Skull Session: College Football’s Current Era Could Go Out With a Bang, Malachi Corley is Back For Western Kentucky and Dawand Jones Will Start As A Rookie

By Chase Brown on September 12, 2023 at 5:00 am
Ryan Day
Brooke LaValley / USA TODAY NETWORK
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Welcome to the Skull Session.

Denzel Burke has been a lockdown corner so far this season.

The comeback is always stronger than the setback.

Let's have a good Tuesday, shall we?

 FIREWORKS INCOMING. The 2024 college football season starts a new era with a 12-team CFP, an SEC with Oklahoma and Texas, a Big Ten with USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon, a Big 12 with Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah, an ACC with Stanford, Cal and SMU, and a Pac-12 with... Oregon State and Washington State?

That's a lot of change.

Before that happens, however, it is possible – and perhaps even probable – that the current era of college football will have a curtain call to be remembered for always and eternity.

Every Power Five conference is represented in the top five of the latest AP poll, which is the first such occurrence since 2017. With plenty of parity between conferences this year, there should be plenty of fireworks when we reach late November and dive into December and January.

Georgia, Michigan, Florida State, Texas and USC are currently the top five teams in the AP poll. The Pac-12 leads all conferences with eight teams in the poll, followed by the SEC (five), the Big Ten and ACC (four) and the Big 12 (three). Notre Dame is the lone independent ranked at No. 9.

Scared of how the parity could impact the Buckeyes?

Regardless of how talented the rest of college football is, if Ohio State wins out, it will make the CFP. It's that simple. An undefeated Ohio State would undoubtedly take part in the fireworks show's grand finale, as the Buckeyes would have wins over Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Penn State, Michigan and an unnamed Big Ten West team in the conference championship. An Ohio State team with that résumé is a lock to make the playoff year in and year out.

 MALACHI CORLEY IS BACK. According to Matt Zenitz of On3, Western Kentucky will have star wide receiver Malachi Corley back in action when the team travels to Columbus and battles Ohio State on Saturday. 

Corley exited Western Kentucky's Week 1 win over USF with an ailment and did not appear in the program's victory over Houston Christian, presumably so the 5-foot-11, 210-pound pass-catcher could be ready for the Hilltoppers' matchup with the No. 6-ranked Buckeyes.

While Corley's body needed time to prepare for Week 3, his mind did not.

In the summer, Max Chadwick of Pro Football Focus interviewed Corley after his breakout season last fall, which included 101 receptions for 1,293 yards and 11 touchdowns. Corley told Chadwick he's been focused on the Ohio State game since January because he wants to prove that he can hang with Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka.

“I’m dialed in. I can’t make it up,” Corley said. “In practice, I run the most yards every day. I push myself past the point where I feel like I need to throw up and still keep it going. I know there are guys listed above me and I have to outwork them and outshine them in order to be put into that position.”

Two players Corley will have to outshine to achieve his goals are Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka, the consensus best receivers in college football.
Luckily for him, his Hilltoppers travel to Columbus on Sept. 16.

“I can’t wait to go to Ohio State,” Corley said. “That’s going to be a highly watched game. There’s going to be like [100,000] people and not too many will be cheering for us. I’m going to feel like a supervillain going in there. I know the whole world will be watching and I can’t wait to show them, ‘This guy is for real.' I want people to be like, ‘Who is this guy?’”

What can Ohio State fans expect to see out of Corley on Saturday? A player that models San Francisco 49ers star Deebo Samuel, one NFL assistant said over the summer.

“That dude is like Deebo Samuel,” the assistant said. “I could see him at the end of the year being a damn first-rounder. I don’t know if (NFL scouts) have a player comparison on him yet, but I guarantee you that’s what they will all put, Deebo Samuel. He catches. He runs. He’s strong as s—. He’s super physical. You can’t tackle him. The dude’s contact balance is through the roof. There may not be a player in college football who’s better with the football in his hands.”

By all accounts, Denzel Burke, Davison Igbinosun and Jordan Hancock will have their hands full with Corley. At the same time, the wide receiver's NFL skill set will offer the cornerbacks a chance to prove whether BIA is, in fact, back in 2023. After that position room's performance the past two weeks, I like their chances.

 DAWAND'S TIME TO SHINE. In the Cleveland Browns' 24-3 win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday (had to remind Bengals fans of the score), All-Pro right tackle Jack Conklin suffered a torn ACL and MCL that ended his 2023 season. After Conklin was carted off the field, former Buckeye Dawand Jones replaced him in the lineup.

According to Pro Football Focus, Jones performed well in an emergency role and did not allow a sack, hit, hurry, or pressure across 52 snaps in the Week 1 matchup. Jones' performance came off the heels of a preseason in which he allowed only one hit, two hurries and three pressures in 223 snaps.

As Cleveland prepares for a Monday Night Football matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 2, the 6-foot-8, 375-pound Jones – affectionately nicknamed "Big Thanos" by his peers – is expected to start in Conklin's place.

"There are no redshirts in the NFL, so you never know when that opportunity will come," Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said on Monday. "(Conklin was hurt) in the first half of the first game. You have to be ready. (Jones) will continue to get better, and then, as it pertains to any matchup moving forward, it's the NFL. Every week is going to be very difficult. Going into Pittsburgh is tough on every team that goes into that place. So we'll have a plan, and we'll move forward."

While Stefanski noted the environment at Heinz Field Acrisure Stadium as a future challenge for Jones, a more difficult task will be keeping Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt from reaching Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson. A three-time first-team All-Pro and the 2021 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Watt recorded five tackles, three sacks and two forced fumbles in the Steelers' loss to the 49ers on Sunday, which is pretty good.

Welcome to the NFL, Dawand.

 GOT COOKIES? On Monday, I received word that former Ohio State wide receiver Reggie Germany will open a new Crumbl Cookies franchise in Central Ohio this month, with the ribbon-cutting ceremony to occur on Sept. 28 with former and current Ohio State football players in attendance across a three-day grand opening.

From a Crumbl press release:

A brand new will open in Canal Winchester, Ohio, (6310 Gender Rd.) on Sept. 29th. The ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place with the mayor at noon on Sept. 28. The grand opening will take place from Sept. 29 to Sept. 30, with lots of activities happening throughout both days. Ohio State football alumni Reggie Germany is the owner of the new Crumbl, so it is only fitting that there will be special appearances of past and present Ohio State football players.

Long before he was an entrepreneur, Germany was a standout pass-catcher for the Buckeyes. However, he was seen as a bit of an anti-hero, especially among those who followed Ohio State in the late 90s. Why? Well, the 0.00 GPA that caused him to miss Ohio State's matchup with South Carolina in the 2001 Outback Bowl – a game the Buckeyes lost 24-7 – may have played a factor.

From The Columbus Dispatch archives:

Ohio State is expected to announce today that wide receiver Reggie Germany will
not travel to Tampa, Fla., for the Outback Bowl because of academic problems,
sources said yesterday.

That would mean Germany's college career is over. The senior also missed the
regular-season finale against Michigan because of an unspecified leg injury.
Germany could not be reached for comment yesterday. OSU coach John Cooper said
only that the school planned an announcement today.

Though an athlete who is eligible in the fall usually remains so through the bowl
game, Germany reportedly is being penalized for non-performance in the classroom, which usually means a 0.00 grade-point average for a just-completed quarter.

Germany, the team's second leading receiver this year with 22 catches, probably will
be replaced in the starting lineup for the New Year's Day game against South
Carolina by senior Vanness Provitt, who had a career-high six catches against
Michigan in his first start.

Despite the unexpected end to his career, Germany recorded 78 catches for 1,234 yards and five touchdowns across four seasons at Ohio State. In 2001, the Buffalo Bills drafted him in the seventh round (No. 214) overall, and after his professional career, he became a successful businessman in Central Ohio. I'd say it all turned out fine for him.

 SONG OF THE DAY. "Work Song" by Hozier.

 CUT TO THE CHASE. DraftKings apologizes for sports betting offer referencing 9/11 terror attacks... Get a taste of the world of Catan with a cookbook inspired by the hit board game... Google’s search engine dominance is at the center of the biggest US antitrust trial in decades... Hostess Brands to be acquired by the J.M. Smucker Co. for approximately $5.6 Billion... Long-lost X-wing model from "Star Wars" 1977 up for auction.

Oh, and one last note: Garrett Wilson is unbelievable.

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