\n Welcome to the Skull Session. <\/p>\n
\n\tBruce Thornton is one of the greats.\n<\/p>\n
\n\n\t\tBRUCE CALLED GAME#GoBucks<\/a> | #FightToTheEnd<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/HtI94WkHT5<\/a>\n\t<\/p>\n
\t\u2014 Ohio State Hoops (@OhioStateHoops) December 14, 2025<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\n\tHave a good Monday.\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\u00a0LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING.<\/strong> Hello, Tallahassee Quarterback Club?\n<\/p>\n
\n\tLet me tell you something.<\/a>\n<\/p>\n
\n\tJeremiah Smith won Big Ten Receiver of the Year and finished sixth in Heisman Trophy voting. And still you picked USC\u2019s Makai Lemon<\/a> \u2014 another Big Ten receiver \u2014 to win the Biletnikoff Award?\n<\/p>\n
\n\tJail. Immediately.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tThat\u2019s a worse crime than when you chose Tennessee\u2019s Jaylin Hyatt over Marvin Harrison Jr. in 2022.\n<\/p>\n
\n\n\t\tpic.twitter.com\/kWPcf5wp4R<\/a>\n\t<\/p>\n
\t\u2014 Jeremiah Smith (@Jermiah_Smith1) December 13, 2025<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\n\tYes, Smith (80 catches, 1,086 yards, 13 total touchdowns) and Lemon (79 catches, 1,156 yards, 13 total touchdowns) have nearly identical box-score numbers. But let\u2019s put on our thinking caps!\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n\tBoth played 13 games. Smith did it on 121 fewer snaps (572 to 693) and 68 fewer routes (332 to 400). And while Lemon feasted on space, Smith spent his Saturdays battling double-teams, triple-teams and constant bracket coverage \u2014 yet he still produced and created opportunities for others. Carnell Tate and Max Klare have combined for 91 catches, 1,286 yards and 11 touchdowns largely because defenses sold out to stop Smith, the focal point of every defensive coordinator\u2019s game plan.\n<\/p>\n
\n\n\t\tBuckeye Nation knows who the best receiver in the country is. @Jermiah_Smith1<\/a> | #GoBucks<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/23WoRizWcd<\/a>\n\t<\/p>\n
\t\u2014 Ohio State Buckeyes (@OhioStAthletics) December 13, 2025<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\n\tI doubt the Tallahassee Quarterback Club will ever explain this decision, but I\u2019ll still challenge them to try. What exactly could the best player on one of the best teams in college football have done better to win your precious award for the nation\u2019s best receiver?\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\u00a0\u201cJULIAN IS JUST GETTING STARTED.\u201d <\/strong>Now, let\u2019s talk about the Heisman voting. How on earth does Julian Sayin finish fourth?!\n<\/p>\n
\n\tI have the utmost respect for Fernando Mendoza. He\u2019s an excellent player on the field and a tremendous person off of it \u2014 see his mother\u2019s letter in The Players\u2019 Tribune<\/a>, the $66,000 he raised for the National MS Society<\/a> and the shopping spree he organized for MS-impacted families<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tJeremiyah Love is one of the best players in college football. His 1,652 total yards and 21 total touchdowns almost carried Notre Dame to the College Football Playoff.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tI have nothing nice to write about Diego Pavia, so I won\u2019t write anything. Actually, I\u2019ll write this: Whoever exalts himself will be humbled. That\u2019s it. That\u2019s all I have.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tWhile Sayin finished fourth, I appreciated this comment from Ryan Day before the Heisman Trust announced Mendoza as its winner:\n<\/p>\n
\n\n\t\tIt certainly feels like Julian will be back in NYC next year.<\/p>\n
“Guys who get invited to New York are multiple year players, this is Julian’s first year… he’s got a lot football ahead of him”<\/p>\n
Here are Ryan Day’s comments on how proud he is of Julian Sayin
(Courtesy – @espn<\/a>) pic.twitter.com\/HfuTzvVCDZ<\/a>\n\t<\/p>\n\t\u2014 Adam King (@AdamKing10TV) December 14, 2025<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\n\t\u201cJulian is just getting started,\u201d Day said. \u201cLike, Julian is a first-year starter in a time where the guys who get invited to New York are multiple-year players \u2014 guys who have played a lot of football. This is Julian\u2019s first year playing football, and to see the way he\u2019s taken this first year, with everything that comes with being the quarterback at Ohio State, and handling it with humility, he\u2019s got a lot of football ahead of him, not just this year, but down the road, and I\u2019m really proud of him.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n\tI also appreciated this response from ESPN\u2019s Marty Smith:\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cNo pressure, he pretty much said you\u2019re gonna win this award at some point,\u201d he said to Sayin.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tAt some point means next year.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tI look forward to it!\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\u00a0LOOKING AHEAD.<\/strong> Julian Sayin will be one of three preseason Heisman candidates next season, according to ESPN\u2019s Mark Schlabach<\/a>. The others are Jeremiah Smith and Bo Jackson. Here\u2019s what Schlabach wrote about their chances to win the stiff-arm trophy in 2026:\n<\/p>\n
\tJeremiah Smith<\/p>\n
\n\n\t\tSmith’s highlight reel of acrobatic, one-handed catches continues to grow, and he arguably has been the best player in college football this season. He was the fastest Buckeyes player to reach career marks of 2,000 receiving yards (24 games), 100 catches (20) and 25 touchdown receptions (25).\n\t<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\tJulian Sayin<\/p>\n
\n\n\t\tSayin might have captured the Heisman Trophy this season if Ohio State’s offense hadn’t flopped in its 13-10 loss to Indiana in the Big Ten championship game. In his first season as a starter, Sayin is on pace to break the NCAA single-season pass completion record of 77.4%, set by Oregon’s Bo Nix in 2023.\n\t<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\tBo Jackson<\/p>\n
\n\n\t\tJackson became the fifth true freshman in OSU history to produce a 1,000-yard season, joining Robert Smith (1990), Maurice Clarett (2002), JK Dobbins (2017) and TreVeyon Henderson (2021). That’s good company. And, of course, he’d be the second Bo Jackson to collect a stiff-armed trophy.\n\t<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\n\tSchlabach\u2019s other candidates include: Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton, Miami wide receiver Malachi Toney, Texas quarterback Arch Manning, Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, Missouri running back Ahmad Hardy, Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed, Cal quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, Ole Miss running back Kewan Lacy, USC quarterback Jayden Maiva, North Texas quarterback Drew Mestemaker, Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr and Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tWell, maybe Sayin won\u2019t win the Heisman at some point. He\u2019ll win Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and then Maiva will win the Heisman! What a shame.\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\u00a0ENOUGH AWARDS TALK.<\/strong> I mentioned this to George Eisner on the Eleven Dubcast last week, but I think Ohio State will benefit tremendously from awards season being over during the College Football Playoff.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n\tAs much as Ryan Day and his players said individual accolades weren\u2019t a focus this season, these are 18 to 22-year-olds who absolutely care about winning them. Ohio State had a lot of 18 to 22-year-olds up for awards this season, including Julian Sayin (Davey O\u2019Brien, Maxwell, Heisman), Jeremiah Smith (Biletnikoff), Kayden McDonald (Outland), Arvell Reese (Butkus) and Caleb Downs (Bednarik, Nagurski, Thorpe<\/a> and Lott IMPACT<\/a>).\n<\/p>\n
\n\tTo be clear, I don\u2019t believe any of these Buckeyes cared more about the individual awards than team success. But I do think there\u2019s something about a team having a singular focus. With awards season now over, Ohio State\u2019s players will have one thing on their mind: bouncing back from their loss to Indiana with a national championship.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tAs an added bonus, the Buckeyes who lost awards can use that pain as motivation! Like Jeremiah!\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\u00a0NEW DUBCAST. <\/strong>The first Eleven Dubcast of the week\u00a0discusses the latest developments in the Sherrone Moore scandal since his arraignment on Friday, but not before examining the end of award season relative to Julian Sayin and Jeremiah Smith.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\u00a0SONG OF THE DAY. <\/strong>“In The End” – Linkin Park.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\u00a0CUT TO THE CHASE.\u00a0<\/strong>It was a bad, bad day for injuries in the NFL as Patrick Mahomes<\/a> and Micah Parsons<\/a> suffer torn\u00a0ACLs…\u00a0Illinois couple marries in pool where they met during water<\/a>…\u00a0“Wet lava ball” exoplanet may have an atmosphere, new evidence shows<\/a>…\u00a0Black hole spotted blasting winds at 130 million mph<\/a>…\u00a0A blimp, Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet and a Wheaties box: Behind the “Marty Supreme” marketing blitz<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n