Skull Session: Joel Klatt Calls Ohio State a “Self-Motivated” Team, the Buckeyes’ Offensive Line Looks Dominant Through Two Weeks and Something Feels Off About Texas

By Chase Brown on September 9, 2025 at 5:00 am
Ryan Day
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Welcome to the Skull Session.

... is the chance to go 3-0!

Have a good Tuesday.

 “I LIKE WHAT I SEE FROM OHIO STATE.” Consider Joel Klatt impressed with Ohio State’s 70-0 win over Grambling.

In the latest episode of The Joel Klatt Show, the Fox Sports analyst said that Ohio State took care of business against an inferior opponent, something few of college football’s top programs could claim coming out of Week 2.

Huh, that sounds familiar!

“There’s something about a locker room and takes care of business,” Klatt said of Ohio State’s win. “It tells me that the team is owned in the locker room, and it’s not owned in the coaching staff. That’s not a knock against the coaching staff of these teams; it’s actually high praise. Every coach will tell you that the teams they have to pull along the entire year are the hardest ones to coach. But the ones that are self-motivated are the ones that can go out there and have a really great, crisp, detailed week of practice with urgency, even when they’re playing Grambling.

“Now we look at teams like Ohio State and Oregon and Tennessee and Florida State. They went out and took care of business. Ohio State scored 70 on Grambling. Julian Sayin was nearly perfect. Again, if Julian Sayin would have thrown 34 passes against Grambling, they would have scored 897,000 points because it was up and down the field. He looked great. He was on time. He was in rhythm. They were getting the ball to (Jeremiah) Smith, they were getting the ball to Tate, they were getting the ball to Bo Jackson at times. 

“I loved what I saw from Ryan Day late in that game when Bo Jackson kind of like kind of does a freshman move and reaches the ball out (for the pylon) and plays a little undisciplined football, and (Day) let him know about it. I’m like, ‘That reminds me of Nick Saban,’ screaming at guys up 70-0. … I like what I see from Ohio State.”

Klatt’s praise for Day, Sayin and the Buckeyes continued when he named his top-10 teams in college football entering Week 3.

“At No. 1 is Ohio State. How about that? Not only do they beat Texas, but they come out the very next week and just handle business, stand on business, against Grambling,” Klatt said. “Julian Sayin looked incredible. For all the talk about them not trusting him or not being aggressive down the field in the passing game in Week 1, how about the aggressiveness in Week 2? He looked great. If he’s playing like that the rest of the year, Ohio State might go back-to-back, so they’re my No. 1 team in the country.”

 THE SLOBS DESERVE FLOWERS. For all the talk about Sayin and Ohio State’s wide receivers, linebackers and defensive backs, the Buckeyes’ offensive line has looked incredible in the team’s wins over Texas and Grambling State.

On Monday, Ohio State’s creative team praised the offensive line’s domination, sharing that the Buckeyes rank No. 1 in the nation in sacks allowed and tackles for loss allowed through Week 2.

Despite the stellar performance of Ohio State's offensive line, Pro Football Focus has some... interesting... grades for those Buckeyes through two weeks. Interesting meaning average to below average grades across 15 players?

NOTE: PFF views 90-99 as elite, 80-89 as good to great, 70-79 as above average, 60-69 as average, 50-59 as below average and under 50 as poor

  • OL Gabe VanSickle: 72.2 overall/77.9 pass/ 71.1 run in 20 snaps
  • OT Ian Moore: 71.3/77.5/68.6 in 20 snaps
  • C Joshua Padilla: 71.1/75.9/68 in 20 snaps
  • OT Austin Siereveld: 67.4/62.9/66.4 in 91 snaps
  • C Carson Hinzman: 67.4/76.7/65.2 in 91 snaps
  • OL Luke Montgomery: 63.9/73.5/61.3 in 91 snaps
  • OT Phillip Daniels: 61.8/63.4/59.4 in 91 snaps
  • OT Justin Terry: 59.9/60.7/59 in 20 snaps
  • OL Isaiah Kema: 58.5/71.7/57.9 in 11 snaps
  • OL Jake Cook: 57.6/73.9/56.8 in 15 snaps
  • OL Ethan Onianwa: 57.2/29.2/59.5 in 41 snaps
  • OL Jayvon McFadden: 57/73.9/56.2 in 15 snaps
  • OL Tegra Tshabola: 54.7/52.1/53.7 in 70 snaps
  • OT Deontae Armstrong: 52.7/74.6/52.1 in 15 snaps
  • OT Carter Lowe: 50.8/75/49.2 in 15 snaps

No matter what PFF thinks, Ohio State’s offensive line is solid and has the potential to be one of the best in the nation this season. The Buckeyes will look to continue their solid play this week against an Ohio team that recorded a combined five sacks and 12 tackles for loss against Rutgers and West Virginia.

 NO GOOD, VERY BAD VIBES. Vibes are good in Columbus, but the vibes in Austin? Not so much.

With Heisman hopeful Arch Manning at quarterback, Texas entered the season with national title expectations. However, after a 14-7 loss to Ohio State and a lackluster 38-7 win over San Jose State, the Longhorns haven’t looked like a championship-caliber team through two weeks, fueling speculation about what’s wrong with Steve Sarkisian’s squad.

One of the rumors swirling on the interwebs is that Manning has a shoulder injury, causing his performance to diminish substantially. Here’s one example of Manning grimacing after throwing a pass against San Jose State:

While it appears that Manning is at the very least dealing with soreness, Sarkisian dismissed the speculation when a reporter said Monday that Manning “appeared to be having throwing pains” in Week 2. The Texas coach cut off the reporter before he finished his question.

“According to who?” Sarkisian asked. “Arch said that to you?”

Muh.

According to who-muh?

According to whom?

I digress.

The reporter responded to Sarkisian that he had not spoken to Manning, adding that videos — like the one I shared above — appear to show him grimacing in pain while throwing passes against San Jose State.

“I’ve never filmed any of you guys when you’re using the bathroom, so I don’t know what faces you make when you’re doing that,” Sarkisian said.

So, yeah — vibes in Austin? They could be better!

 PLAYERS OF THE GAME. On Sunday, Ohio State named Jeremiah Smith as its Offensive Player of the Game and Riley Pettijohn as its Defensive Player of Game against Grambling State.

Eleven Warriors agreed with Ohio State's selections, as Pettijohn and Smith were our Second Star and Third Star from Saturday's win. Julian Sayin, who also earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors on Monday, was our First Star.

In addition to the offensive line graphic shared above, Ohio State's creative team has been hard at work this week producing some videos of the best moments from the Buckeyes' win over the Tigers. Let's end this Skull Session on a high note and watch them together:

 DAILY DUBCAST. Today's Eleven Dubcast welcomes back Kyle Jones to preview his latest installment of Film Study that will aim to provide long-term takeaways following Ohio State's dominant win over a mismatched Grambling State squad.

 SONG OF THE DAY. "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" - Whitney Houston.

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