Skull Session: Seth McLaughlin Sells ”Run the Damn Ball” Hats, Caleb Downs is a Future Top-10 Pick and Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse Adds an Ohio Stadium Cake to Its Menu

By Chase Brown on November 7, 2024 at 5:00 am
Seth McLaughlin
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Welcome to the Skull Session.

On to the next one.

Have a good Thursday.

 GOOD GUY SETH MCLAUGHLIN. Like Will Howard, Seth McLaughlin is a Good Guy™. This month, the Ohio State center has sold “Run the Damn Ball” hats and will donate 100 percent of the sales to feed Central Ohio families on Thanksgiving. Here’s a three-part update on where McLaughlin stands with his hat sales:

On Nov. 1, McLaughlin announced he would sell the hats.

On Nov. 3, the morning after Ohio State’s win over Penn State, McLaughlin announced the hats were sold out.

On Nov. 6, McLaughlin announced the hats are back in stock.

McLaughlin said fans who purchase a hat will receive it before the Indiana game, which will occur on Nov. 23 after Ohio State faces Purdue (Saturday) and Northwestern (Nov. 16). He also plans to create a link where fans can donate to his efforts even without purchasing a lid.

When asked Wednesday what inspired him to sell the product, McLaughlin said his heart aches for those who can't afford to consistently put food on the table.

"Being a lineman, I like eating food. It's heavy on my heart that some people don't have the amount of food I've had growing up," he said. "Anything that I can do to help people out and be a blessing with the platform that I have is what I try to do. The 'Run the Damn Ball' project, the acronym RTDB, is a play on 'Run to the Donation Box.' We're donating all the proceeds from those hat sales. I'm working with the Mid-Ohio Food Collective. ... I'm super appreciative that people would kind of hop on this project with me and do a lot of good for this community."

One of 16 finalists for the William V. Campbell Trophy, McLaughlin combines academic and athletic success with commendable leadership qualities at Ohio State. 

With his nomination for the award, McLaughlin became a member of the 2024 NFF National Scholar-Athlete class and received an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship. If he wins the Campbell Trophy, the scholarship will increase to $25,000. The Buckeyes have had two Campbell Trophy winners all time: quarterbacks Bobby Hoying (1995) and Craig Krenzel (2003).

 “HE SEES THE PLAY BEFORE IT HAPPENS.” What can be said about Caleb Downs that has not yet been said? A freshman All-American at Alabama, Downs was one of the most coveted transfers in college football this past offseason. Ohio State won the Caleb Downs Sweepstakes and has reaped the rewards in 2024, as the 6-foot, 205-pound defensive back continues to look the part as one of the best defenders in the sport.

“He’s all over the field,” Ryan Day said Tuesday after the Penn State game, in which Downs made four of the best open-field tackles I’ve seen. “He’s having a huge impact on our defense. He made some huge tackles in the game. He’s a huge part of our defense.”

Jim Knowles took his praise for Downs a step further.

“He sees the play before it happens,” Knowles said. “I think he has incredible talent. But then he has vision. All the best defensive players I’ve been around see it before it happens based on the formation and the film study. It just gives him another leg up.”

It’s clear Downs’ performances – while not as impressive from a box score perspective as last year, when he had 107 tackles – have exceeded Day and Knowles’ expectations. They’ve also exceeded the expectations of Todd McShay. The NFL draft analyst posted about Downs on social media Monday and called Downs “the best safety in the country.”

“This is completely random on a Monday night… but just watching Ohio State D tape… Caleb Downs is the best safety in the country. He’s just different. One of the best football players in the country. He would be a top-15 pick in the 2025 draft if he were eligible. Maybe top-10,” McShay posted.

Caleb Downs is different. Jeremiah Smith is different. Ohio State just has a lot of different on its roster. You love to see it.

 CAN I GET A BIG MAC? Donovan Jackson, Cody Simon, Tyleik Williams, Carnell Tate and Lathan Ransom have all suffered bumps, bruises and other ailments that forced them to miss at least one game for Ohio State this season. When each of them was on the mend, Day described them as “day-to-day.” This week, he used the label for Williams a second time after the defensive tackle exited the Penn State game in the fourth quarter.

Even though Day said Williams is trending toward being available on Saturday, considering Ohio State is a 38-point favorite over Purdue – and the Buckeyes don’t need him to win — it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s a game-time decision and does not appear in the contest. Then, after the game, Day will comment, “Tyleik could have played in an emergency,” and we will all move on to Northwestern.

If Williams does, in fact, miss the Purdue game, Ohio State would love to see what Kayden McDonald could do with extra opportunities. McDonald has flashed in goal-line situations the past two weeks, maximizing the size and strength of his 6-foot-3, 326-pound frame to bulldoze Nebraska and Penn State offensive linemen and running backs inches from the end zone. 

McDonald’s success in those moments made Knowles call the sophomore defensive tackle one of the best game-wreckers on the defensive line.

“When you put him in those situations, he’s head up at the center, and his job is to knock the center back. I think he’s showing the ability to really change the game and change the line of scrimmage,” Knowles said. “He’s definitely someone who’s earning himself more playing time.”

Day agreed with his defensive coordinator.

“K-Mac really stepped us for us. We’re hoping he can continue to give us more and more snaps,” he said. “Two weeks in a row, there’s been big spots for him to step up in. We’re gonna continue to try and find ways to get him on the field.”

In addition to McDonald, Day mentioned five-star freshman Eddrick Houston as someone who continues to impress wherever he lines up on the defensive line. After being recruited at defensive end, Houston's moved to defensive tackle, a position Larry Johnson and LaAllan Clark believe could become a permanent position for the 6-foot-3, 270-pound athlete.

“He has a bright future ahead of him. I think he’s gonna be a really good football player. He hasn’t played a lot inside. He’s learning that position. When you look at how he projects out, we got one here now. He has to keep growing. He has to keep learning from Ty (Hamilton) and Tyleik about the intricacies of playing inside because it’s different on the edge. But he has the size, the power, the strength and the toughness to play inside for us.

“He’s really embraced it. I think he sees what it could be for him. Maybe down the road, we could move him back outside, but I think he realizes when you go from being a very athletic and strong defensive end and now moving inside, you become elite as a 3-technique because you have speed, quickness and power at the point of attack.”

 SWEET TREAT. Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse will celebrate the 10-year anniversary of Ohio State’s 2014 national championship with a sweet creation – a cake modeled after Ohio Stadium.

Last week, Jeff Ruby revealed “Thee Stadium,” a dessert that combines chocolate cake with peanut butter mousse, dark chocolate chips and Oreo crumble. The cake will be topped with milk chocolate ganache, scarlet coulis and Woody’s peanut butter caramel.

The dessert is a complete model of Ohio Stadium, including the north rotunda, the south scoreboard, the “Ohio State” and “Buckeyes” end zones and The Best Damn Band in the Land’s “Script Ohio.”

Featured on the “Ruby Reserve” menu, the cake costs $75. While that is a lot of bones, Jeff Ruby’s cheapest steak is a $62 filet mignon, and its most expensive steak is a $168 Japanese A5 filet mignon, so it’s not like people eat there and expect a cheap meal. You go to a place like that for the experience, as my dad once told me, so head to Jeff Ruby’s and experience “Thee Stadium” before time runs out.

 SONG OF THE DAY. "Mistakes" - Gregory Alan Isakov.

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