Welcome to the Skull Session.
It's August, but I'm #noticing... the Basketbucks.
Ohio State dominated its two exhibition games in Puerto Rico, defeating a pair of Puerto Rican select teams by an average of 40 points. https://t.co/PpnWdwsPB6
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) August 3, 2026
Have a good Tuesday.
THE TOUGHEST IN THE WOODY. Mick Marotti said what now?
Last week, Jeremiah Smith told reporters in Chicago that Ohio State strength coach Mick Marotti bestowed the ultimate title on Julian Sayin.
“Coach Mick came up to me once. This one week, I was hurt, and I was dealing with the quad thing. He came up to me and was like, ‘Do you know who the toughest player in the Woody is?’ I was like, ‘Who?’ He was like, ‘Julian Sayin,’” Smith said. “It made sense. He was dealing with an ankle thing or whatever — he was still going out there playing. I could see it. Julian, he was very tough.”
Sayin never appeared on Ohio State’s 12 regular-season or two postseason status reports in 2025. Whatever pain he endured, he masked it well, especially during the Buckeyes’ losses to Indiana and Miami, when he was sacked a combined 10 times. (Though I wonder: could an injury be the reason he lacked mobility and escapability in those games?)
Toughness is one of Sayin’s many extraordinary traits, Ryan Day said last week.
“The first thing you recognize is accuracy. What you don’t see, but I see, is his intelligence level. He can handle high levels of information. He’s highly, highly motivated. He’s really embraced this leadership role,” he said.
Day hopes Sayin’s work this offseason has maximized those traits and will help Ohio State win games this fall.
“When you combine (his traits) with our offensive line and the experience we have coming back, you know, Carson Hinzman, Luke Montgomery, Austin Siereveld, these guys all started during that playoff run two years ago and are national champs. They’re now back. And you combine that with other guys in the room like Josh Padilla, Phillip Daniels, Ian Moore. We’re as experienced and deep as I think we’ve ever been since I’ve been at Ohio State.
“Combine that with a quarterback who has experience now. I mean, this is only the third time since I’ve been at Ohio State that we’ve had the same quarterback come back for a second year. And that’s a big deal. I think he likes the challenge of some of the things that Arthur (Smith) is bringing to the table. When you go from coaching Aaron Rodgers to a college quarterback, you can certainly imagine what that has been like for Arthur. But man, Julian keeps up, and it’s been fun to watch. Excited to see where this goes this year with him.”
That makes two of us.
J.K. — ALL DAY! J.K. Dobbins has heard the criticism. He knows the questions that have followed him throughout his NFL career. He knows people wonder if he can stay healthy long enough to make a season-long impact. The narrative is simple: Dobbins is elite when he’s on the field, but can he stay there?
The former Ohio State running back is ready to change that perception.
Entering his sixth NFL season, Dobbins has one goal in mind: lead the league in rushing.
It’s an ambitious goal for any running back, but especially one who has yet to complete a full 17-game season in his career. Still, Dobbins believes this is the year he proves he can be a difference-maker all season long.
“I know a lot of people always say, ‘Oh, he’s good for the first 10 weeks.’ Like, I’ll be in the top three (in rushing) for the first 10 weeks, right? And they’ll be like, ‘Dude, he does this every time,’” Dobbins told The Denver Post's Luca Evans last week. “Well, this year, forget a top three. I’ll keep saying it. People think I’m crazy — but I’m going to be No. 1. And I’m going to keep it there for the whole year, 17 games.”
Talent has never been the question for Dobbins. During his Ohio State career, he became one of the best running backs in program history, rushing for 4,459 yards and 38 touchdowns from 2017-19. He was a first-team All-American in 2019 and capped his Buckeye career with a 2,000-yard rushing season.
But injuries have prevented him from reaching the same heights in the NFL. After missing a game as a rookie due to COVID-19, Dobbins suffered a torn ACL before the 2021 season, battled another knee injury in 2022, tore his Achilles in 2023 and saw promising seasons end early in 2024 and 2025 because of an MCL sprain and Lisfranc injury.
Rather than accept injuries as part of his story, Dobbins has taken a different approach. This offseason, he focused on improving his flexibility, believing a better range of motion can help him withstand the physical punishment that comes with playing running back in the NFL. He even compared his new approach to becoming more durable to a superhero.
“I’m going to be like Elasti-Boy, or Elasti-Girl, or something like that,” Dobbins said. “I’ll be over there, bounce back up from it. Like, if I get hip-drop tackled, I can tuck my head to the back of my foot and I’ll get back up.”
Now, Dobbins is hoping his offseason work allows him to finally put together the type of season he has always believed he’s capable of having.
The Broncos showed their belief in him by re-signing him after his season-ending foot injury, and Dobbins believes he still has plenty left to give.
“Just, keep going,” Dobbins said. “That’s what I’ma always do. Until I can’t. Like, until I just physically can’t. But I think I’m blessed to where I could just go until I’m like, 40.”
“EVERY FOUR YEARS, HE IS RESURRECTED.” Jesse Owens’ story didn’t end in Berlin.
Ninety years after Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics and challenged Adolf Hitler’s vision of Aryan supremacy on the world’s biggest stage, his family wants people to remember there was much more to his life than those historic victories.
“Every four years, he is resurrected,” Owens’ youngest daughter, Marlene Owens Rankin, told The Columbus Dispatch’s Dave Purpura.
While those Olympic efforts will forever define Owens’ athletic legacy, they represented only one chapter in a remarkable life.
Before he became an international icon, Owens was already an Ohio State legend. At the 1935 Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor, Owens set five world records and tied another in a span of just 45 minutes — an achievement made even more remarkable because he was competing while dealing with a lower-back injury.
Fourteen months later, Owens delivered his iconic performances in Berlin. He won gold medals in the 100 meters, 200 meters, long jump and 4x100-meter relay, setting or helping set Olympic or world records in each event.
But beyond the medals and records, one of the most enduring stories from those Olympics was the friendship Owens formed with one of Germany’s own athletes.
During the long jump competition in Berlin, Owens became friends with German competitor Luz Long. The two athletes were rivals on the field, but Long offered Owens encouragement and support during the competition before Owens won gold and Long took silver.
Owens later reflected on the moment in the 49-minute documentary Jesse Owens Returns to Berlin, which is still available on YouTube.
“When a fellow athlete showed a special grace and a special courtesy when I needed help,” Owens said. “I have experienced many moments in the sun, but perhaps the most rewarding was to have Luz Long beside me on the winner’s platform.”
Long died during World War II in 1943, but the friendship between the two families endured. Nearly nine decades later, Owens’ descendants and Long’s descendants remain connected — a reminder that the legacy of the 1936 Olympics extended far beyond the medals.
After Berlin, Owens continued to make an impact far beyond the track. He became a businessman, an international ambassador, a mentor and a devoted family man. His granddaughter, Marlene Dortch, told Purpura that Owens rarely focused on his own accomplishments.
“He would call people ‘champ’ and they loved that,” Dortch said. “But when he was home, he was home.”
The world remembers Jesse Owens for the four gold medals. His family remembers the person behind them — a Buckeye legend whose impact stretched far beyond the finish line.
BOO! GIVE US GOOD GAMES! I love how much moxie Curt Cignetti has, but Indiana canceling its home-and-home series with Notre Dame is a weak move. (The one saving grace? It opened the door for the return of Notre Dame vs. USC, which rules.)
With the Irish off the Hoosiers’ schedule, here’s who Cignetti’s teams will face over the next four years: North Texas, Howard and Western Kentucky in 2026; Kennesaw State, Indiana State and UMass in 2027; Austin Peay, Eastern Michigan and Miami (Ohio) in 2028; and Ball State, Eastern Illinois and Western Kentucky in 2029.
That’s underwhelming, but it’s also understandable. Indiana is a really good football team, and Cignetti’s program will be favored in every one of those games. The Hoosiers will stack wins, protect their record and put themselves in position to compete for more national titles.
And until the College Football Playoff selection committee creates a real incentive for teams to play challenging nonconference opponents, Indiana will continue gaming the system. Why schedule Notre Dame and introduce unnecessary risk when a loss could damage your playoff chances, while a 12-0 record against a softer schedule keeps the door wide open? That’s the reality of the current landscape.
The committee talks about strength of schedule, but the sport has not yet reached a point where teams are consistently rewarded enough for taking those risks. A win over Notre Dame might look great on a résumé, but a loss to Notre Dame can be devastating. Meanwhile, beating an overmatched nonconference opponent does exactly what a contender needs it to do: protect the record.
Ohio State has long embraced a different philosophy. The Buckeyes have scheduled games against programs like Texas, Alabama and Georgia because those matchups build a program, test a team and create the kind of résumé that separates championship contenders from everyone else.
Indiana is simply responding to the incentives college football has created.
Cignetti is smart. He knows the game. He knows that until the playoff rewards teams for challenging themselves — instead of merely punishing them for losing — the easiest path to the postseason might be the best one.
SONG OF THE DAY. "R U Mine?" - The Arctic Monkeys.
CUT TO THE CHASE. Nauru, the world’s third-smallest country, changes its name to Naoero... "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" beats "Avengers: Endgame" box office record... Chris Bosh cautions Wemby on blood clots: "Take your medicine"... Donovan Mitchell and Coco Jones wed in Greenwich ceremony.
