Skull Session: Nebraska Remembers Last Year, Jameson Williams Gets National Recognition, and Odds Favor Urban Meyer's Return to Coaching

By Kevin Harrish on September 24, 2019 at 4:59 am
Jeff Okudah is throwing it up in today's skull session.
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Drue Chrisman has already mastered his sport, now he's coming for yours.

ICYMI

Word of the Day: Scrupulous.

 CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR. It looks like we've found some common ground with the Huskers ahead of Saturday's matchup – they weren't happy with the final score of last year's game, either!

Don't worry, Cam – I'm feeling pretty confident you won't lose by five this time around.

 B1G TIME PLAYERS. When you win a football game 76-5, there's a strong chance you'll have more than a couple players on the weekly All-Conference team.

This week's PFF All-Conference squad features some of the usual suspects with a newcomer cracking the list for the first time.

From Pro Football Focus:

QUARTERBACK

Justin Fields, Ohio State

This appearance marks Fields’ third week on the Eckrich B1G Team of the Week — and for good reason. The OSU quarterback wasn’t afraid to throw the deep ball Saturday, as he earned the top spot in the Big Ten with a 14.8 average depth of target. As a result, the Heisman hopeful continued his 2019 campaign with an 85.0 offensive grade across 43 snaps while picking up a W in the process.

...

WIDE RECEIVER

Jameson Williams, Ohio State

Williams earned the highest receiving grade among all Big Ten pass-catchers this week, and he did so on just two targets. Don’t let the small sample size fool you — the Ohio State receiver accumulated two receptions, 74 yards and a score. Williams merited a perfect passer rating (158.3) when targeted on Saturday in the Buckeyes’ win over Miami Ohio.

...

EDGE DEFENDER

Chase Young, Ohio State

Winning 40% of his pass-rush attempts, Young had an elite day rushing the passer against Miami (OH). He had two strip-sacks, one coming from the right and another from the left as he finished the game with four pressures, two sacks and two hurries on just 16 pass-rush attempts before his day was over.

...

DEFENSIVE INTERIOR

Davon Hamilton, Ohio State

Ohio State blew out Miami (OH), and Davon Hamilton played an extensive role on defense in that one-sided affair. Hamilton was lock-down in the run game, as he earned a top-three run-defense grade at his position while executing two defensive stops.

...

SAFETY

Jordan Fuller, Ohio State

Fuller let no player get behind him on Saturday, as his 74.4 coverage grade played a pivotal role in Miami’s offense being held to zero touchdowns. Fuller recorded 22 coverage snaps and surrendered a mere four yards on one reception. Of course, he also managed not to miss a tackle throughout the entirety of the game.

Williams' appearance on this list as maybe Ohio State's seventh-best receiver is absolutely hilarious. I mean, he's not even listed on the depth chart and he's out here earning the highest grade among receivers in the entire conference and doing this:

And since we're talking about true freshman receivers...

A future receiving corps led by Chris Olave, featuring those two and the Four Horsemen of Julian Fleming, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Gee Scott Jr. and Mookie Cooper coming in, I think Ohio State's passing offense is going to be set for a few years.

 NEVER TELL ME THE ODDS. I've long been of the belief that Urban Meyer really is done coaching in the immediate future due to his health and the fact that he seems to be genuinely enjoying retired life this time around.

But then I saw these odds...

To translate for those of you who don't dabble in gambling, that means you'd have to place a bet of $1,000 to win $100 that Meyer would be a college head coach in week 1 of 2020.

Essentially, they're saying there's a 90 percent chance Meyer is coaching a college team at the start of next season. At that probability, those don't read like "this is what the market is saying" odds, they read like "we know something that you do not" odds.

This means a little bit more than conjecture from a talking head. Sportsbooks are in the interest of making money, and therefore have a financial incentive to get these odds correct.

I mean, this turned out to be pretty spot on, weeks ahead of the suspension announcement:

Regardless of how this turns out, at this point, the only stake I really have in this is that I could lose my favorite television analyst.

I don't give a damn if Meyer coaches anywhere else. He took over a broken program, went undefeated in his first season, won a national title, beat Michigan seven times in seven tries, and then handed the keys to the program to a young star with perhaps the most talented roster in program history, things are already running  great (better?) without him.

Meyer can go coach USC or Notre Dame or wherever his heart desires. I wish him nothing but good fortune and good health (until my team plays his team, in which case I want Ryan Day to flay them and roll them in salt).

 BACK TO SCHOOL. Ohio State's gonna see some familiar faces roaming the oval this semester.

Of course I'm stoked to see Mr. Buckets himself completing his degree, but seeing Carlos Snow finishing his degree puts a huge smile on my face. Some of y'all might remember a few months ago I shared a piece from Rob Oller of the Columbus Dispatch about Snow's fight to overcome homelessness.

If you missed it before (Lord knows I can't expect y'all to read my poorly typed online words every day), here it is again, from the Columbus Dispatch:

An OVI conviction in 2017 meant Snow spent more than a week in Hamilton County jail. It was then he decided “no more,” but pride kept him from seeking help. Instead, he suffered in silence, even when losing his job for a printing company last winter because he no longer was physically able to do the work.

He also lost his living quarters when child support (he was divorced in 2006), medical and college bills — he said he owes nearly $7,000 to the University of Cincinnati, where he attempted to finish his degree before money ran out — wiped out his bank account and sent him to the streets.

Along the way, Snow said he twice attempted to end his life. The thought of leaving his three sons fatherless kept him from self-destructing.

The whole piece is certainly worth the read, but it sounds like Snow is back on the right track and will soon be a college graduate.

 DREAMS COME TRUE. The last few minutes of a 76-5 game in the rain might mean less to you than the average spring game, but for the walk-ons lucky enough to get on the field, it may as well be the damn Super Bowl.

These guys pay their own way for hours of hard work, physical abuse on their bodies, early mornings, and very few breaks throughout the season without even a remote expectation of ever seeing the field on Saturdays. I'm stoked some of them got a chance this weekend.

Maybe they don't have the raw talent or athleticism of the scholarship players, but I don't think effort is ever going to be a problem.

 NOT STICKING TO SPORTS. Florida man appears happy to get his fifth DUI... Inside the world who prison consultants who prepare white collar criminals for prison... A couple abandons an adopted 9-year-old Ukrainian girl, claiming she’s actually a 22-year-old sociopath... Turns out, cats really do bond with their humans... My secret life as a mysterious multimillionaire’s personal assistant...

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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
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