Welcome to the Skull Session.
Sonny Styles and Arvell Reese >>>
THE best LB Duo in the country resides in Columbus
@sonnystyles_ x @arvxll pic.twitter.com/AEXlj1qws9— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) October 30, 2025
Have a good Friday.
THE END OF AN ERA. Eleven Warriors editor Dan Hope asked a few of Ohio State’s captains on Wednesday how it feels that this season’s battle between the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions will be the final matchup until 2028. Brandon Inniss didn’t know that was the case.
“Oh, I didn’t even know that. Damn, we not?” Inniss said.
“Nope,” Hope said.
“Damn, we would have been going back to Penn State, too,” Inniss said. “Oh, I would have liked that. I would have liked that. Damn, that’s weird, for sure. That’s weird.”
Yes, it is weird.
Like many Ohio State fans, I haven’t considered Penn State a rival over the years — even though the Nittany Lions were often the Buckeyes’ toughest opponent after Michigan. Rival or not, it will be strange not to see Penn State on the schedule next season, considering the teams have played every year since the Nittany Lions joined the Big Ten in 1993.
Years ago, when the Big Ten asked member schools to name their protected rivalries, it would appear that Ohio State submitted Michigan, Michigan submitted Ohio State and Michigan State, and Michigan State submitted Michigan. But it would also appear that Penn State didn’t choose any of the three Big Ten mainstays. Had they picked Ohio State, the Buckeyes-Nittany Lions matchup could have been and likely would have been a permanent fixture on both schools’ schedules.
That’s what my dad would call a cryin’ shame.
Soak in Saturday’s matchup between the schools — it will be a while until we see them play again!
(And before you start about the Big Ten Championship or College Football Playoff, do you really think Penn State — fresh off a coaching change and losing a dozen seniors — will compete with Ohio State, Oregon, and others over the next two years? I don’t. But hey, Indiana is No. 2 in the nation, so anything can happen!)
THAT’S BAIT… OR IS IT? Ryan Day knows Penn State has talent. He also knows the Nittany Lions are desperate.
“They have a nothing-to-lose mentality. We have to be on high alert at all times for things,” Day said. “They have had two weeks to put together different things on offense, defense and special teams — things they haven’t put on film. We know that. Certainly, when you have a coaching change like they did, we expect that. You have to expect the unexpected, be on high alert and know that they sort of have that mentality going into the game. All of those things matter.”
While Day will have his players prepared for whatever their opponent throws at them, he said on his Thursday radio show that Penn State interim coach Terry Smith has made it “pretty clear what the plan is gonna be” — that is, the Nittany Lions will have high effort and look to establish the run.
“They’re working really hard,” Smith said this week of Penn State’s effort. “Practice has been great. When we talk to sports science people, and we talk about how the effort and the output of practice has been, yesterday was the second-best Tuesday we had all season. Today was a pretty good day, as well. The guys are ready. They know what’s in front of them. No one’s giving them a chance. We’re just going to stay together and we’re going to play hard.”
Regarding Kaytron Allen, Nick Singleton and running the football, Smith said, “I feel good about what the offense is doing. Obviously, we want to try to control the game. We have to outrush Ohio State to have a chance. If we don’t do that, it’s going to be a long Saturday. And then we have to make some plays in the pass game. We have to make some critical third downs when necessary and when needed, especially in the fourth quarter. Defensively, we have to make critical stops.”
Smith’s repeated emphasis on the run game makes me wonder if he’s trying to bait Day into a game plan that — trigger warning — failed miserably against Michigan last season. After all, with Drew Allar out for the season, Penn State’s strengths are its running backs, offensive line and defensive front, which include a number of the team’s preseason All-Americans: Allen, Singleton, guard Olaivavega Ioane and defensive tackles Dani Dennis-Sutton and Zane Durant.
I think Day has learned from his colossal mistake and won’t fall for Smith’s trap. I expect he and Brian Hartline to craft a game plan tailored to attack whatever weaknesses Jim Knowles’ defense has shown this season, and —
Wait.
Penn State’s defense ranks No. 6 against the pass?
And No. 91 against the run?
Maybe Smith is telling the truth. Maybe Penn State does need to outrush Ohio State, or it really will be a long Saturday for the Blue and White.
OK, I feel better.
Be it running the football or throwing it, so long as the Buckeyes take what the Nittany Lions give them, I like their chances on Saturday — scratch that, I love their chances on Saturday, because I am confident the offense will continue to be efficient while the defense remains generational.
A WORLD RECORD FOR WHAT NOW? Brutus Buckeye’s 60th birthday party set a Guinness World Record.
What record?
Oh, just for the largest gathering of people wearing conical party hats.
Broke a world record celebrating my birthday
Just me and 1,923 of my friends! With the help of Buckeye Nation, we now hold the Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of people wearing conical party hats! pic.twitter.com/U0bFSyOmcp
— Brutus Buckeye (@Brutus_Buckeye) October 30, 2025
According to The Columbus Dispatch’s Sheridan Hendrix, Ohio State originally planned to hold the event inside Ohio Stadium, but inclement weather forced the school to move the event to Tom W. Davis Gym inside the RPAC. Students and community members crammed into 27 squares sectioned off with yellow tape. Each square held 100 people, and volunteers handed out custom-printed hats featuring Brutus’ face.
“I know you’re all national champions, but are you ready to be world record holders?” Guinness World Record Adjudicator Chloe McCarthy asked the crowd before the official count began.
Buckeye Nation, youre going to want to see my entrance on Saturday
Be in your seat by 11:40 and prepare for something amazing pic.twitter.com/sfppGEXe4N
— Brutus Buckeye (@Brutus_Buckeye) October 29, 2025
McCarthy told Hendrix that this specific world record has already been broken four times. The previous world record holder was Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls in the United Kingdom, which broke the record in 2019 with 1,161 people in conical hats.
Ohio State broke that record by 763, as McCarthy and her team counted 1,924 people in conical hats — all because of Brutus Buckeye’s 60th birthday.
“Brutus is the best mascot of all time,” Ohio State first-year student George Bradbury told Hendrix. “No, he’s the greatest athlete of all time. Tom Brady, LeBron James, Saquon Barkley, Brutus Buckeye. No other mascot puts up numbers like Brutus does.”
Hard to argue with that.
MY GOODNESS, JULIAN SAYIN. Julian Sayin is really good — like, really, really good.
According to Pro Football Focus, Sayin ranks No. 1 in PFF passing grade (92.3) this season, as well as No. 1 in accurate throws (77.5%), catchable inaccurate throws (8.6%) and uncatchable inaccurate throws (13.9%). He also sits No. 2 in accurate-plus throws at 22.5%.
PFF’s Dalton Wasserman provided context for those absurd numbers this week:
Burrow and Jones topped the nation in two categories when they had their masterful final college seasons. NFL stars Bo Nix, Brock Purdy and C.J. Stroud came the closest to accomplishing similar feats. Sayin has been so accurate this season that he currently is No. 1 in three categories and trails only Iowa State’s Rocco Becht in the percentage of throws deemed Accurate-plus.
Sayin’s production metrics display the most accurate quarterback in America. His ball placement has been unmatched this season and stands on par with former first-round picks and current NFL superstars. As evidenced by his 1.4% turnover-worthy play rate and 90.8 PFF passing grade beyond his first read, Sayin is also well beyond his years in decision-making.
Ohio State is armed with the best receiving duo in college football and a defense allowing fewer than six points per game. Yet the biggest reason the Buckeyes can repeat as national champions has been the stellar play of their Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback, Sayin.
Joe Burrow, Mac Jones, Bo Nix, Brock Purdy and C.J. Stroud — that’s elite company for a redshirt freshman who’s made just seven college starts. Other teams should be very scared, because this kid is only getting better.
DAILY DUBCAST. The final Eleven Dubcast of the week enlists the help of Dan Hope to preview Saturday’s showdown between Ohio State and Penn State that has dramatically deviated in many respects from its lofty preseason expectations.
SONG OF THE DAY. “Turn Me Loose” – Loverboy.
CUT TO THE CHASE. Kent State removes interim tag, names Mark Carney head coach… 5 more arrests as Louvre jewel heist probe deepens and key details emerge… Dictionary.com picks “67,” a “nonsensical and playfully absurd” slang term, as the 2025 word of the year…WWI soldiers’ messages in a bottle found on Australian beach more than 100 years later… Mistake-filled legal briefs show the limits of relying on AI tools at work.
First Appeared on
Source link
