Another Monday means another day closer to the Peach Bowl.
Before we dive into the Skull Session, is this good?
Only the third QB in NFL history with 1K rushing yards in a single season. pic.twitter.com/Bc8bUlb3hR
— NFL (@NFL) December 18, 2022
I'm gonna say that's pretty good. Justin Fields is pretty good.
Let's have a good Monday, shall we?
HOW TO BEAT THE BULLDOGS. A college football podcast called “SNAPS” on The Volume pairs former LSU offensive lineman T-Bob Hebert with former Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray, who discuss various storylines from around the sport throughout the fall.
As Murray’s alma mater prepares to face Ohio State in the Peach Bowl, Hebert asked the four-year Georgia starter, who threw for more than 13,000 yards and 121 touchdowns in his career, how the Buckeyes can beat the Bulldogs on New Year's Eve. Murray's answers – devoid of all "SEC bias," if you had any concerns – were relatively simple.
- Establish the run
- Stop the run
Murray's explanation of those two points starts at the 0:45 mark and ends around the 3:55 mark of this video:
Now, I understand Murray's points are not reinventing the wheel for how most Ohio State fans. The run game has been of the main talking points for the offense since the Iowa game in Week 7, so it's no secret they need to run the ball well against their best opponent this season.
However, I do appreciate that Murray makes a note of running the ball again and again and again. Don't stop pounding the rock, even if the Bulldogs stop a few carries for zero or negative yardage. A one-dimensional offense for Ohio State does not win the Peach Bowl.
I also love his point about Ohio State taking shots to the end zone once they reach midfield. The offense has a proven track record of success when throwing the deep ball, so please, for all that is holy, I want to see it frequently in Atlanta. Because it works! Even against good teams!
ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!?! @MarvHarrisonJr reels one in for an @OhioStateFB TD! pic.twitter.com/rI2MqsaMdh
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 26, 2022
Run the ball. Stop the run. Sounds like a good game plan to me. We'll see if Ohio State can do both of these things well in the CFP semifinal. If they do, we could celebrate a Buckeyes trip to the national championship game as we transition into 2023. How fun!
A BUCKET AND A PROBLEM. Ohio State led by as many as 14 points in its CBS Sports Classic matchup with North Carolina on Saturday before suffering an 89-84 loss in overtime to the Tar Heels. Simply put, the Buckeyes crumbled, and they lost a game they shouldn't have – one where a win would've looked real good on the resume come March.
However, I won't dwell on the negatives from the Basketbucks’ performance over the weekend. Instead, I want to talk about freshman phenom Brice Sensabaugh because that dude is a bucket and a problem.
Sensabaugh has been Ohio State's best scorer all season, averaging 14.9 points on 49.5% shooting with a 47.6% mark from deep. On Saturday, North Carolina showed tremendous respect for Sensabaugh's scoring ability by placing Leaky Black, one of the best perimeter defenders in college basketball, on the 6-foot-6, 235-pound forward whenever both were on the floor.
And, folks, that didn't matter because Sensabaugh is a budding star.
The first-year Buckeye dropped 22 points while giving Black the absolute business multiple times, including a pair of swished 3-pointers and pure midrange jumpers. Oh, and he beat Black off the dribble to the baseline and dunked on Caleb Love's head.
BIG BODY BRICE pic.twitter.com/EOl5ZUW5NW
— Ohio State Hoops (@OhioStateHoops) December 17, 2022
Brice Sensabaugh throws it down. pic.twitter.com/q8UZ4TZLSQ
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) December 17, 2022
Sensabaugh also collected eight rebounds and three assists in the contest and showed a willingness to defend and take care of the basketball (save for a careless behind-the-back pass on a fast break in the first half). The latter two areas are where Sensabaugh can improve most, which makes his growth in those areas all the more encouraging.
The kid is just a hooper, man. Ohio State will need him to continue playing at a high level if the Buckeyes want to make any noise in the Big Ten and the NCAA Tournament. With everything he's shown so far this season, Sensabaugh looks ready to answer the call.
MORE THAN A NAME. Marvin Harrison Jr. is the best wide receiver in the country, not because of his father's name but because of his work ethic, approach, attitude, character and integrity.
That's what Yahoo Sports senior writer Jay Busbee set out to share in his article chronicling the Ohio State receiver's ascension into college football stardom this season in only his second year as a Buckeye.
Imagine the pressure you have to endure as a marquee player on one of the nation’s most visible and most talented teams. Imagine the pressure of knowing the hopes and dreams of hundreds of thousands depend on whether you can catch a ball that’s coming your way. Now imagine the pressure of doing all that while carrying the name of your father … who just happened to be better than almost anyone ever in what you’re trying to do.
Some people would crumble under the pressure. Some would avoid it entirely. And some, like Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr., would embrace it, wrestle it to the ground, conquer it.
“I think it's easy for us to look at and just say, 'Well, his dad played in the NFL and then became a Hall of Famer,'” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said earlier this year. “There's a lot that comes with that, a lot of expectations, especially when you share the same name as your dad. And I just think that Marvin has done a great job of kind of blazing his own way, but I think the expectations have always been there for him and not easy. But his work ethic, his approach, his attitude, who he is as a person, his parents raised a really great young man.”
“He has the name, but hasn’t lived on that,” says Adam Gorney, national recruiting director for Rivals. “He’s arguably the best wide receiver in [college] football.”
I would amend Gorney's quote with my personal thoughts and say, “He's arguably the best receiver in [college] football” because Harrison earned that title as Ohio State's WR1 this year.
And the best part is Harrison's season has not yet ended, as he has at least one more game to cause havoc as a sophomore at Ohio State when the Buckeyes play Georgia, whose subpar pass defense serves as a dent in its otherwise impenetrable armor.
Conveniently enough for Harrison, the secondary is the one true weakness on the Bulldogs’ defense, which ranks 51st in the nation in surrendering 215.1 passing yards per game. The key for Ohio State will be for the offensive line to protect Stroud long enough for Harrison and Emeka Egbuka to exploit the holes in Georgia’s defense. It’s doable as LSU put Georgia’s secondary on roller skates in the SEC championship game, running up 502 yards, and not all of that was garbage yardage.
However this season ends, Harrison will begin next season with All-American, and potentially even Heisman, speculation. He’s on a trajectory that will make him a cornerstone receiver in the 2024 NFL draft.
“He’s exactly what the NFL is looking for in a wide receiver,” Gorney says. “Big body, super competitive, major dog factor, and catches everything. … NFL guys are going to look at their draft boards and say, ‘This guy can’t get too far.’”
I think I speak for all of Buckeye Nation when I say that hopefully, the monster that is Marvin Harrison Jr. will be unleashed at 8 p.m. on Dec. 31 as Ohio State looks to succeed as an unlikely No. 4 seed in the College Football Playoff.
A WONDERFUL TRADITION. On Saturday, the Ohio State men's hockey team hosted its annual Teddy Bear Toss when the program hosted Bowling Green in Value City Arena. The event and the game ended up being enormous wins for the Buckeyes.
Ohio State jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first period with two goals from Joe Dunlap and one each from Davis Burnside and Michael Gildon. As the buzzer sounded and ended the first period, fans were welcomed to throw their teddy bears from the stands onto the ice.
The most fun way to donate during the holiday season! @OhioStateMHKY x Teddy Bear Toss pic.twitter.com/CsWZ2Ym4dK
— Ohio State on BTN (@OhioStateOnBTN) December 18, 2022
The stuffed animals were collected by Ohio State and will be donated to the Ronald McDonald House in Columbus. With 5,271 in attendance for the contest, many children will receive a teddy bear during the holiday season.
Those fans were rewarded for their generosity with a dominant final two periods for the Buckeyes, who ended up winning the intrastate matchup 9-4. Patrick Guzzo, Stephen Halliday, Burnside, Scooter Brickey and Cam Thiesing scored in the final 40 minutes as Ohio State cruised to a victory that closed the team's first half of the 2022-23 season.
.@OhioStateMHKY went on a rampage to close out 2022 play. pic.twitter.com/B3n9IjAiaa
— Ohio State on BTN (@OhioStateOnBTN) December 18, 2022
Hat tips to the men’s hockey team for putting the event together and the fans for their efforts to make it succeed. May those teddy bears arrive in the hands of a child that needs them and brighten their holiday season as we near the end of the year.
SONG OF THE DAY. “All The Emotions” by Kings Kaleidoscope.
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