Skull Session: Ryan Day Focused on Maximizing Ohio State’s Strengths Entering the CFP, Urban Meyer Claps Back at Dave Portnoy and Jake Diebler’s First Season is Off to a Rough Start

By Chase Brown on December 16, 2024 at 5:00 am
Ryan Day
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Welcome to the Skull Session.

Yeah, these are sick:

Have a good Monday.

 "WE ALL CARE A LOT." This week, the Ohio State football program will open its doors to the media more than usual. We'll speak with Ryan Day, Chip Kelly, Will Howard, Donovan Jackson and Quinshon Judkins on Monday. We'll speak with Jim Knowles, Caleb Downs, Lathan Ransom, Cody Simon and Sonny Styles on Tuesday. We'll speak with Day again on Wednesday before he has his radio show on Thursday. What a week!

While there will be lots and lots of Day content between now and Saturday, I don't think we can ever have too much Day #content.

On Sunday, Day sat down with Dom Tiberi of 10TV to preview Ohio State-Tennessee. Here is a video recording of the interview, as well as some of the best comments:

On his excitement for the College Football Playoff

"We're definitely embracing it. All of our focus is on this game. ... Our goal is to win a national championship, and the goal all along was to make the playoffs. Well, we're here. We've won 10 games this year. We've had two top-five wins. Along the way, there have been different challenges. This year, the Big Ten changed. We had three top-five games this year, two on the road. We took on some injuries. So, along the way this year, there's been twists and turns, some things that went well, some things that we'd like to have back. But you have to learn from those. You have to make adjustments.

"I think every team that's in this playoff right now is gonna have issues, and it's the teams that can address those issues going into the playoffs that will give themselves the best chance to win. We're excited about being in this game. We know that this has been the goal all along to get in the playoffs and make a run at this thing. Tennessee is a very good team coming in here, but we got them at home. It's gonna be a great atmosphere, and we're excited about that."

On whether the CFP has started to feel like the NFL

"I think so. When you look at those wild card teams, getting that first win has really built momentum in the playoffs, as you see year in and year out. We have to get this first win. That's the focus. Nothing else. You do have to figure out the things that need to be adjusted. The first thing is making sure that we're maximizing our strengths and minimizing our deficiencies. The second part is everybody taking accountability for doing their job, whatever that might be on the field, because every single little inch matters, as we've learned. 

"And then also, we're not the same team as we were in September, October and November for different reasons, one of them being injuries and another one being how the scheme moves along and our personnel ... Our players are resilient. Our players are great. We have an amazing group of seniors. We had our Senior Tackle on Sunday, and to listen to those guys speak – I mean, you talk about motivation going into this playoff system, I almost wish Buckeye Nation could hear what they had to say because they love this university, they love this team, they love this program and they want to win this whole thing in the worst way."

On Tennessee's offense

"When you look at the way they run their offense, they try to spread you out sideline to sideline, and they try to spread you out vertically, and they try to go fast. What's unique is, and I was just talking the other day about how, really, Chip (Kelly) was one of the first to start this (offense), and that I was actually one of his first quarterbacks, and how it's come full circle. Ultimately, that style of play, what they're trying to do is they're trying to go fast and get you to miscommunicate, not get aligned, wear down and not run to the football. We have to make sure we eliminate that. But the quarterback (Nico Iamaleava) is the one that's behind it – the running back (Dylan Sampson) is very good as well, but he's the one. He's the one who will direct it all. He can make throws from sideline to sideline. He has a lot of talent. We have to make sure we neutralize him with how we play."

On Ohio State's defense

"I feel good about our team in general. In the same way that our offense didn't do very well coming out of the last game and our defense did play well, neither of those things have anything to do with this game. Our defense has got to be on edge. Our defense has to be edgy. It has to play at a high level just like our offense and special teams. Nothing that's happened before has anything to do with what we're walking ourselves into. But I certainly think our defense is playing with confidence right now. They know that they can play with anybody in the country."

On Ohio State's offense, the offensive line

"We're looking at a couple of different combinations (on the offensive line). But we're also looking at a couple of different schemes to make sure that we're maximizing our strengths. But that doesn't necessarily mean we will just make drastic changes, you know? Coming out of the Oregon game, if you watched our defense, you wouldn't really notice a whole bunch of different, but they definitely played different. It will be similar here. There are some things we need to adjust, but we don't need to make wholesale changes here. We need to make sure that we're maximizing our guys. We have to do a better job in situational football. We have to do a better job coming out. We had a couple of coming out situations that we didn't handle very well. And we have to do a better job in the red zone. Third down will be just as important."

On Ohio State entering the Tennessee game with confidence

"That always has to be our mentality. But you want to play with confidence. Execution fuels emotion. We have to execute. That's just the bottom line. It's our job as coaches to put them in the best position to be successful, period. When those two things come together, then everyone feels like they have a lot of confidence and you can let it loose. That's what we need to do. We always look to be aggressive. There's no question about that. But execution does fuel emotion. We've had now three weeks to prepare. We feel like we're gonna be very prepared going into this game."

On Ohio State being "fired up" for the College Football Playoff

"I don't know why anybody wouldn't be anything other than fired up. I mean, we're in a different era. It's a different time. We're in the playoffs. Other teams aren't. That's the way it goes. Not that it's ever gonna change the game – it's not going to – but, like, we're in the playoffs, and that's all we know right now, so let's go win them all. That has to be the mentality. Listen, we all care a lot, including me. These players care. These coaches care. I care more than you could ever know. I don't apologize for that. This is everything to me and these players. When things don't happen the way you expect them to, it can be crushing, but OK, you have to move on. There's still the whole playoff system. There's still a lot of huge goals ahead of us, and that's what we're focused on."

That last part has me fired up.

My goodness.

I can't wait for Saturday!

 MR. 7-0. ICYMI: Everyone's favorite person, Dave Portnoy, tried to troll Urban Meyer on Saturday. When the Barstool founder and former Ohio State head coach passed each other at the Army-Navy game, Portnoy celebrated Michigan's four consecutive wins in The Game. Meyer was friendly in the conversation...

... but later on X, Meyer clapped back.

What an absolute legend.

 THE PROCESS. Woof... the Basketbucks.

Over the weekend, Ohio State suffered its most lopsided defeat since 1994 in a 91-53 loss to second-ranked Auburn in Atlanta. The result marked the Buckeyes' third double-digit loss this season, along with a 78-64 final at Texas A&M and an 83-59 final at Maryland. Their fourth loss overall came at home to Pitt, 91-90 in overtime.

Now 6-4 after 10 contests, new Ohio State head coach Jake Diebler must look in the mirror.

Noise, noise and more noise surrounds the program as it completes its non-conference schedule against Valparaiso (Tuesday), No. 5 Kentucky (Saturday) and Indiana State (Dec. 29) before resuming its Big Ten schedule against No. 21 Michigan State (Jan. 3). A lot of the noise revolves around Diebler. Was he the correct hire? Is he in over his head? Does he have what it takes to coach at Ohio State?

Those questions, while valid, cannot be answered now. Still, I think the answers will arrive sooner rather than later.

Diebler is in his first season as a head coach at Ohio State and also at the collegiate level, so of course, coaches like Buzz Williams, Jeff Capel, Kevin Willard and Bruce Pearl ran circles around him. In the next couple of weeks and months, Mark Pope, Tom Izzo, Dana Altman, Greg Gard, Matt Painter and Mick Cronin could, too.

Whether or not Diebler lets them will determine his future as leader of the Buckeyes, as far as I'm concerned.

Ross Bjork made people upset last week when he said fans need to be more concerned about the process than the end result for Day and Ohio State football. I disagree with that mindset, considering the Buckeyes have been the most successful program in the sport for the past 50 years. However, I can understand it for Diebler and men's basketball after the program's stock plummeted under his predecessor, Chris Holtmann, with an NCAA Tournament upset to Oral Roberts in 2022 and missed NCAA Tournaments in 2023 and 2024.

For Diebler, the process matters. No more blowout losses would be a great place to start. Knocking off Kentucky, Michigan State, Oregon, Wisconsin or Purdue – all teams ranked in the top 25 of the latest AP Poll – would be a great place to continue (in addition to winning the gimmies). But as for the end result? I want to wait and see. For now, I'm more curious to see how Diebler responds to the tidal wave of adversity that's crashed into the ship he's navigating for the first time.

 VERY INTERESTING... Last week, an X account called Flatland Sports posted a theoretical 16-team College Football Playoff bracket that I wanted to share in the Skull Session.

As I understand it, this 16-team College Football Playoff includes the top four teams from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC. Seeded based on their conference record, the teams battle each other for spots in their respective conference championship games. The teams that win their conference championship games move on to the Final Four and the national title.

Another account countered with this idea:

 SONG OF THE DAY. "Miss Misery" - Elliott Smith.

 CUT TO THE CHASE. A library says a man can keep his overdue book 50 years later... How video streamers conquered the media... Thousands of Santas and a few Grinches hit the streets for annual SantaCon bar crawls...  A Sea Story by William Langewiesche... Mysterious googly eyes go viral after appearing on public art in Oregon.

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