Monday Skull Session

Specific #shoutout to the three soldiers of fortune tasked to guarding and firing Rutgers' cannon.

People were fake mad about Ohio State surrendering the shutout with seconds remaining, but I argue it was all worth it to see that trio of bosses ply their craft. In retrospect, the Redcoats were the underdogs.

I'm sure Colonel Henry Rutgers was glad to see his legacy redeemed in the closing seconds as well. Though I'm still not sure it was enough to save floundering Kyle Flood's job. The Colonel does enough charity work as it is.

RUTGERS DUMPING ICYMI:

• Debriefing.
• J.T. Barrett's cool hand has calmed OSU's QB situation.
• Notebook.
• Five Things.
• Twitter Reaction.
• Quotebook.
• Urban Meyer: The G.O.A.T.
• Photos.
• Videos: Postgame interviews from Urban Meyer, J.T. Barrett, Ezekiel Elliott, and more.
• Polls: OSU No. 1 in Coaches, AP Top 25.
• Keels highlights.

BUCKEYES ENTER ICE MODE. The only teams standing between an undefeated Ohio State and Michigan State: Bye, Minnesota, and a trip to the plains of Champaign. 

From Spencer Hall's Top Whatever, in which he says "We can probably stop worrying about Ohio State for now."

1. Clemson
2. LSU
3. Baylor

[...]

4. Ohio State. Dominated on both sides in a 49-7 erasure of Rutgers. Is it cheap math to say, "Cool, Urban Meyer's got a QB who can get 200 yards passing and 100 yards rushing and a running back and shut up, they'll be fine now?"

It is cheap math, but now that the quarterback tussle is over and the defense is holding up nicely, Ohio State seems to be fine for the stretch run into the Big Ten Championship as long as it doesn't do something insanely stupid like losing to Illinois. THE UNSETTLING QUIET OF MEMORIAL STADIUM: SO DESOLATE YOUR OWN THOUGHTS BECOME A 12TH MAN FOR THE OPPONENT.

I think, at this point, it's fair to rank Ohio State at No. 4. What's its best win right now? Virginia Tech (3-5)? Penn State? The Buckeyes dominated Rutgers, but let's be real: The Scarlet Knights are bad.

The good news is the combo-breaker of Michigan State/Michigan/B1G Championship is going to be the Carl Pelini pick-me-up the schedule needed.

I still have Ohio State tabbed for the double over Satan's dusty Mitten, but I'm now riding hard for Iowa to make it to Indianapolis unscathed. (This ends in calamity, doesn't it Hawkeyes fans?)

And please don't think Urban Meyer and Mickey Marotti won't be plotting the combo-breaker crescendo as soon as Illinois goes down four touchdowns early in the second quarter.

RUTGERS FANS REACT TO INVASION. Ohio State fans travel well, but the university also keeps hives of alumni and well-wishers in every corner of the world. It doesn't matter where you play or how good your team is — Ohio State fans will find you and overwhelm your stadiums.

Some Rutgers fans took to the internet after the game to react to the avalanche that fell upon them.

From Rutgers.Rivals.com:

... 12:27 NEC to NYC is packed with them. They were literally just doing the OH – IO chant on the platform.

... They sure as hell traveled well I was surrounded by them in sec 222. Not total douches, but somewhat. 

The 'shoot the cannon' chant got my blood boiling. I was hoping out Minutemen had affixed bayonetes and advanced toward the crowd.

... It was down right embarrassing for those of us who went. Never seen the stadium taken over by an opposing team before and it sucked. It just wasn't any fun as I was surrounded by OSU fans. If this is how the fans are going to be for the rest of the year I might just sell mine as well. I wish I never went, it was that disappointing.

... Said it in another thread. It is a learning experience for our fan base. A process that needs to be gone through. Our fan base has as much to learn as our program does to compete at this level.

It's a B1G jump from the Syracuse and Uconn's of our former world.

This is the show.

... we suck cause everything about us sucks...our admin sucks.. our fans suck... our coach sucks. Get used to the pain cause it wont get better anytime soon... We have nancys that think everything is ok... And we have stupid liberals that don't invest in the program. 

Just quit now else you will experience pain for a long time. 

As an Ohio State fan, that last one made me chuckle. As a Cleveland Browns fan, that last one hit a little too close to home.

We go to the honorable Judge Darron Lee's mom for a final judgement (no typo) on the matter:

Rutgers fans are not very classy

— candice (@candicenbc4) October 25, 2015

So much for the "best atmosphere in college football."

IS IT ELITE THOUGH? I figured Rutgers' offense would test Ohio State's defense a little more than it did — it's a shame Leonte Carroo wasn't 100 percent — but the Silver Bullets tuned up Rutgers' offense like it owed their bookie a pound of titty flesh.

So where does it stand with winter approaching?

From Cleveland.com:

This defense isn't elite, not yet. Maybe it can get there. It got there by the end of last year.

Through eight games this defense is in a weird spot where it has a shutout against Hawaii and a near shutout against Rutgers sandwiched around games against Northern Illinois, Western Michigan, Indiana, Maryland and Penn State where the Buckeyes were susceptible to big plays and allowed some alarming rushing yards.

[...]

"We're gonna continue to grow," co-defensive coordinator Luke Fickell said. "At the end of the year, anybody can assess this defense the way they want. We're 8-0, we put some pressure on our guys this week to continue to grow, and not accept being good, but challenge ourselves to be great."

I still have some concerns about the interior line (I hope they freeze Adolphus Washington like Han Solo until Michigan State) and bad tackling.

Ohio State's offense slipping back into beast mode assuages a lot of that though.

HERMAN MADE O'LEARY TAP OUT. George O'Leary's Central Florida battled Houston tough for about a quarter, but in the end Greg Ward Jr. and Tom Herman's gang were too much.

Houston notched a 59-10 victory and O'Leary is cashing his chips out:

George OLeary has resigned as UCFs football coach, a source told @ESPN

— Brett McMurphy (@McMurphyESPN) October 25, 2015

For those scoring at home, we've already reached the "denying Internet speculation" stage of Mensa member Tom Herman's Houston career.

From OrlandoSentinel.com:

A downside to Houston’s success, if one wishes to see it that way, has been speculation about Herman jumping to another college football job open across the country. Herman dismissed any of talk of leaving following his team’s win. 

 “I’m not going to comment on any other jobs,” he said. “We live in an age where anyone who has a smartphone or a Twitter account can post anything they want and make any speculations that they want. My wife, Michelle, and our family love the University of Houston and, really, I will tell you what I tell our guys, it’s a testament to what we have here at the University of Houston and what we’re doing here.

“None of that stuff really matters to the goals that we have set out in front of us.”

The Coogs are 7-0 and host(!) Vanderbilt on Saturday. I'm not sure what the spread will be, but it won't be enough.

My only regret is President Warren G. Harding isn't around to profiteer on Herman's reign. (You can't see it, but a tear just rolled down my cheek.)

TALK TRASH TO JUJU, GET JUNKED. Here's the story behind JuJu Smith-Schuster Falcon punching Utah DB Dominique Hatfield into another dimension. 

From ESPN.com:

"[Hatfield is] probably the kid who talks the most trash in one game. Probably in one series," Smith-Schuster said Saturday night. "I’m like, ‘Dude, I’m not even about that.’ And it got to the point where I was like, ‘OK, I’m about to embarrass you.’"

Smith-Schuster got his chance early in the third quarter when, on a short pass to the left side of the field, Hatfield had the angle to force him to the sideline. Instead of going out of bounds or cutting upfield, Smith-Schuster slowed down, waited for Hatfield to pursue him, then sent the Utah cornerback, a Los Angeles native, airborne with a stiff-arm that will be replayed on YouTube for years.

"What he said to me was, ‘Don’t put me on ESPN. Why are you trying to put me on ESPN?’" Smith-Schuster said of Hatfield. "I’m like, ‘Dude, I’m just doing my job, trying to have fun.’ On the one play and I’m like, ‘OK, I’m just going to give you the stiff-arm and throw you out of bounds and then turn up.’"

Rule: You can't talk trash and then get mad when you end up on ESPN.

THOSE WMDs. Life as a crime reporter in Karachi... The Man Who Never Was: The story of Todd Marinovich... This 11-year-old is selling cryptographically secure passwords for $2 each... Jim Thome Jack-O-Lantern... From 2004: The Squid Hunter... Congrats to playoff-bound Crew SC.