Skull Session: Will Howard Continues to Shine in the CFP, Dan Lanning Calls Jeremiah Smith “NFL-Ready” and Jim Knowles Calls Cody Simon “A Future President of the United States”

By Chase Brown on January 3, 2025 at 5:00 am
Will Howard
Gary A. Vasquez / Imagn
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Welcome to the Skull Session.

This photo from Mark Holtzman was something else.

The Granddaddy of Them All!

Have a good Friday.

 THE POWER OF WILL. In 1995, Randy Newman said – or sang – these words in the Pixar movie Toy Story...

You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
When the road looks rough ahead
And you're miles and miles from your nice warm bed
Just remember what your old pal said
Boy, you've got a friend in me
Yeah, you've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got troubles, I've got 'em too
There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you
We stick together, we can see it through
'Cause you've got a friend in me
Yeah, you've got a friend in me

I like to think those words were in Jeremiah Smith’s head as he described his relationship with Will Howard on Wednesday.

“Will playing with that confidence he has, being a leader out there, I feed off his energy,” Smith said. “Great guy. I love Will to death. I’d do anything for him.”

That comment, which made Day smile as he sat next to Smith at the post-Rose Bowl press conference, speaks volumes of how Howard has performed this season – and, more importantly, in the College Football Playoff.

Off the heels of a 311-yard, three-touchdown effort in Ohio State’s win over Tennessee, Howard was dialed in Pasadena. He started the Buckeyes’ beatdown of Oregon 6-of-9 passing for 165 yards and two touchdowns. Smith and Emeka Egbuka combined for 135 of those yards. They combined for both scores, too.

Howard continued to thrive from there, completing 11 of his final 17 attempts for 154 yards and one touchdown. He finished the Rose Bowl 17-of-26 passing (65.3 percent) for 319 yards and three scores, which marked the third time this season Howard had thrown for more than 300 yards and had multiple touchdown passes in a game. The opponents? Oregon, Tennessee and Oregon. Not bad.

A testament to his character, Howard didn’t take credit for his stellar performance. Instead, he deflected praise to his teammates, whom he called “an embarrassment of riches for me.” Still, Howard had one narrative he wanted to address.

“I think a lot of people think in big games that I don’t take care of the football, I don’t show up or I’m not an elite quarterback. But I feel like with what we have, what we were able to do today and what the guys around me did today, I’ve learned over the last year that I don’t have to be Superman, and I don’t have to do anything special,” Howard said. “I think, if I would have known that when I was at K-State, I would have been better. That’s nothing against K-State or its talent. I think I have gotten better at taking checkdowns and completions here. I’ve been a little more efficient.

“I think that was some of the coaching that I got here. It was emphasizing, man, take completions. Something that Coach (Chip) Kelly said to me earlier in the season – it was something really profound that hit me earlier in the season – he said, ‘Let the game come to you. Don’t make anything happen. Just let it happen.’ I think I’ve gotten a lot better at that. I’d like to think of myself as one of the best quarterbacks in the country. When I got guys around me that are doing what they’re doing, I don’t have to do much. I just got to put it up and give them a chance. The O-line played a hell of a game and gave me some time. The rest is history.”

History will be on Howard’s mind as Ohio State prepares to face Texas in the Cotton Bowl. When Howard was Kansas State’s quarterback, he faced the Longhorns four times. Howard had 566 passing yards, seven total touchdowns and three interceptions in those appearances as the Wildcats went 0-4. Now 10 Feet Tall and Bulletproof, Howard wants nothing more than to knock the Longhorns out of the College Football Playoff.

“There was one team I never beat in the Big 12, and it was Texas, so I’m really looking forward to this game,” Howard said Wednesday on the Big Ten Network. “I played them four times. I definitely have some feelings about them. The way we lost last year, we lost in overtime down there. I’m excited to get a crack at these guys. They’re a good football team … That’ll be fun.”

Yes, it will be fun – more fun than being left off the Rose Bowl stage, that’s for sure.

 “THE GUY IS NFL-READY.” Smith has been the Talk of the Town™ since the Rose Bowl kicked off. Well, really, since the College Football Playoff kicked off. 

Through the quarterfinals, Smith has 13 catches for 290 yards and four touchdowns. That includes his Ohio State freshman record-breaking seven-catch, 187-yard, two-touchdown performance in Pasadena against undefeated Oregon, the No. 1 seed in the CFP.

Dan Lanning showered Smith with praise in his postgame press conference, claiming the 19-year-old could turn pro after this season.

“He’s strong. He attacks the ball in the air as well as any receiver I’ve seen. I mean, the guy is NFL-ready. He’s that talented. He’s very special,” Lanning said. “Will Howard did a great job of getting the ball to him tonight. He’s tough to defend. He’s physical. He’s got all the tools. Really talented player.”

That’s an incredible – and well-deserved – compliment. 

Because Smith is the Talk of the Town, I don’t want to discuss him ad nauseam, so if I can shift the focus of this section, I want to address Lanning’s class after Oregon’s loss. Mere moments after his team suffered a blowout loss, Lanning praised Smith but also praised Day and the Buckeyes for their performance in the Rose Bowl.

“It’s an unbelievable team. Coach Day and his staff have done an unbelievable job there,” Lanning said. “I don’t want to discredit what our players were able to accomplish this year. We had a great a great team. We just ran into a great team tonight.”

Lanning’s players also showed tremendous class. The best example was wide receiver Tez Johnson, who waited for Howard to complete an interview with ESPN to congratulate him on Ohio State’s win.

I have so much respect for that.

Cheers to Lanning and Johnson for their sportsmanship.

That’s how it’s done!

 CODY SIMON, FUTURE PRESIDENT. Jim Knowles predicted Cody Simon’s future after the Rose Bowl.

“Cody is a future President of the United States,” Knowles said when asked about Simon’s Defensive MVP performance with 11 tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks and one pass breakup in the Rose Bowl.

Knowles continued: “He’s an unbelievable human being and a great team leader. When you put guys like that in position to make plays and see him get a chance to shine, it’s a really good feeling.”

Ohio State’s Block O recipient and one of the team’s four captains, Simon has led a late-season surge on defense, collecting 72 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, six sacks and three pass breakups since the Nebraska game. In a press conference after the Rose Bowl, Simon said he and his defensive teammates have had success because of “tough conversations” at the Woody.

“There were a lot of changes we had to make. I think we’re better for it now,” Simon said. “We made those changes and, like Coach Day said, it’s all about execution. No matter who is across the ball, you have to do your job. If you do your job, you’re gonna like the result.”

I haven’t liked the results, I have loved the results from Simon and the Silver Bullets. I hope to see more of the same on Jan. 10 in Arlington!

 THIS AND THAT. Since the next Skull Session comes out on Monday and all of our focus will have shifted to Texas, how about I end this column with a trademarked section of This and That™?

You know the drill.

Ohio State posted some awesome pictures of Simon, Smith, Caleb Downs and Jack Sawyer posing with the Leishman Trophy on the team’s flight back to Columbus:

Here are some stats from the Rose Bowl that make me want to ask, “Is that good?”

Jeremiah Smith — good at football.

I didn’t have Matayo Uiagalelei and Donovan Jackson’s dads having beef on my New Year’s Bingo Card, but here we are:

Incredible stuff from Todd Jackson.

These Brandon Inniss and Jermaine Mathews Jr. videos made me smile (NSFW):

That’s all, folks!

See you on Monday.

 SONG OF THE DAY. "You've Got a Friend In Me" - Randy Newman.

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