Game Day Skull Session: Get Dumped Then, Tulsa

By Kevin Harrish on September 18, 2021 at 6:30 am
Brutus is singing in the rain in today's skull session.
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I'm going to be real, this would normally be a game that I truly would not give a damn about.

A 3:30 p.m. game against a winless team from The American that lost its opener to an FCS program? In most scenarios, this is a snoozer of a game where the most intriguing part is which backup quarterback gets in the game first – a mentality that could always allow for Tulsa to surprise some folks and make things interesting, if the Buckeyes weren't careful.

But unfortunately for Tulsa, it drew the short straw of having to face Ohio State following Ryan Day's first regular-season loss after he made it extremely clear he was pissed as hell at the performance and is planning to roll some heads if things don't improve.

Needless to say, due to no fault of its own, Tulsa is about to be stuffed through a meat grinder over and over and over all afternoon. This is a team that's about to be the ultimate sacrificial lamb – and we in Columbus greatly appreciate it.

I sincerely apologize for what my football team is about to do to your football team.

Word of the Day: Ravage.

 TODAY'S MENU. Sing praises: there is plenty to watch today.

Matchup Time (ET) TV/Mobile
NIU at #25 Michigan 12:00pm BTN
UAlbany at Syracuse 12:00pm ACCN
Tennessee Tech at Tennessee 12:00pm ESPN+/SECN+
Western Michigan at Pitt 12:00pm RSN/ESPN3
#15 Virginia Tech at West Virginia 12:00pm FS1
Boston College at Temple 12:00pm ESPNU
Chattanooga at Kentucky 12:00pm ESPN+/SECN+
#8 Cincinnati at Indiana 12:00pm ESPN
#16 Coastal Carolina at Buffalo 12:00pm ESPN2
Michigan State at #24 Miami (FL) 12:00pm ABC
Nebraska at #3 Oklahoma 12:00pm FOX
New Mexico at #7 Texas A&M 12:00pm SECN
UConn at Army 12:00pm CBSSN
Southeast Missouri at Missouri 12:00pm ESPN+/SECN+
Minnesota at Colorado 1:00pm P12N
Nevada at Kansas State 2:05pm ESPN+
Purdue at #12 Notre Dame 2:30pm NBC
Kent State at #5 Iowa 3:30pm BTN
Florida State at Wake Forest 3:30pm ESPN
Georgia Tech at #6 Clemson 3:30pm ABC
Baylor at Kansas 3:30pm ESPN+
#1 Alabama at #11 Florida 3:30pm CBS
Tulsa at #9 Ohio State 3:30pm FS1
SMU at Louisiana Tech 3:30pm CBSSN
LIU at Miami (Ohio) 3:30pm ESPN+
USC at Washington State 3:30pm FOX
Idaho at Oregon State 3:30pm P12N Oregon
Bryant at Akron 3:30pm ESPN3
Elon at Appalachian State 3:30pm ESPN+
Delaware at Rutgers 3:30pm BTN
Eastern Michigan at UMass 3:30pm FloFootball/NESN+
Colorado State at Toledo 4:00pm ESPNU
Sacramento State at California 4:00pm P12N Bay Area
Northwestern at Duke 4:00pm ACCN
Mississippi State at Memphis 4:00pm ESPN2
Georgia Southern at #20 Arkansas 4:00pm SECN
Ball State at Wyoming 4:00pm Stadium
Arkansas State at Washington 4:15pm P12N
Murray State at Bowling Green 5:00pm ESPN3
East Carolina at Marshall 6:00pm Facebook
Fordham at Florida Atlantic 6:00pm ESPN3
Old Dominion at Liberty 6:00pm ESPN3
Middle Tennessee at UTSA 6:00pm ESPN+
Troy at Southern Miss 7:00pm ESPN+
Grambling State at Houston 7:00pm ESPN+
Utah at San Diego State 7:00pm CBSSN
South Carolina at #2 Georgia 7:00pm ESPN
UIW at Texas State 7:00pm ESPN3
Charlotte at Georgia State 7:00pm ESPN+
FIU at Texas Tech 7:00pm ESPN+
Florida A&M at USF 7:00pm ESPN+
Furman at NC State 7:30pm RSN/ESPN3
Utah State at Air Force 7:30pm FS2
Virginia at #21 North Carolina 7:30pm ACCN
Stony Brook at #4 Oregon 7:30pm P12N
UAB at North Texas 7:30pm Stadium
Central Michigan at LSU 7:30pm SECN
#22 Auburn at #10 Penn State 7:30pm ABC
Alcorn State at South Alabama 8:00pm ESPN3
Rice at Texas 8:00pm LHN
Stanford at Vanderbilt 8:00pm ESPNU
Tulane at #17 Ole Miss 8:00pm ESPN2
Jackson State at ULM 8:00pm ESPN3
SC State at New Mexico State 8:00pm FloFootball / CW El Paso
Oklahoma State at Boise State 9:00pm FS1
Northern Arizona at Arizona 10:00pm P12N AZ
#19 Arizona State at #23 BYU 10:15pm ESPN
#14 Iowa State at UNLV 10:30pm CBSSN
Fresno State at #13 UCLA 10:45pm P12N

 RAZZLE-DAZZLE OFFENSE. One key reason why I am sincerely sorry to have to desecrate a Golden Hurricane today: Tulsa's most famous head coach is actually a Buckeye legend, too.

Not only did Francis Schmidt absolutely smash teams during his time at Tulsa (and Ohio State, for that matter), as we talked about yesterday, but his offense was basically just a more organized version of backyard football, which is extremely fun and good.

Schmidt created the “razzle-dazzle offense.” As described by Jerry Brondfield in his book, “Woody Hayes and the 100-Yard War,” Schmidt “stunned the opposition by displaying — in the same game — the single wing, double wing, short punt, and, for the first time ever seen, the I-formation.

“He used reverses, double reverses and spinners, and his Buckeyes of the mid-30’s were the most lateral pass-conscious team anyone had ever witnessed. He threw laterals, and then laterals off of laterals downfield, and it was not unusual for three men to handle the ball behind the line of scrimmage.”

His team became such a prolific scorer that a season opening 60-0 win over New York University in 1936 earned Schmidt the sobriquet “Close the Gates of Mercy.”

...

In 1919 he garnered his first head coaching job. His first Tulsa team went 8-0-1; his second went 10-0-1. Despite a 6-3 mark in 1921, Schmidt retains the highest winning percentage of any coach in Tulsa history.

After his first Tulsa team beat Arkansas, 63-7, the Razorbacks would have no rest until they stole him as their own coach, another tradition that lives on today. From 1922-1928, Schmidt’s teams went 41-21-3 (including a phenomenal 24-3-2 at home). No Razorback coach topped his record until Frank Broyles arrived 30 years later.

Here's hoping at least one of these teams channels their inning Francis Schmidt on offense today. It will make the game a hell of a lot more interesting.

 WINNERS.

  • Ohio State -24.5 against Tulsa. Bounce back, baby!
  • Buffalo +14 against Coastal Carolina. Coastal Carolina is a solid football team, but so is Buffalo. And I think the Chanticleers are getting a little too much hype based on how they played last year, not necessarily this year, especially on the road in a tough game.
  • Minnesota +2.5 against Colorado. Even without Ibrahim, I think Minnesota is the better team here. It may be on the road, but I think the Golden Gophers control the ball and get it done.
  • Kansas St +1.5 against Nevada. I was really impressed with Kansas State against Stanford and I expect to see something similar against Nevada.
  • Florida +14.5 against Alabama. I'm not saying Florida's going to win, but this is Bama's first real test of the season (sorry, Miami) and I think it's closer than two touchdowns.
  • Penn State -5 against Auburn. I simply think that Penn State is the decidedly better team in this game, and I don't think Auburn is ready for that white-out.

 SONG OF THE DAY. "Umbrella" by Rihanna.

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