Skull Session: The Boys Are Back in Town, Quarterbacks Amaze Saunders, and Bosa Won't Be a Distraction

By D.J. Byrnes on March 20, 2018 at 4:59 am
Dre'Mont Jones shakes the March 20 2018 Skull Session
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ICYMI:

Word of the Day: Surfeit.

 COMING IN HOT. Dwayne Haskins, the prince that was promised, showcased what makes him a special prospect in the third quarter of The Game. The man can make every NFL throw, which isn't bad for a redshirt sophomore.

And though I remain partial to Haskins, that's not a slight to Joe Burrow and Tate Martell. They both can spin the pigskin, too. Just don't take my word for it.

From Tony Gerdeman of theozone.net:

So how are quarterbacks Dwayne Haskins, Joe Burrow, and Tate Martell looking so far?

“Through the first two practices it has been unreal,” said H-back C.J. Saunders. “It’s been insane to see the quarterbacks throw. When we do routes you can’t tell a difference between the balls. I mean it’s so early, you don’t know, it’s going to be the coaches’ decision and that’s how it should be, but I’m thankful for just being able to play with those great quarterbacks. They can put the ball, if I create a little bit of space, they’re going to put it somewhere I can catch it.

It will be hard out here for opposing defense is every Ohio State quarterback commands accuracy like that.

Sure, this could be spring hyperbole from a teammate. There's still no denying Saunders knows a thing or six about catching footballs. 

Burrow may not have worked out with NFL legends on spring break like Haskins (or at least not posted on social media about it). I've never said it would be impossible for him to start. But if he's throwing like that, practice over the next month will be extra spicy.

Let's just hope Meyer learned some lessons from the original #QBgeddon.

 BOSA WON'T BE A DISTRACTION. To me, the expert football knower, there was never a doubt that Joey Bosa would play three seasons and leave for the NFL. The same applies for his little brother. It would only be news if he weren't coming back, a chance I would put at 0%.

Bosa, however, won't be a distraction by voicing his intentions before or during the season.

From Lori Schmidt of gridironnow.com:

That is the usual course of action for a highly touted rising junior, but it’s no longer a given. For instance, Houston defensive tackle Ed Oliver already has announced he’s entering the NFL draft following the 2018 season.

Bosa said that was “no big deal” because everyone knew that was the case with Oliver. But he’s taking a different approach.

“Just coming out straight up and saying it is kind of distracting for the team, but he can do what he wants to do,” said Bosa, who had 13.5 sacks and 23 tackles for loss in his first two seasons.

Apparently Bosa thinks there are people who would be surprised if he declared for the 2019 draft in March? He would be drafted in 2018 draft if he were eligible.

At least this means there is a sliver of hope for Bosa's return that the diehards can fester over the season. Maybe he'll really want to come back and help the local team repeat!

 TEXAS EVALUATING "TOUCHDOWN" TIM BECK. Tim Beck replaced Tom Herman at Ohio State, which always meant Beck would get blamed if the offense failed to retain its standard. 

After two awkward seasons, Tom Herman, who you might not know founded MENSA, the organization for geniuses, the Texas coach did Meyer a solid by relieving him of an underachieving coach. He then made the curious move of ordaining "Touchdown" Tim as offensive coordinator.

The first year ended with Herman calling plays in the Texas Bowl. The Longhorns beat Missouri, 33-16, but they only amassed 280 yards of offense. As Herman enters his second spring, the spotlight is once again on Beck as Herman "evaluates" the offense.

From 247sports.com:

Beck, as Herman said in February, will be the play-caller in the spring. The veteran coordinator will have the chance to work with a full deck, if you will, as Texas enters the set of 15 practices mostly healthy. Herman knows the Longhorns need to get better on offense. He's also well aware factors beyond Beck’s control limited the Longhorns’ attack a year ago. Evaluation this spring is the middle ground for Herman's judgment of his play-caller.

Thought went into this quiet declaration by Herman. He may be downplaying the topic at the start of spring practice, but you don’t just bring up Chip Kelly, Scott Frost and Gus Malzahnrandomly during your signing day press conference. All three of those head coaches have doubled as successful play-callers during their career. Herman, a national championship-winning OC during his time at Ohio State, is at least exploring the idea of joining those ranks.

Beck will have a chance to prove himself this spring. This might not even be a story by May's end.

Maybe the fourth time will be the charm for Beck, who is by all accounts a swell fellow. I'll just never forget Nebraska fans laughing when Ohio State announced the hire. Always a bad sign when Huskers fans are laughing at your expense and the year is post-1997.

 FROST WON'T CUSS. I understand why coaches yell and cuss. Hell, I yell and cuss. But thankfully for society, I'm not in charge of molding the minds and bodies of America's next generation.

Nebraska coach Scott Frost is, and he doesn't believe yelling or cussing is the way to teach a young man how to make a play on the football field.

From footballscoop.com:

“One of our sayings is ‘have a desire to excel and no fear of failure.’ Part of that is the coaches responsibility, and I mentioned that we’re not going to yell and scream at kids, and cuss at kids. I don’t think that’s the right thing to do, and I also don’t want to make kids afraid to go make a great play.”

“If someone misses a tackle or drops a ball, they don’t need to be yelled at, they need to be taught the right way to do it so it doesn’t happen again. Once you take away that fear of what might happen if you make a bad play, it really frees you up to go make great plays.”

The more I hear about it, the more I like the Frost hire by Nebraska—and I thought it was a power move to begin with.

I doubt Mike Riley did much yelling or cussing, either. The difference is Frost is a football coach built for 2018 and beyond. It remains to be scene if Nebraska can ever reach the heights of the 1990s, but Frost will definitely make them respectable. It starts there for the Huskers.

 THE RAINMAKER GETS PERKS. E. Gordon Gee did not create the system that turned fundraising into one of the more important aspects of a university president's job. He just excelled at it.

As such, his employers awarded him perks befitting of the money Gee rakes in for the university.

From mydaytondailynews.com:

Gee, who has been president of WVU since March 2014, spent more than $2.2 million between May 2014 and June 2017, including 31 trips to Columbus as well as treks to Hilton Head, S.C., and Florida with his fiancee, The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports. Most of the travel expenses were paid with tuition money, the university told the Gazette-Mail.

Gee justified the travel as a necessary expense for fundraising. The Gazette-Mail reported: “And that was all done by use of an airplane and other means,” Gee said, adding later that, “my job is about making rain, and I’m a rainmaker.”

You're damn right Gee is out here with a fiancee at 74 years old. Wouldn't expect anything less because true love never rests.

 THOSE WMDs. Somebody stole 314 items from the Carnegie Library rare books room... Army hair throughout the ages... The conspiracy theories you hear in prison... To find suspects, police quietly turn to Google... A loss for the basketball team, a win for UMBC.

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