Skull Session: It’s Time For March Madness, Ohio State Incorporates Helmet Communication Into Spring Practices and C.J. Stroud Returns to Columbus for the Buckeyes’ Pro Day

By Chase Brown on March 21, 2024 at 5:00 am
Ryan Day and C.J. Stroud
X/@OhioStateFB
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Welcome to the Skull Session.

X. Weapon X. The X Factor.

No matter the nickname, Xavier Johnson was out in full force at Ohio State's pro day.

Have a good Thursday.

 LET THE GAMES BEGIN. It’s time for March Madness.

You love to see it.

With the NCAA Tournament set to begin on Thursday, Chris Low of ESPN simulated a 64-team College Football Playoff for the 2024 season.

Indeed, Low created a 64-team College Football Playoff. Not four teams, 12 teams, 14 teams or 16 teams – 64 teams. Using the preseason SP+, Low separated those programs into four regions with 16 seeds each. He then charted out a Round of 64, Round of 32, Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four and national championship.

Spoiler: The Buckeyes played in all of them.

In this section, I’ve included Ohio State’s five-game run to the national title game in Low’s made-up College Football Playoff. The Buckeyes’ journey included wins over Miami (Ohio), Florida, Louisville, Oklahoma and Florida State. Ohio State then faced Quinn Ewers and Texas in the final. Here’s how all of those matchups went:

Round of 64

(1) Ohio State 45, (16) Miami (Ohio) 20: This battle of Ohio has rarely been close in their six previous meetings, but the RedHawks put together another strong season after winning the MAC in 2023. They just don't have the firepower to compete with an Ohio State roster laden with NFL talent.

Round of 32

(1) Ohio State 31, (8) Florida 10: Quarterback Will Howard bolted Kansas State for Ohio State with the hopes of playing for college football's top prize. The Buckeyes move a step closer to doing just that even though Howard doesn't have to play a huge role in a game that's dominated by defensive tackle Tyleik Williams and an Ohio State defense that shuts out the Gators in the first half.

Sweet 16

(1) Ohio State 42, (5) Louisville 21: First it was Bill O'Brien; then it was Chip Kelly. Ryan Day was looking for a proven playcaller to take over those duties, and he eventually turned to Kelly, his old coach at New Hampshire, when O'Brien left in February for the Boston College head coaching job. Kelly has no shortage of dynamic playmakers to work with, and TreVeyon Henderson, Quinshon Judkins and Emeka Egbuka take turns scoring touchdowns in the Buckeyes' blowout win.

Elite Eight

(1) Ohio State 37, (3) Oklahoma 24: The Sooners' deep and impressive run in the tournament comes to an end. Sophomore quarterback Jackson Arnold illustrates why he will be one of the top returning quarterbacks in the nation in 2025 with his talent and toughness, but the Buckeyes' defense keeps him on the run for much of the game. Moreover, Oklahoma isn't able to get its running game going, allowing Ohio State defensive ends Jack Sawyer and JT Tuimoloau to tee off on Arnold.

Final Four

(1) Ohio State 38, (3) Florida State 21: Ohio State has looked as strong as anybody in this tournament, and that doesn't change against a Florida State team that runs out of gas after an inspiring run that eases some of the pain of a year ago. The Buckeyes score more than 30 points for the fifth straight time in the tournament and get a defensive touchdown when cornerback Denzel Burke takes one back 91 yards with the Seminoles driving late in the third quarter.

Championship

(1) Texas 41, (1) Ohio State 37: For the second straight season, Ohio State reaches the national championship game in our tournament. The Buckeyes are due for a title, too, after last winning one in 2014. The Longhorns are even more due. Their last title came in 2005. In his fourth season on the Forty Acres, Sarkisian has his best and most balanced team. As many as 28 future NFL draft picks take the field in this game.

Ohio State has momentum on its side in the fourth quarter, but Texas' Ethan Burke and Anthony Hill Jr. take down a scrambling Will Howard on a game-changing sack. The Buckeyes are forced to punt, and Oregon State transfer Silas Bolden leaves a vapor trail down the left sideline on a 73-yard punt return for the winning touchdown. As the final seconds tick down, Bevo appears on the field sporting some serious Horns Up bling and a burnt orange sign that reads, "Texas is back!”

ahahahahaha

*breathes°

ahahahahaha

HORNS DOWN.

(I expect an email from the Texas athletic department if and when one of the staff members sees I use that phrase in a public forum).

Jokes aside, Texas is a good football team. Quinn Ewers is the best quarterback returning to college football next season, and Sark filled all of his team’s holes through the transfer portal. However, the Longhorns are not as good as the Buckeyes. They just aren’t. 

If Ohio State and Texas do meet in the national championship in 2024, the Buckeyes would lean on the best defense and running back room in America (TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins) to win the game. All Will Howard would have to do is take care of the football and, as Ryan Day always says, “make the routine plays routinely.” If Howard accomplishes that feat, Ohio State would win it all — and comfortably!

 CAN YOU HEAR ME, MAJOR TOM? ICYMI: Ohio State has and will use coach-to-player helmet communication this spring, adopting new technology the NCAA rules committee proposed on March 1.

The communications system – which has been used in the NFL since 1994 (!) but college football just now wants to add – allows a coach to speak with a player on the field through a device in their helmet. The proposal still needs approval from the NCAA rules oversight panel in April for it to be established in 2024. However, with approval all but guaranteed, the Buckeyes have incorporated the technology into their first three offseason practices.

“It’s something new in college,” Ryan Day said during his Tuesday press conference. “Each day we’re learning a little more about it. We’re getting feedback from the quarterbacks and the players.”

Day said Ohio State’s in-helmet devices have been largely confined to the Buckeyes’ quarterbacks, namely Will Howard, Devin Brown, and Lincoln Kienholz. The head coach explained that the NCAA allows for three devices per team, but with Air Noland and Julian Sayin also in the quarterback room, he wishes there were more devices available.

“But there aren’t,” Day said. “Right now, we’re working with three.”

Because of those constraints, Day said Ohio State will soon have players on the defensive side of the ball use the technology. Since he and Chip Kelly are familiar with helmet communication due to their NFL experience, Day said he wants Jim Knowles to become more comfortable with the process.

Day mentioned Kelly’s experience on Tuesday, suggesting it could help the Buckeyes in their transition. He and Kelly expect the devices will give Ohio State more options when calling plays between snaps.

“We’ll use a bunch of different ways to (call plays),” Day said. “We’ll use wristbands. We’ll use signals. We’ll huddle. We’ll try to find as many ways to be creative in that area.”

The prevalence of helmet communications in college football might disincentivize teams from stealing their opponents’ signs, a scheme that gained notoriety after Connor Stalions and Michigan were involved in a sign-stealing scandal last October. 

While sign-stealing is not a violation of NCAA rules, the Wolverines were accused of a scheme in which they scouted other teams in person in order to decipher signals, an impermissible act since the start of the 1994 season.

Day said little about the scandal since it unfolded last fall, though I am sure he would like to. Maybe when Ohio State demolishes “That Team Up North” this fall, the floodgates will open, and Day will have another “I’D LIKE TO KNOW WHERE _____ IS RIGHT NOW” moment.

 GOOD GUY C.J. This will be an appreciation section for C.J. Stroud. The former Ohio State quarterback returned to Columbus on Wednesday for the Buckeyes’ pro day. After the event, during which he spent most of his time connecting with his old teammates, Stroud offered more of his time to meet with reporters.

Again, Stroud, who could have bounced from the Woody Hayes Athletic Center at any time, chose to volunteer his time to speak with reporters and, in turn, Buckeye Nation about several topics, most of which involved his love for Ohio State.

He's a class act, man.

Here is a collection of social media posts (and our YouTube video) that detail his appearance at Ohio State’s pro day on Wednesday.

We need to protect him at all costs.

 TAKE A BOW. Shoutout to THE Ohio State women’s basketball team. And shoutout to Buckeye Nation.

This week, Ohio State announced an average attendance of 7,559 in the 2023-24 regular season, the highest the program has had at Value City Arena. The number ranks second in the Buckeyes' record book, behind the 1993-94 season that averaged 8,411 fans at St. John Arena.

What led to such a rise in fan attendance?

The answer is simple: Ohio State has one of the best women’s basketball teams in America. The Buckeyes are 25-5 overall and 16-2 in conference competition, winning the Big Ten regular-season title.

Ohio State also benefited from hosting some excellent opponents at the Schottenstein Center, none greater than Iowa and soon-to-be back-to-back Naismith Women’s National Player of the Year Caitlin Clark.

Following the Buckeyes' win over the Hawkeyes, which a record-breaking 18,660 fans attended, Ohio State left sections of the upper bowl – usually closed off with a black tarp – open for select games. This helped the program’s average attendance increase to 9,120 in its final five home games, with the crowd surpassing 10,000 on three occasions.

As Ohio State enters the NCAA Tournament as a No. 2 seed, the Buckeyes hope their stellar crowds continue to come out. The first-round matchup at Value City Arena against No. 15 seed Maine could see a dip in attendance due to the noon tipoff on Friday. But if (more like when) the Buckeyes advance to the second round on Sunday, the number of people attending would (more like will) undoubtedly rise.

Cotie McMahon looks forward to the home-court advantage.

"I feel like embracing that," McMahon said. “Realizing that, yes, it's one and done, but we have a chance to do this two times at home, two more times for Buckeye Nation and ourselves."

Hosting these games gives some Buckeyes, including Jacy Sheldon, Rebeka Mikulasikova, Rikki Harris and Eboni Walker, at least one more opportunity to compete in front of the crowd they helped build in their time with the program.

Despite having only one season with Ohio State, Celeste Taylor – a Naismith Defensive Player of the Year finalist – has come to appreciate the fans at Value City Arena. In her final year of college basketball, Taylor wants to deliver a pair of wins for the team’s fans.

"Having the crowd there is definitely going to have us pumped, but a lot of it is going to have to do with how we play," Taylor said. "We love having the crowd. The crowd pumps us up. It gives us energy. But we're on the court, so we have to compete. I had the opportunity to host last year when I was at Duke, and we ended up losing."

Ohio State is beatable. Its loss to Maryland in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals as the No. 1 seed proved that. Looking to take the upset as a wake-up call, the Buckeyes understand that any game could be the end of the road.

"Everything's at stake," Taylor said. "Honestly, it could be my last college basketball game. Cotie, it could be her last game with us. There are high emotions. Everybody's ready to compete."

For clarification purposes: When Taylor said, “Cotie, it could be her last game with us,” she did not mean that McMahon would be leaving Ohio State after this season. Instead, her intent was to remind herself and her teammates that Friday (and Sunday) could be the last games for this current iteration of the Buckeyes.

 SONG OF THE DAY. “Space Oddity” - David Bowie.

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