Skull Session: Scott Frost Praises Ohio State, SP+ Loves the Buckeyes, and Some Delightful Michigan Schadenfreude

By Kevin Harrish on September 23, 2019 at 4:59 am
Touchdown Garrett Wilson in today's Skull Session.
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Whatever you got into this weekend, I bet it was nowhere near as wild as what seems to have gone down in Tucson.

But like all good stories, it has a happy ending:

ICYMI

Word of the Day: Foppish.

 HIGH PRAISE. Scott Frost is continuing this year's incredibly safe opposing coach tradition of saying nothing but kind things about Ohio State ahead of the game.

Since what he said was in no way inflammatory, I'll do my best to find something to be outraged about anyway – just since you've been in the Big Ten?

Frost was only a head coach for two years before he arrived in Nebraska and he only played two top-10 teams during that time – 2016 Michigan (which lost three games, including one to an Ohio State team with a broken offense) and 2017 Auburn (which lost four games). Even considering that either of those two teams could be more talented than this Ohio State team is certainly a #take.

But there's also a chance he's also talking about his assistant coaching days. And given that he was Oregon's offensive coordinator in the 2014 national championship game against Ohio State, I'll allow it.

 SP+ LOVES OHIO STATE. Many pollsters, pundits and prognosticators have been hesitant to get too high on the Buckeyes before they're really challenged, but the numbers and analytics aren't really in wait-and-see mode when it comes to the team absolutely massacring every opponent its faced.

Bill Connelly's SP+ has Ohio State at No. 2.

From the noted football-knower himself of ESPN:

Two Big Ten teams made noteworthy moves in the updated rankings, and they did it in different ways. First, Ohio State absolutely humiliated Miami (Ohio), spotting the RedHawks five points and then scoring the next 76. Against a schedule that has featured no heavyweights but minimal dead weight -- Indiana currently ranks 32nd in SP+, Cincinnati ranks 59th, and FAU ranks 76th -- the Buckeyes are winning games by an average score of 54-9. They are the only team with a top-five offensive and defensive SP+ rating at the moment, and they are up to second overall, 2.5 adjusted points per game behind Alabama and 1.8 ahead of Clemson.

This comes in stark contrast to the ESPN's latest power rankings – released on the same day as Connelly's SP+ – that has Ohio State at No. 6 behind Clemson and four SEC teams, because of course.

 ELITE LEVEL SHADE. Speaking of waxing everyone they've played, when you're beating your opponents by on average score of 54-9 on the season, you can talk as big as you want.

Case in point: 

I'm not sure I could score 42 points in a quarter in NCAA14 on freshman mode.

 QUARTERBACK U. Joey Burrow ain't the only former Ohio State quarterback lighting it up at his new school. Former walk-on Kory Curtis set a program record in his first start at Bryant University this weekend.

So between Curtis, Burrow and Justin Fields, Ryan Day coached quarterbacks combined for 1,025 yards through the air and 14 total touchdowns. Not a bad weekend.

 THAT SWEET SCHADENFREUDE. I could see it coming a mile away, but that didn't make the most recent chapter of Jim Harbaugh's continued burglary of Michigan's Athletic Department any less satisfying to my soul.

From Pete Thamel of Yahoo! Sports:

Harbaugh’s tenure is amid its fifth year as a $7.5 million dollar tease. There are no wins over Ohio State, three straight bowl losses and, still, zero signature victories. Michigan’s last three games against Power Five opponents have resulted in combined losses of 138-68, on average losing 46-23 to Ohio State, Florida and Wisconsin. They also outlasted Army in double-overtime, 24-21, in a game where Army manhandled the Wolverines physically in the trenches.

Put in a slightly more concise way:

You could make a strong argument that the most impressive thing Jim Harbaugh has done at Michigan to date is tie Ohio State in regulation in 2016. And I'm not even as joking as you'd hope. That really might be it.

And as if watching that coach falter in a big game for the umpteenth time wasn't bad enough for Michigan fans, this time they had to watch the former coach of their biggest rival who kicked their ass for seven-straight years break down the flaying at halftime and after the game.

But hey, at least some of the fans seem to be taking it well!

"They deserve better."

No actually, they don't deserve shit. That's what makes this all so hilarious. This is exactly who they are. This is exactly what they've earned. This is their identity.

They've done absolutely nothing of significance in my 25-year-old memory yet they insist they're relevant with greatness just around the corner just because they were unbeatable when the forward pass was considered a trick play (though based on how their offense has looked this season, maybe they should let Fielding Yost's corpse call the plays).

But that banked greatness is running out faster than a leaky hour glass.

From Reddit user CrinerBoyz on r/CFB:

All-time records and winning percentage through 9/21/19:

  1. Boise State: 453-167-2 (.7299)
  2. Michigan: 955-343-36 (.7294)

Stats courtesy of Winsipedia (Michigan's record should be updated soon).

There's a new leader in town! Anyone know how long Michigan had sat at the top?

EDIT: I see people saying that Boise State has not passed Michigan in the NCAA records book. This is true, however this is because their records are off by one game. They are counting a 1997 forfeit by Cal State Northridge as a loss, when according to their own rulebook (Page 24) it should be counted as a win for Boise State. Winsipedia has taken this into account and has the correct record.

If you do your some quick maths, you'll see Ohio State ain't far behind. And by that, I mean we could have a changing of the guard before the end of November, if you catch my drift.

 NOT STICKING TO SPORTS. She quit her job, he got night goggles and they searched for their lost dog for 57 days... Why turkeys circle dead things... Everyone’s trash is this woman’s treasure... American drowns after proposing to his girlfriend underwater... My night at the country's only legal alien-themed brothel... Mysterious magnetic pulses discovered on Mars...

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