Welcome to the Skull Session.
Two more sleeps.
Its always been about us pic.twitter.com/qwF0z4rFTM
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) November 1, 2023
Let's have a good Thursday, shall we?
"MICHIGAN CROSSED A LINE." In a recent article for The Athletic, Bruce Feldman and Max Olson surveyed 50 FBS coaches and asked them to assess the seriousness of Michigan’s alleged actions.
Feldman and Olson inquired about where the Wolverines' scandal rates on the wide spectrum of dubious behavior in the sport, how they now view Michigan's recent success and more. Over a dozen head coaches offered their takes, as well as coordinators, assistants, analysts and staffers from all 10 FBS conferences. Coaches were granted anonymity in exchange for their candid responses.
Here are some of the questions and responses Feldman and Olson asked and gathered as the Michigan scandal bleeds into its third week:
How serious are Michigan's alleged actions (scale of 1 to 5)?
Survey Responses
- One: 1
- Two: 1
- Three: 9
- Four: 16
- Five: 23
Quotes
“It’s easy to call plays when you know what the defense is,” said a Pac-12 head coach. “It’s a huge deal that someone went to another game and filmed all their signals. That’s Spygate stuff. They were flying around the country? It’s crazy.”
“In some ways, they should be held accountable for just sheer stupidity,” said a Sun Belt head coach. “They could’ve done this for years and years and never been caught if they’d just been smart about it.”
“That’s one of the few rules that nobody is brave or stupid enough to just step over,” said one staffer at an SEC program. “My God, what idiots. Doing it is one thing. Getting caught is an entirely other thing.”
“We knew they had a signal guy, this Navy Seal or something,” said one former Big Ten analyst (Stalions is a graduate of the Naval Academy and a retired captain of the Marine Corps). “We were very concerned about it. Our head coach was super concerned about it. … In 2021, (Michigan pass rushers) Aidan Hutchinson and (David) Ojabo had these hand signals for run/pass, but we figured that was legit. It got us into the mindset that they were looking for tips and tells. That isn’t a coincidence. We never would’ve guessed it was this deep.”
Should Michigan be punished?
Survey Responses
- Yes: 47
- No: 1
- Unsure: 2
Quotes
“I think you should be fired for that stuff,” one Conference USA head coach said. “Doing stuff like that where you violate all the ethics of sportsmanship, that’s horrible.”
Few coaches went that far, but several did say they believe a postseason ban should be on the table. “Everyone is watching this,” one Mountain West defensive coordinator said. “A slap on the wrist and everyone will be doing it.”
“If you’re doing it — which they did — and you’re caught — which they were — and it’s explicitly against the rules — which it is — and everyone believes that to some degree it’s a competitive advantage, then they shouldn’t be able to play in the Big Ten title game,” he said. “The Big Ten owes 13 other programs the competitive balance and owes it to them to protect the sanctity of the conference. If that many programs have confirmed that he bought tickets specifically under his name, they can’t play in the Big Ten title game. There’s no gray area. It’s explicitly against the rules.”
Does Jim Harbaugh have plausible deniability?
Survey Responses
- Yes: 9
- No: 35
- Unsure: 9
Quotes
“I don’t believe (Harbaugh) organized or started it, but if some young guy comes up to me and says, ‘I’ve got all of their signals,’ well, I’m thinking, ‘I know you did something that you shouldn’t have,’” one Big Ten defensive coordinator said. “That’s on the coordinators. And if I’m the head coach and I’m watching one of my recruiting analysts have a constant flow of information with my coordinators during a game, I’m wondering what is going on there or I’m an idiot.”
“Hell no,” said an analyst in the ACC. “Who gets that close to a head coach who doesn’t have access?”
“Who paid for this?” wondered a Pac-12 head coach. “There’s no way this kid paid for it out of his own pocket. You can’t tell me Jim didn’t know. This is the same guy whose answers to the recruiting thing (allegations stemming from the COVID-19 dead period) was to say, ‘I don’t remember.’”
This article was great work from Feldman and Olson, as it provided evidence that the Michigan scandal is far from the "Ryan Day is shook" narrative UM fans have attempted to spin despite the endless information that has come out – and continues to come out – about the Wolverines' alleged sign-stealing operation.
Michigan fans can continue to discuss the conspiracy that Day hired the outside investigative firm that submitted evidence to the NCAA because his brother runs a law firm in New Hampshire – or whatever the latest machination is to diminish reports that pour in from ESPN, Yahoo Sports, the AP, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.
What is not a conspiracy is college football coaches calling the Wolverines “idiots” for the scandal and saying Jim Harbaugh and Co. should be penalized for their (alleged) unethical behavior.
Conspiracy? No.
Hilarious? Yes.
One thousand times, yes.
OOOOOH, THAT LOOKS FUN. The first College Football Playoff rankings of 2023 were unveiled on Tuesday, kicking off a four-week stretch run to determine the four-team bracket for college football's national championship.
In 2024, the 12-team CFP will make its debut. Each week for the rest of the season, The Athletic will illustrate how the new format would work in 2023, using the latest CFP rankings to create a 12-team postseason tournament. Here’s how the bracket would be seeded and the site locations determined from the Oct. 31 rankings and the CFP’s announced 2024-25 game dates:
Note: The Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl are scheduled to host the two semifinals, and the national championship game will be in Atlanta.
From Stewart Mandel of The Athletic:
TOP FOUR SEEDS (FIRST-ROUND BYES)
1. Ohio State (Big Ten champion)
2. Georgia (SEC champion)
3. Florida State (ACC champion)
4. Washington (Pac-12 champion)In the new format, the top four seeds will be reserved for the four highest-ranked conference champions. For our purposes, we’re designating each conference’s top-ranked team as its champion. That means No. 1 Ohio State (Big Ten), No. 2 Georgia (SEC), No. 4 Florida State (ACC) and No. 5 Washington (Pac-12) would get a bye into the quarterfinals. Obviously, Washington will not be in the Pac-12 next year, but it would be far too complicated to throw conference realignment into this hypothetical exercise.
NOS. 5-12 SEEDS
5. Michigan (at-large)
6. Oregon (at-large)
7. Texas (Big 12 champion)
8. Alabama (at-large)
9. Oklahoma (at-large)
10. Ole Miss (at-large)
11. Penn State (at-large)
12. Tulane (American champion)As of now, the plan is still to pick the six highest-ranked conference champions along with the six highest-ranked at-large teams. Were the season to end today, the fifth- and sixth-highest-ranked conference champions would be No. 7 Texas (Big 12) and No. 24 Tulane (AAC). Joining them in the field would be the six highest-ranked remaining teams: No. 3 Michigan, No. 6 Oregon, No. 8 Alabama, No. 9 Oklahoma, No. 10 Ole Miss and No. 11 Penn State.
As the No. 1 overall seed, Ohio State's path to the national championship would include matchups with Alabama or Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl – yes, please – and Washington, Michigan or Tulane in the Cotton Bowl – Buckeye Nation may not be ready for a season with two (!) Michigan games.
In the CFP final, Ohio State would battle Georgia, Texas, Ole Miss, Florida State, Oregon or Penn State.
That sounds like some fun college football.
Given Ohio State's status as the current No. 1 overall team in 2023, however, one could argue the four-team CFP format benefits the Buckeyes. While Ohio State would receive a first-round bye in a 12-team scenario, the Buckeyes would have to win three CFP matchups to call themselves champions of the sport. This season, the last with a four-team format, Ryan Day and Co. would need two wins to make the same claim.
So, yes, the 12-team format looks fun. But is it the most efficient system for Ohio State to win a national championship? I am not so sure. We could find out if the Buckeyes run the table in back-to-back seasons in 2023 and 2024. Then we could ask Day which was easier to win.
“THAT'S THE DISTANT PAST.” To Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano, the altercation with Ohio State head coach Ryan Day in the fourth quarter of the Buckeyes' 49-10 win over the Scarlet Knights last season "feels like years ago."
"That's the distant past," Schiano said in a press conference on Monday.
The altercation occurred after Rutgers wide receiver and returner Aron Cruickshank delivered a late hit to Ohio State punter Jesse Mirco, who had gone Ethan Hunt-level rogue and carried the ball 22 yards on an uninstructed fake punt. When the play was over, Schaino recalls a swarm of Buckeyes around Cruickshank, who was later removed from the game after a personal foul. Day and Schiano stood at the 35-yard line near Ohio State's sideline and defended their players.
“It was one coach defending their side, one coach defending theirs,” Day said after the game. “No hard feelings. I have an unbelievable amount of respect for (Schiano).”
On Monday, Schiano confirmed the screaming match between him and Day did not occur because of Mirco's fourth-down conversion on what seemed to be a fake punt while Ohio State held a 39-point lead over Rutgers*.
*Man, looking back, it's wild that Mirco did that.
But, hey, it worked!
Back to Schiano.
"It had nothing to do with the fake punt," he said. "It had to do with protecting our player who was on their sideline, who was surrounded and being pushed around. That fake punt wasn't called. It was our fault. We didn't put an edge to the punt block, and the kid was taught to roll, and if it's there, take it. No, it was truly protecting our player."
Schiano said he and Day are "good friends" and that there was "no problem" between them after Ohio State defeated Rutgers last season. The same is true of the head coaches now, he said Monday.
Schiano spent three seasons as Ohio State's defensive coordinator from 2016-18, coaching with Day in 2017 and 2018. When Day became Ohio State's head coach in 2019, he did not retain Schiano as coordinator and instead hired Greg Mattison and Jeff Hafley as co-coordinators. Schiano returned to Rutgers for his second stint as its head coach in 2020.
Schiano was asked several other questions about Ohio State on Monday. Here is a transcript of his comments:
On Marvin Harrison Jr.
Yeah, Marvin Harrison, Jr. is arguably one of the best players in the country. He's continued to improve. You can see he's a real professional the way he's prepared, and again when you're going against players of that skill, they are very dangerous.
On Kyle McCord
He's a really good quarterback. You can see, I've been able to watch them on TV, so a little TV scouting. He's a fiery leader, and you can see his teammates believe in him. He's a young quarterback who is getting better every week. So again, part of the challenge of playing a team that has so many skilled people.
On Ohio State's defense
They have got a lot of good players. You're looking at a front that is probably all NFL players. Their front seven will be all NFL players. But the good thing is, the back four or five are all NFL players as well. So you're looking at a defense that is probably -- I mean, I don't want to be exaggerating. I think every single guy there will be an NFL player, which -- including some especially depth players, which it is what it is. That's why they are one of the top defenses in the country. We'll have our hands full for sure.
TATE MARTELL SUPERCUT. This section is dedicated to Ohio State football beat reporter Bill Landis, who loves former Ohio State quarterback Tate Martell. But don't we all?
It's Rutgers Week. That means it's time for one of the greatest videos ever posted to YouTube. Yes, indeed. It's the Tate Martell Rutgers Supercut from 2018.
Let's watch the former four-star quarterback and top-100 overall recruit in the class of 2018 complete 10 of 10 passes for 121 yards and one touchdown and add another 95 yards and one score on the ground.
Electric.
Five years later – still electric.
SONG OF THE DAY. "Gravity" - John Mayer (Live).
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