It's been 18 hours since Ben Boulware casually admitted to the culture of sexual assault pervading Clemson's locker room and dismissing criticism as coming from guys who "sucked at football" and "changed in a stall while others showered."
From treating it like a joke to putting words in Curtis Samuel's mouth, it's perturbing how closely Boulware and Christian Wilkins followed the Sexual Predator's Field Guide.
Monday, I said I wanted Clemson to win next week's big game. But it switched, thanks to Boulware's idiocy. I hope Bama goes five fingers deep and Boulware cries.
ICYMI:
- Raekwon McMillan surprised nobody, declared for the 2017 NFL Draft.
- J.T. Barrett announced his return.
- Help us put a statue of Woody Hayes in his hometown.
WHAT WILSON BRINGS. Ohio State did not announce the hiring of Kevin Wilson on Wednesday. Unless it plans to add him as a quality control coach before promoting him in April when the NCAA okays a 10th coach, it will have to sort either Ed Warinner (likely) or Greg Studrawa (not as likely) first.
Still, the Skull Session does not respect NCAA bylaws, and they're not going to stop us from looking at what Wilson brings to the game plan.
From cleveland.com:
"It's spread, but it's a spread that includes a physical running attack and a physical style and a soundness, and it's well coached," Wilson told ESPN.com in 2012.
[...]
The Buckeyes had just 33 pass plays of 20 yards or more in 2016. Indiana had 52. In 2015, Ohio State had 38 while Indiana had 60. In 2014, Ohio State had 56 pass plays of 20 yards or more, the most in Meyer's five years with the Buckeyes. It's not a coincidence that they had one of the best offenses in college football that season and won a national championship.
[...]
Indiana averaged 79 plays per game over the past two seasons. Ohio State averaged 72. That's not a huge discrepancy, but it's less about total plays, and more about moving quickly. J.T. Barrett likes playing at a frenetic pace, but tempo was rare for Ohio State over the last two seasons. No-huddle and tempo are two different things.
Explosion and pace: Two more buzz words fans love to know, and two things that couldn't be found in this year's offense.
Wilson and Ryan Day's task will be getting J.T. Barrett back to form. Some commenters acted like Joe Bauserman was coming out of retirement to lead the local attack in 2017.
If not, well, neither of them have loyalty to Barrett, though Wilson did call Barrett "the best quarterback in college football" after the Texan threw for 94 yards against Indiana.
It will be interesting to see if Day and Wilson anoint Barrett early in the process or let it be a competition into spring ball.
I'm still #TeamBarrett, but I'm curious to see what Dwayne Haskins can do. Players raved about him at the end of the year, and he's a different talent than Barrett or Joe Burrow.
Regardless, I expect we'll know by the end of spring camp who "The Man" is — if we even have to wait that long. Urban Meyer learned his lesson from #QBgeddon in 2015.
B1G SUCKS NOW. The Big Ten was hot there for a minute, but then Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State all took Ls.
While this leads to sorry-ass Georgia vloggers using those losses to assuage the pain felt from their team's five losses and continue to live off the accomplishments of Alabama, it does not mean the Big Ten will cease to exist.
From bcsn.tv:
A decade after Ohio State’s desert debacle against Florida heralded the decline of the Big Ten — hello, Slow-hio — this is no such augur.
Meyer and Harbaugh continue to land top-five classes in their sleep, and across the league, the depth of coaching and talent is at its highest level since the mid-1990s.
If Michigan appears bound for a temporary retreat, Ohio State and Penn State should open next year in the top five and Wisconsin in the top 10. All three programs return at least 16 starters.
I expect another dogfight in the Big Ten next year and thankfully, Ohio State's schedule is much more favorable this year. (PENN STATE GETS TO COME TO COLUMBUS WITH OHIO STATE COMING OFF A BYE—TIME TO DIE, NITTS.)
I don't cheer for Big Ten in bowl play because it's not like fans of any other schools buy me a six pack of Loko when the local team gets smoked.
But I do hope the South's tyranny ends next year, and I hope Ohio State is the team to do it.
COME ON DOWN, CHIP. The other offensive shoe waiting to drop is Chip Kelly, the fired NFL coach who became good again when weighed for college jobs.
The chances of Kelly joining seem like a pipe dream, but the chances of it happening aren't 0%.
Wednesday, Kelly said don't rule anything out.
From foxsports.com:
“I evaluate all jobs individually,” he said. “I wouldn’t rule anything out.”
[...]
“I’ve never said I’m only looking at one thing,” Kelly said. “I will never leave my team when there are games left in the season, so I never looked at college because all those jobs are filled while NFL season is still going on.
“I only talked to NFL teams after our bowl game was over when I was at Oregon. It’s pretty simple for me: You can never leave your players during the season. How can you ask players to be all in and then leave when you get a better deal?”
Seems like any jobs in college that would appease Chip are already filled, and I doubt any NFL franchise will call him up should they have a vacancy soon; nor would any pro coach bring him into run an offense.
Kelly is due to make roughly ~one billion dollars (that's hyperbole for people unable to parse humor unless it's spelled out) from the Eagles and the 49ers next year.
A consulting job would allow relaxation while also allowing him to scratch the football itch and rehab his image.
CHANGE YOU WILL BELIEVE IN. We have 40 bowls, which millions of people watch. But there could soon be less—and even some bowls on college campuses.
From ap.org:
There is currently an NCAA-imposed freeze on the creation of new bowls that caps the field at 40 through 2019. Over the next few years the people invested in the bowls — commissioners, athletic directors and bowl executives — will consider ways to improve the bowl system and answer the question: What should bowls be?
Chances are there will be fewer bowls, data-driven limitations on how many bowls a conference can lock in and maybe even postseason games played on campus. But for those who long for the days when there were a dozen or so bowls that rewarded only the very best teams in college football, well, you might as well wish for the return of leather helmets. Neither is coming back.
Everyone seems to agree that while the bowl system is not perfect, it does not need to be razed.
I'm all about playing bowl games on college campuses. Would much rather visit institutions of higher learning than drab slabs of concrete in which most bowls are played.
KICK STARTER FOR THE SHOE. Imaging Ohio State passing the hat around to raise funds for a cutting-edge football stadium.
This scene played out in 1920:
#TheBestMoneyIHaveEverSpent was at the 1920 parade for the stadium drive to raise money for the construction of the current stadium pic.twitter.com/ZptOczgROC
— OSU Archives (@BuckeyeHistory) January 4, 2017
Let's hope they didn't regret their spending when the Great Depression set in less than a decade letter.
THOSE WMDs. Parents shouldn't spy on their kids... Best Buy Geek Squad informant has FBI on defensive in child porn case... Micro-dosing: The drug habit your boss is going to love... Silent Spring–I... Inside an amazing LeBron dish known as "Punch Slap Hammer."
