Friday Skull Session

By D.J. Byrnes on September 12, 2014 at 6:00 am
Raekwon McMillan goes hard; Cam Burrows (55) on the left.
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How in the world do you let a shitbag #teen serving three life sentences and some 45-year-old, Mountain Dew acolyte-lookin' dude escape from prison? Hopefully the manhunt isn't as inept as ACI's security

No NSFW Anti-Work #Bangers this week because there is was a dangerous #teen on the loose, and I'm rattled. 

NEED QUICK THROWS TO LEAD TO BIG GAINS. Ohio State's long passing plays usually involve Devin Smith and a straight line. Urban has stressed the need for receivers to turn short catches into long gains, and even though Michael Thomas took one to the house against Virginia Tech, the search is still ongoing for something more everlasting.

From Ari Wasserman of cleveland.com:

"What we're looking for and what we're capable of is taking a screen 80, taking a jet sweep 90," wide receivers coach Zach Smith said. "We have done that in the deep throw game, but we haven't done that in the quick throw game. That's the biggest thing we need to do. We had limited opportunities in doing that, but we had opportunities and it didn't happen. It needs to happen, and it will." 

Urban said yesterday on his call-in show he envisions the offense functioning primarily through spacing his athletes and throwing the magic diamond. ("I've had those conversations with Tom Herman...") Last year they had El Guapo and a beast run-blocking line to fall back on. They don't have that luxury this year.

There's only so much you can hear things like, "It needs to happen, and it will." Hell, it better happen against the likes of Kent State. If it doesn't, well, that's another topic entirely.

IN AMERICA? 91% CHANCE YOU CAN WATCH THE BUCKS. Here's the TV coverage map, courtesy of the indomitable Jerry Emig:

I look forward to Ohio State-haters making yuck yucks on Twitter regardless of the outcome of the game. (I hate losing. I also hate yuck yucks.)

Shame I will be missing a big-time rivalry like Boise State and Connecticut, though.

AARON CRAFT SPEAKS. Aaron Craft is scrapping to make the Golden State Warriors' opening night roster. The former Ohio State standout sat down with James Grega of The Lantern:

“[Signing an NBA contract] wasn’t anything super crazy. There’s definitely a little bit of relief once we actually figured out it was happening for sure,” Craft said in an interview with The Lantern. “(I was) just kind of enjoying being at home as much as possible and then once you kind of figure it out, then you go back into work mode and try to figure out what we have to do to prepare ourselves to be ready for it.”

[...]

“All the little things you have to deal with [in moving to a new area] — not knowing the area and not knowing a good place to go eat, a lot of things are just kind of restarting,” he said. “We are figuring it out day-by-day and the people in the Warriors organization have been great.”

[...]

“It is definitely going to be different [than college]. You look at the schedule and you know it is going to be a grind,” he said. “Just looking forward to the challenge and the opportunity and hopefully we can attack it like we have everything else.”

I never thought Craft would amount to much in the NBA, but there might be a role for him yet. He can definitely guard NBA point guards; his problem is offering enough on the offensive end so his team won't have to play five vs. four.

RUTGERS VS. PENN STATE: IS IT BEEF FOR RECORD SALES? Here's a sign of the desolate hell in which we've been left by our midwestern football family: I'm unironically typing things like, "Penn State's Week 3 trip to Rutgers is looking spicier than I'd have thought!"

If Kyle Flood — who just re-upped with Rutgers because his insecurity was a negative recruiting tool — wants to start keeping New Jersey talent in New Jersey, a good way to start is knocking Penn State off their high horse. (And boy, did it not take long for these folks to get back onto their high horse.)

Is this a rivalry natural or forced? Here's Big Dick Jim Delany (BDD) to CBS' Jeremy Fowler:

"My view is there's potential there for a rivalry," Delany said. "Penn State has dominated the competition but the world has really changed. I expect over the next 50 years it will be a lot more competitive. Both schools would have resources generated through the Big Ten, both will anchor eastern aspects of big ten. It's kind of a new game in many, many ways."

I'm praying to be dead within 50 years, so hopefully it doesn't take too long to build a froth to this fixture. One thing that separates the SEC from the Big Ten — other than a talent gap the Grand Canyon couldn't accommodate – is their fan bases despise each other (until it's time to claim each other's accolades after bowl season.)

When it comes to the Big Ten, I don't truly detest any team outside of Michigan. Penn State is more annoying than anything. (Maybe with Rutgers on their hands, they'll stop looking at Ohio State as a rival.) I can't truly hate Michigan State because Dino's swagger is impenetrable. Wisconsin became tolerable the second Bert Bielema fled to become King of the Ozarks. Purdue is too pitiful to elicit any other emotion.

What I'm saying is: The Big Ten could use some more hate.

SPEAKING OF PURDUE. If there were a poll on the most likely Big Ten mascot to have a small cemetery of hookers in their backyard... Purdue Pete would win in Harding-vs-Cox proportions. 

So I can't decide if Purdue Pete as Zangief makes him 100% more baller or 200% creepier. 

It's crazy that, no matter what alterations you make to Purdue Pete, the fetal alcohol syndrome still blares through his narrow-set eyes. That forehead, too.

Zangief was a beast on the Street Fighter though.

THOSE WMDs. Mickey Mitchell re-commits to Ohio State... The verbal tics that make up who we are — and how they spread to others... Jimbo Fisher breaks down winning drive of BCS title game... #Teen's bid to get cat into his yearbook... Texas Uber-Booster says he had "top 5 coach on the five-yard line" when Charlie Strong was hired... Who's Cutting Off & Stealing Horse Manes and Tails in Central Ohio?

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