Skull Session: Ohio State Overturns Jeremiah Smith’s Student Appreciation Day Touchdown, Ryan Day Continues to Praise Brock Boyd and E.J. Liddell Shines in His First NBA Start

By Chase Brown on April 7, 2026 at 4:55 am
Jeremiah Smith
Adam Cairns / Columbus Dispatch
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Welcome to the Skull Session,

It's all the Big Ten. All of it.

Have a good Tuesday.

 NOT SO FAST, MY FRIEND! Jeremiah Smith’s Student Appreciation Day touchdown didn’t count.

Smith looked like he delivered in the clutch for Ohio State’s offense on Saturday. Turns out, not quite.

The star wide receiver appeared to haul in a fourth-down, have-to-have-it touchdown from Julian Sayin in the red zone — a play that determined which side avoided post-practice sprints. But Ryan Day revealed Monday that, after an extensive review, the coaches overturned the call and ruled the pass incomplete.

Result: the offense ran gassers after Monday’s practice.

“Under further review, it came from a bunch of different angles, and there was a bunch of controversy,” Day said. “We actually asked who ultimately made the final decision. We did not get that disclosed to us. So we actually called the office to figure out who makes the decision on instant replay. We never got anything back, so we were frustrated. But the call was overturned. Yeah, so (the offense) had to run today. Under further review, it was overturned.”

Reporters, referencing video of Matt Patricia running with the defense on Saturday, asked Day if he joined the offense for sprints.

“I did not run, no,” Day said with a smile. “I did not run, nope.”

Perks of being the head coach, I guess.

 BROCK BOYD HAS MOTION. Brock Boyd continues to impress his Ohio State coaches, teammates and Buckeye Nation this spring. The latest examples came on Saturday and Monday.

The first came Saturday via an NSFW Instagram Live from former Ohio State cornerback Davison Igbinosun, who streamed a one-on-one rep between Boyd and Jermaine Mathews Jr. The result? Boyd cooked the starting corner.

A reporter asked Ryan Day about Boyd’s development through nine practices, and the head coach didn’t hold back.

“He’s bringing a mature approach. He goes hard every play. He’s very smart in how he gets open. He’s a good route runner. He understands multiple positions and just plays fast every play. And just looks very confident in what he does,” Day said. “He’s a good example of (how) people who prepare at a high level can play fast because they’re anticipating as opposed to reacting. And he looks very decisive when he’s out there, and then just has great natural ability to catch the ball. Very competitive. Great mindset. Fun to be around. Great body language. All of the above.”

Someone asked me Monday for a comp for Boyd.

The ceiling comp, to me, is Jaxon Smith-Njigba. That might sound lofty — JSN is now an NFL Offensive Player of the Year and Super Bowl champion — but there are parallels. Like JSN, Boyd is a Texas product who dominated high school competition in the Lone Star State. Boyd, who was criminally underrated as a recruit, has the tools to keep producing at a high level in Columbus.

A more realistic comp?

K.J. Hill.

Boyd is a bit bigger than Hill (6-foot-2 vs. 6-foot), but he projects as a reliable possession receiver in an offense that will feature a superstar in Jeremiah Smith, a potential breakout in Brandon Inniss, plus Kyle Parker and Devin McCuin. Down the line, his role could grow even more alongside Chris Henry Jr. and Jerquaden Guilford.

Hill, of course, finished his Ohio State career with a then-school-record 201 receptions (later broken by Emeka Egbuka in 2025) for 2,332 yards and 20 touchdowns. He didn’t reach the same heights in the NFL as some Buckeye receivers, but his college production was undeniable.

If Boyd reaches that level, Ohio State may have landed one of the steals of the 2026 class.

 THE WORLDWIDE LEADER. For one brief, beautiful moment last weekend, ESPN felt like ESPN again.

During a special Final Four edition of College GameDay, host Rece Davis joined analysts Jay Bilas, Jay Williams, Seth Greenberg and Arkansas head coach John Calipari for a spirited debate on whether college basketball should be considered a “professional sport.” It turned into one of the network’s best segments in years — largely because of Bilas.

“It’s amateur basketball,” Calipari said.

Bilas didn’t hesitate.

“It was pro basketball before NIL, and I’ll tell you why. Amateur sports don’t make billions of dollars and pay their coaches and administrators millions,” the licensed attorney and Duke graduate said. “There is nothing about this that has ever been amateur once the money jumped up, and it started in 1984 with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allowed conferences to sell their media rights. There is no difference between the media rights contracts with the NCAA from a media company like ours and the NFL, the NBA and Major League Baseball. Zero difference.”

From there, Bilas went directly at the NCAA, arguing the organization should abide by federal law just like any other American business. When Greenberg countered by pointing out that many college athletes are 17- and 18-year-old kids, Bilas swatted that take off the backboard.

“They’re not kids,” Bilas said. “It’s called men’s college basketball. They’re adults.”

“That’s just rhetoric,” Greenberg replied.

“No, they’re adults,” Bilas said. “They get charged with a crime, they’re charged as an adult.”

Calipari stepped in as something of a middle ground.

“I’ve been one that has promoted young people making money 15 years ago,” Calipari said. “They should be able to (receive NIL). We just gotta figure out. Maybe it’s collective bargaining. Maybe it’s collective bargaining with the trade union — that the players and we come up with something. This is not sustainable.”

He added, “I do know this: the transfer and the length of eligibility, a 17-year-old playing against a 28-year-old is not healthy and safe.”

Davis offered a measured perspective, bridging the two sides.

“They’re not kids, but they’re still maturing,” Davis said. “There’s something to be said for helping them to develop, helping them make wise decisions, because when we are immature, even if we’re adults, sometimes we grab at the first shiny thing we see, and it’s not for the better long term. But you have to let the business function as a business.”

Greenberg also emphasized the importance of long-term support, rather than focusing only on short-term earnings.

“We’re talking about the 1%. We’re not talking about the enterprise,” Greenberg said. “We have young people that are making this money, and that’s great. And they’re going to go to Europe and get fired. They’re going to come back. And you talk about mental health issues. We better be prepared to help these people and have someone build a bridge for them to cross, to help them navigate the rest of their life, not just these 3 or 4 years where they’re marketable.”

The segment closed with Calipari calling for action from those in power.

“Let’s collect the bargain. Let’s have people in the room. We’re finally talking about it to say it’s an issue right now. And we gotta do something. I’m for the kids. I don’t care what they make. I don’t really care. Let people decide that. But how we run our business, we got to do this different for them.”

If ESPN looked like this all the time, I’d watch a lot more of it!

 HARD WORK PAYS OFF. I want to end this Skull Session with a shoutout to former Ohio State standout E.J. Liddell, who scored 15 points in his first career NBA start on Sunday.

A two-time first-team All-Big Ten selection at Ohio State, Liddell has been grinding in the NBA since 2022, spending time with the New Orleans Pelicans, Chicago Bulls and now the Brooklyn Nets. While he’s often suited up for G League affiliates, Liddell recently earned a starting opportunity for the 19-59 Nets — and made the most of it.

He finished with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting while adding five rebounds and two assists in an all-around strong performance.

Say what you want about Brooklyn’s record, but a start in the NBA is a start in the NBA.

Jae’Sean Tate — another undersized former Ohio State forward — carved out a long career by producing on a bad team. If Liddell can follow a similar path, there’s no reason he can’t stick, too.

P.S. Liddell was in a communications course I taught as a teaching assistant at Ohio State. He was a pleasure to have in class, never expected preferential treatment and often submitted assignments early while traveling with the team. Just a total pro. I’m rooting for him!

 SONG OF THE DAY. "Canary Bird" - The Figs.

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