Monday Skull Session

By D.J. Byrnes on November 2, 2015 at 4:59 am
Pat Elflein puts a Nittany Lion to the turf.
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Specific #shoutout to the city of Boone, North Carolina. Everything people say about that city and the surrounding area is true. The scenery is impeccable, and Appalachian State fans (7-1, baby!) get rowdy. 

The only complaint I have is city elders allowed the Browns game to be broadcast within city limits.

 SO YEAH, THAT HAPPENED. Welp, Ohio State managed to lose on the bye week.

Drunk driving, much like 20 year-olds, is dumb. (Piping hot take there, I know.) J.T. Barrett will learn from his mistakes; the legal ramifications and fines alone will make sure of that. His family, coaches, and friends will handle the rest.

Ohio State, much like Barrett, will be fine, but for now its quarterback situation is once again in flux.

From ESPN.com:

There’s no question he has been the more productive of the two options so far this season. In 132 fewer snaps than Jones, Barrett has been responsible for six more touchdowns. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Barrett has the second-highest Total QBR among active passers since the start of last season, and he has supplemented that with 18 rushing touchdowns.

Now the door is once again open for Jones, and if he shines like he did during the postseason a year ago, Meyer could yet again be forced to reevaluate his options heading into the most crucial part of the season for the aspiring playoff team. Dates with Michigan State and Michigan loom at the end of the month, and it is almost inconceivable that the loaded Buckeyes are heading into November with uncertainty still hanging around at such a crucial position.

Perhaps Meyer doesn’t view it that way at all.

Maybe, as he has indicated all along, there was value for Ohio State in not casting its lot entirely with one guy over the other. Barrett definitely lit a spark with his rushing ability, but Jones' ability to come off the bench and stretch the field has proven a successful formula in the past.

I knew we hadn't seen the last of Cardale Jones, but I wouldn't have guessed he'd be thrown back into the spotlight by J.T. Barrett's Halloween D.U.I. arrest.

Urban Meyer didn't have to suspend J.T. Barrett, but he did. And it's going to be fascinating to see how he handles the situation going forward. What if Dolo plays his best game on Saturday? Will Urban Meyer make the move back to the man he originally christened to lead Ohio State?

I don't know, but I am now about 20x more thankful that Ohio State plays Illinois before that Michigan State/Michigan tandem.

 E+R=O. Ohio State does not need J.T. Barrett to beat Minnesota this Saturday. But even if Ohio State faced the likes of Clemson on Saturday, the expectations of the Ohio State offense would not change.

Why? Because the Buckeyes have been down this road before, and they've proven they know how to respond.

From TheOzone.net:

Now, however, they'll be driven to do so. But they won't just be doing it in support of Jones, they'll also be doing it in support of Barrett, because he is their teammate, their brother, their friend and their leader. He made a mistake and is being punished for it, and now it's up to everyone else to make sure that mistake doesn't cost them a shot at their ultimate goal of a national championship.

One of the themes of last season was overcoming adversity, and they did it amazingly well. This current edition of adversity is unfortunate for those involved, but the Buckeyes have been in worse spots before and responded.

As Ohio State's leadership consultant, Tim Kight, told me in August 2014: "Challenges will happen. The question is, 'Are you strong enough to step up and respond?"'

Knock the quality of opponent if you must, but it would not surprise me in the least to see Ohio State look as if it didn't miss a beat. I'm also hopeful the lack of a touchdown machine at backup will restore some of that "nothing to lose" swagger that imbued Dolodale last season.

 BURGER TALKS WALK-ON LIFE. LB Joe Burger could be starting on a scholarship at a MAC school right now. Instead, he's a special teams grinder/walk-on for the Buckeyes. 

Though he admits he often thinks about earning the status symbol of a scholarship at Ohio State, he's never lost focus of his team-oriented goals.

From Cleveland.com:

When talking to Burger, you get the feeling that he genuinely only cares about making Ohio State better. Burger takes pride in doing all the stereotypical walk-on stuff -- getting beat up on the scout team, for instance -- and he doesn't mind enduring the beating if it helps Ohio State win a game. It doesn't matter to him that he plays sparingly. 

[...]

"When I got the opportunity at Ohio State, it was really hard to pass up," Burger said. "But I think I'm extremely blessed to have the opportunity to walk on here. Every day you wake up you have to appreciate that you're at a place where football is really important to everybody and you're expected to win. That's what was important to me and that's why I came here." 

Just don't call Burger a walk-on around Luke Fickell:

"We try not to refer to him as a walk-on in that way because they're not. Him, Craig Fada, there's no difference between those guys and anybody else," defensive coordinator Luke Fickell said. "That's the beautiful thing."

My advice to Joe Burger and Craig Fada? Send a clipping of that quote to the Bursar's office next time they get hit with a tuition bill.

 BUCKEYE (OTHER) FOOTBALL NASTINESS. Some people say soccer is bad, but it's actually good. As proof of its inherent goodness, here's Ohio State's Yaw Amankwa doing the damn thing against Maryland on Saturday night:


That goal was enough to put the Terrapins in the dirt for the day. (Had I given up a goal like that in FIFA, I would've melted my XBOX in the microwave and not regretted a thing.)

 MACK COULD GET SNAPS RIGHT NOW. Austin Mack is one of the best wide receiver prospects in the country, and after watching his newest highlight reel, it's easy to see why. 

 THOSE WMDs. Halloween 2015 was won with this costume... Grave of ‘Griffin Warrior’ at Pylos could be a gateway to civilizations... Year-long data investigation charts four decades of cartel violence... A young Gingerbread Man... Can someone explain what Mountain Dew is?

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