Welcome to the Skull Session.
Ohio State wrestling and several other of the school's sports went to the Shoe on Wednesday and climbed steps inside the stadium in honor of those who made the ultimate sacrifice on 9/11.
Spent our morning honoring and commemorating the emergency first responders and military service veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice following the events of 9/11. Never forget. #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/433t7WkzoS
— Ohio State Wrestling (@wrestlingbucks) September 11, 2024
That's a great job out of them.
Have a good Thursday.
"HE'S GOT POISE OUT THERE." Will Howard has completed 35 of 54 passes (64.8%) for 520 yards and four touchdowns as Ohio State’s quarterback, but what impresses Ryan Day the most about his veteran signal-caller goes beyond the box score.
“He’s played a lot of football. He’s got poise out there,” Day said. “He’s got a command out there that you can feel. I can feel it on the sideline.”
Day, a well-known and well-regarded quarterback whisperer, said Howard has benefited from applying what he learned in the preseason – both on the practice field and in the meeting room – to Ohio State’s wins over Akron and Western Michigan.
“Sometimes when you get into a game, (a player doesn’t) see it and the information coming back to (the coaches) is like, ‘Whoa, we’ve got an issue here.’ But he sees it. I said this during the preseason, but I didn’t think we’d get an idea of the kind of impact Will would make until he was actually playing in a football game. That’s kind of how he is because of his size, his ability to run. You’ve seen him extend some plays. You’ve seen him now with his feet a little bit, which will continue. And he’s made some accurate passes.”
Still, Day said Howard hasn’t been perfect through two weeks, mentioning a handful of throws Howard “wants back” after the Akron and Western Michigan game. (I have to believe the underthrown deep ball to Jeremiah Smith is one of them). Day said those inaccurate attempts have to do with Howard’s footwork, which Chip Kelly and Howard will work on during the “Improvement Week.”
“It’s like anything else,” Day said. “The more comfortable you are, the more reps you’re getting even with the plays we’re running in practice that we’re maybe not running in a game because we didn’t get to them – the more he does them, the more comfortable he’s gonna be with timing. You’re learning when you do them for the first time. After you’ve done it a while, you’re remembering. … As time goes on, you’ll start to see the ball come out of his hand with even more and more rhythm and more pace.”
I’ll take words you love to hear for 500, Alex.
"THERE IS ENCOURAGEMENT." The Ohio State offensive line looked good on Saturday. Would you agree? Day would. On Tuesday, the sixth-year head coach said the Buckeyes performed well against Western Michigan, calling their execution “cleaner” at the point of attack, especially in the run game.
“To me, that’s what we need to continue to work on and focus on and build on,” Day said. “Things were cleaner, but it’s just a start. Bigger challenges are ahead. But there is encouragement out of that group.”
Perhaps Day’s most prominent encouragement came from Seth McLaughlin, whom Day specifically mentioned as a standout performer.
“He’s been a pro,” Day said. “He calms everything down inside. Even Coach (Justin) Frye and I have been barking at him like we will, he just has a calming presence like, ‘We got it. We’ll get this straightened out.’ That’s a good feeling. That’s what you want to hear as a coach.
“When you’re going at somebody, and they look you in the eye and say, ‘We’ll get this straightened out,’ and they do, that’s when you know you’ve somebody who’s a leader, who’s got poise and can kind of pull everybody together.”
Day expects the offensive line to make strides during “Improvement Week.” When two-time first-team All-Big Ten guard Donovan Jackson returns to the lineup, Day believes the unit could take off.
“Donovan coming back is gonna make it more solidified in there. When something changes during the game, we can make quick adjustments,” Day said. “Seth gives us great information, and he can help us with that in terms of seeing what’s happening in the game – why something broke down, what happened with the communication. That allows us to address things faster, which allows us to get in rhythm quicker.”
Do… do I believe in Ohio State’s offensive line?
No, not yet — at least not fully.
For now, the offensive line has my curiosity. If it passes the challenges ahead, then, well, the offensive line will have my attention.
"IT'S UNFORTUNATE." Oh, man. Have I not discussed Denzel Burke’s targeting call yet? I’ll have to do that now.
On Saturday, the referees ejected Burke for targeting when his helmet collided with Western Michigan running back Jaden Nixon’s helmet. Before that point, both Burke and Nixon lowered their heads to brace for contact, and Nixon made similar contact with Caleb Downs before crashing into Burke.
Ohio State CB Denzel Burke is disqualified after he's called for targeting here.
— Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom) September 8, 2024
Jermaine Mathews Jr. is coming in for Burke. pic.twitter.com/fHE5yiM3Ra
In his press conference on Tuesday, Day said “there were a couple of different opinions” on how the referees should have handled Burke’s hit. While the head coach did not make his disapproval of the call explicit, he implied great frustration with the referee’s final decision.
“I thought he was giving great effort,” Day said of Burke. “I gave him a hug and told him there’s not much you can do about it right now and then I’ll try to make sure I got to bat for you the best I can. And that’s what I did.”
Jim Knowles said the Buckeyes need to learn a lesson from the outcome – that the players must keep their heads up when making a tackle.
“It’s unfortunate,” Knowles said. “I understand the rules and trying to protect players. You just have to keep your head up. It’s a gray area. … Since football players put on helmets, the natural tendency is to kind of drop your head. You can eliminate a lot of errors and potential injuries (if you) keep your head up.”
While Burke’s dismissal from the contest was indeed unfortunate, it did allow Day and Knowles to get Jermaine Mathews Jr. some extra reps against Western Michigan. More importantly, those extra reps came against the Broncos’ first-team offense.
“This is a long season. Strange things can happen, unfortunate things. Depth is critical. Jermaine might not be a starter, but in our mind, he’s considered one. You don’t blink when he goes in. He’s a guy who’s proven he can compete in the toughest games and situations. He’s kept himself prepared with a good attitude and came in a did a good job.”
TIME AND CHANGE. While Jeremiah Smith, Carnell Tate and Brandon Inniss have passed over Jayden Ballard on the wide receiver depth chart, Ohio State still relied on the senior from Massillon, Ohio, to be its kick returner in the opening weeks.
Ballard received one kickoff on Saturday.
It didn’t go well.
Ballard signaled for a fair catch even though Akron’s kick had bounced off the turf, so Ohio State’s offense had to start the second half from their 6-yard line.
— LINCOLN AND PARADISE (@TonkaTruckSteve) September 10, 2024
Oof.
Dan Hope asked Day about Ballard’s future as Ohio State’s kick returner. Day didn’t shoot down the idea that Ballard could be replaced in the role.
“We think Jayden Ballard had a really good offseason,” Day said, explaining that Ballard received a “Gold” designation (one rank below “Iron Buckeye”) for effort in summer workouts. “We’ve given him the opportunity to return kicks and a couple of punts, but the No. 1 thing is taking care of the football. That has to happen. We believe in who Jayden is. But we’ve got to take care of the football, so we are gonna evaluate it during this week and make sure that we’re doing the right thing.”
Ballard has returned 11 punts and three kicks across 30 appearances for the Buckeyes. He returned those punts for 63 yards and those kickoffs for 23 yards. Given the statistics and the bone-headed mistake he made last week, it’s clear — at least to me — that Ohio State could benefit from a different player returning kickoffs moving forward. The question becomes, “Which player?”
In the offseason, Day mentioned TreVeyon Henderson and Emeka Egbuka as Buckeyes who have flashed as kick returners. Henderson has returned one kick for 19 yards in his career, while Egbuka has returned 21 kicks for 605 yards. I have no doubt both would be effective, but would Ohio State want to put two of its most prolific stars at risk of more hits, especially when considering their injury histories? I’ll go with no.
The more likely outcome could be a switch to Inniss, Lorenzo Styles Jr. or Mylan Graham. The switch to Inniss would be self-explanatory, as he has already flashed his potential in the punt return game. As for Styles, the former Notre Dame wide receiver and current Ohio State cornerback has seen limited reps on defense since his arrival, so it could be good to see him get reps in another spot. And then with Graham — well, he was a five-star receiver for a reason, and he could follow in the same path Egbuka paved three years earlier as an explosive returner in his freshman season.
Whether it's Henderson, Egbuka, Inniss, Styles, Graham or another Buckeye, I think it’s time for Ohio State to move past Ballard as its kick returner. Sure, he’s athletic and fast. But if he doesn’t take care of the football and put the offense in positions to succeed, those traits don’t matter, and the Buckeyes would be better off with someone else receiving kickoffs.
SONG OF THE DAY. "Goodfriend" - Rayland Baxter.
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