Welcome to the Skull Session.
One more sleep.
Mike Doss narrates Ohio States fifth trailer of the 2024 season.
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) October 3, 2024
In the heart of Ohio, theres a place like no other... On the banks of the Olentangy, where tradition bleeds scarlet and gray, the worlds eyes are locked on us.
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Have a good Friday.
“HE’S A GOOD PLAYER.” Iowa running back Kaleb Johnson made headlines this week.
The No. 435 overall prospect in the 2022 class, Johnson was a star athlete at Hamilton High School, earning first-team Greater Miami Conference honors as a junior and first-team All-Ohio honors as a senior. Despite his late-career success at the prep level, Johnson never received an Ohio State offer. Even if he had, Johnson says he wouldn’t have accepted it.
“I wouldn’t have went,” Johnson said Tuesday. “I want to beat them. That’s my goal.”
That comment made it into an Eleven Warriors article.
It also made it into the Ohio State locker room.
“Yeah, we saw it. I mean, he’s a good player. We saw it, but we don’t really pay too much attention to that,” Jack Sawyer said. “Obviously, he’s gonna feel some type of way, and he’s a great back having a great season.”
Johnson ranks second nationally in rushing yards (685) and rushing touchdowns (nine). The lone player ahead of him in both categories is Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty, a Heisman Trophy contender with 845 yards and 13 touchdowns in four games.
“He’s a fantastic back,” Jim Knowles said of Johnson. “Downhill. Breaks tackles. They’re creating formations and ways to make it hard on the defense to maintain your proper position. They get guys out of whack formationally, and then he’s able to cease it.”
He is fantastic.
Nevertheless, with TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins in the backfield, Ohio State doesn’t need Johnson on its roster. Instead, the Buckeyes can admire him from afar.
“I’ve followed his career, and he’s done great,” Ryan Day said. “He’s developed into a really, really good football player. We always want to recruit Ohio players and certainly love to see Ohio players do well. We don’t like it when we’re playing against them, for sure. … We can’t sign everybody, and we’re proud of guys that leave the state and do well.”
A driven, emboldened Johnson should be fun to watch on Saturday – especially against Ohio State’s stellar run defense. The Buckeyes rank No. 3 nationally in both rush yards allowed per game (61.8) and yards per carry allowed (1.84). They have also allowed just one rushing touchdown this season, a 1-yard score from Marshall running back Ethan Payne in Week 4.
“He’s motivated to come in and do his thing. We’re also motivated to come in and show everybody what this defense is about,” JT Tuimoloau said. “It’s gonna be a great challenge. It’s gonna be fun, man.”
FREE 91. Ohio State will need its entire defense to stop Johnson. That includes Tyleik Williams.
After Williams missed the Marshall and Michigan State games, Day said Wednesday that the Buckeyes “expect him to play” on Saturday. His return will provide a significant boost to Ohio State’s interior defensive line and, in turn, the entire unit.
“Tyleik’s a great player, but he’s a leader,” Day said. “And there’s a lot of communication in there. One thing about Tyleik: he’s got a very, very high football IQ. There were times when we did miss him, but it was good to see other guys step up, too. We need to continue to see that. But there’s no question that he’s a very, very strong player. He makes a lot of a player but also has leadership.
“He’s been in the program for a while. He has a strong relationship with everybody on the team, but in particular, the guys up front. He helps them. That’s part of it, for sure. It’s good to have him back this week.”
It is good. Very, very good.
While Tywone Malone, Kayden McDonald and Hero Kanu performed admirably the past two weeks – Malone more than McDonald and Kanu, if I were to offer a personal assessment – none of them are Williams, an All-Big Ten defensive tackle with the potential to become a top-50 overall pick in the 2024 draft.
That said, Williams’ return to the lineup on Saturday should not be overlooked, as his contributions on and off the field should be noticeable against Iowa’s run-heavy offense.
A TOP-THREE JOB IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL. This week, Antonio Morales and Bruce Feldman of The Athletic polled 50 people working in college football – including head coaches, general managers, assistant coaches, analysts and recruiting staffers – and asked them to rank the top five jobs in college football. Ohio State checked in at No. 3 behind Georgia and Texas. The Buckeyes were ahead of Alabama and LSU.
Here’s what Morales and Feldman wrote about Ohio State:
POINTS:143
FIRST-PLACE VOTES: 8
TOTAL BALLOTS: 45
The Ohio State job is essentially recession-proof. The Buckeyes have avoided the sustained stretch of mediocrity that Alabama, Texas and other elite programs have experienced. The past three coaches, including Ryan Day, have won at least 82 percent of their games. The last six coaches have posted a winning percentage of .715 or better.
Ohio State has always been a power, but Urban Meyer changed the way the program recruited upon his arrival in 2012. Previous coaches relied on the best players in Ohio and the Midwest. Meyer went national and began signing top-five classes, and now the Buckeyes are one of the sport’s biggest brands. In the 2025 recruiting cycle, Ohio State holds commitments from blue-chip prospects out of Texas, Alabama, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, Oklahoma, California and North Carolina. There has been a considerable talent gap between Ohio State and most of the teams in the Big Ten over the last decade.
But Michigan’s national championship served as a wake-up call for Ohio State and its supporters from an NIL perspective. The program was much more aggressive on that front this offseason and it led to significant player retention and crucial transfer portal additions.
“They can recruit nationally better than anyone else up there,” an AAC head coach said. “They can get SEC-caliber players and then they’re playing against slower teams. It’s also pretty evident that their NIL is pretty legit. And I think in this day and age, I think you judge the jobs off NIL. It starts with that, and then facilities and tradition. Like Ole Miss is a better job than it’s ever been because they’re throwing around tons of money.”
Of course, with all these advantages comes expectations. Day has yet to deliver a national championship to Columbus, and he’s lost to Michigan in three consecutive seasons. The pressure is on to beat the Wolverines and contend for the national championship this season. There are no excuses.
I don’t really have a take here — I just thought it would be interesting to share how college football employees think Ohio State compares to other jobs across the country. Given the program’s success, its resources, and its brand power, I think it’s clear Ohio State is one of the best jobs in the sport. The Athletic’s poll proved that, albeit with a relatively small poll.
If I were to have a take, it would be this: Ohio State will be a top-five job in college football 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years from now. I’m not sure the same could be said about Georgia, Texas, Alabama, LSU and others. While most programs ebb and flow, the Buckeyes remain the same. They are, as Morales and Feldman put it, “recession-proof,” something we all should appreciate while watching the Local Team compete year after year on Saturdays.
“OFFENSIVE LINE.” From January to September, I watched all 11 seasons of Modern Family. There’s a scene in one of the earlier seasons – it’s season three, episode four, to be exact – where the father, Phil Dunphy (Ty Burrell), speaks with his three children, Haley, Alex and Luke, and asks each of them to support their mother (Julie Bowen) “like Blind Side did.”
That line leads to a hilarious interaction between Phil and the kids:
That scene has no correlation to what I am about to share – I just wanted to laugh.
I digress.
Ohio State’s offensive line has been dominant through four games. According to Pro Football Focus, the Buckeyes have allowed only 25 quarterback pressures and three quarterback hits in four games. Both of those numbers rank in the top two among FBS programs. They also garnered attention from former Buckeye left tackle Paris Johnson Jr. on Thursday.
Best in the Business @CoachJFrye ! #GoBucks https://t.co/ylaVeIdQKi
— Paris Johnson Jr. (@ParisJohnsonJr) October 3, 2024
Even with Ohio State’s noticeable improvements in pass protection, Day said the offensive line is “by no means perfect” in his appearance on The Ryan Day Radio Show this week.
“There’s a lot of things we gotta clean up. The challenges are becoming bigger, and it’s going to be this week,” Day said.
Challenge accepted, the offensive line shouts in unison.
(They never said that, but we can pretend that they did).
SONG OF THE DAY. Ramp Entrance - TBDBITL.
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