Skull Session: Emeka Egbuka is Criminally Underrated, Ohio State’s Offense Remains Perfect in the Red Zone and Big Ten Travel Demands Are Taking Hold on the Conference

By Chase Brown on October 8, 2024 at 5:00 am
Emeka Egbuka
Adam Cairns / USA TODAY Sports
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Welcome to the Skull Session.

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning discussed Ohio State in his Monday press conference. Head over to this article to see what he said about the Buckeyes:

Have a good Tuesday.

 BACK ON THE MAP. He’s back. Emeka Egbuka is back.

Ever think about how Egbuka is one of the most underrated Ohio State receivers ever?

I do. I do it a lot. 

On Saturday, Egbuka became the 14th Buckeye to catch three touchdown passes in a game. With that accomplishment, the Washington native etched his name in the program record book for the 29th time. He’s tied for seventh in career receptions (154), 10th in career receiving yards (2,290) and 10th in career touchdown receptions (19), among other notable accolades.

But despite that, I think there’s an argument that Egbuka is one of the most underrated Ohio State pass catchers of all time.

The argument is simple.

When Egbuka was a freshman, he waited his turn behind Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, three of the greatest receivers in Ohio State history. The following two years, Egbuka was the Buckeyes’ second option behind Marvin Harrison Jr., the greatest receiver in Ohio State history. And this season, even as the team’s most experienced weapon on the outside, he sometimes feels like an afterthought because of Jeremiah Smith, a current freshman who could easily – easily! – surpass Olave, Wilson, JSN and Harrison in the GOAT conversation. For whatever reason, Egbuka has been a 1B for most of his career. That, to me, makes him one of the most underrated receivers to wear the scarlet and gray.

Still, underrated doesn’t mean underappreciated.

This season, Egbuka has looked like a complete player. In fact, that’s what Ryan Day called him after the Iowa game on Saturday.

“I think Emeka’s one of the best receivers in the country,” Ryan Day said. “It hurt him last year to have that high-ankle sprain. But when you think about where he was the year before and what he’s doing now, you see a complete player. He’s the captain of our team. He’s a warrior. He does all the dirty work like he did in the Michigan State game. But then to see him come back and have three touchdown catches – and contested all three of those –was huge. He’s a leader. He’s a warrior. And I think he’s one of the better receivers in the entire country. He’s only getting better the more he plays.”

He can block. He can catch. He can run. He can do it all.

As his final college football season continues, I think he’ll prove that all the more.

 PERFECT IN THE RED ZONE. DYK: Ohio State entered Saturday ranked No. 1 in red zone scoring at 100 percent? DY also K: Iowa entered Saturday ranked No. 1 in red zone trips allowed with three?

In an unstoppable force meets an immovable object scenario, the unstoppable force won. The Buckeyes made five trips to the red zone and scored touchdowns each time against the Hawkeyes: a 14-yard touchdown from Egbuka, a 4-yard touchdown from Smith (via a one-handed catch), a 4-yard touchdown from Will Howard and a pair of 13-yard and 3-yard touchdowns from Egbuka.

That’s dominance in one of its finest forms.

Ohio State is now 21-for-21 in scoring points on red zone trips this season. Even more impressive, the Buckeyes have scored 20 touchdowns on those trips, settling for one field goal that came on the road at Michigan State.

 THE OREGON TRAIL. When I was a child, I loved The Oregon Trail, a series of educational computer games designed to teach “schoolchildren about the realities of 19th-century pioneer life on the Oregon Trail.” The game was simple. You assumed the role of a wagon leader leading settlers from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon’s Willamette Valley in 1848. You would then purchase supplies from Native Americans, hunt for food and manage inventory while experiencing frequent misfortunes as you traveled through the Midwest and West in order to prosper in the Beaver State.

Ah, The Oregon Trail.

More often than not, I experienced “frequent misfortunes” in the game. (More often than not, it was an ox would drown in a river because I didn’t remove enough items from the wagon.) That same term could describe what Big Ten teams have experienced when facing Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington on the road – or even when the Ducks, Bruins, Trojans and Huskies have been on the road themselves.

From Jon Wilner of Bay Area News Group:

After weeks of nonconference matchups played on home fields, the league season has ramped up. So, too, have the cross-country trips. You’ll never guess how those results are playing out.

Teams traveling at least two time zones for conference matchups are 1-8 thus far, and the lone win — Indiana over UCLA in the Rose Bowl — carries a significant caveat: The Hoosiers were coming off a Friday game, at home, against Western Illinois. (They had an extra day to prepare and a cupcake to eat.)

The eight losing teams that have traveled multiple time zones are USC (at Michigan and Minnesota), Michigan State (at Oregon), Washington (at Rutgers), Northwestern (at Washington), UCLA (at Penn State), Wisconsin (at USC), and Michigan (at Washington).

The list of losses includes several next-level logistical hurdles: Washington and Michigan State had long trips on short weeks (for Friday games), while UCLA kicked at 9 a.m. Pacific in its blowout loss Saturday at Penn State — the same start time the Huskies will face next weekend at Iowa.

To be clear: There is more to the losses noted above than taxing travel. But it stands to reason that the impact of air miles logged and time zones crossed adds to the timeless challenges posed by matchups, injuries and mistakes. We should also note that of the eight road teams that crossed the Rockies and lost, only USC was favored to win its matchup (at both Michigan and Minnesota). 

However, the trend of woe holds up with the betting line accounted for: Six of the eight losing teams did not cover the spread—a failure rate (75 percent) that’s higher than expected (roughly 50 percent) given the probability intrinsic to sports wagering. The two losing teams that covered the spread, Michigan State and UCLA, both lost in blowouts.

While the sample size (nine games) cannot be considered tiny, it certainly isn’t robust at this point in the season. Fortunately, more evidence will come next weekend. In addition to Washington’s date in Iowa City, Penn State visits USC, Ohio State heads to Oregon and Minnesota travels to UCLA.

FWIW, here are the lines (via FanDuel Sportsbook) for each of the matchups Wilner mentioned in the final paragraph: Washington at Iowa (-2.5); Penn State (-4.5) at USC; Ohio State (-2.5) at Oregon; and Minnesota (-5.5) at UCLA.

While Ohio State starts the week as a field-goal favorite over Oregon, I expect the Buckeyes to experience “frequent misfortune” against the Ducks (relative to what we’ve seen this season, at least). Still, I think we will find that the Buckeyes are far too talented not to prosper in the Beaver State despite certain hardships – something I seldom did all those years ago on The Oregon Trail.

 PLAYERS OF THE GAME. Ohio State named its Players of the Game on Sunday, with Emeka Egbuka earning the award on offense and a trio of Jack Sawyer, Sonny Styles and Davison Igbinosun receiving the accolade on defense.

ICYMI: Eleven Warriors named its Three Stars of the Game on Sunday. We selected Egbuka as the first star of the game, Sawyer as the second star and Howard as the third star.

Follow along with our Three Stars of the Game after each Ohio State win this season. The next post will arrive this Sunday at noon after the Buckeyes beat the Ducks in Eugene!

 SONG OF THE DAY. "Rock And Roll All Night" - KISS.

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