Welcome to the Skull Session.
The Buckeyes were all smiles after winning the Illibuck.
Illibuck Dub pic.twitter.com/yXPMOD3nkG
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) October 12, 2025
Have a good Monday.
CIGARETTES AND DAYDREAMS. Fourteen years ago, Curt Cignetti started his head coaching career at Indiana… University of Pennsylvania. On Saturday, he led the No. 7 Indiana Hoosiers to their first road win over a top-five opponent in 47 attempts while ending the No. 3 Oregon Ducks’ 18-game home winning streak and 23-game regular-season winning streak.
Indiana’s remarkable win was — well, remarkable. I don’t know how else to describe it. Indiana beat Oregon. The Ducks didn’t beat themselves. In fact, Indiana handed Oregon seven points in the fourth quarter when Fernando Mendoza tossed a pick-six, but thanks to the Hoosiers’ stellar defense, which allowed 64 yards in the second half and — aside from a 44-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter — allowed 223 yards on the road against one of college football’s best teams inside one of college football’s best stadiums.
Even with his pick-six, Mendoza (20-of-31, 215 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) outdueled Oregon’s Dante Moore (21-of-34, 186 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT) in the matchup. Indiana wide receiver Elijah Sarratt, who followed Cignetti from James Madison to Indiana, torched the Ducks’ secondary for eight catches, 121 yards and one touchdown, while running back Roman Hemby, an offseason transfer from Maryland, scampered for 70 yards and two scores.
Saturday marked Indiana’s 17th win in 19 games under Cignetti. He led the Hoosiers to the first 12-team College Football Playoff last season, and with their win over Oregon, the College Football Power Index gives them a 92% chance to make it this season. Only Ohio State has better odds at 95%. Yes, that’s correct. Only Ohio State has better odds than Indiana to make the College Football Playoff.
I understand if Cignetti’s schtick has grown tired on some, but all college football fans must appreciate what he’s done since he arrived in Bloomington at the end of November 2023. When I Googled him that December, I expected good things for the Hoosiers — but I never would have expected this!
SO LONG, FAREWELL. It felt inevitable.
Following Penn State’s overtime loss to Oregon, road loss to 0-4 UCLA and home loss to Northwestern, the Nittany Lions fired James Franklin amid their 3-3 start to the 2025 season, his 12th as the program’s head coach.
Even though Penn State’s decision was painfully obvious, Franklin’s firing still feels jarring, not only because of how close the Nittany Lions came to saving themselves, but also because of how abruptly it all ended. Despite poor performances over the past two weeks, Penn State was only a handful of plays away from an undefeated record — much like it was a handful of plays away from the national championship game in 2024. Fifteen days ago (!), on Sept. 27, Franklin led the No. 3 team in America onto the field at Beaver Stadium to face Oregon. Now, he’s unemployed.
Penn State’s decision to fire Franklin is costly. Very costly. The school will spend $45 million to buy out Franklin’s contract, which was set to run through 2031 after he signed a 10-year extension in 2021 worth $85 million.
Interestingly, Franklin’s gaudy contract came around the same time as USC’s Lincoln Riley (10 years, around $100 million), LSU’s Brian Kelly (10 years, $95 million) and Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher (10 years, $95 million). I think most would agree that Riley and Kelly have underperformed at their schools. We all can agree Fisher underperformed — but as fans of 97.1 The Fan’s Bishop and Friends know, he does have ranches!
In firing Franklin, Penn State agreed to pay the second-largest buyout in college football history, second only to Texas A&M’s $76 million buyout of Fisher. Penn State has yet to make all details of the buyout public, but no matter what the school decides, it will be a hefty, hefty, hefty price tag.
So, where does this leave Penn State?
3-3 with Terry Smith as its interim head coach.
And where is Penn State headed?
Glass half-full?
7-5 with wins over Iowa, Michigan State, Nebraska and Rutgers, and losses to Ohio State and Indiana.
Glass half-empty?
3-9 with losses to Iowa, Ohio State, Indiana, Michigan State, Nebraska and Rutgers.
I think Penn State lands somewhere in the middle — but then again, I thought the Nittany Lions would beat winless UCLA and North-freakin-Western at home, so what do I know? The answer: Not much. But I know this: Seven weeks into a championship-or-bust season, James Franklin’s Penn State tenure is over — a stunning fall for a coach who so often kept the Nittany Lions close to greatness, but never quite got them there.
GOT CULTURE? On Saturday, I sent a half-baked take into the Eleven Warriors Slack:
Penn State’s implosion feels largely driven by a lack of culture. They brought so many guys back, like Michigan and Ohio State before them, but they’re lucky if they have half the buy-in that Jim Harbaugh and Ryan Day created and maintained.
I’ve now fully baked the take.
To start, I know. I know. Mentioning Habaugh and Day in the same sentence… ** shivers** … but here me out.
I think Harbaugh is a cornball, but his players loved him. Their bond reached its peak when the college football world learned about Connor Stalions in October 2023. When the team could have splintered, Harbaugh rallied the Wolverines with what he would call an enthusiasm unknown to mankind. They beat Penn State, Maryland, Ohio State, Iowa, Alabama and Washington en route to a national championship.
Day navigated a far more difficult path with the Buckeyes in 2024. Not only did Ohio State have a midseason setback at Oregon, but it suffered an unthinkable loss to Michigan in the season finale. When the team could have splintered, Day and his players held a pivotal meeting and emerged from it with a renewed focus that allowed them to defeat Tennessee, Oregon, Texas and Notre Dame en route to a national title.
Then there’s Penn State.
The Nittany Lions entered the 2025 season with championship or bust expectations after returning a bevy of key veterans, including quarterback Drew Allar, running backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen, defensive linemen Dani Dennis-Sutton and Zane Durant, and more. They also hired defensive coordinator Jim Knowles away from Ohio State, making him the highest-paid assistant coach in college football.
But when the rain came and winds blew, Franklin’s team folded like a house of cards. An overtime loss to Oregon carried over into a West Coast trip to UCLA, and the Nittany Lions suffered one of the worst losses of all time — literally, Penn State joined 1985 BYU and 1958 Navy as the only AP top 10 teams to lose to an 0-4 (or worse) opponent since 1955. With a chance to bounce back against Northwestern as three-touchdown favorites, the Nittany Lions fell to the Wildcats, 22-21, at Beaver Stadium.
So, there could be several reasons for Penn State’s freefall, but to me, it’s about culture, or the lack thereof. Culture doesn’t crack under pressure — it hardens. The Wolverines and Buckeyes proved that, but the Nittany Lions didn’t. That’s the reason Harbaugh* and Day ended their seasons with championship rings, while Franklin ended his with a pink slip.
THE DEADLY LEFTY. I am right-handed, but I shoot a basketball with my left hand. I don’t know why — it’s just what I’ve always done. Growing up as a left-handed guard, I loved watching Mike Conley and D’Angelo Russell play for the Basketbucks, but I also loved watching Deshaun Thomas.
Over the weekend, Thomas announced his retirement from basketball.
Love is Love pic.twitter.com/xM2a1nUQBm
— DeShaun Thomas (@Deshaunthomas_0) October 12, 2025
An Ohio State standout from 2010-13, Thomas averaged 14.4 points and five rebounds per game across three seasons. He earned second-team All-Big Ten honors in 2011-12, when the Buckeyes made a run to the Final Four. In 2012-13, Thomas received first-team All-Big Ten and third-team All-American recognition for an Ohio State team that reached the Elite Eight.
Following his Ohio State career, Thomas began a 12-year professional career overseas, playing for 11 teams across nine countries: France, Spain, the United States, Turkiye, Greece, Japan, Germany and Italy.
Thomas’ accolades from that career include six titles — two Greek League championships, one Greek Basketball Cup, one Israeli Premier League, one Israeli League Cup and one French Cup — and one all-league honor: a first-team All-Bundesliga accolade in 2022.
In other words, whether it was college or international, Thomas was a bucket and a problem on the basketball court. I wish him the best of luck and retirement — and for whatever the "something special" is he has coming up in the near future!
SONG OF THE DAY. "Carmen Ohio" - TBDBITL.
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