Skull Session: Buckeyes Send Bengals to the Super Bowl, Eli Apple Talks Dropped Pick-Six, and Jaden Ivey Buries Ohio State (Again)

By Kevin Harrish on January 31, 2022 at 5:30 am
Joe Burrow is batman in today's skull session.
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In case you hadn't heard...

Would you look at that – the Director of Player Personnel at Ohio State is happy for a former Ohio State player going to the Super Bowl. What a world.

Word of the Day: Ecstatic.

 BUCKEYES LEAD THE WAY. The Bengals are headed to the Super Bowl, and it's almost completely because a few Buckeyes stepped up and absolutely dominated Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense when it mattered most.

Here are the Chiefs' last six offensive plays:

  • Sam Hubbard sack for -5 yards.
  • Sam Hubbard sack for -15 yards and a forced fumble.
  • Game tying field goal.
  • Incompletion in the direction of Vonn Bell.
  • Eli Apple pass breakup – nearly a pick-six.
  • Vonn Bell interception.

And then a guy with an Ohio State diploma in his wall finished the job with a game-winning drive. I know some of y'all have issues accepting Joe Burrow as a Buckeye (which is a little weird given that he doesn't have the same reservations), but the fact is, former Ohio State players won this game and are now headed to the Super Bowl.

And folks were taking notice.

In two weeks, the Bengals will be the first team in history to make a Super Bowl with four former Ohio State players in the starting lineup (shoutout to our own Matt Gutridge for the stat) – and that doesn't even count Burrow, who is also a former Ohio State player.

Y'all know who the good guys are.

 ELI APPLE HAS LOGGED ON. I've already talked about Eli Apple's switch from the shyest and most reserved starter on Ohio State's roster to one of the most aggressive shit-talkers I've ever seen, but it's never going to stop being hilarious.

5-7 years ago, I never would have imagined waiting for Eli Apple to log onto Twitter after a game, but that's where I was on Sunday evening.

He did not disappoint.

Oh, and that dropped pick-six? Turns out he just got a little excited.

Are his online antics over the top? Maybe! But as someone who has never made a Super Bowl after being cast aside by multiple teams and labeled as a "locker room cancer," it's hard for me to judge!

All I know is he's going to be gloriously insufferable online if the Bengals finish the job and win the Lombardi Trophy in two weeks. And I'll post about it.

 EXTREMELY COOL, EXTREMELY GOOD. Ohio State players are allowed to profit off of their own autographs and signatures now, thanks to the new NIL rules. But this weekend, a few Buckeyes went a different route.

We all know that none of these guys do this for the publicity, and that's absolutely why I'm going to go ahead and give it to them anyway.

 BUCKEYE SLAYER. It happened again.

Honestly, he had way too much space last year. But this year's shot was actually pretty great defense.

As a defense, you do everything you can to make sure their only shot they have is a contested fadeaway three as time expires. In this case, he just hit it. There's not much you can do but tip the cap.

... or just don't go down by 20 points in the second half in the first place. But, I digress.

 SONG OF THE DAY. "Time in a Bottle" by Jim Croce.

 NOT STICKING TO SPORTS. What I learned when my parents got arrested... I was engaged to an undercover police officer and everything in the relationship was a lie... He spent 25 years infiltrating Nazis, the Klan and biker gangs... A mystery animal pulls off an elaborate escape from a rescue facility... The surprisingly messy culture wars within the New York Times crossword puzzle...

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