Skull Session: TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins “Both Motivate Each Other,” Joel Klatt Calls Ohio State’s Run Game “Extremely Dangerous” and Jeremiah Smith Loves Chess

By Chase Brown on September 13, 2024 at 5:00 am
TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins
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Welcome to the Skull Session.

Oh, don’t mind me — just thinking about Ohio State safety Caleb Downs.

Have a good Friday.

 “WE BOTH MOTIVATE EACH OTHER.” Earlier this week, Ohio State named Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson as its Buck(s) of the Week. The star running backs were electric in Ohio State’s win over Western Michigan, combining for 19 carries, 174 yards and four touchdowns in the contest. 

In a sitdown with C.J. Barnett, Judkins and Henderson discussed how their relationship has grown and improved since Judkins transferred to Ohio State in January. They also shared some of their hopes for the Buckeye backfield as the season continues and tougher opponents arrive on the schedule.

Judkins and Henderson on their relationship on and off the field

JUDKINS: “I think we both motivate each other throughout practice, throughout the week. We both help each other prepare and keep each other in the right mindset to continue to grow each and every week and go out there and perform.”

HENDERSON: “Just coming into practice and trying to give it all each and every day, stacking days, man. When it comes to Saturday, just spending it out on the field and encouraging each other and trying to lead each other.”

Henderson on his first touchdown of the season

“Man, it felt great. All praise to God. I’m just trying to lead the guys on this team. You know, being a captain on this team is a big responsibility. So, yeah, just leaning on Him to be the best captain I can be, the best teammate I can be and the best player I can be. Just play all for His glory. And I’m so thankful.”

Judkins on his first night game at Ohio Stadium

“Unbelievable first experience to be in that stadium at night. Since January, I’ve put blood, sweat and tears — we all have — grinding during long days and long nights. To go into the stadium and get a dub with those guys, it means so much just for them to take me in, teach me the ropes about everything, about Ohio State and showing me the culture. Just being able to experience that with them means a lot to me.”

Judkins and Henderson on their mindset as ballcarriers

JUDKINS: “It’s just running downhill, playing physical, finishing runs and not going out of bounds. It’s a mentality. Especially in our room, where we have (Carlos Locklyn), it’s more than just running the ball. You have to affect the offense and the defense without running the ball. Just being able to affect the game in all ways.”

HENDERSON: “Like Q said, it’s playing physical and trying to be the hardest-playing team in the country. That’s what Coach Day’s been talking about. It starts with the guys up front. Man, those guys have been putting a lot of work in this offseason, during the season. Those guys are getting better. It really starts with those guys. We can’t do it without those guys.”

Judkins and Henderson on Ohio State’s defense

JUDKINS: “With our defense, and the way they ran to the ball all Saturday and the energy that they bring, it’s contagious. It gets around the locker room. It gets to the offensive side of the ball and makes us want to play hard, knowing that those guys give their all every single down on Saturdays. Man, it was amazing to see. It definitely motivated us.”

HENDERSON: “Man, those guys have been working hard. We practice against them each and every day, so we’re just making each other better. When it comes to Saturday, it’s just encouraging each other — the offense encouraging the defense and the defense encouraging the offense. I’m so thankful to be practicing against them because when it comes to the game, it’s kind of easier because we’re going against some of the best players in the country (in practice). I’m thankful to practice against our guys. To see it on Saturday, it’s amazing.”

Henderson on Ohio State’s improvement week

“As Coach Day has said, we’re trying to lay those bricks and, you know, take it day by day and get better. Especially with a week like this, it’s an improvement week. We know what we want to accomplish this year as a team, and we know it’s a lot of work that has to be put in. So the big thing is, like Coach Day said, is trying to keep focused as a team and keep our eyes on what we’re trying to accomplish. That starts with the work we have to put in, especially going into this week. Even though it’s a bye week, we’ve got to keep working hard and laying the foundation.”

I still can’t believe that Ohio State has Henderson and Judkins as its running backs.

I feel like a kid in a candy store when I watch them.

Joel Klatt does, too.

 “OHIO STATE LOOKS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.” This week, Joel Klatt of Fox Sports looked at the “Chip Kelly effect” in Ohio State’s run game and how the Buckeyes have benefited from having both Henderson and Judkins in the backfield. According to Klatt, with Kelly at the helm and those ballcarriers working together in tandem, the Buckeyes are “extremely dangerous” on offense — perhaps even the most dangerous they have been in several seasons.

“How about the Buckeyes, the Ohio State Buckeyes? Hey Buckeye fans, how are you feeling about this new squad, this talented roster, and this new playcaller in Chip Kelly? Ohio State has outscored its opponent 108-6 through two games and has yet to allow a touchdown. You might be thinking, ‘Joel, Ohio State hasn’t played anyone.’ That’s fine. You know what? They did exactly what they should do to those teams. Guess who would want that right now? Notre Dame, Oregon, any of those teams. What I’m looking at is this check-in on Chip Kelly. I’m starting to see this Chip Kelly effect: 273 yards and six touchdowns last week. That was a Western Michigan team, by the way, that led Wisconsin in the fourth quarter in Week 1, so maybe they weren’t nobody. Again, 273 rushing yards. We have not seen that over the last few years — and, in fact, that’s been the one thing that’s been hindering Ohio State more than anything is their inability to really control the game at the line of scrimmage. Now you have TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins. They’re averaging 147 yards on over 7 yards per carry as a duo. 

“As we check in on Ohio State, you can say, ‘They haven’t played anybody.’ But I’m checking in on Chip Kelly. I’m checking in on that run game. All of a sudden that looks extremely dangerous. Ohio State looks extremely dangerous. I understand that they have not had a marquee opponent like Georgia has had with Clemson and Texas has had with Michigan to really showcase how good they are. But I’m here to tell you, I think Ohio State is exactly who we thought they were. If we’re checking in on Ohio State two weeks in, they are an elite team and a scary team. If that run game is reliable and that defense is as good as we think it was going to be — and it’s proving that out on the field — it’s gonna be a really, really hard team to beat. So if I’m a fan of Ohio State, I feel great right now because what I hoped to see in the first two games, even against subpar opponents, I’m seeing. I’m seeing it.”

I, too, love to see Ohio State beat up on subpar opponents. I will miss seeing the Buckeyes do that this weekend as ye ol’ B-Y-E appears on Saturday’s schedule. Thankfully, Ohio State gets Marshall in Week 4, which means we’ll see more of the team’s high-powered offense in action at the Shoe in no time!

 JEREMIAH SMITH, EVERYONE. As I covered The Ryan Day Radio Show this week, an Ohio State fan submitted a question that asked Day to describe what stands out about Jeremiah Smith. The sixth-year head coach has heard the question several times since January, and he often refers to Smith’s discipline and maturity. Day did that again on Thursday; however, he added a couple of other notes about the freshman receiver’s impact on the offense.

“It’s easy to recognize the physical traits — the size, the speed, the explosiveness, the strength,” Day said. “But to me, as a coach, it’s the other things. It’s the maturity of somebody who is that talented. Usually, when you’re talented, and I’ve said this before, we feel like we’re experts in developing talent and high-end players. Jeremiah is a high-end player, but he came in with a certain level of discipline. It’s not easy to find guys who are that talented and disciplined, and when we say disciplined, those are all the things that take no talent. It’s the attitude. It’s the focus. It’s the effort. It’s the preparation. It’s getting to bed early at night. It’s belief in yourself. We say talent is God-given. Discipline is all the things that take no talent.”

… yes, there’s more …

“For somebody like that to be able to come in here with this much talent but also have this approach of discipline is very impressive. He also has a very high-end skill set for such a young player. You see the route-running. You see the run after the catch. He still has a long way to go — don’t get me wrong, he’s still a young player — but you’re seeing a lot of great traits. To me, that’s probably the most impressive thing that I recognize. Two games averaging over 100 yards per game in receiving yards. That’s a great start to have.”

I hear all that, read all that, and think: Among all the true freshmen in college football, Smith is playing chess while everyone else plays checkers. And you want to hear something interesting about that exact thought? In a recent video from Ohio State athletics, Smith shared some information about himself. One of the pieces of information he shared is that his favorite hobby is to play chess.

I mean, how many 18-year-olds like to play chess, let alone 18-year-olds with the athleticism Smith possesses?

But I digress.

Despite Day’s lengthy response about what stands out the most about Ohio State’s freshman, the head coach had even more to add about Smith’s impact on the team’s offense moments later.

“I think people had heard about Jeremiah and now they’re starting to get film out there to see what he’s capable of. Certainly, they’re gonna have to know where he is. There’s no question about that,” Day said. “I do think the design of it all is that if you decide to take Jeremiah away, you’ve got some other issues you’ve got to work through.

“If they take one player away, you can hurt them in other areas. That’s the idea. To me, Emeka (Egbuka) is a first-round draft pick. Carnell (Tate) is playing at a high level. You’ve got our tight ends, our running backs. I think defenses will have to be smart about how they try to take away just one player. But he’s certainly gonna garner a lot of attention.”

Reminder: That’s Day speaking about a true freshman.

That’s absurd.

But so is Jeremiah Smith.

 “WE’RE NOT DOING THAT ANYMORE.” Also featured in the Ryan Day Radio Show was a comment the head coach made about Julian Sayin and Bennett Christian’s 55-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.

When asked about Christian’s celebration as he crossed the goal line — one that mirrored a 100-meter sprinter crossing the finish line in track and field — Day offered a brief and pointed response.

“I don’t know if it was a 100-meter dash or what it was. We’re not doing that anymore,” Day said. “We’re gonna hand the ball to the official and celebrate with our teammates.”

To be clear, Christian did not land himself in Day’s doghouse with his celebration; rather, Day said he used it as a coaching point for the entire team.

“We coached that on film in the champions meeting,” Day said. “Happy to see Bennett get his first touchdown and for Julian as well.”

Dan Hope and I discussed how that coaching point could have been Day sharing his concern about his players crossing the goal line before dropping the football, à la Oregon kick returner Noah Whittington in the Boise State game (though Whittington got lucky and his touchdown stood after a review). If that is indeed the case, good on Day for getting out in front of that before it costs Ohio State in a game that matters.

 SONG OF THE DAY. "Voodoo Child" - Jimi Hendrix.

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