Skull Session: C.J. Stroud Should Be Praised For His Efforts in 2022, Marvin Harrison Jr. is the Best WR in America and Maurice Clarett's Redemption Deserves Attention

By Chase Brown on December 1, 2022 at 5:00 am
C.J. Stroud
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Well, Duke did not, in fact, get dumped on Wednesday.

But you know who did? The No. 18-ranked University of Louisville women's basketball team. You know who dumped them? The No. 4-ranked Ohio State University women's basketball team, 96-77, in blowout fashion.

The Buckeyes are on fire.

Let's have a good Thursday, shall we?

 MY SOAP BOX. There was a narrative building on Tuesday and Wednesday – here in the comments sections and forums of 11W, or on the many other message boards across the Ohio State beat – that the Buckeyes to win All-Big Ten awards do not deserve recognition from the conference because of the team's loss to Michigan on Saturday.

This narrative really frustrates me, and I need to address it today.

I understand many people are still upset that Ohio State lost to Michigan. Heck, I am too. However, that should not discredit the hard work every player put into their performances during an 11-win regular season for the program. Nor should it lead to those players being bashed and insulted for their efforts on the field.

The narrative is incredibly disheartening for a player with the talent and passion of C.J. Stroud, who said he sacrificed his personal life and left “no stone unturned” to prepare for this season and The Game.

Despite falling short of the numbers he posted as a first-year starter for Ohio State, Stroud still finished the regular season completing 66.2% of his passes for 3,340 yards, which is the third-most in a single season for a Buckeye quarterback behind Stroud's 4,435 yards in 2021 and Haskins' 4,831 in 2018. He also tied Houston's Clayton Tune for the most touchdown passes in the NCAA this season with 37.

When all is said and done, Stroud will rank second in program history in completion percentage, yards and touchdowns behind J.T. Barrett, who started in 44 games for the Buckeyes compared to Stroud's current number of 24. In those 24 contests, Stroud completed 69.5% of his passes for 7,775 yards and 81 touchdowns.

So does it stink that Stroud didn't beat Michigan the last two years? You bet it does. And does it hurt that Stroud didn't win a Big Ten championship in that same time? You bet it does. He can receive criticism for those truths, but I don't think that justifies him being ridiculed and, quite frankly, bullied by those who claim to be Ohio State fans.

I know those who have spoken disingenuously about Stroud do not represent Buckeye Nation writ large, so don't feel like this message is addressed to everyone. However, for those that have made those kinds of comments about Stroud's efforts this season, I encourage you to reconsider those thoughts.

Stroud played exceptionally well this season, was acknowledged with the Big Ten awards and was named a finalist for several national honors. He left it all out of the field after 24 starts, which included some of the most impressive performances in the program's history, regardless of position. This deserves praise, not ridicule, and I hope to see more of the former for Stroud in the future.

Thanks for coming to my TedTalk. If you have complaints, please send them to chase.brown@elevenwarriors.com.

 SUPER MARV. I just wrote a lot of words in the first section, so I will keep things short in this one. Think of it as a timeout where we all sit on the bench and sip some water before returning to the action.

Start the 30 seconds for the timeout... Now.

On Wednesday, Marvin Harrison Jr. became the first Ohio State player ever to win the Big Ten's Richter-Howard Receiver of the Year Award, which was first presented in 2011.

Deserved.

20 seconds...

Harrison is the best wide receiver in America, and he proved that this season. The Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation could hand him the Biletnikoff Award today if they wanted to. We don't have to wait until Dec. 8 to find out what we already know, but I guess that's what we'll have to do.

10 seconds...

And good news! Ohio State gets the best wide receiver in America for another year! How fun is that?

*buzzer sounds*

Back to the action.

 CLARETT’S REDEMPTION. Maurice Clarett's story was profiled on ESPN's College GameDay before Saturday's matchup between Ohio State and Michigan. With The Game ending with the Wolverines on top, the idea of putting the six-minute-long feature into the Skull Session hit the backburner.

But here we are – a few days after the fact, I'll admit – and there's finally some room to talk about Clarett's journey from Ohio State freshman phenom to convicted felon.

Thankfully, that's not where his story ended. Instead, Clarett found redemption through self-reflection, cultivating a desire to help those in need. For the past few years, he has sought to motivate, guide and inspire others to overcome their adversities and push forward to a better future.

College GameDay's feature shows us how he's done that:

 UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN. Former Ohio State wide receivers coach and offensive coordinator Chuck Stobart passed away on Tuesday. He was 88.

Stobart, who spent six seasons as a Buckeye from 1995-2000 and instructed some of the most decorated receivers in Ohio State history, including Terry Glenn, David Boston, Dee Miller and Ken-Yon Rambo, among others, spent 35 years coaching football at the collegiate level, most notably for Toledo from 1977-1981.

The Rockets honored Stobart with a Twitter post on Tuesday evening:

Stobart, a native of Bradbury, Ohio, played quarterback at Ohio University from 1955-59. After his playing career ended, Stobart started coaching at the high school level and entered the collegiate coaching ranks as an offensive coordinator for Marshall in 1965. He then moved to Cincinnati for a year before coaching under Bo Schembechler at Miami (OH) and Michigan until landing his first head coaching job at Toledo in 1977.

For the next four years of his career, Stobart transformed the Toledo program from Mid-American Conference bottom dwellers to league champions. In 1979, he won MAC Coach of the Year, and in 1981 his team went 9-3 and won the MAC title. Stobart would move on to coach at Utah for three years from 1982-84 and followed that up with various coaching roles with Pitt, Arizona, USC and Memphis before ending up at Ohio State in 1995.

In Stobart's first year with the Buckeyes, Glenn won All-America honors and the Biletnikoff Award as the best receiver in college football by recording 1,411 yards and 17 touchdowns.

Over the next five seasons, Stobart instructed Dimitrious Stanley as he collected 43 receptions for 829 yards and eight touchdowns in 1996, Boston as he racked up 85 catches for 1,435 yards and 13 touchdowns in 1998 and the tandem of Rambo and Reggie Germany as they recorded a combined 84 receptions for 1,489 yards and seven touchdowns.

When Ohio State moved on from John Cooper following the 2000 season, Stobart did not continue coaching on Jim Tressel's staff. Instead, he retired from football altogether.

Rest in peace, Chuck.

 SONG OF THE DAY. “Time” by Pink Floyd.

 CUT TO THE CHASE. The baguette gets UN world heritage status... Hawaii volcano eruption has some on alert... Rolling Stones to release star-stuffed 2012 live recording... FIFA names first all-women officiating crew for a men's World Cup match.

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