Skull Session: Johnnie Dixon Comeback Season, a Backup Duel for the Ages, and Jim Harbaugh Refuses to Talk

By D.J. Byrnes on April 17, 2017 at 4:59 am
Johnnie Dixon returns for the April 17 2017 Skull Session.
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Bad news, folks: Buckeye football is out of our lives until early August.

Good news: We're another day closer to Demario McCall's 2017 Heisman Trophy ceremony. 

My MVP vote went to this frosty soldier of fortune whom Kevin deified on the spot:

Spring Game ICYMI:

Word of the Day: Thaumaturgy.

 BOARDING THE DIXON EXPRESS. Looks like the reports were true. Johnnie Dixon looks as healthy as he ever has in a Buckeye uniform. He looked every bit of a blue-chip recruit Saturday.

Ben Victor got most of the hype out of camp. He flashed in the spring game, although he lacked a complete performance.

Dixon took home the Zone-6 accolades.

From Tim May of dispatch.com:

But when healthy he has flashed the ability of a big-time receiver. He went pretty much pain-free through the spring, he said, and capped it with a six-catch, 108-yard, two-touchdown performance for the Scarlet on Saturday in a 38-31 win over the Gray in the spring game.

The secondary forced to play with a hand behind their backs aided the passing fluidity, and spring game MVP is a traditionally fickle award, but it's still great to see Dixon tap some of the potential everyone saw when the Buckeyes lured him out of South Florida.

If he stays healthy, he could definitely be a contributor. And if he's a contributor, things are moving in the right direction for Zach Smith's maligned Zone-Six.

 BACKUP QB TALK. I look forward to the backup QB derby becoming so heated it takes over local news cycles for days at a time like when the Cleveland Browns sign some stiff off the street to compete in camp.

Some folks back Dwayne Haskins while others favor Joe Burrow. A small but militant faction thinks Tate Martell is the play.

None of them hurt their cases Saturday.

From Eric Seger of that Eleven Warriors dot com page:

Both Haskins and Burrow said after the game that their focus remains on improving their own game, not worrying about what the other guy is doing. But it is hard to dodge the fact that their battle is important with how much Ohio State likes to use Barrett to run the football.

“I'd say we're all competing every day with each other and ourselves against the defense,” Burrow said. “That's what I'm focused on, getting better by myself.”

He added that all the quarterbacks are "close friends" and enjoy going out to dinner on weekends with Day. Getting the most out of what he is teaching them is the most important thing.

What sucks about this situation is both looked like they could take over for Barrett and one is going to be forced onto the pine. They're both likable guys; Burrow being the local man and Haskins having a nickname like "Simba."

Maybe Meyer and Wilson can combine brains next offseason and figure out how to utilize a 2-quarterback system like the South Rebels:

 

 HARBAUGH! I love Jim Harbaugh until he proves he can beat Urban Meyer. However, I would not want to cover his team. While he presents himself as an aloof huckster on Twitter, Harbaugh acts like he's protecting the nuclear football codes when it comes to routine college football executive duties like talking to the media during camps.

He didn't even talk with media after the spring game.

Harbaugh only screws his fans who use the spring to reconnect to their programs. 

Urban Meyer answered questions throughout camp and was always forthright. He's also 2-0 against Harbaugh. So it's not like they're reinventing the wheel up there in Ann Arbor.

Oh yeah, and Michigan lost the spring game attendance battle... again:

 SPEAKING OF IDIOTIC SECRECY. Papa John University head coach Bobby Petrino took Harbaugh's antics to another level. He didn't allow anyone to film his team's spring game.

Thankfully some brave WLKY sports anchors worked around the draconian media ban:


Prediction: Neither Louisville or Michigan win the national title this year. Fave this tweet.

 LAY OFF THE HYPE, DILFER. It's hard to talk about sports without getting excited, because hey, the primal aspect the base appeal. This time last year I was convinced Noah Brown would be the lynchpin of Ohio State's revamped passing game.

I've always done that in a comedic air, at least. But sometimes even Real Serious Sports Analysts like Trent Dilfer can get carried away while trying to sound competent talking sports on television, which is no stroll in the park.

Dilfer recently said Alabama signee Tua Tagovailoa is a better passer right now than when Aaron Rodgers was a sophomore at California. It's not the first QB he's hyped, either.

From al.com:

Before [Auburn quarterback Sean] White ever took a college snap, Dilfer compared him to Drew Brees - another MVP who doesn't appear on lists of the worst Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks - and called him "a program changer."

When does it stop? When does Dilfer wake up and realize that he's hurting these young men with these unwarranted comparisons to record-setting professionals? When will he decide to stick to helping them at his camp and refrain from creating outsized expectations for them?

By all accounts, Tagovailoa is a talented young football player with potential who's begun to demonstrate it at spring practice. There's nothing wrong with acknowledging his ability. Alabama wouldn't have signed him if he weren't gifted.

Looks like Dilfer has to fist fight with an Al.com columnist now to avenge his name.

 THOSE WMDs. America's retail transformation... Disney shows off Star Wars Land... Forgotten dogs find a home in Northern Michigan sanctuary... Son of officer slain in 2007 fatally shot Friday night... Tuesdays with Saddam: Guarding America's most high-profile prisoner.

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Prognosticating: Indiana

Dry Goods Contest

Ohio State Blows Out Indiana, 38-15, for Second Top-Five Win of Season

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