Skull Session: Ohio State’s Decision To Bring In Will Howard Has Paid Off (So Far) and Jermaine Mathews Jr. Takes Notice of a Michigan Receiver’s Trash Talk After The Game in 2023

Welcome to the Skull Session.

To start, I want to thank Skull Session readers and the Eleven Warriors community for their support for the past two years and change. Working at 11W has been the opportunity of a lifetime, and I cannot express my gratitude enough that you read my Skull Sessions. It truly is an honor to work and write for you!

Today, make sure to tell someone you love them and that you are thankful for them. We could all use a little love and compassion, so show that to another person as often as possible. Heck, make that a part of your daily routine. Imagine how that could change the trajectory of every day!

Once again, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. A million times, thank you. You are all the best Ohio State fans around.

Have a good Thanksgiving!

HE JUST GETS IT. I am thankful for Will Howard, who continues to win me over each time he's behind a microphone. Howard had a stellar answer when asked to describe the significance of The Game last Saturday. He provided another one on Tuesday.

“Just feeling how much this rivalry means and how deep it runs and how deep it cuts," he said. "From the moment I got here, it was just different. It was like, you don’t wear blue in the building, you don’t say the M word, like all this stuff. I was like, ‘OK, this is different.’ It’s not really a rivalry. It’s more like a way of life.”

Then, as he did on Saturday, Howard shared he wants to win a pair of Gold Pants this weekend for Ohio State's veterans and Ryan Day.

“I want to get this done for them. I haven’t been a part of it for that long. I’ve only been here a year, so I only know what I know, but what I do know is that I love my brothers and that they came back and they wanted this," Howard said. "They felt the hurt the last couple of years. Coach Day felt it. Coach Day took a chance on me when he didn’t have to. … I owe that guy a lot. I want to get this done for him.”

The final portion of that comment reminded me of an article I posted soon after Kyle McCord entered the transfer portal on Dec. 4. In said article, I looked into potential transfer quarterbacks Ohio State could pursue in the offseason. The list included Cam Ward, Riley Leonard – oh, goodness me – DJ Uiagelelei (!), Dillon Gabriel and Dante Moore as the top five options. And then there was Howard.

While Ward, Leonard and Gabriel have had excellent seasons (potential Heisman Trophy seasons for Ward and Gabriel), I'd rather have Howard than all of them. Yes, he's a Heisman contender in his own regard, but he also just... gets it.

"I am truly grateful for this opportunity that I had to come here," Howard said Tuesday. "It could not have ended up going any better. I love it here. I love my guys. I love everyone in the building. I love this place. I love this city. It’s been everything I could have asked for and more.”

Later, he added “We still have plenty of things to take care of. We’re far from done.”

Gold Pants. Big Ten championship. College Football Playoff title.

Lead them to greatness, Will!

"NOTED." I am thankful for Jermaine Mathews Jr., who called out Lane Kiffin earlier this season and some Wolverines this week. The latter instance occurred Monday when a video of Michigan wide receiver Semaj Morgan using colorful words to describe Marvin Harrison Jr. and Ryan Day appeared on Matthews' timeline.

Noted https://t.co/kZVr4kobd2
— Jermaine Mathews Jr (@Jr2Maine) November 25, 2024

The video, which looks like a screen recording of Morgan's Instagram Live after The Game in 2023, came amid a season in which Morgan collected 22 catches for 204 yards and two touchdowns and earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors. However, since he decided to trash talk, the 5-foot-10, 174-pound receiver has recorded 23 catches for 134 yards and one score – as in, fractions of the production seen from Jeremiah Smith, Emeka Egbuka and Carnell Tate.

That reminds me of what Justin Frye said at the Indiana Skull Session.

"I learned from my dad a long time ago that those who talk and run their mouths most of the time know nothing. And those that lock their jaw, shut their mouth and go to work are the ones you gotta fear the most," Frye said. "You want to pick a fight? You want to come into Columbus in late November and pick a fight with the Best Damn Fans in the Land? No. You want to pick a fight with The Best Damn Band in the Land? Don’t get me started on these men, you ain‘t picking a fight with these men."

Morgan did.

And he will be humbled on Saturday.

I guarantee you that.

TEAR IT DOWN! I am thankful that the Ohio State football team tore down Michigan's sacred M Club banner in 1973.

In the video featured below, Michigan announcer Bob Ufer says, "They're tearing down Michigan's coveted M Club Banner!" However, that's not all Ufer said after one of the now-iconic moments in The Rivalry. Actually, it's far from everything he had to say about the Buckeyes' act of war.

“They're tearing down Michigan's coveted M Club banner! They will meet a dastardly fate here for that! There isn't a Michigan man in the stadium who wouldn't like to go out and scalp those Buckeyes right now! They had the audacity – the unmitigated gall – to tear down the coveted M that Michigan is going to run out from under!”

When I watch that video and hear Ufer's words, I recall the legendary Ron Burgundy. “Well, that escalated quickly,” I quote when Ufer claimed every Michigan fan in the Big House would like to scalp the players on Ohio State's team and that the Wolverines would make the Buckeyes pay for their actions.

But the Wolverines didn't make the Buckeyes pay.

In fact, Michigan perhaps experienced the worst-case scenario after that event. The Game ended in a 10-10 tie that year, which meant the Big Ten's athletic directors would choose the conference's Rose Bowl representative. And, despite the precedent that a Big Ten team should not play in the Rose Bowl in consecutive seasons, the ADs chose the Buckeyes.

Hilarious.

Ohio State pummeled USC in Pasadena, California, 42-21, on New Year's Day 1974 behind a combined 246 yards and four touchdowns from Archie Griffin and Pete Johnson. Meanwhile, Michigan wasn't invited to a bowl game despite an undefeated 10-0-1 record.

Also hilarious.

I bet the Wolverines had so much fun watching the Buckeyes win the Granddaddy of Them All.

HOW DID WE GET HERE? I am thankful for this Ohio State football season so far. From its season opener against Akron to its top-five win over Indiana, the Buckeyes have evolved across 13 weeks of the 2024 college football season. Much of that evolution has been covered in detail through the lens(es) of the Ohio State football media team. How about we end the Skull Session with a stroll down Memory Lane?

Akron

Western Michigan

Marshall

Michigan State

NOTE: For some reason, Ohio State deleted its Michigan State Recap from all social channels. I replaced what would have been their video with one from the Big Ten Network. Don't shoot the messenger, please!