Skull Session: Three Buckeyes Appear on the AP All-Time All-America Team, Auburn Now Claims Four More National Titles and Devin Brown Loses Quarterback Competition at Cal

By Chase Brown on August 20, 2025 at 5:00 am
Orlando Pace
RVR Photos – Imagn Images
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Welcome to the Skull Session.

Introducing the 148th edition of The Ohio State University marching band — and their first official Script Ohio!

@tbdbitl_official The first Script Ohio for the 148th edition of The Ohio State University Marching Band! #GoBucks original sound - Ohio State Marching Band

Have a good Wednesday.

 WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU? About Monday.

It’s just frustrating.

And I just want to say one thing to the fans and every Skull Session reader…

You know what?

I’m sorry. I’m extremely sorry. We were hoping for a season with no missed Skull Sessions. That was my goal. Something Eleven Warriors has never done here (this is false). But I promise you one thing: a lot of good will come out of this. You will never see any writer in the entire country write as hard as I will write the rest of the season. You will never see someone push the Eleven Warriors staff as hard as I will push the Eleven Warriors staff the rest of the season. You will never see an outlet write harder than we will write the rest of the season.

God bless.

(On a real note. I took some PTO on Monday to play in Anthony Rothman’s charity golf outing for Homeless to Home. There was then a scheduling mishap that led to no Skull Session. We apologize for the inconvenience!)

 100 YEARS OF AP ALL-AMERICANS. Last week, the Associated Press revealed its All-Time All-America team as part of the organization’s celebration of the award’s 100th anniversary. 

Ohio State and Pitt led all schools with three selections each, while the Big Ten led all conferences with seven selections, two more than the Southeastern Conference.

While neither of those facts will shock you, this will: Archie Griffin was not one of Ohio State’s first-team selections. Instead, the AP selected Oklahoma State’s Barry Sanders and Georgia’s Herschel Walker as its two first-team running backs.

It’s hard not to throw out the entire list’s validity when college football’s only two-time Heisman Trophy winner doesn’t earn the highest honors. However, I will continue to share which Buckeyes received recognition as the best at their position in the past 100 years: offensive tackle Orlando Pace, offensive guard Jim Parker and linebacker Chris Spielman.

Pace is one of the most dominant offensive linemen in college football history. He started as a true freshman and became a two-time unanimous All-American in 1995 and 1996. He also won the Lombardi Award twice (1995-96), becoming the first player to accomplish that feat, and the Outland Trophy once (1996). Oh, and he also finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting — as an offensive tackle!

Parker played under Woody Hayes and helped lead Ohio State to its second national championship in 1954. Two years later, in 1956, Parker became the Buckeyes’ first African American All-American. He also won the Outland Trophy in that same season.

A relentless linebacker and fan favorite for his leadership and toughness, Spielman was a two-time consensus All-American for the Buckeyes (1986 and 1987). The 1987 Lombardi Award winner collected over 500 tackles in his career, including a program-record 29 tackles in the 1986 Ohio State-Michigan game.

 WAIT, WHAT NOW? Until someone else wins two Heisman Trophies, I will defend Archie Griffin as the greatest player in college football history. 

I understand that the word greatest can be hard to define, given factors such as accolades, dominance, impact, legacy and more. But to me, Griffin is the greatest because of the two stiff-arm trophies he can hoist high above his head — though maybe not anymore, as Griffin is 70 and the Heisman weighs over 40 pounds.

While Griffin stands alone as the greatest, I’ve watched a few great players over the past 25 years. One that stands out the most is former Auburn quarterback Cam Newton, who completed 66.1 percent of his passes for 2,854 yards, 30 touchdowns and seven interceptions while running for 1,473 yards and 20 scores during the Tigers’ national championship season in 2010.

Auburn announced Monday that it plans to retire Newton’s No. 2 jersey this season. The retirement ceremony will take place Oct. 11 during Auburn’s rivalry game against Georgia at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Chase, this is an Ohio State football website. I don’t care that Auburn is retiring Newton’s number!

Fair.

But that’s not why I included the news in the Skull Session.

No, I included the Newton news because it makes sense for Auburn to retire the number for one of its all-time greats. However, Auburn had another announcement this week that makes no sense at all: As of Tuesday, the Tigers now claim nine national championships and 15 conference titles, Auburn athletic director John Cohen announced.

“For too long, Auburn has chosen a humble approach to our program’s storied history — choosing to recognize only Associated Press National Championships. Starting this fall, we have made the decision to honor the accomplishments of our deserving student-athletes, coaches, and teams from Auburn’s proud history,” Cohen said in a statement. “Our visible National Championship recognitions now align with the well-established standard used by the NCAA’s official record book and our peers across the nation.”

Previously, Auburn recognized two AP national titles inside Jordan-Hare Stadium (1957 and 2010), while three more were quietly noted in the football media guide (1919, 1983 and 1993). Now, Auburn will recognize four more national titles: 1910, 1914, 1958 and 2004.

When I saw that news, I had a similar reaction to Blueprint Sports’ Parker Fleming — not to be confused with former Ohio State special teams coordinator Parker Fleming.

Here’s a question: If Auburn can claim four additional national titles, what’s keeping Ohio State from claiming eight more championships from the 1933, 1944, 1969, 1973, 1974, 1975 and 2012 seasons?

Hell, yeah, go take them. Who’s going to stop you?

The NCAA?

Ahahahahahaha.

Introducing the World Famous Ohio State Buckeyes, the 17-time national champion Ohio State Buckeyes!

 OUCHIE! OUCHIE! OUCHIE! Cal head coach Justin Wilcox has named freshman transfer Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele — yes, that said freshman transfer, which breaks my brain as much as it does yours — as the Golden Bears’ starting quarterback for the 2025 season opener. Sagapolutele beat out former Ohio State quarterback Devin Brown in the offseason quarterback competition.

“We felt like he earned it,” Wilcox said. “We also feel like Devin is a really good football player. I think Devin has the ability to be a winning starter at this level, but Jaron earned it.”

In beating out Brown, Sagapolutele will join current Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff as the only true freshman quarterbacks to start a season opener at Cal. Wilcox said that won’t faze the four-star from Ewa Beach, Hawaii.

“We’re not expecting him to be perfect. We just expect him to be Jaron and get a little better every day,” Wilcox said. “He’s very comfortable in his own skin. He’s a confident guy. He’s very easy for people to get along with and talk to. But again, we’re not asking Jaron to shoulder every load out there. We need everybody out there to help him.”

Brown spent his first three seasons as a backup at Ohio State. He made nine appearances and one start (the 2023 Cotton Bowl) throughout his tenure with the Buckeyes, completing 26 of 48 passes for 331 yards and three touchdowns.

A redshirt junior, Brown has two years of eligibility remaining. Considering Sagapolutele’s youth, the Arizona native will likely reenter the transfer portal after this season. Otherwise, he will spend his entire college career as a backup, an almost unimaginable outcome for a four-star quarterback who once committed to USC, signed with Ohio State and transferred to a Cal program that went 6-7 last season.

 SONG OF THE DAY. "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" - Creedence Clearwater Revival.

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