\n Welcome to the Skull Session. <\/p>\n
\n\tCurt Cignetti wants to retire as an Indiana Hoosier<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\tA Hoosier through & through.<\/p>\n Our coach, @CCignettiIU<\/a>. pic.twitter.com\/DFo7n6Ke1w<\/a>\n\t<\/p>\n \t\u2014 Indiana Football (@IndianaFootball) October 16, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n \n\tAlso… boooooom<\/a>!\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t#BOOM<\/a> Ohio States second commitment for the 2028 recruiting class is a five-star defensive lineman.https:\/\/t.co\/5hF08c2G6C<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/mZHyOIYaBU<\/a>\n\t<\/p>\n \t\u2014 Eleven Warriors (@11W) October 16, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n \n\tHave a good Friday.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0TEN YEARS AGO\u2026 Michigan had trouble with the snap.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\tThe Athletic\u2019s Joe Rexrode<\/a> released an oral history of this moment on Thursday. It includes quotes from Mark Dantonio, Tom Izzo,\u00a0Jake Butt, Sean McDonough and more. It\u2019s fantastic.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0\u201cWE HAVE TO MATCH THEIR INTENSITY.\u201d Wisconsin (2-4, 0-3 Big Ten)\u00a0 is tied with Michigan State, Penn State, Rutgers and Purdue for last place in the conference. Still, Ryan Day knows Ohio State must be prepared for the Badgers to give it their all when the Buckeyes visit Camp Randall Stadium this weekend.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cLuke Fickell is a very good coach. He knows winning football, and his team plays hard. They play sound football,\u201d Day said on Wednesday. \u201cNow, I know the season hasn\u2019t gone the way that they\u2019ve expected it to go. But at the same time, put the film on. They\u2019re one of the better defenses in the country. And all it takes is a few big plays and get into the offensive rhythm, and they\u2019re going to be in these games, and we know that. We know going into any game on the road is a challenge in this league. We know what we\u2019re gonna get.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cFor us, we want to just continually focus on our process and how we do things. But I think the other thing is \u2014 there are a lot of ways to look at it \u2014 but I\u2019m sure they feel like their backs are against the wall a little bit, fighting for this season, which I can understand.\u00a0 When you get that, you\u2019re going to get a team that\u2019s gonna come out with their hair on fire. We have to match that intensity and then some, there\u2019s no question.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\tWisconsin\u2019s back is against the wall, and the Badgers will come out with their hair on fire. When asked about his team\u2019s mindset entering a matchup with the No. 1 team in the nation, Fickell said the Badgers have \u201cnothing to lose.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI think sometimes some of the things that hold us back are ourselves in a way that \u2014 look, we\u2019re trying to be perfect, and the recognition that if you\u2019re gonna go out there and do anything against the No. 1 team in the country, you can\u2019t be held back by being perfect, because being perfect is not gonna get us what we need to get,\u201d Fickell said.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI think it\u2019s two-fold. It\u2019s being up for the challenge, it\u2019s understanding the challenge, but then being willing to understand this is a game of imperfection, and the only way to get better at the game is to play it faster. When you\u2019re in the perfect mindset, it doesn\u2019t allow you to do that. Against a team like this, that you can\u2019t be perfect, I think it\u2019s gonna give us a level of spark. That\u2019s what I believe.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\tNot only does Ohio State\u2019s talent and execution pose a challenge, but the Buckeyes\u2019 growing confidence does, too, Fickell said.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cYou see a confidence building \u2014 not that, people would say, \u2018They\u2019re the national champs, how don\u2019t they have confidence?\u2019 But I think when you have a new quarterback, you have some new pieces, you can see growth. What you see is even a growth from Game 1 to where they are now. It\u2019s hard to get past some of the talent level they have and the ability to make plays both offensively and defensively. But I do think you see a uniqueness of complementary football that, maybe at the start of the season, I\u2019m not sure they thought they would have. Obviously, we all want it, but you\u2019re really seeing that kind of grow as you watch them and evaluate them through the season.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\tHow do you put out a fire? You smother it. That\u2019s Ohio State\u2019s plan for Saturday in Madison.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe got to come in and certainly get a fast start,\u201d Day said on The Ryan Day Radio Show<\/a>. \u201cGo get this win, man. Let\u2019s go. Everything we got.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0\u201cTHE BEST DEFENSIVE PLAYER IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL.\u201d How good is Caleb Downs?\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cHe\u2019s the best defensive player in college football,\u201d Day said on Wednesday.\n<\/p>\n \n\tIndeed, he is.\n<\/p>\n \n\tEven without spectacular stats \u2014 Downs has 28 tackles, two tackles for loss and one interception this season \u2014 the third-year defensive back has earned midseason All-American honors from The Associated Press<\/a>, The Athletic<\/a>, CBS Sports<\/a> and more. That\u2019s because we all can recognize that, stats or no stats, Downs\u2019 is integral to Ohio State\u2019s defense, or as Day calls him, \u201cthe man that makes it all happen.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe all see what Caleb does on the field. But a big part of the success that we have is Caleb\u2019s presence on the field and communicating and getting everybody on the same page and building confidence around him,\u201d Day said. \u201cThat\u2019s probably one of the things that maybe has gone unrecognized a little bit, maybe not to everybody.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\tCertainly not to Fickell, who named Caleb Downs among the many \u201creally good football players\u201d on Ohio State\u2019s defense.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThey can do a lot of different things with Caleb Downs, and he gives you an opportunity to line him up anywhere and know he\u2019s gonna put himself in a position that makes it harder for you to read and recognize those things,\u201d Day said. \u201cThe disguise is something that\u2019s really good, but I don\u2019t think that overshadows the ability of the guys that line up up front and really across the board.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\t\tHow good is @OhioStateFB<\/a>‘s Caleb Downs?<\/p>\n : FOX pic.twitter.com\/ECFB5ff4sj<\/a>\n\t<\/p>\n \t\u2014 Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) October 11, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n \n\tThe bottom line, Day said, is that Downs makes everyone around him better.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cGoing into the season, we had some guys on the team that were a little inexperienced and hadn\u2019t played a lot of football,\u201d Day said. \u201cWhen you take somebody like Caleb and somebody like Sonny (Styles) who have played and can lead and can communicate and can build confidence with the guys around them, those are the things you don\u2019t see.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cTo me, that\u2019s why Caleb is such a special player. He\u2019s the best defensive player in the country, especially in the secondary. His impact is felt not just with his play, but also the impact he has on those around him. And that\u2019s what a great player does. They make the others around him better.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\tThank you for retiring, Nick Saban.\u00a0We are eternally grateful.<\/a>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0\u201cWE\u2019RE DICTATING THE TEMPO.\u201d In Thursday\u2019s Skull Session<\/a>, I highlighted some statistics on Ohio State\u2019s pace of play \u2014 the Buckeyes have averaged 60 plays per game, ranking No. 132 in the FBS, just ahead of Cincinnati (59.2), Miami (Ohio) (57.4), North Carolina (57.3) and UL Monroe (56.4) \u2014 and wondered whether that tempo is controlled and methodical.\n<\/p>\n \n\tDay\u2019s comments on his radio show suggest that it is.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThe first thing is when you huddle, it\u2019s a different approach. You get everybody together. You can get everybody on the same page. You can call multiple things. You can get alerts. There are a lot of things that, with the huddle, allow us to do things,\u201d Day said. \u201cWe do feel strong about the huddle. We think it helps us. You\u2019ve seen us use tempo at times. There are plus and minuses to everything. When we need to speed up the game, we have the ability to do that, and we will do that. But we want to be efficient.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\tDay said Ohio State\u2019s roster health and depth have factored into the decision to play at a slower pace. Still, if the team can score quickly, he wouldn\u2019t be upset.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIn our last two drives (against Illinois), we went three-and-out twice. We\u2019re not trying to do that. So feel free to get first downs and keep that thing moving,\u201d Day said with a laugh. \u201cBut we\u2019re gonna try to make sure that we\u2019re dictating the tempo the way that we feel best. But ultimately, it comes down to efficiency in the game. We want to be explosive, and we certainly always want to score points when we\u2019re on the field. We\u2019ll continue to work different tempos and make sure that we\u2019re being efficient. But that\u2019s the most important thing.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\tIn Day we trust, folks. In Day we trust.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0SONG OF THE DAY.\u00a0“Luxury” – Jon Bellion.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0CUT TO THE CHASE.\u00a0Ace Frehley, Kiss\u2019 original lead guitarist and founding member, dies at 74<\/a>…\u00a0FIFA announces over 1 million tickets sold for 2026 World Cup in North America<\/a>…\u00a0She saw a car-sized object above a Texas farm and found a wayward hunk of NASA equipment<\/a>…\u00a0D\u2019Angelo was timeless<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n