Cotton Bowl Skull Session: Get Dumped Then, Missouri

No more sleeps.

Former Ohio State linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer narrates The Cotton Bowl Trailer titled "The Showdown."

Season 2023, Vol. 13, coming soon.

pic.twitter.com/RAnkUH6wCG

— Eleven Warriors (@11W) December 28, 2023

Let's have a good GAMEDAY, shall we?

 BACK WHERE IT ALL STARTED. When the four-team College Football Playoff era started in 2014, Ohio State became national champions with victories over Alabama and Oregon. The latter win occurred at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, where Ohio State will end the four-team College Football Playoff era in the 2023 Cotton Bowl.

While it's not a complete full-circle moment for the Buckeyes – that would be Ohio State vs. X opponent for a national championship in "Jerry's World" – I find it humorous that the Buckeyes will round out the sport's current era back where it all started.

A lot changed in a decade.

In the past nine seasons, Ohio State reached the College Football Playoff five times (2014, 2016, 2019, 2020 and 2022) and competed in New Year's Six bowls four times, including the Fiesta Bowl (2015), the Cotton Bowl (2017) and the Rose Bowl (2018, 2021).

The Buckeyes will make their fifth New Year's Six appearance – and second Cotton Bowl appearance – on Friday. They will face the No. 9-ranked Missouri Tigers. Of all the opponents Ohio State met in the four-team College Football Playoff era, Missouri could go down as one of the best.

With the offensive-minded Eliah Drinkwitz at the helm, the Tigers possess one of the best offenses in the nation with quarterback Brady Cook (3,189 yards, 20 TD), consensus All-American running back Cody Schrader (1,499 yards, 13 TD) and All-SEC wide receiver Luther Burden III (1,197 yards, 8 TD). The Tigers' defense, a top-40 unit in the regular season, also made strides from Week 1 to Week 13.

With losses to Georgia and LSU in the regular season, Missouri finished second to the Bulldogs in the SEC East.

That said, Missouri is a talented team.

The Buckeyes will need to be at their best to beat them.

It will all start with Devin Brown, who will make his first collegiate start in the Cotton Bowl. He seems up for the task.

"I feel like I've stacked a great month together. This team has been well-prepared and well-coached. This thing has been rolling," Brown said on Wednesday.

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day shared those sentiments on Thursday.

"He's prepared at a high level. The guys believe in him because of what he's done the last few weeks of practice," Day said.

The guys are TreVeyon Henderson, Cade Stover, Emeka Egbuka, Xavier Johnson and Carnell Tate, all of whom will be at Brown's disposal in the Cotton Bowl. That's not to mention Dallan Hayden, Brandon Inniss and the Buckeyes' other up-and-coming stars.

The guys believe in him. I believe in him, too.

As for Ohio State's defense, the Buckeyes will have their hands full with Cook, Schrader and Burden. However, the Silver Bullets will be motivated to leave it all out on the field after their collective performance in The Game. Jim Knowles' unit will want their final performance of the 2023 season to be a standout one – I am confident in that.

All in all, I like Ohio State here.

The 2023 season is not over-over... yet.

When it is, the Buckeyes will be on top.

Prediction: Ohio State 27 - Missouri 24.

 TODAY'S MENU. The college football menu for Friday, Dec. 29, is simple and sweet.

The Tigers of Clemson and Dabo Swinney will face The Wildcats of Kentucky and their roster of groan men. Marcus Freeman and The Irish of Notre Dame will face The Beavers of Oregon State and whoever remains after Johnathan Smith's departure. The Tigers of Memphis and Ryan Silverfield will face the Cyclones of Iowa State and Matt Campbell, whom The Bobcats of Ohio defeated, 10-7, in Athens.

It may be a new season, but Dabo Swinney is still a clown.

Let him know with your wardrobe. https://t.co/joXZACe8Dj pic.twitter.com/nnN6rJJEbU

— Eleven Warriors (@11W) August 3, 2021

Sit back. Relax. Fill the Friday with football.

You know you want to!

 MY NEW YEAR'S SIX + CFP PICKS. The "My Picks" series was successful in 2023, as I compiled a 21-12 record ATS. In the final Gameday Skull Session of the season, let's see if I can predict the outcomes of the New Year's Six bowls and College Football Playoffs semifinals, all of which will occur from Friday to Monday.

• Peach Bowl - Ole Miss (+4) vs. Penn State: James Franklin's record vs. ranked opponents is 12-25. His record vs. top-10 opponents is 3-17. Ole Miss is No. 11, so the Rebels are basically a top-10 team. History says to pick Lane Kiffin and Co. here to cover the spread – at the very least.
• Orange Bowl - Georgia (-17) vs. Florida State: Bulldogs by a billion.
• Fiesta Bowl - Oregon (-17) vs. Liberty: Ducks by a billion.
• CFP Semifinal, Rose Bowl - Alabama (+1.5) vs. Michigan: Whom do you hate more, Nick Saban or Jim Harbaugh? Most, if not all, Ohio State fans would answer the latter. I would, too. I'll pick Alabama here, if only because my hatred for the Crimson Tide is far less than the one I harbor for the Wolverines.
• CFP Semifinal, Sugar Bowl - Washington (+4) vs. Texas: I have been a believer in Washington from the start of the 2023 season. Kalen DeBoer, Michael Penix Jr., Rome Odunze, a stellar defense – what's not to love about the undefeated Huskies? I'll take them to defeat Steve Sarkisian and former Ohio State quarterback Quinn Ewers down in Louisianna. Why not?

 BACK TO THE BUCKEYES. There are a few more topics to discuss on the Ohio State front before the Buckeyes and Tigers battle at 8 p.m. Let's dive into them.

Tickets

When Ohio State battles Missouri in the Cotton Bowl at AT&T Stadium, don't expect the stands to include a Sea of Scarlet.

This week, Brett Scarbrough, Ohio State's associate athletic director for ticketing and premium seating, told Joey Kaufman of The Columbus Dispatch that approximately 7,500 of its 13,000 allotted tickets were sold or set aside for guests of the team.

Buckeye Nation's demand for Cotton Bowl tickets was far less than its demand for Peach Bowl tickets in 2022. According to Scarbrough, Ohio State's 13,000-ticket allotment for its College Football Playoff semifinal matchup with Georgia sold out within 48 hours. Scarbrough added that the 2022 Rose Bowl, where Ohio State met Utah to end the 2021 season, also sold 13,000 tickets, about two-thirds of its allotment.

Hey @OhioStateFB fans, ready to bowl? pic.twitter.com/D5P8l1p2FI

— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) December 28, 2023

A Missouri athletic department spokesperson told Kaufman that the Cotton Bowl has been a much hotter ticket for Tigers fans. Missouri sold out of its 13,000-ticket allotment within 24 hours, the spokesperson revealed.

That said, we could see more black and yellow than scarlet and gray in "Jerry's World" which should create an enthralling environment for the 10-2 Tigers and 11-1 Buckeyes in their neutral-site matchup.

Uniforms

The Cotton Bowl will feature an excellent uniform matchup.

Ohio State will wear scarlet.

© Joseph Maiorana / USA TODAY Sports

Missouri will wear black.

© Jay Biggerstaff / USA TODAY Sports

It's color vs. color.

You love to see color vs. color.

According to Andrew Lind, Ohio State uniform aficionado and former Eleven Warriors reporter, it's been almost 50 years since the Buckeyes participated in a color vs. color game. The last occurrence was the 1976 Rose Bowl, when Ohio State fell to UCLA, 23-10, in Pasadena, California.

Helmet Communication

In their press conference on Thursday, Ryan Day and Eliah Drinkwitz were asked if Ohio State and Missouri would use helmet-communication technology in the Cotton Bowl, both head coaches said their teams would stick to traditional signal methods.

Here is how each coach responded to the question:

Ryan Day

"(Coach Drinkwitz and I) spoke about this. We had a discussion about it. And I think we both agree – I don't want to speak for you – but down the road, it makes a lot of sense. To try to manage a game without having done it all season, we felt like, it is probably something we want to have a spring practice and a preseason to work through. The consequence is a new variable."

Eliah Drinkwitz

"December's got enough challenges for us to try to figure out how to communicate on the sideline. And to get the communication in was something that didn't make a lot of sense for us. Coach Day and I have a good working relationship and made a call and decided that made the most sense for us.

Looks like we will have to wait for next season to see Ohio State's play calls reach the quarterback in a way that makes common sense.

 SONG OF THE DAY. “Hell’s Bells" - AC/DC.

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