Skull Session: Ohio State Fans Feel Confident in Ryan Day Before 2023, Buckeyes Can Win a Title in Three Simple Steps and Javon Bullard Has “Moved On” From Marvin Harrison Jr. Hit

Welcome to the Skull Session. The last time I wrote one of these, the Pac-12 was still (kind of) the Pac-12. Now it's the Pac-4. A lot can change in 72 hours.

It's official.

Oregon and Washington will be Big Ten schools in 2024.https://t.co/P4yywI9224 pic.twitter.com/mkBRQikjyj

— Eleven Warriors (@11W) August 4, 2023

Garrick Hodge looked at the good, the bad and the ugly of conference realignment over the weekend. Go ahead and give it a read (after the Skully, of course) for a detailed look at how the impending changes to college football could change the sport forever.

Anyway, let's have a good Monday, shall we?

 RYAN DAY'S POPULARITY POLL. Around 1,000 people participated in The Athletic's Ohio State fan survey from beat reporter Cameron Teague Robinson at the end of July. Those people offered their perspectives on the current state of the Buckeye football program and predicted its future.

While several of the survey's results are worthy of examination, such as who will win Ohio State's quarterback competition and who will be the Buckeyes' MVP in 2023, the results that stand out most revolved around Ohio State fans’ confidence in Ryan Day and where the team is headed with him at the helm.

Here is a look at some of the questions participants were asked in the survey, with the results included below each question:

How confident are you in Ryan Day this season?

1.  Very confident: 54.3%
2.  Somewhat confident: 33.9%
3.  Slightly concerned: 4.8%
4.  Neutral: 4.7%
5.  Extremely concerned: 2.4%

What would constitute a successful season for Ohio State?

1. Big Ten title, CFP appearance: 36.6%
2. Big Ten title, national championship appearance: 35.8%
3. National championship: 26.1%
4. CFP appearance, no Big Ten title: 0.9%
5. New Year's Six bowl: 0.6%

What will Ohio State's regular-season record be?

1.  12-0: 50.9%
2.  11-1: 43.1%
3.  10-2: 5.2%
4.  9-3: 0.9%
5.  8-4 or worse: 0%

How much longer will Ryan Day coach at Ohio State?

1.  4-5 years: 38.6%
2.  6 years or more: 37.7%
3.  2-3 years: 21.5%
4.  1 year: 2.2%

Will Ohio State win a national championship under Ryan Day?

1.  Yes: 87.8%
2.  No: 12.2%

While all those questions and results are excellent, the survey includes one final question that stands as a caveat to all of the ones featured above: What does Ryan Day need to do to earn your trust in him? The Athletic left the question open-ended, which allowed participants to write short-answer responses – still, the query results boiled down to a similar answer: Beat Michigan.

It's been the message all offseason here at elevenwarriors.com/skull-sessions. Ohio State's No. 1 mission in 2023 is to beat That Team Up North.

While most Buckeye fans are like Coach Boone from “Remember the Titans” and (understandably) expect perfection, some of those same fans would accept a loss to Notre Dame, Penn State or Wisconsin – heck, maybe even Purdue or Rutgers – rather than lose to Michigan for a third consecutive season.

As Jonathan G. wrote in the survey, beating Michigan is “the first requirement of the job description” as the Buckeyes head coach. The rest is gravy. That said, if Day can get back on track and defeat Michigan on Nov. 25, he will return to the good graces of all Ohio State fans, namely the ones who have doubted him since Nov. 26, 2022.

 OHIO STATE'S “IFS LIST.” As I wrote in the last paragraph, Ohio State's primary goal every season is to defeat Michigan, and the rest – Big Ten titles, College Football Playoff appearances, national championships and all that good stuff – is gravy.

However, the Buckeyes really like gravy.

And who doesn't? Gravy is awesome.

To be clear, by “gravy,” I mean Ohio State winning a conference title, reaching the playoffs and winning a national championship. But if we want to talk about the sauce used for meats and potatoes, that is also awesome. However, we can talk about that another time.

If Ohio State is to accomplish all it wants in 2023, ESPN's Bill Connelly has three “Ifs” the Buckeyes will need to sort out before the season ends. As you can imagine, the "Ifs" involve Jim Knowles' defense, the quarterback position and the offensive line. But I'll let Connelly explain:

If ... the secondary's breakdowns are less devastating. Ohio State went 12-0 against non-CFP teams last year and nearly beat Georgia in the semifinals. But in its two losses, to Georgia and Michigan, the Buckeyes gave up an incredible eight gains of 45-plus yards – eight!! – and three of 75-plus. Jim Knowles enters his second year as defensive coordinator having already established the sort of risk-reward dynamic he eventually succeeded with at Oklahoma State. While Ohio State allowed 16 points per game against teams outside of the offensive SP+ top 15, its three best opponents averaged 39 per game. And now they have to replace four of last year's top six defensive backs. Question marks remain.

If ... Kyle McCord or Devin Brown is ready. Ohio State has been blessed by an even longer run of elite quarterback play than Alabama. With CJ Stroud (and longtime offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson) gone, either McCord or Brown will take over this fall. Considering the embarrassment of riches Ohio State boasts at receiver -- Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka are the best 1-2 punch in the country (and their backups are awesome, too) -- things will probably be fine. But Brown was hurt in the spring, and McCord wasn't quite as consistent as head coach Ryan Day would have preferred.

If ... the new tackles hold up. The Buckeyes' skill corps is unassailable, but even if Ohio State is as good as ever at QB, it still needs sturdy tackle play. The Buckeyes got it last year from now-departed All-Americans Paris Johnson Jr. and Dawand Jones, but Day could only reel in San Diego State's Josh Simmons (17 penalties in 2022) and UL Monroe's Victor Cutler Jr. (six sacks allowed) from the transfer portal, and Ohio State is extremely unproven here.

On the first “If,” Knowles has named a Silver Bullet of the Day twice since the start of preseason camp. Both players were cornerbacks. The first was Jordan Hancock, and the second was Davison Igbinosun.

Silver Bullet Of The Day
Practice 1
@jordanhancock_ #BIA #StengthAndHonor pic.twitter.com/Q3zuKfzKlS

— Jim Knowles (@CoachJimKnowles) August 5, 2023

Silver Bullet Of The Day
Practice 2
@DaveIgbinosun #BIA #StrengthAndHonor pic.twitter.com/iYSgyAhYX6

— Jim Knowles (@CoachJimKnowles) August 6, 2023

Those awards are a great encouragement for the development of Ohio State's secondary this offseason.

As for the quarterbacks, McCord and Brown were confident before the start of fall camp and ready to continue their competition in the Buckeyes' 25 preseason practices. While Day has not named a winner yet, his track record with Dwayne Haskins, Justin Fields and C.J. Stroud indicates he knows the quarterback position better than most.

On the offensive line, Ohio State lost Paris Johnson Jr., Dawand Jones and Luke Wypler to the NFL after last season, but this is THE Ohio State University. The Buckeyes don't recruit slouches. It will be to Justin Frye to select the best five players and the five players with the best chemistry. Four consecutive weeks of practice should sort that out.

If Ohio State successfully answers or satisfies all of those “Ifs,” we could see the Buckeyes accomplish all three annual goals for the first time since 2014. I, for one, would find that super duper cool.

 “IT'S OVER.” Georgia defensive back Javon Bullard has moved past his targeting hit on Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. in the Peach Bowl. You know, the one that knocked Harrison out of the CFP and contributed (with other factors) to the Buckeyes’ downfall in a 42-41 loss to the Bulldogs.

After Georgia's first practice of preseason camp, a reporter asked Bullard about the controversial hit, to which Bullard responded that he didn't want to discuss it anymore.

From Anthony Dasher of UGASports:

“I’ll be honest. That play happened in December, and that you’re still talking about it is really not my fault. We moved on from that,” Bullard said. “We played a game after that and going into another season. That play’s over, man. I don’t have too much to say about that. It’s over, it’s done with; we’re preparing ourselves for camp.”

...

“I don’t really know what goes on in other people’s heads, but this game is physical. This place is physical,” Bullard said. “We just had a practice in spiders and it still was physical. It’s always going to be like that. It’s not because of the players that are here. It’s that way because it’s the standard that we hold. It was physical before I got here, and will be physical after I leave."

Bullard autographed printed photos of the hit with the inscription "Night Night" in February and helped release "Bullard's Buckeye Crunch" at an Athens ice cream shop in March – as in, two and three months after December. For him to claim "It's over" and "We moved on from that" now... that's a little rich for my blood.

Night Night lol bet https://t.co/a1Qyg1Sl6R

— Marvin Harrison Jr. (@MarvHarrisonJr) February 8, 2023

Guy Who Has Made Money And Continues to Make Money At the Expense of Another Man's Health and Well-Being Says It's Time to Move On.

Sure.

Still, as comical as it is that Bullard is the one to make the comment, he is correct. We should move on. That hit happened last season and does not affect the 2023 college football season, where the Bulldogs and Buckeyes will again be two of the best teams in America. If the teams face off in the College Football Playoff this season, hopefully, Harrison can have the last laugh.

 QUACK QUACK. Brutus Buckeye knew. Somehow, Ohio State's beloved mascot knew. What did he know? That Oregon and Washington would become the 17th and 18th members of the Big Ten Conference, a move that became official on Friday.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Brutus Buckeye (@thebrutusbuckeye)

With Oregon and Washington coming to the Big Ten in 2024, The Athletic's Scott Dochterman did his best to predict schedule shakeups that will occur across the league that season. According to Dochterman, Ohio State's shake-up could involve a cross-country trip to Eugene, Oregon, where the Buckeyes and Ducks would finally complete the matchup that was canceled due to the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

Here is Dochterman's attempt to predict Ohio State's 2024 schedule would look after the additions of the Ducks and Huskies:

As far as predicted schedules we have no idea will come true or not, this looks pretty darn good to me. Two bye weeks, five consecutive home games to start the season and matchups with Oregon, Penn State and Michigan? That's hard to beat. The Oregon and Penn State back-to-back on the road would be #tuff, but hey it's all made up, so who really knows?

At any rate, props to Dochterman for his attempt to create a Big Ten schedule in 2024. I do not envy the people at the Big Ten offices who will actually be in charge of that stuff once USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington become official members. Godspeed to them.

 SONG OF THE DAY. "Last Resort" by Papa Roach.

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