former Michigan coach/Ohio State legend Brady Hoke, claimed Hoke once slept on his couch during a recruiting trip.

Hoke denied such doings Tuesday from his posh SiriusXM throne:

Hoke on Sirius just now said he did NOT fall asleep on De'Veon Smith's couch. He joked, "Maybe De'Veon fell asleep. Never happened"

— angelique (@chengelis) November 10, 2015

"Maybe it was the guy who accused me of doing it?" — The retort of a usually guilty man.

 THOSE WMDs. Naked woman painting sold to a Chinese billionaire for $174,400,000... The hunt for a $1 billion apple... God Shammgod crossing over to coaching... The long and adventurous history of the Koh-i-nor diamond... Autumn from a drone's view.