Skull Session: Kyle McCord Will Define the CFP Race, Kirk Herbstreit Says Georgia and Michigan Are “More Complete” Than Ohio State and the Silver Bullets Continue to Thrive

By Chase Brown on November 9, 2023 at 5:00 am
Kyle McCord
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Welcome to the Skull Session.

TreVeyon Henderson Mixtape?

Yeah, TreVeyon Henderson Mixtape.

Let's have a good Thursday, shall we?

 AND DOWN THE STRETCH THEY COME. With three regular-season games left, plus conference championships, the 2023 college football season has reached the "And DOWN the stretch they come..." portion of the calendar, ESPN's Bill Connelly wrote this week.

Instead of horses at the Kentucky Derby, an 11-team pool of national championship contenders will race toward the CFP: Five 9-0 teams (Ohio State, Georgia, Michigan, Florida State and  Washington) and six 8-1 teams (Oregon, Texas, Alabama, Ole Miss, Penn State and Louisville).

From Connelly's ESPN article:

The Ohio State-Michigan game on Nov. 25 assures that we'll have four power-conference unbeatens at most, and including likely conference championship games, four of the six teams in the second group will get shots at teams in the first. There are still some solid upset opportunities, too. In other words, nothing has been decided. The teams with the best national title odds — Michigan leads the way at 23% per SP+, and Ohio State is at 25% per FPI — are barely in the one-in-four range. We will see plot twists and odd turns. And the 25 entities below are the likely agents of chaos and causes of those twists.

Indeed. Connelly ranked the top 25 college football games, players, teams and units that will determine the CFP race for the remainder of 2023. The Buckeyes made two appearances in the top 25 — at No. 8 for Ohio State's battle with "The Team Up North" on and at No. 1 for quarterback Kyle McCord.

THE BIGGEST GAMES: OHIO STATE AT MICHIGAN

13. ACC Championship; 12. Ole Miss at Georgia; 11. Michigan at Penn State; 10. Pac-12 Championship; 9. SEC Championship

8. NOV. 25, OHIO STATE AT MICHIGAN: In nine years of the CFP, the winner of Michigan-Ohio State has reached the playoff six times, and in 2022, the loser made it as well. Since the start of 2021, the Wolverines and Buckeyes have gone a combined 60-2 in the regular season against teams that aren't Michigan or Ohio State.

This is the biggest regular-season game in college football, and the stakes are as high as ever this season. With Michigan Spygate dominating headlines six days a week at the moment, the temperature for this rivalry might be as high as it has been since the Schembechler vs. Hayes days. A must-watch, to say the least.

THE DIFFERENCE-MAKERS: KYLE MCCORD

7. J.J. McCarthy, Michigan; 6. Jalen Milroe, Alabama; 5. Bralen Trice, Washington; 4. Trey Benson, Florida State; 3. Quinn Ewers, Texas; 2. Carson Beck, Georgia

1. KYLE MCCORD, OHIO STATE: It is both a burden and a blessing to be Ohio State's starting quarterback. On one hand, you oversee an offense that's almost too talented to fail, and most of your passes will be directed at any of countless former blue-chippers in the skill corps. Your statistical floor in this job is higher than most ceilings.

On the other hand, the pressure has to be overwhelming. You're trying to clear a bar set by Braxton Miller, J.T. Barrett, Cardale Jones, Dwayne Haskins, Justin Fields and C.J. Stroud. You're piloting an offense for which ranking as low as 16th in offensive SP+ seems like a crippling failure. And at the moment, said offense ranks 16th! The Buckeyes are fielding one of their best defenses in recent memory and have yet to allow more than 17 points in a game this season. But they've also scored 24 or fewer points in four of nine games; they haven't had more than four such games since 2011. McCord's not really doing anything wrong — he's ninth in Total QBR and 16th in yards per dropback — but again, the bar is stratospheric. And if the defense ever slips up, be it against Michigan or in the CFP itself, he'll have to prove he can put up huge numbers against a big-time team. History suggests the Ohio State quarterback will do just that, but with Beck, we still have to see him do it.

When I think about how McCord will have to perform the rest of the season, I am reminded of the performances down the stretch for Jacob Coker (Alabama) in 2015, Jalen Hurts (Alabama) in 2017, Mac Jones (Alabama) in 2020 and Stetson Bennett (Georgia) in 2021.

Coker, Hurts, Jones and Bennett all led their teams to a national championship — however, Hurts was benched for Tua Tagovailoa in the CFP final — because each quarterback took care of the football and put their NFL-caliber teammates in a position to showcase their NFL-caliber talent.

While, yes, Ohio State's defense could falter in the Michigan game, the Big Ten Championship Game or the College Football Playoff, and McCord would need to lead his team to a win, I wouldn't count on it. That means most of McCord's performance will be defined with the same criteria as the four quarterbacks mentioned above: How well did McCord take care of the football, and how often did he put TreVeyon Henderson, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka in a position to shine?

If McCord can make a positive effort in both of those areas over the next four weeks, I feel good about McCord's chances to lead the Buckeyes to victory over Michigan, in the conference championship game and in the CFP.

 UGA, UM "MORE COMPLETE" THAN OHIO STATE. It’s somewhat irrelevant for the moment, as Ohio State vs. Michigan looms and Georgia has several tests ahead vs. Ole Miss and Tennessee, but Kirk Herbstreit believes the Wolverines and Bulldogs are a cut above the Buckeyes after nine games in 2023.

“Now, the resume says they are (number one), so it’s fine. They’re up at number one,” Herbstreit said. “To me, I would have Georgia and Michigan ahead of them based on what they’re doing on the field. I know you guys like metrics and analytics and all that, but I watch the games and I watch these teams play. I look at Georgia and Michigan as teams that are a little bit more complete than Ohio State.”

Herbsteit said Ohio State's inconsistencies on offense give him reason to rank Georgia and Michigan ahead of the Buckeyes. If Ohio State head coach Ryan Day were in the studio with the ESPN analysts, Herbstreit said Day would echo similar sentiments.

“If they beat Michigan in Ann Arbor, then I think everybody would say they’re the best team. But if Ryan Day were here now, he would tell you (Ohio State is) not executing in a way offensively that makes him feel good. It doesn't make him feel like they’re a consistent team. They're not living up to his standards," Herbstreit said. "As of now, I don’t think they’re a complete team to be ranked at the number one spot."

The Eleven Warriors Poll for Wednesday asked, "Did the CFP committee make the correct decision ranking Ohio State No. 1 for the second consecutive week?" Around 60% of voters answered "Yes," while around 40% of voters responded "No."

Looks like Herbie's not alone.

Regardless of whether or not the Buckeyes deserve the No. 1 spot, the Buckeyes have the No. 1 spot because the committee loves them and their résumé.

For Ohio State to make the CFP in 2023, the mission is simple: Just keep winning. Just keep winning. Just keep winning.

 THIS AND THAT. Another Skull Session, another This and That™.

Let's ride.

Ohio State's defense has been stellar in 2023. The Buckeyes rank fifth and second in the NCAA with 271.1 yards and 10.7 points allowed per game. They also possess the second-best "stop rate" in college football behind Michigan at 82.5% and 0.91 points per drive across 80 drives. Here's another stat from Ohio State:

Jack Sawyer's emergence as a force in the run game has contributed to Ohio State's defensive success. Pro Football Focus shared that the 6-foot-4, 265-pound defensive end is the only edge rusher in the FBS with an 80+ grade defending the pass and the run.

How powerful is Ohio State's brand? The team's matchup with Rutgers drew a larger audience than Oklahoma-Oklahoma State and Notre Dame-Clemson on Saturday. That's powerful. (It also helped that the Buckeyes trailed the Scarlet Knights 9-7 at halftime, enticing non-Ohio State fans to tune into the matchup.)

In the Tuesday Skull Session, I shared that Ohio State radio play-by-play broadcaster Paul Keels called the Cleveland Browns-Arizona Cardinals game on Sunday. Here is a sound bite from the Browns' official broadcast.

The entire Ohio State women's basketball team has signed an NIL deal with the Ohio law firm, Elk+Elk, according to Jeremy Crabtree of On3. That's correct. From fifth-year senior Jacy Sheldon to freshman Diana Collins, the entire team will be compensated for their involvement in the partnership, and that rocks.

Ohio State football is the No. 1 team in the nation. Several other Buckeye squads are also ranked in the top 25 of their respective sports.

 THE ELEVEN DUBGATE IS SCREENED & OUTFITTED BY HOLLYWOOD IMPRINTS.

Hollywood Imprints is your one-stop shop for all things screen printing.

hollywood imprints
Hollywood Imprints. Your one-stop shop for screen printing.

It is a family-owned and operated business located in Columbus, and they have been serving the community for over 20 years. Hollywood Imprints specializes in contract screen printing and offers a wide range of services, including:

  • Custom screen printing - they can print your designs on a variety of materials, including shirts, hats, jackets, and more. A  wide range of colors and ink types to choose from, so you can create the perfect look for your needs.
  • Bulk screen printing: They offer bulk screen printing services for businesses and organizations. They can print large orders of shirts, hats, and other items quickly and efficiently.

Doors open at 3 p.m. for our 11th Eleven Dubgate, which will be held on Saturday before Ohio State's matchup with Michigan State. This event relies on your donations, which will benefit Special Olympics Olentangy. Cash and Venmo (@OSSOSTORM) are both accepted.

If you cannot attend Eleven Dubgate 11 but would still like to donate, use Venmo and type "Dubgate" in the text field. Every donation is appreciated.

 SONG OF THE DAY. "Listen to the Music" - The Doobie Brothers.

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