Skull Session: Ohio State Opens as 37-Point Favorites, Terrelle Pryor the Jack-of-All-Trades, and Rutgers Loses Two Stars

By D.J. Byrnes on September 26, 2016 at 4:59 am
Demario McCall dives for the September 26th 2016 Skull Session.
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Bye week observations after a moment of silence for the Warlock (and my Heisman pick). 

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....

Thank you.

  • CFB ain't the same without the Buckeyes.
  • Tom Herman, who founded MENSA, may replace Bill Gates as the world's richest person this winter. He should take USC over LSU. Easier path to the playoffs and a conference not rife with cheating.
  • Michigan's defense is legit.
  • Ohio State's trip to Wisconsin became much more daunting. (But OSU could lose and still make the playoffs.)
  • Penn State should fire Big Game James Franklin so Herman's agent can use their desperation as leverage in negotiations with USC and LSU.
  • This is the first Vols #content that ever made me laugh:

 BET THE RENT? Chris Ash inherited a broken defense when Urban Meyer rescued him from Bert Bielema bondage in 2014. He installed quarters coverage and rugby tackling. Nobody here needs a refresher on what happened next.

Ash, however, is gone, choosing to leave the safety of Meyer's nest to take over Rutgers, a team that should be good in theory but is never in reality. 

Despite his knowledge of Meyer's offensive system, oddsmakers aren't giving the Scarlet Knights much of a chance.

From landgrantholyland.com:

With OSU slotted as 37-point opening favorites, Vegas projects to get a favorable amount of action on both sides of a massive six plus score spread. Even to the most fervent Buckeyes, given how well Ash knows the Buckeyes’ personnel and scheme, you’d almost have to think that 30 would’ve been a more sane starting point.

With such a large spread, you should expect to see plenty of action on Rutgers, which could bring the spread back to earth. Of course if the Bucks come out anywhere near the way they played against the Sooners, maybe 37 won’t be enough either.

That makes sense considering Ohio State's defensive dominance, the home crowd advantage, a week of rest and preparation and Rutgers missing two of its best players (more on that in a bit).

People with more money than me might be willing to bet 37 points on Ash's knowledge of Meyer's system and players he helped recruit. But listen to coaches after getting whooped by a Meyer team. They're never befuddled by what happened. They're despondent because they just got ran over by a train.

The talent gap between Ohio State and Rutgers is greater than 37 points. Maybe it shouldn't be (or won't be in the future) but that's what it will be Saturday.

 PRO BOWL PRYOR, REMEMBER THE NAME. The Browns lost in overtime to the Miami Dolphins yesterday, 30-24. For us Browns fans, it's a death march to 0-16. Everybody knows it yet nobody speaks it.

Terrelle Pryor was a guiding light. Yes, you read that right.

From espn.com:

Pryor started the game at receiver and caught eight passes for 144 yards.

He lined up 14 times in the shotgun at quarterback, ran four times for 21 yards and a touchdown and threw five times, completing three.

He also spent a play in the secondary, playing deep safety in case the Miami Dolphins tried a Hail Mary at the end of the first half.

If that strikes you as a historical performance, you're right:

This is my face as the first person to ever predict Pryor to the 2016 Pro Bowl:

Seriously, though. He was the best player on the field. Only 27(!), he still has that top-end athleticism that made him such a dynamo at Ohio State. He'll be the first to say he was immature back then, but listening to his postgame interviews it's clear he's come a long way since those days.

I also have him taking over full-time QB duties by Week 7, too.

 BAD NEWZ KNIGHTS. Remember last week when the Rutgers athletics director got peer-pressured by students into "sipping" a beer at a university-sponsored tailgate? It turns out that was a sideshow to a banger.

From nj.com (via @rydunleavy):

NEW BRUNSWICK — Pressed by a student to explain why Rutgers University canceled the football tailgate party for students, university President Robert Barchi on Friday said the tailgate had grown too large, was plagued by underage drinking and had become "a disaster waiting to happen." 

The new university sponsored tailgate party dubbed "The Alley" worked well for the first home football game two weeks ago when about 500 students attended, Barchi said.

But when more than 1,500 students showed up last weekend, the party grew out of hand because of underage drinking and "students who were obviously inebriated doing things that were major risks to other students," Barchi said.

University policy and state and federal laws were broken, Barchi added.  

Whatever happened to the America where it was no big deal to violate a few federal laws before the local team took the field?

Remarkably, that's not the worst thing to come off the Scarlet Knight beat this weekend. A star wide receiver and defensive lineman will miss the rest of the year due to injury. 

From nj.com:

PISCATAWAY -- Rutgers stars Janarion Grant and Quanzell Lambert are out for the remainder of a season that just took a dramatic turn for Rutgers.

Both seniors suffered injuries in Saturday's game against Iowa that will prevent their return, multiple sources told NJ Advance Media.

Grant, Rutgers' best playmaker, injured his right ankle at the end of a 76-yard catch-and-run that epitomized his explosiveness as he broke three tackles and darted in and out of traffic.

Not what you want to read heading into the Shoe for a noon Homecoming banger. Their best hope is catching the Buckeyes asleep at the wheel during the early start.

 BRIAN KELLY GETS A CLUE. Notre Dame lost to Duke in football this weekend, which will be an important counterpoint to the next person to tell you 2016 is trash.

Afterward, noted bleeding heart Brian Kelly threw his players under the bus.

From coachingsearch.com:

“They can't burn for a long time. There's no passion. There's no passion for it. It looks like it's hard to play. Like we're pulling teeth,” he said. “You're playing football for Notre Dame. It looks like it's work. Last I checked they were getting a scholarship to play this game. There's no fun, there's no enjoyment, there's no energy. We've got to look for the guys that want to have fun and play this game with passion and energy and that's where we got to go.”

Asked the reason for the lack of energy, Kelly said, “I must be doing a poor job. I've got to do a better job of finding out what those things are that are putting our football team in that position. But we've got to have more of it.”

Hmmm, yes. Perhaps the guy who hand-picked the roster and staff of the Notre Dame team that lost to Duke is doing a poor job.The guy who hand-picked his entire staff and roster must be doing a poor job if that team is losing to Duke.

After a night of looking in the mirror, Kelly fired his defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder. 

Bobby Petrino is the coach self-righteously smug Irish fans deserve.

 CRYING JORDAN STILL UNDEFEATED. The key is to never try, children:

Maybe so, Ashley. Maybe so. Unfortunately, you still have to catch your Crying Jordan:

Can't wait until my shitty grandkids Crying Jordan my tombstone after my watch on this mortal coil mercifully comes to an end.

 THOSE WMDs. Video: West Ham supporters salty... Criminal podcast: Money Tree... Love in 2D... After living in his car, Stevie Tu'ikolovatu has made USC his home... Mr. Autumn Man walking down the street with a cup of coffee, wearing sweater over plaid collared shirt.

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Prognosticating: Indiana

Dry Goods Contest

Across The Field: Indiana Beat Writer Zach Osterman Says This Might Be the Hoosiers’ Most Important Regular Season Game Ever and QB Kurtis Rourke Has Played Well Under Pressure

Kurtis Rourke
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