Skull Session: Ohio State Fails to “Leave No Doubt” Against Oregon, the Rushmen’s Fall Off Needs to Be Studied and Traeshon Holden Apologizes for Spitting on Davison Igbinosun

By Chase Brown on October 15, 2024 at 5:00 am
Ryan Day
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Welcome to the Skull Session.

Before I reveal the #content of the Tuesday Skull Session, I want to make this comment loud and clear: I believe in Ryan Day.

For some reason, after the Monday Skull Session, Michigan fans in the Eleven Warriors' social media comments think I have lost faith in him – probably because they just read the headline and not the actual article – but that is far from the case. Ohio State's goals of beating Michigan, winning the Big Ten championship and winning the College Football Playoff are still in reach. I believe Day can help the Buckeyes accomplish all of them.

OK. That's it.

Onward and upward.

Thank you,

The Management.

 WHEN YOU LEAVE DOUBT... The Buckeyes had the ball last on Saturday. They didn’t win the game.

In Ohio State’s 32-31 loss to Oregon, Will Howard and the offense moved the ball to the 28-yard line with 34 seconds left. The Buckeyes were seemingly in position to win their top-three showdown with the Ducks in last-second fashion.

Then disaster struck.

An offensive pass interference penalty against Jeremiah Smith pushed the ball back 15 yards to the Oregon 43, knocking Ohio State out of field goal range. Following a Howard incompletion, Dan Lanning sent a 12th defender on the field, sacrificing 5 yards (43-yard line to the 38) for four seconds of precious time (10 to six).

With Ohio State still out of field goal range, Howard ran 12 yards up the middle, but the clock reached zeroes before the referees could award the Buckeyes their final timeout.

“I was worried about trying to get enough yards to make the field goal and get us into field goal range, but we have to go back and look at it and figure out what we did wrong there. And I have to get down,” Howard said. “We have to learn from it.”

Just pain. It’s pain everywhere.

The pass interference, the illegal substitution, the late slide – it all combines for one big missed opportunity for Ohio State. Howard said that gives the Buckeyes lots to work on this week and next.

“I hope it lights a fire under us, man, because I still have all the belief in the world in this team,” Howard said. “I don’t think (Oregon) necessarily beat us. I think we beat ourselves a little bit. I think we left some stuff out there that we have to learn from and get better because of. I think this is a good team, and we will see them again. I think the message has to be, ‘We have to grow from this and learn from this.’ This obviously isn’t have you want to do it, but you can’t let them beat you twice.”

Day and the Buckeyes entered the 2024 season with a “leave no doubt” mentality but left lots of it on Saturday. The sixth-year head coach said Ohio State must focus on those three words as it prepares for the second half of the regular season.

“It shouldn’t come down to one play,” Day said. “We want to leave no doubt, and I felt like we should have done that tonight. We did not. If you put it in the hands of a call and you don’t get it, then that’s on us. It should have never come down to that situation. We had too many (explosive plays allowed on defense) tonight. We turned the ball over in the first half. It cost us. We have to do a better job of handling those situations and playing better overall.”

 WHERE ARE THE RUSHMEN? In Ohio State’s win over Marshall, the Buckeyes recorded one sack. The following Tuesday, Ryan Day fielded a question about the team’s pass rush and whether it had been up to standard through three games.

“Is the pass rush where you want it right now?” Steve Helwagen of 247Sports asked. “Just one sack this past week and it wasn’t out of the regular four-man (rush). It was out of the Rushmen package.”

Before Helwagen finished the question, Day shook his head.

“You know, I think what’s it important for everybody to understand – and that includes JT (Tuimoloau), Jack (Sawyer) and our guys – is if an offense decides that they’re not gonna give up sacks, they can run the ball every play, throw RPO or get the ball out of their hand quickly,” he said. “It isn’t a game of stats. What you have to do is stop the run. If the quarterback is in a situation where he’s looking to run quarterback draw, quarterback power of those kinds of things, we got to stop the run first.”

Then Day wrote a check his defensive line hasn’t cashed – at least not when it has mattered the most.

“The sacks will come,” he said.

When?

Ohio State recorded zero sacks against Oregon, an outcome all too familiar for the self-proclaimed “Rushmen.” Thanks to friend of the program, Ben Koo of Awful Announcing, I learned that the Buckeyes had a total of two sacks in their two losses to Oregon and three losses to Michigan since 2021. Koo was also quick to point out that Cody Simon received credit for one of them, leaving the defensive line with one quarterback takedown in those five games.

That said – as puzzling as it is frustrating – it’s clear the Rushmen have vanished when Ohio State needs to pressure the quarterback and record sacks in matchup games. I don’t know who to blame for that. It could be Day, Jim Knowles, Larry Johnson, the defensive line or a combination of all four. Regardless, the defensive line’s fall off needs to be studied. How did the Buckeyes go from Joey Bosa, Nick Bosa and Chase Young to… this? I need answers!

 “I WANT TO SINCERELY APOLOGIZE.” In one of the more bizarre moments I’ve seen in a college football game, Oregon wide receiver Traeshon Holden spit on Davison Igbinosun and was disqualified from the top-three showdown.

Almost 24 hours later, Holden issued an apology to Oregon, Ohio State and Igbinosun for his actions, calling the incident a “valuable lesson” for himself.

“I want to sincerely apologize for my actions during our recent game. My actions were not only disrespectful but also a betrayal of the values of sportsmanship, integrity and respect that I strive to embody as a student-athlete,” he wrote. “To my Oregon family, I am truly sorry for letting you down. You have shown me the importance of teamwork, discipline and respect, and my actions in that moment did not reflect these core principles. I recognize that this has negatively affected our team’s reputation, and I deeply regret putting us in that situation.

“To Ohio State, offer my sincerest apologies for my behavior. It was completely unacceptable and a momentary lapse in judgment. I want to emphasize that this indecency does not reflect who I am as a person or the values I aim to uphold. … Moving forward, I am committed to making meaningful changes, not only in managing my emotions during competition but in setting a better example for my teammates and the broader community. I am determined to demonstrate growth and maturity, both on and off the field, and I hope to earn back the trust of those I’ve let down.”

Good on Holden for releasing this statement.

As Ted Lasso once said, “I hope that either all of us or none of us are judged by the actions of our weakest moments. But rather, by the strength we show when, and if, we’re ever given a second chance.”

I hope Holden bounces back strong because I look forward to Ohio State’s (potential) rematch with him and the Ducks in the Big Ten Championship Game on Dec. 7.

 DUBGATE SZN. Before Ohio State faces Nebraska on Oct. 26, Eleven Warriors will host its 12th annual Eleven Dubgate behind the Varsity Club on Tuttle Park Place and Norwich Avenue. 

What’s awesome about Eleven Dubgate? One hundred percent of the proceeds from the event will go to Special Olympics Olentangy, which provides year-round sports competitions and training for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. What else is awesome? There is food. There are drinks. There is music. Oh, and there are some of the best people in Buckeye Nation in attendance – you!

In 2021 and 2022, the Eleven Dubgate raised thousands of dollars for Special Olympics Olentangy and helped fund the nation’s first centralized and dedicated biobank for Down Syndrome research. For those who plan to (or don’t plan to) attend this year’s Dubgate, we ask you to please consider a $20 cash donation or a Venmo transaction to Special Olympics Olentangy (@OSSOSTORM) so we can continue to help the non-profit organization thrive.

Thanks in advance to all who donate — and thanks in advance to all who will attend the 12th annual Eleven Dubgate.

 SONG OF THE DAY. "Doubt" - twenty one pilots.

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