Skull Session: Dre'Mont Jones' Kindergarten Teacher, Targeting and Overtime Rule Changes, and a Potential Transfer Quarterback

By Kevin Harrish on April 24, 2019 at 4:59 am
Brutus is doing push ups in today's Skull Session.
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Anyone else stay up to watch that San Jose vs. Vegas finish?

Too bad none of these games matter all that much when we know the Cup is coming to Columbus anyway.

Get dumped then, Bruins.

ICYMI

Word of the Day: Selcouth.

 KINDERGARTEN TO THE LEAGUE. Dre'Mont Jones has been such a delightful human being ever since he was five-years old that his kindergarten teacher stayed in his life to support him.

From Lauren Brill of News 5 Cleveland:

“He was very well-behaved. He was smart and he was a good listener. He was very kind,” Ehretsman said. "He had all the qualities that you really enjoy a child you teach to have.”

When Jones finished the school year he didn’t see his kindergarten teacher again until his freshman year at St. Ignatius. Ehretsman attended a basketball game of another former student and spotted Jones.

“From then on I watched him every game he was in,” Ehretsman said, “All of his basketball games and his football games. I usually lasted until about the third quarter, but then I got too cold.”

Right in front of her eyes, the little boy Ehrestman adored turned into an young man she is proud to support.

“On his basketball senior night they always give their parents a bouquet of flowers, and he had two bouquets,” Ehretsman said. “I just remember clapping him as he and his parents went out there and then all the sudden he left the line of parents, and he came over to me and gave me a bouquet.”

The only folks who've stuck with me since kindergarten are blood related, and even that was done begrudgingly.

But I'm totally unshocked Dre'Mont's had a life-long fan like that. He's not exactly a hard guy to root for, and that senior day story shows it.

 RULES A CHANGIN. College football's going to look a little different this year, especially if the Buckeyes find themselves in a five-overtime thriller.

The NCAA football rules committee has approved changes to the college overtime format as well as the infamous targeting penalty.

From Joel Anderson of ESPN:

The change to targeting makes it a so-called "progressive penalty," meaning that players who commit three targeting fouls in the same season could face a one-game suspension. Under the current rules, players who commit targeting are ejected from that game and are required to miss the first half of the next game if the penalty occurred in the second half (there is no further suspension when the penalty occurs in the first half).

Additionally, referees will also be required to review replays of all targeting calls to confirm all elements of targeting were present. If the targeting penalty can't be confirmed by video review, the call on the field will not stand.

...

The committee also approved a change to overtime, deciding that if a game reaches a fifth overtime, teams will no longer trade off starts at the opponent's 25-yard line. Instead, teams will run alternating two-point conversions until a winner is determined.

Also, a two-minute rest period will be added after the second and fourth overtimes.

The new overtime rules feel like a big change, but if a game actually reaches five overtimes you may as well just flip a coin anyway. A two-point conversion shootout at that point sounds good and fun, and I'm all for adding more good and fun things.

The big – and welcomed – change is to the targeting rule. Say what you will about the enforcement of it, but you have to be doing something remarkably wrong to rack up three in a single season. And the "innocent until proven guilty" review process should hypothetically help make sure any targeting call truly is a penalty, instead of just upholding the call on the field.

That means there's a solid chance this never would have been an ejection:

A beautiful hit

I'm in favor of that. Huge fan.

 INCOMING QB? The Buckeyes need another quarterback, and now one with central Ohio ties is on the market: Gunnar Hoak, originally from Dublin Coffman High School.

I couldn't help but snicker at some of the replies from Buckeye fans earnestly saying “we have a nice spot for you on the bench!” in complete sincerity. College football is wild, man.

It's tough to expect someone as genuinely talented as Hoak, who some Kentucky fans even thought should have been their starter, to come to Columbus knowing he'll likely never play a meaningful snap. But it looks like he's at least considering it, as Pat Murphy of Bucknuts.com ($) first reported that Hoak plans to meet with Ohio State later this week.

As far as band-aids to fix the Buckeyes' quarterback dilemmas, Hoak could be about as good as it gets.

 DRAFT PROPS. The players don't have to be the only ones making money this weekend. If you're the betting type, here's a list of draft weekend prop bets featuring former Buckeyes, from BetOnline.ag.

  • Player Selected 1st Overall: Nick Bosa +400 (4/1)
  • Player Selected 2nd Overall: Nick Bosa -275 (4/11)
  • Player Selected 3rd Overall: Nick Bosa +1000 (10/1), Dwayne Haskins +1200, (12/1)
  • 1st Wide Receiver Selected: Parris Campbell +2500 (25/1) 
  • What draft pick will Dwayne Haskins be selected with?: Over/Under 9½
  • Nick Bosa Selected as a Top 2: Yes -300 (1/3), No +200 (2/1)
  • Ohio State Players Selected in Round 1: Over/Under 2½

Personally, I feel like Nick Bosa as a top-2 pick is an absolute lock and is basically just free money. The odds are set at -300, but it should probably be more like -800.

Then again, anyone who followed my game day picks during the season knows betting against my picks could net you a small fortune, so follow your own heart!

 WHAT ARE YOU DOING, NCAA? The NCAA's been handing out immediate eligibility waivers like candy these days. Except, well, to the kid who's moving closer to his mother with a brain tumor.

From Mike Niziolek of the Roanoke Times:

“I haven’t gone a day thinking I wouldn’t be eligible until today,” (Brock) Hoffman said. “I thought it was an open-and-shut case. I guess I was a little naive.”

Hoffman isn’t alone.

Virginia Tech’s coaching staff and compliance department all thought Hoffman was a textbook example for why the medical hardship waiver exists. Hoffman’s mother Stephanie Hoffman had surgery to remove an acoustic neuroma (a non-cancerous brain tumor) in early 2017. He's transferring to Virginia Tech to be closer to his home in Statesville, North Carolina. 

...

According to Hoffman, his mother still suffers from lingering side effects including facial paralysis on her left side, hearing loss and impaired eyesight.

“If he doesn’t fit the criteria, who would?” one source with knowledge of Hoffman’s situation told The Roanoke Times last month.

It’s why Hoffman was shocked on Tuesday when Virginia Tech offensive line coach Vance Vice called to tell him the NCAA had denied his waiver request. Hoffman is appealing the decision — the NCAA said it will make a decision in a week — but the organization’s initial ruling left the offensive lineman heartbroken.

“When I called my mom and she is in tears, that hurt me the most,” Hoffman said. “You feel hopeless in a way.”

This is exactly what I would expect a parody of the NCAA to look like, but at the same time it's completely believable and on-brand.

The situation isn't over yet, but it never should have gotten to this point in the first place.

I'd be shocked if Hoffman didn't get a waiver after all of this, but that's not really the point. The point is, that the NCAA is setting a precedent that no matter how convincing your case, you're gonna need to shell out for a lawyer and/or be a high-profile player.

Honestly, at this point, they'd be better off granting it to everybody, no questions asked. 

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