Skull Session: Fast Starts Have “Set the Tone” in Ohio State’s Wins Over Tennessee and Oregon, Emmanuel Acho Calls Will Howard “The Worst Remaining Quarterback” in the CFP

By Chase Brown on January 7, 2025 at 5:00 am
Will Howard
Adam Cairns / Columbus Dispatch
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Welcome to the Skull Session.

Three... hours... later...

Have a good Tuesday!

 START FAST. Before each of its 14 games this season, I – like many of you – expressed a desire to see Ohio State start fast and impose its will. For most of 2024, the Buckeyes didn’t. 

Ohio State started slow in non-conference matchups with Akron and Marshall. That trend continued in its Big Ten games against Michigan State, Iowa, Oregon, Nebraska, Penn State, Northwestern, Indiana and [REDACTED]. The Buckeyes even trailed the Ducks, Nittany Lions and Hoosiers at points in the first half.

However, in the College Football Playoff, Ohio State has pushed the pedal to the metal from the opening kickoff. Against Tennessee and Oregon, the Buckeyes had no curveball, no changeup, nothing but f— gas. Ryan Day said Friday that the team’s fast starts have allowed Ohio State to assert its dominance in both contests.

“We’ve always wanted to have fast starts,” Day said. “You want to set the tone for the game as an individual but also as a team. In both games, we started off with the ball and have gone right down and scored. … Execution fuels emotion. That certainly has a big part of it. They go together. We’ve executed well on those first couple of drives. The defense has gotten some three-and-outs early in the game. We’ve been able to jump on the last two opponents.”

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian has noticed that.

“It’s a credit to their coaching staff, putting together a nice plan on offense, defense and special teams, instilling that plan to the players and the players playing with confidence,” he said Friday. “I think that’s one thing that jumps out when you watch (Ohio State) – how confidently they’re playing. They’re definitely calling it aggressively, but the execution is at a really high level.”

While Day was once again quick to attribute his team’s execution as the reason for Ohio State’s success in the CFP, he also credited the calendar. The Buckeyes signed their 2025 class on Dec. 4 and classes ended on Dec. 12, leaving Day and the program ample time to prepare for Tennessee and Oregon without distractions.

“This time of year when you’re in the playoff, it’s ball. It’s putting the best plan you possibly can for our guys. That’s what we’re in the middle of right now,” Day said. “That’s the part I love. I certainly love the other parts of it, but I love being able to jump into the football and be in the middle of all the decisions that are made schematically.”

Ohio State’s second semester classes started Monday. (They were supposed to be in person and on campus, but the polar vortex had other plans.) That means the Buckeyes won’t have quite as much time to talk ball. Keywords: quite as much. It’s only syllabus week, after all.

Confident and well-prepared, Ohio State will look to have another fast start against Texas. They’ll need it, I think. As much as Sarkisian wants to make his team seem like an underdog, the Longhorns will face the Buckeyes in their home state, three hours from Austin. 

If Ohio State can take the air out of AT&T Stadium off the rip, we could see another dominant performance from the Buckeyes in the CFP, moving them one step closer to the program’s first national title in 10 years.

 WELL, NOT ALL THE AIR. Clarification needed: If Ohio State can take the Texas air out of AT&T Stadium off the rip, we could see another dominant performance. 

While the Cotton Bowl is in Dallas, Buckeye Nation will be out in droves in Jerry World, as an Ohio State football spokesperson announced Monday that the program sold all of its 12,500 allotted tickets for the CFP semifinal.

The Cotton Bowl has placed those 12,500 Ohio State fans on the south sideline and the 12,500 fans who purchased tickets from Texas on the north sideline. From there, supporters for the Buckeyes and Longhorns will battle over the remaining 55,000 tickets in the 80,000-seat AT&T Stadium.

I hope to see more Scarlet and Gray than Orange and White in Dallas this weekend!

 THE POWER OF WILL. Former Texas linebacker Emmanuel Acho has been in the news for several reasons in the past 24 hours. One of them is that he called Will Howard “the worst remaining quarterback” in the CFP. While I don’t make a habit out of reserving sections for hot-take artists like Acho, I feel the need to defend Howard here.

Howard was incredible in Ohio State’s wins over Tennessee and Oregon, completing a combined 41 of 55 passes (74.5 percent) for 630 yards, five touchdowns and one interception. According to ESPN Stats & Info, his QBR in those contests was the best among quarterbacks to compete in the CFP or a bowl game this postseason.

  1. Ohio State’s Will Howard vs. Tennessee: 98.7
  2. Ohio State’s Will Howard vs. Oregon: 97.7
  3. Miami’s Cam Ward vs. Iowa State: 97.6
  4. Arkansas’ Taylen Green vs. Texas Tech: 95.9
  5. Mississippi’s Jaxson Dart vs. Duke: 95.2
  6. Syracuse’s Kyle McCord vs. Washington State: 94.3
  7. Louisville’s Harrison Bailey vs. Washington: 92.1
  8. Texas’ Quinn Ewers vs. Arizona State: 91.9
  9. Navy’s Blake Horvath vs. Oklahoma: 90.6
  10. West Virginia’s Garrett Greene vs. Memphis: 90.4

I see Quinn Ewers in the top 10, but Penn State’s Drew Allar and Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard are nowhere to be found. Interesting!

Again, Howard has been incredible in the CFP. I expect that trend to continue against Texas, a team he lost to four times as Kansas State’s quarterback. Howard said Sunday that he still thinks about the Wildcats’ loss to the Longhorns last season. He completed 26 of 41 passes (63.4 percent) for 327 yards, four touchdowns and one interception in the contest, but Kansas State fell short, 33-30, in overtime.

“That one still sticks with me. It still pisses me off a little bit,” Howard said. “I felt like we had it.”

Howard said the loss has added “a little extra motivation” to his preparation for the Cotton Bowl, adding that there will be “a lot of people back in Kansas rooting for the Buckeyes to get this one done against these guys.”

Redemption has been a familiar theme for Howard this season. First, the Downingtown, Pennsylvania, native beat Penn State, the state school that passed on him, at Beaver Stadium. Then, he led Ohio State to a win over Oregon after sliding as time expired in their regular-season matchup. On Friday, Howard will have a chance to claim his first win over Texas in five tries.

“You can’t be making up a story to get you pumped up every single week. You have to strive and want to be the best. But it just so happened that there have been some games this year that have been a little personal to me and have hit home,” Howard said. “We got two more games left. This one coming up is the biggest game we’re going to play this year because it’s the next one. 

“There are four teams left. Texas is a heck of a football team. I played them for four years and wasn’t able to beat them. They’re a good squad. We’re going to have to be on our stuff. I’m just excited and thankful to be here. I’m ready for the challenge.”

 THE RUMORS AREN’T TRUE. This past weekend, rumors swirled around social media that Netflix had plans to create an Ohio State marching band documentary. According to a report from Amani Bayo of The Columbus Dispatch, those rumors have no validity.

“We’re not getting a Netflix documentary,” marching band’s communications director Konner Barr told Bayo.

Barr told Bayo that it’s common for Facebook accounts like Buckeye Pride Forever and The Ohio State University Marching Band to post false stories about TBDBITL. Despite Ohio State’s multiple attempts to report the accounts, both live on and continue to share unverified information. Barr said it’s best to check the Ohio State marching band’s official account on Instagram, Facebook and X to clarify rumors.

Ohio State’s marching band will travel with the football team to Dallas. TBDBITL has invited fans attending the Cotton Bowl (or fans local to the Dallas area) to an open rehearsal at the Melissa Championship Center on Thursday.

Come out and support the Pride of the Buckeyes!

 SONG OF THE DAY. "Willy's Song" - Rayland Baxter.

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