Monday Skull Session

By D.J. Byrnes on October 20, 2014 at 6:00 am
Mike Thomas DA GAWD
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Today's Skull Session will be served as soon as I recover from passing out after hearing the winner of the Columbus Marathon ran 26 miles in two hours and 18 minutes. Was this man an alien?

(Here's where somebody says, "Oh, but that doesn't even touch the world record!" I don't want to hear it. Two hours and 18 minutes is more terrifying than yesterday's Browns-Jaguars "game.")


Here is some 11W stuff you may have missed if you're interested in reliving Ohio State's subjugation of Rutgers:

OHIO STATE AS THE BIG TEN BENCHMARK. It's Penn State week, and while Penn State might only be three points better than Rutgers, I am excited. I've been looking forward to Urban Meyer sacking Happy Valley since the final whistle of last year's 63-14 taxing of Penn State. 

And while James Franklin has ambitions, Ohio State is the benchmark of the Big Ten. Allow Mike Poorman of StateCollege.com to elaborate:

If Franklin is going to be a true success at Penn State, Ohio State will be the benchmark by which he is measured. If Penn State can beat the Buckeyes consistently – the last time PSU defeated Ohio State in consecutive games was in 1963-64 – then they’re very likely doing very OK. With the Buckeyes in the same division, the road to the Big Ten Championship and the College Football Playoff will always run through Columbus. Especially while Urban Meyer is there.

Meyer already has a huge head start – his first day at Ohio State was 775 days before Franklin started at Penn State. Ohio State is past its far-less-onerous NCAA sanctions, Meyer had program continuity with the hiring of interim head coach Luke Fickell and Ohio State’s past four recruiting classes have been ranked 3, 2, 4 and 11 by Rivals. Penn State, in turn, has had classes ranked 10, 24, 43 and 51.

It all comes down to recruiting, and while Franklin started hot, the results on the field haven't matched the hype

Sure, there were sanctions, but that's no excuse for losing to Northwestern by 23 points at home. I have a feeling Urban Meyer is going to burn Happy Valley to the ground and smoke the ashes because #crootin. Ohio State (-13.5) is pretty much free money.

GAUGING THE BUCKS. I want to buy Ohio State's renewed, dark horse hype so bad. But, I bought into it pretty hard before the season and then Virginia Tech happened.

Yes, Ohio State's been pearling since then...

... but I found this stat harrowing:

I want to believe Ohio State could put points on anybody, but the only respectable pass defense they faced housed them. Is this a brand new team a mere month later? I'd like to think so, but I also cringe at the idea of Pat Narduzzi having two weeks to cook something up for Ohio State.

RUTGERS TAKES THEIR WHOOPING LIKE AN ADULT. I'll give Rutgers their props in that they took it on the chin and didn't whine about it afterwards. I also don't think Rutgers is as bad as they looked (and that's testament to Ohio State's performance).

From Ryan Dunleavy of DailyRecord.com:

“Absolutely not,” Rutgers coach Kyle Flood said when asked if he had a problem with it. “I don’t spend any time thinking about that. My job is to make sure that we’re doing everything we can for our program.”

[...]

Redshirt senior defensive end David Milewski, a Rutgers captain, echoed Flood’s sentiments.

“I always took it as it’s not a coach’s job to go easy on a team,” Milewski said. “Who are you to say when it’s enough? That’s just my opinion.

Namasté, Rutgers, namasté.

FLOLORIDA. Remember those days when Florida fans said they'd rather have Will Muschamp than Urban Meyer? Those were truly magical times. Those days are also gone forever:

And, for the grand finale:

Happy trails, Will Muschamp.

WELCOME TO MORGANTOWN, Y'ALL. I love some debauchery, but short of Armageddon, I'm not sure I would riot in this day and age. Everybody has a camera, and rioting is pretty illegal.

But hey, West Virginia beat Baylor, and alcohol makes you forget about society's laws.

From ESPN.com:

Crowds pushed over street lights and threw rocks, beer bottles and other items at public safety personnel and their vehicles. Numerous fires were set in the student-dominated Sunnyside area and other parts of the city.

Crowds also destroyed fencing protecting several construction sites and breached the properties, Morgantown Police Chief Ed Preston said.

And you know what? I don't think words do it justice: 

E. Gordon Gee, President of West Virginia University, was not amused. Thankfully, WVU doesn't pay me, and I am always amused when people live up to stereotypes.

THOSE WMDs. Ezekiel Elliott explains his crop top jersey... The fake London suburb where police train... The consequences of coddling athletes... Sick photo of an awesome Inter goal celebration... "We go hard at Ole Miss," declares old woman... Columbus kicks the F out of American soccer in rebranding of Crew... Say it ain't so, Kobe...

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