Skull Session: Jaxon Smith-Njigba's the Nation's Best Slot Receiver, A.J. Hawk Knocked Out Kirk Herbstreit, and Ohio State Soccer Dumps Michigan

Today I greet you with news I find hard to believe yet feel obligated to share:

James Franklin says he expects Sean Clifford to be "100 percent this weekend.
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) October 26, 2021

He's got about as much of a shot at being fully healthy by kickoff as the average student has at being sober.

Word of the Day: Despondent.

FRIENDLY WAGER. Ohio State's defensive tackles have been doing most of the heavy lifting in terms of sacks this season, and it turns out the defensive ends are keenly aware, and they sure aren't going to let that happen without a fight.

As Jack Emerson of The Lantern reports, the Buckeye defensive linemen have themselves a friendly sack wager going this season between the tackles and the ends.

Since the start of the season, No. 5 Ohio State’s defensive tackles and ends have been engaged in a competition to see which unit can corral the most sacks by season’s end.

Thus far, the defensive tackles lead the friendly wager, racking up 14 sacks compared to the defensive ends’ nine. Despite the contest heating up, senior defensive end Tyreke Smith said the two units work together in their pursuit of the quarterback.

“It’s never like you’re looking at it like, ‘Ah dang, he got a sack and I didn’t.’ A lot of the time, we’re all working together,” Smith said. “When someone gets a sack or someone gets a tackle, we’re all happy. We all feel like we got the tackle.”

It speaks to the confidence among the defensive tackles that they would even enter this wager, much less be leading midway through the season, when historically they shouldn't even have a chance in this wager.

But hey, there are very few occasions in sports in which I'm okay with a tie, but this is one of them. I hope they each finish the season with 50 sacks. Then I will be a happy blogger.

JSN SZN. Before the season started, Garrett Wilson called Jaxon Smith-Njigba "probably the best receiver I've ever seen," which seemed rather hyperbolic considering that JSN was widely considered the third-best receiver on the roster.

Turns out, Wilson might have been on to something.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba: 18 catches of 15+ yards from the slot

Leads all Power 5 players pic.twitter.com/EQYCmoDkkM
— PFF College (@PFF_College) October 26, 2021

He also happens to be – as Wilson predicted before the season started – the highest-rated receiver on the roster, according to Pro Football Focus.

So I guess now when Chris Olave tells me that the receivers room is full of players just as good as the three starters who can "do the same thing," I'll have to consider that those words might be more than just a talking point.

OOPS! As extremely online as I am, it takes a lot for me to hear a story that leaves me genuinely open-mouthed in surprise and awe, but I have to say, this A.J. Hawk story from Pat McAfee did it.

Joining us now a man who possibly invented time @OfficialAJHawk #PatMcAfeeShowLIVE pic.twitter.com/BzB8RdVz3d
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) October 26, 2021

“He actually knocked Kirk Herbstreit unconscious in an alumni football game as a sophomore in high school that retired Kirk Herbstreit’s football career forever. They didn’t know if Kirk was going to be able to speak on the desk at College GameDay days after.”

Absolutely incredible and borderline unbelievable – if it wasn't A.J. Hawk.

I'm now going to need someone to ask Herby about it, preferably in front of a live camera. Please and thank you.

GET DUMPED THEN, TEAM UP NORTH. Ohio State's dominance over Michigan extended to another sport yesterday as the Buckeyes used some late heroics to down the Wolverines in the soccer iteration of the rivalry – The Match, if you will.

Laurence Wootton with the game-winner in the 89th. pic.twitter.com/hYPsMfBHIp
— Ohio State Mens Soccer (@OhioStateMSOC) October 27, 2021

Campus, make sure Laurence Wootton drinks for free this weekend (Or maybe not, because that might still be an NCAA violation – who the hell knows anymore?)

SONG OF THE DAY. "Falling" by Harry Styles.