Welcome to the Skull Session.
Aura.
Sophomore szn loading pic.twitter.com/on9x3MbSwx
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) July 24, 2025
Have a good Friday.
BACKING THEIR TEAMS. Here’s a surprise: Mack Brown picked Texas to beat Ohio State, and Urban Meyer picked Ohio State to beat Texas.
On the latest episode of The Triple Option podcast, Brown said the Longhorns will defeat the Buckeyes in the 2025 season opener for two reasons: Arch Manning and the kickoff time.
“I didn’t like that it’s the opening game for either team, especially when one loses in the (College Football Playoff) semifinals and one wins the national championship and loses its quarterback,” Brown said. “We had Louisiana-Lafayette the week before we went to Columbus and to the Shoe (in 2005), so we had a warmup and won 60-3. So we at least had the routine of getting on the bus and getting all of those new players together and Friday before the game and pregame — you’re not gonna have that. You have that young quarterback at Ohio State (Julian Sayin), and this is Arch Manning’s really big deal and it’s gonna be in front of millions of people.
“I like Texas because they’ve got Arch back and Ohio State’s inexperienced at quarterback. And I like the fact that it’s at noon for Texas. I played at 8 o’clock at night (in 2005). I don’t know how many people were sober (at Ohio Stadium), but they were cussing and screaming, and that was the loudest stadium I have ever heard in my life—”
Quick note: My parents would agree with that sentiment.
Continue.
“It was a wonderful experience, but you do not want to go to Columbus, Ohio, at night. I can promise you that. When I saw it was a noon game, I thought what a great advantage for Texas. They don’t have to sit there all day, don’t have to be nervous all day. At noon, it’s gonna be a different moment. It’s gonna be loud, but it’s not gonna be the same as it is at night.”
Meyer agreed that Manning will make a difference in the matchup, calling the third-year quarterback “a hell of a player.” However, even with Manning leading the Texas offense, Meyer said there’s one reason the Buckeyes will beat the Longhorns: Jeremiah Smith.
“They have Jeremiah Smith, the best player in college football, and I don’t think it’s really that close,” Meyer said. “You can roll up on him, you can double him, and you can slow him down. But you can’t stop him. … But they have other weapons. They’ve recruited so well at the skill positions there.”
Not to mention Caleb Downs, Sonny Styles, Max Klare, Carnell Tate and — well, I could name more, but I won’t.
Entering preseason camp, I like Ohio State to beat Texas. I reserve the right to change that selection up until kickoff (spoiler: I won’t), but for now, I like the Buckeyes’ coaching staff and on-field talent to deliver a win at home and kick off the 2025 season with a defining victory over a top-five team.
ALWAYS ON THE RADAR. Texas coach Steve Sarkisian knows Smith can be a game-wrecker.
It’s the reason he sent his entire defense in Smith’s direction to limit the wide receiver in the Cotton Bowl. To his credit, that plan worked — kind of, keep reading — as Texas limited Smith to one catch for 3 yards. But as we all know, the Buckeyes beat the Longhorns 28-14 thanks to Jack Sawyer’s scoop-and-score.
Will Texas have a similar plan to stop or slow down Smith in the 2025 season opener?
Sarkisian shared some insight in an interview with Fox Sports' Colin Cowherd this week.
"You better know where #4 is at all times."
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) July 24, 2025
More from @CoachSark with Colin Cowherd on @OhioStateFB's Jeremiah Smith. pic.twitter.com/rgShVrQxqf
“You know, it’s interesting. I had a chance to coach Julio Jones for two years in Atlanta. Reminds me a lot of him. So big and physical but yet fast. I mean cover ground, so strong at the point of attack when the ball’s in the air. You see just the ability to make contested catches," Sarkisian said.
"That’s where your attention needs to be. But, hey, they’ve got really good coaches. He’s going to be moving around. He’s not going to be lining up in one position all the time. Ideally you’ve got multiple people with eyes on him and guarding him, but you still have to play great team defense and you’ve got to have ability to stop the run and you’ve got to cover the other two wideouts they have that are two really good players, too. I do think there's a multitude of things that you can do well, but you better know where No. 4 is at all times."
Yes. Smith is incredible. He’s so good that no one, not even Sherrone Moore, can keep themselves from praising him!
MASCOT POWER RANKINGS. I am a fan of ESPN’s Ryan McGee. I am not a fan of McGee’s latest article, in which he ranked The Duck ahead of Brutus Buckeye as the best costume mascot in college football.
Here’s what McGee wrote about the icons:
Note: No. 5 Keggy the Keg (Dartmouth), No. 4 The Stanford Tree (Stanford) and No. 3 Big Red (Western Kentucky)
No. 2 - Brutus Buckeye
As hard as it is to believe, before 1965 there was no mascot in Columbus. After flirting with the idea of bringing a live buck onto the sidelines of the Horseshoe, a student vote settled on Buckeyes, honoring the official state tree of Ohio, and the name Brutus.
Over the years, Brutus generally has been considered the template for the "person in clothes but with a huge plastic head" model for modern mascot business. Thankfully, Brutus has experienced some extreme cranial makeovers — and shrinkage — through the ages. The O.G. O-H-I-O Buckeye looked more like a chocolate bonbon bowling ball than a fearsome football foe.
No. 1 - The Duck
We promise we're not just doing this because Walt Disney helped Oregon devise its mascot (and ESPN is a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Co.). We're doing it because as much as Brutus showed the sideline way, the Duck has written the book on how to be a feathered friend to one's fan base in the modern era, from holding signs over Lee Corso's shoulder on "College GameDay" to the stadium entrance GIF that every human with a smartphone has either seen or used.
The Duck would have an aviary argument to be in this spot simply based on his surprise photo bomb tour of the stadiums of the Big Ten prior to Oregon joining the league one year ago. Just this week the Duck has ducked down to Australia and, of course, taken all photos in Southern Hemisphere form.
This is outrageous! It’s unfair!
Ryan needs to put some (more) respect on Brutus’ name!
Bias aside, The Duck has the best social media account among mascots. Here’s one of The Duck’s posts from Australia this week, complete with a reference to the Pixar movie Finding Nemo.
qll us d pic.twitter.com/FmwSXk9OzZ
— The Duck (@TheOregonDuck) July 20, 2025
BUTTS IN SEATS. The Columbus Dispatch’s Joey Kaufman reported this week that Ohio State’s 2025 season ticket sales “remain high” following the Buckeyes’ national championship in 2024.
Brett Scarbrough, Ohio State senior associate athletic director for ticketing and premium seating, told Kaufman that the Buckeyes have sold 56,537 season tickets to the general public, faculty and staff this year. That total nearly matched last fall, when Ohio State sold 56,998 non-student season tickets, the school's highest mark in 16 years.
From 2009 to 2023, Ohio State sold more than 56,000 non-student season tickets just twice, according to Kaufman: 56,484 in 2022 and 56,295 in 2010.
Ohio State will have seven home games in 2025, including two marquee matchups against Texas and Penn State. The Buckeyes’ other opponents have varying intrigue. Here’s how I would rank them, if I had to (just if I had to!): UCLA (Nico Iamaleava’s return to the Shoe!), Rutgers (remember Jesse Mirco’s fake punt?), Minnesota (P.J. Fleck was an Ohio State GA in 2006!), Ohio (OU Oh Yeah!) and Grambling (has a great marching band!).
SONG OF THE DAY. “Take What You Want” - Post Malone (feat. Ozzy Osbourne and Travis Scott).
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