Gameday Skull Session: Drop it then, Iowa

It's time for Iowa to do it be unloaded.

Take her out, take her out, take her out pic.twitter.com/OhmD5EWicn

— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) October 3, 2024

Have a nice Saturday.

I WOULD LIKE TO SEE… Before Ohio State and Iowa square off at 3:30 p.m., here are 10 (approximate) things I'd like to see from the Buckeyes in their Big Ten showdown with the Hawkeyes.

I would like to see Ohio State get off to a fast start.

I would like to see Ohio State win the line of scrimmage.

I would like to see Ohio State's running backs score touchdowns. (Michigan State was the first opponent to keep TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins out of the end zone, although Jeremiah Smith and Will Howard scored on the ground.)

I would like to see Ohio State create deep ball. (Howard is a 4-for-9 passer this season with 143 yards and one interception on passes of 20 yards or more.)

I would like to see Ohio State keep Kaleb Johnson to under 100 rushing yards. (Johnson's per-game yardage totals are 119, 187, 173 and 206 in four games.)

I would like to see Ohio State keep Cade McNamara to under 100 yards. (McNamara's single-game yardage totals are 62, 176, 99 and 251 in four games.) I'd also like to see a combination of Jack Sawyer, JT Tuimoloau, Tyleik Williams and Ty Hamilton get him in the dirt for his previous matchups moves to Michigan.

I would like to see Ohio State record a pick-six or the special teams unit record a kickoff or punt return touchdown. (Or all three!)

I'd like to see Ohio State spice up its (somewhat) vanilla schedule over a four-week period – if vanilla works, it works, but I'd like to see Chip Kelly call for more reverses for Smith or Jim Knowles call for more blitzes initiates. (You know Iowa wants to run the ball, and you know Iowa wants to stop the run.)

I would like to see Ohio State go from strength to strength in the second half.

I would like to see Ohio State win.

That's all – those are about 10 things I'd like to see on Saturday.

Ohio State 34 – Iowa 9

THE MENU. Last week's college football schedule was CINEMA. But this week's schedule? Not so much. But look – it’s college football. We're watching! Here's a look at the full list on Saturday:

MY CHOICE. Aaaaaatttttt laaasssttt – I don't want to sound like Etta James – but aaaaaatttttt laaasssttt my selection has come…

With a 3-6 record at the Akron, Western Michigan and Marshall Skull Sessions, I bounced back with a 2-1 mark at the Michigan State Skull Session – and the only loss was a bad beat!

Last week, BYU covered against Baylor and USC covered against Wisconsin (thanks to a double-double pick-six for the Trojans!). As for the bad beat, the Louisville-Notre Dame game ended exactly as the oddsmakers predicted, with the Irish Cardinals winning by a touchdown. As a result, Louisville narrowly missed covering the 6.5-point spread.

Well, yes.

With a new and improved 5-7 record after four gameweeks, here is the next selection round:

• No. 9 Missouri (-1.5) at No. 25 Texas A&M: Given the way Missouri looked against Boston College and Vanderbilt, I feel terrible about this pick. Still, I will choose to trust Eli Drinkwitz and Luther Burden III. The college football experts at receiver tell me they are better than Emeka Egbuka. (I don't see it!) Give me the Tigers as Missouri tries to keep its College Football Playoff hopes alive six weeks into the season.
• No. 10 Michigan at Washington (-1.5): Yes.
• No. 8 Miami at Cal (+10.5): Cal lost to Florida State – and Florida State is terrible. However, I think the Golden Bears deserve a pass (somewhat) for this loss considering the program traveled from Berkeley to Auburn, Auburn to Berkeley, and Berkeley to Tallahassee in the span of three weeks. On Saturday, Cal will benefit from a raucous crowd at Memorial Stadium, leaning on star running back Jadyn Ott and a better-than-expected defense. They also benefit from a 7:30 p.m. PST kickoff; That means kickoff at 10:30 p.m. EST for Miami, which will have traveled 3,035 miles to face its ACC counterpart.

BACK TO THE BUCKEYES. Braxton Miller was inducted into the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame this weekend. The Buckeyes will honor him when the football team takes on Iowa.

Kids these days don't know anything about Braxton Miller.

When I was 11, 12, 13 years old, Miller was an ICON.

The Springfield, Ohio native and Wayne High School graduate was the No. 30 overall prospect in the class of 2011. He committed to Ohio State over Alabama, Florida, Notre Dame, USC and seven other schools.

At Ohio State University, Miller became one of the most electrifying players in college football in his first year, accumulating 1,159 yards and 13 touchdowns as a passer and 715 yards and seven scores as a runner.

Over the next two seasons, Miller was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year twice, throwing for 4,133 yards, scoring 39 touchdowns while running for 2,339 yards and scoring 25 scores. Miller led Ohio State to an undefeated 12-0 season in 2012 (the NCAA banned the Buckeyes from postseason competition due to “Tattoogate”) and a 12-2 season in 2013.

In the final game of Ohio State's 2013 season – a 40-35 loss to Clemson in the Orange Bowl – Miller treated a shoulder injury that required surgery. He later tore the labrum of the same shoulder during an offseason workout and received a medical redshirt for the 2014 season. Then-head coach Urban Meyer hired JT Barrett to run the offense. When Barrett broke his ankle in The Game that year, Cardale Jones took over and led the Buckeyes to three historic victories over Wisconsin, Alabama and Oregon to win the national title.

In Miller's final season at Ohio State, he did not return to the quarterback position due to complications with his throwing shoulder. Instead, the 6-foot-1, 205-pound athlete moved to wide receiver (or H-back). Guess what? He shined there too, racking up 601 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns and giving college football fans one of the worst spin moves of all time.

Miller's induction into the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame is well-deserved.

Show respect to his name!

SONG OF THE DAY. “Welcome to the Jungle” – Guns N. Roses.

Let's get down to business. Solar flares may cause faint auroras across the Northern Hemisphere… A deadly hurricane is the latest disruption for young athletes who have already endured a pandemic… International fiesta fills New Mexico skies with colorful hot air balloons… The Krabby Patty is coming for limited time at Wendy's restaurants nationwide.