Welcome to the Skull Session.
* ahem *
The Cleveland Guardians can win the AL Central.
Mowed em down in Motown. #GuardsBall | #GuardiWWWWWWWins pic.twitter.com/L5FNKiGt8J
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) September 18, 2025
That is (far from) all.
Have a good Friday.
“HAMMER DOWN ON THE FUNDAMENTALS.” I love Ohio State’s mindset as it navigates bye week No. 1.
“There’s still a lot of work that goes on here during the week," Ryan Day said on The Ryan Day Radio Show on Thursday. "Had a really good practice (Wednesday), have another one coming up here (Thursday) afternoon. We all go on the road (Friday) recruiting and. A lot to improve on. We’re calling it ‘Improvement Week.’ You know, put the film to bed here early in the week, went through that and now, really, you know, hammer down on the fundamentals and looking ahead to these next four games."
What does Day see as the fundamentals?
“It goes back to day one of preseason camp,” Day said. “It goes to, you know, how you walk in the building every day, how you go to meetings, how you stretch, and your hand placement, your pad level, your steps, like all of those things. It’s a good opportunity to kind of re-bite on all of those things. And then obviously, in each phase of offense, defense and special teams. We look at the first three games, what we’ve done, what we’ve done well, and then figure out what we need going into these next four games.”
Ohio State’s next four opponents are Washington, Minnesota, Illinois and Wisconsin. The Buckeyes will play the Huskies in Seattle, the Gophers in Columbus, the Illini in Champaign and the Badgers in Madison.
“When you look at this four-game run right here, you know, you’re gonna be on the road for three of them,” Day said. “We’re gonna get a good idea of what type of team we have coming out of this run.”
A chance to reset, a chance to rest, a chance to return to the fundamentals that have built the program into a perennial national title contender — all before a crucial stretch that will shape the team’s identity as it enters the second half of the regular season.
I love it.
FINDING HIS VOICE. Arvell Reese has been one of Ohio State’s standouts through three games, collecting a team-best 20 tackles with two sacks and two pass breakups.
As Reese continues to shine for Ohio State, he also continues to find his voice for the Buckeyes.
“When you make plays on the field, there’s just instant credibility. Arvell is a great example,” Ryan Day said Thursday. “Arvell may not have as much of a voice or do as much talking as some of the other guys, but when he speaks, people listen. Jeremiah is a little bit that way.”
Ryan Day calls Demond Williams Jr. "lightning in a bottle" and joins Matt Patricia in comparing the Washington quarterback to Arizona Cardinals signal caller Kyler Murray. https://t.co/kDtESqB3iP
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) September 18, 2025
Day said having leaders like Reese and Smith is a luxury, especially when the Buckeyes have leaders who speak up regularly like captains Sonny Styles, Caleb Downs, Brandon Inniss and Austin Siereveld.
“When these guys are some of your hardest workers day in and day out, you know, you grab a young player and you say, ‘You see how he’s going about his business? You see him running around at night? No, he’s not doing any of that stuff. Why? Because he knows what’s important.’ That’s the example that’s been set for a long time here at Ohio State,” Day said. “But these guys are understanding that and hopefully taking it to the next level.”
Man, this is good stuff. That kind of leadership and accountability is the difference between a team and a program!
“WHAT A CLUSTER!” Stewart Mandel, Andrew Marchand and Scott Dochterman of The Athletic released an article titled, “What Dave Portnoy and Barstool Sports reveal about Fox and the Big Ten’s relationship,” in which the veteran journalists broke down how the controversial media personality became a regular on FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff.
The entire article can be summarized in one paragraph and one quote.
Barstool’s brand is one thing. Portnoy’s Michigan fandom could also be seen as a conflict of interest by Ohio State. Last year, he claimed to have facilitated five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood’s recruiting flip from LSU to Michigan. Earlier this month he tweeted at five-star Ohio State receiver commit Chris Henry Jr. about Oracle, the company founded by Larry Ellison, who, along with his wife, Jolin, funded Underwood’s name, image and likeness deal.
“What a cluster!” said a high-ranking Power 4 administrator. “Why would Fox do that to their partner? Especially a school that might be their No. 1 property in college sports. Makes no sense!”
That’s what we’ve been saying all along!
JEREMIAH BROKE THE U. There’s a lot of good stuff in this short video about Jeremiah Smith...
...but what stood out to me the most was this quote: "My first time being here on a visit, I just fell in love with it. Walking around the facility and everything, seeing how the coaches operate, everything just caught my eye. I just got the offer from Coach Day. I was like, 'This place is home for me, and I want to commit.'"
Smith committed to Ohio State in December 2022. In December 2023, Smith signed his National Letter of Intent with the Buckeyes, but not until the 11th hour. Miami put on a full-court press — as Garrick Hodge liked to write in his articles — for the No. 1 overall prospect, offering him what I can only assume was an unspeakable amount of cash and having future No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward tell him how great Smith would be for the Hurricanes.
Of course, we all know what happened next. Smith had 76 catches for 1,315 yards and 16 total touchdowns, leading Ohio State to a national championship. Meanwhile, Ward became a Heisman finalist, leading Miami to the… Pinstripe Bowl… with Xavier Restrepo as his leading receiver.
Smith’s decision to remain committed to Ohio State didn’t just impact Miami’s 2024 season; it’s also impacting the Hurricanes’ future seasons.
As Ramzy Nasrallah said in the Eleven Warriors Slack this week, “Jeremiah broke the U,” as the Hurricanes' will have the No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, No. 6, No. 8, No. 11, No. 15, No. 16, No. 19 and No. 20 wide receivers in the 2027 class on campus for Miami’s showdown with Florida this weekend.
Me, personally?
I’d take Jeremiah over all of them!
DAILY DUBCAST. The final Eleven Dubcast of the week welcomes back Dan Hope to examine some of the most intriguing college football matchups across the sport this weekend that Buckeyes can use to help bide their time through an OSU bye week.
SONG OF THE DAY. "Out Tonight" - Penelope Road.
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