Skull Session: Ohio State’s Defensive Line Can’t Buy a Holding Penalty, Jeremiah Smith Deserved to Win National Freshman of the Year and Bodpegn Miller Returns Home

Welcome to the Skull Session.

It's almost Game Week.

Next stop pic.twitter.com/Cvsm1kgqFc
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) December 22, 2024

Have a good Friday.

WHAT’S IT GONNA TAKE? Tony Gerdeman of Buckeye Huddle shared a stat on Christmas that has shocked me for almost 48 hours: Ohio State’s defensive line has drawn one holding penalty the ENTIRE SEASON. That call came in the first 75 minutes of the regular season, as Western Michigan tackle Jack Sherwin held Caden Curry in the first quarter of the second game.

That’s —

What?

According to Gerdeman and Ohio State’s box scores, the Buckeyes’ opponents have been penalized three times for holding this season, including the one mentioned above. The other two occurrences came when Marshall center Logan Osburn held linebacker Sonny Styles (Game 3) and Michigan State running back Kay’ron Lynch-Adams held Caleb Downs (Game 4). Since that streak of opponent holding calls in three consecutive games, there’s been zero, zip, zilch, nada since Sept. 28.

In his article, Gerdeman mentioned a statistic I included in the Skull Session a couple of months back that has remained true: Ohio State ranks No. 134 — dead last in college football — in opponent penalties per game at 3.6. (The next closest schools are Penn State and Michigan State at 3.8, and Georgia Tech and Northwestern at 3.9.)

Here’s one Gerdeman mentioned that I did not include: The Buckeyes, along with Texas and TCU, are one of three programs that have been ranked outside the top 100 in opponent penalties per game in each of the past four seasons.

Here’s another one: The last time an Ohio State defensive lineman drew a holding call was Nov. 4, 2023. And another one: The last time Jack Sawyer drew a holding call was — goodness, me — Sept. 18, 2021. He drew them on back-to-back snaps at the end of the game, the first being called on Tulsa tight end Ethan Hall and the second on Tulsa right tackle Dillon Wade. Since that call on Wade, Sawyer has played 1,619 snaps without drawing another holding call from an offensive lineman.

Geez ow.

Don’t ever let someone tell you Ohio State receives favoritism from the refs…

JJ GETS SNUBBED. Another thing I can’t wrap my head around is how Jeremiah Smith did not win Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year. Instead, Texas defensive end Colin Simmons took home the award.

Congratulations to Colin Simmons, EDGE, University of Texas! You are the 2024 Shaun Alexander Freshman Football Player of the Year.@ColinSimmons__ joins our awesome family of award-winning athletes.

2018: @Trevorlawrencee
2019: @KENNETHGAINWEL
2020: @will_anderson28 pic.twitter.com/307m5E6Tu6
— Shaun Alexander (@shaunalexander) December 26, 2024

This season, Simmons has recorded… * checks notes * … 39 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, eight sacks, three forced fumbles and one interception in 14 appearances. That’s cool and all. But, like, Smith had 63 catches for 1,037 yards and 13 total touchdowns.

More importantly, I never heard about Simmons in the regular season; however, I heard about Smith all the time. I know I am an Ohio State beat reporter, so I am bound to hear about Smith — but I mean, I never saw social media posts about Simmons, and I never saw analysts talk about Simmons. I feel like I could find the same material about Smith in nanoseconds.

Ah, well.

Smith didn’t win the Shaun Alexander Award, but he did win Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Big Ten Receiver of the Year. He was also a second-team All-American, according to the Walter Camp Football Foundation, one of the “Big Five” All-American teams that also includes the AFCA, AP, FWAA and Sporting News.

That’s pretty good!

TOUR DE HORSESHOE. Garrett Fedewa, also known as GFed on TikTok, creates content in which he challenges himself to remain inside arenas, ballparks and stadiums for as long as possible after a game ends. (You may remember him as the reason the Cincinnati Reds “reviewed and adjusted” their security protocols after he snuck into luxury suites and other private areas of the stadium after a game in August.)

Last weekend, Fedewa attended Ohio State’s College Football Playoff matchup with Tennessee at the Horseshoe. After the game ended, Fedewa remained in his seat near the top of the student section in the south stands. Then, he explored the 102-year-old stadium.

@gfedgocrazy How Long Can I Stay At A College Football Playoff Game? #cfp #ncaafootball #ohiostate #buckeyes original sound - GFed

In the video, Fedewa reveals that he has walked around the stadium once before, entering the press box and some of the luxury suites. This time around, Fedewa walked into the Huntington Club, the NetJets Landing and the home press conference room (I’m in the room after each home game, and I don’t know if it has a name).

The coolest place Fedewa went to was two floors above where we have postgame press conferences. It looked like the Room of Requirement in Harry Potter, with a blue and yellow trampoline (bleh), crash pads, diving boards and some other random stuff. I have no idea what Ohio State uses the room for, so if someone can tell me, I’d love to know.

THE WILDCARD. On Dec. 6, I shared a Mansfield News Journal article in which Bodpegn Miller shared his desire to represent his birthplace, Gambella, Ethiopia, and his childhood home, Ontario, Ohio, as he starts his career at Ohio State.

Last week, Miller returned to Gambella for the first time in 14 years. The future wide receiver expressed thankfulness for the trip in a social media post on Christmas.

Merry Christmas! I just returned from visiting Gambella, Ethiopia for the first time since I was 4 years old. Feeling so blessed to see my family and still make it home in time to watch OSU win last week. Pumped for the Rose Bowl! #GoBucks @OhioStateFB pic.twitter.com/RLwQFcVQ6R
— Bodpegn Miller (@BodpegnM) December 25, 2024

Ryan Day views Miller as a “wild card” in the 2025 class. Because Miller did it all for Ontario — he holds the school’s single-season records in rushing yards, completion percentage, passing yards and total touchdowns, as well as career records in rushing yards, passing yards, passing touchdowns and total touchdowns — Day believes Miller could make an impact in several different areas down the road.

“He’s a local guy who came to camp, did some great things, ran some really good times,” Day said on Dec. 4. “You watch him run some routes, which he hadn’t done a whole lot of in his high school career, and you see some really high-end things, especially with his size at 6-foot-4. And then when you watch some of the games he had this season, he’s very, very competitive at quarterback. I don’t know if it will be year one for him, but we think he can be a very, very good receiver.”

I hope so.

Miller is easy to root for!

SONG OF THE DAY. "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" - The Rolling Stones.