Welcome to the Skull Session.
Carmen on the road >>>
Singing Carmen on the road
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) September 27, 2025
WE LOVE YOU BUCKEYE NATION pic.twitter.com/Z8upb0S5sg
Have a good Monday.
ALL LOVE FOR COACH P. I should write about Caden Curry and Kayden McDonald here, as the defensive linemen combined for 18 tackles, eight tackles for loss and five sacks against Washington.
But… Josh Poloha wrote about them in Proof Points, Dan Hope wrote about them in The Caden and Kayden Show, Chris Lauderback wrote about them in Five Things and the mysterious 11W Staff wrote about them in Three Stars of the Game. Rather than bore you with more #content about Curry and McDonald’s dominance, I will open the Skull Session with this: Ohio State players love Matt Patricia — like, love Matt Patricia.
Last week, Caleb Downs’ comment about the Buckeyes’ defensive coordinator stood out to me.
“I respect that man to the highest level,” Downs said. “Just everything he does, even walking in meetings, talking about Marcus Aurelius, talking about things outside of football. It’s a great thing to listen to and be around.”
Then, after Ohio State’s win over Washington — in which the defense held a UW offense that averaged almost 55 points per game to just six points (at home!) — the way the Buckeyes, including Jeremiah Smith, celebrated with Patricia showed it's not just Downs who respects him to the highest level.
Makes me happy makes me smile. pic.twitter.com/hLoWC6kOjs
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) September 27, 2025
I cannot confirm whether Ohio State’s players ever embraced Jim Knowles in that manner, but I feel fairly confident they didn’t. There could be several reasons for that, but I think the most important are these: Patricia’s affection feels genuine, and his intentionality in relationships has built chemistry with coaches and players alike.
But don’t take my word for it — take Ryan Day’s from his radio show last week.
“He was very intelligent, really good with the players, built relationships on the team but also with the staff,” Day said of his decision to hire Patricia, “but then had the background of playing multiple things and could utilize our guys in different ways, so those were all things that played into it. But I think the biggest thing was that Matt’s been able to step into a room that (the coaches) were already there. … All four (of the defensive assistant coaches) have embraced him. That’s a huge deal because, to me, staff chemistry is very important… ”
Staff chemistry? Like when your longest-tenured assistant engages in the least private beef of all-time with your defensive coordinator? Is that staff chemistry?
“... The players see that. They feed off of it. I believe we have very good staff chemistry, and Larry (Johnson), James (Laurinaitis), Tim (Walton) and Matt (Guerrieri) all do a great job. They work hard. They pour into these players. They do a good job in recruiting,” Day continued.
“And that’s what I mean about chemistry. If you have a bunch of people kind of pulling in different directions. That’s no good. But you also have a bunch of guys who are gonna, you know, challenge each other. It can’t just be a group think, but when you leave the room, everyone’s got their arms together saying this is what it’s gonna be, that it’s the best for the Buckeyes. The players can feed off of that. That’s very, very important.”
Ohio State’s defense leads the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 5.3 points per game, and also ranks among the top teams in total defense with only 229.3 yards allowed per contest.
With Matt Patricia on the headset and elite talent across the field, such dominance is no surprise to head coach Ryan Day.
“It doesn’t surprise me with the coaches that we have; it doesn’t surprise me with the players that we have,” Day said Saturday. “That being said, we’ve got a long season ahead. Right now, there’s confidence, and that’s the most important thing.”
And confidence, it seems, starts with love for Coach P.
IN DUE TIME. Confidence was Day’s favorite word in his Saturday press conference. It was Julian Sayin’s favorite, too. Both the head coach and the quarterback used it to describe the freedom Patricia’s defense has given them through four games.
“It’s important as we continue to grow on offense and figure out where the identity of this team is and where it’s going,” Day said. “I think it’s something that we’ll work on week to week, but when you have a defense that’s playing the way it is right now, you can play with confidence knowing that you don’t have to score every single possession, you can control the clock and play it — I wouldn’t say more conservative, but you understand time, score and situation.”
Moments earlier, Sayin had said this of the defense: “They're so good in practice that it shows up on Saturdays. It’s awesome to see Caleb (Downs), Sonny (Styles), all those guys making plays. It gives us a lot of confidence as an offense that they’re going to go and get stops for us.”
Confidence.
That’s what you want in a first-time starter — though as Andy Anders pointed out Saturday, we shouldn’t call Sayin a rookie anymore.
Sayin entered Saturday’s game ranked No. 1 in the FBS with a 78.9% completion rate. Against the Huskies, he went 22-of-28 for 208 yards and two touchdowns and added four carries for 12 yards, showing a willingness to tuck and run when needed.
In a hostile environment, Day and Brian Hartline handcuffed Sayin early. On Ohio State’s first two possessions, he attempted just four passes while the Buckeyes ran 11 times. When that approach led to a 3-0 deficit, Day and Hartline finally let Sayin sling it. He connected on 5 of 6 throws for 54 yards, including an 18-yard strike to Jeremiah Smith, giving Ohio State a 7-3 halftime lead.
After the break, Sayin immediately went to work, completing 8 of 9 passes for 62 yards as the Buckeyes marched 75 yards to the end zone, taking 7:41 off the clock. Across those two game-changing drives, he hit 13 of 15 throws for 116 yards and a touchdown. Sayin was also lethal on third downs, connecting on 4 of 5 passes for 79 yards, with all four completions keeping drives alive.
All in all, Sayin looked patient and poised, taking what the defense gave him. As his confidence continues to build, so will Ohio State’s offensive playbook, a development I will watch with great interest as ranked matchups with Illinois and Penn State near.
“We’re not where we need to be in terms of down the road,” Day said. “I think we still got a lot of work to do in all areas, so we have to continue to work to get better, but you’re seeing obviously the potential of where we are. Each week, we’re gonna have to continue to get better because in this conference — that’s our first conference win, and we have a lot of work to do.”
“THAT ALIEN GAVE US SOME JUICE.” Before I move on from Ohio State’s offense, I have to share this quote from CJ Donaldson about Jeremiah Smith’s touchdown catch against Washington:
“That alien gave us some juice, man. That guy different,” Donaldson said. “He work hard every day. He push us each and every day to be our best. He’s always bringing that juice. He’s a South Florida guy, you know, he’s got that swagger in him.”
Advice to Julian Sayin: Want to build confidence? Get the ball to No. 4.
BIG GAME JAMES. Oh, James Franklin. Oh, Big Game James.
Whenever Penn State faces a top-10 opponent, it’s like Groundhog Day: anticipation for a marquee matchup, hope that this will finally be the time Franklin’s team breaks the curse… and then, like clockwork, despair arrives as the Nittany Lions fall flat.
Drew Allar — the quarterback NFL draft analysts claimed the Cleveland Browns would’ve taken No. 2 overall in 2025 had he declared (which, let’s be honest, would be a very Browns thing to do) — went 14-of-25 for 137 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception in the Nittany Lions’ 30-24 double-overtime loss to No. 6 Oregon.
Penn State losing a White Out game? In double overtime? Surely this is the first time thats happened. pic.twitter.com/ExZ5gIEVVq
— Chase Brown (@chaseabrown__) September 28, 2025
To his credit, when Penn State trailed 17-3, Allar delivered a beautiful touchdown pass to cut Oregon’s lead to seven. He then led the Nittany Lions on another touchdown drive to tie it, and yet another to start overtime.
Leading 24-17 in front of a White Out crowd of 110,000, the home team had all the momentum. But somehow, in an ending even Bill Murray’s Phil would call cruel, the game ended with Allar throwing an interception — and Franklin falling to 4-21 against top-10 opponents as Penn State’s head coach.
Many national college football analysts picked Penn State to win the national championship because it retained so much of its core from 2024 — a season that ended in the College Football Playoff semifinals when…. ** checks notes ** … Allar threw a game-sealing interception, leading to a 27-24 Notre Dame win.
I’ll let those analysts down easy: this Penn State team won’t win it all.
Mark my words: the Nittany Lions will lose to Ohio State on Nov. 1, win their other games, sneak into the College Football Playoff, and then lose to the first higher seed they face in the 12-team tournament. And so the Groundhog Day script continues in State College.
DAILY DUBCAST. The first Eleven Dubcast of the week recaps the latest win for Ohio State over the Washington Huskies and ponders if it seems like the Buckeyes are deliberately holding back their full potential on offense.
SONG OF THE DAY. "Carmen Ohio" - TBDBITL.
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