Skull Session: TBDBITL Receives Spotlight in a National Commercial, Justin Fields Lights Up Browns in NFL Preseason and Kourt Williams’ Captaincy is Well-Deserved

By Chase Brown on August 29, 2022 at 5:00 am
Justin Fields throwing darts.
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Ohio State starts its 2022 season against Notre Dame in five days.

The football games of Week 0 were only the appetizer. In the next five days, we prepare for the main entrée.

It's what we've all been waiting for since New Year's Day when Ohio State beat Utah in the Rose Bowl. On Saturday, the Buckeyes are back.

Before we get there, let's have a good week, shall we?

 NATIONAL RECOGNITION FOR TBDBITL. ESPN approached the Ohio State marching band to have one of its members participate in a season-long college football commercial that will air on the network this fall. TBDBITL sent sousaphone player Avery Voress as its representative.

Voress, who will dot the “i” in Script Ohio when the Buckeyes face Michigan on Nov. 26, said he felt honored to act on behalf of Ohio State and the marching band in the commercial.

“It was an amazing opportunity to represent TBDBITL on a national level,” Voress said. “I am so happy to have gotten this experience, and I am beyond excited for this 2022 season. See you at the top of the ‘i’!”

The commercial promotes ESPN’s college football coverage for this fall. Former Ohio State quarterback Kirk Herbstreit presents in a lecture hall to Voress and a crowd of mascots, cheerleaders, band students and fans from across the country.

Voress even sat next to a pair of Michigan cheerleaders during filming. However, this clip of them didn’t make it into the final cut of the commercial:

Voress and Herbstreit shared a one-on-one conversations during the shoot. Herbstreit told him Ohio State’s marching band upholds its title as “The Best Damn Band in the Land,” saying Buckeye fans understand how important the group of musicians are to the game day experience.

“At Ohio State, the fans don’t leave at halftime,” Herbstreit said. “At halftime, everyone comes in to watch the band. What an honor.”

 O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN! The third iteration of Ohio State football’s captaincy videos was released on Sunday. Safety Kourt Williams and his position coach Perry Eliano revealed to Williams’ parents that he had been voted a team captain for the 2022 season.

After peeling over with laughter as Williams’ parents believed their son had been in trouble, Eliano recovered to tell them the third-year Buckeye has been one of the football program’s top leaders this offseason and was being rewarded with the title of captain.

“Kourt’s been awesome,” Eliano said in the video. “He deserves it. This was voted on by his teammates and his peers. He’s working his tail off and doing all the little things right. It’s much deserved.”

Williams played in 11 games for Ohio State last season and made his first collegiate start against Utah. He recorded 27 tackles, four tackles for loss, one sack and a pass breakup in those contests.

While Josh Proctor, Tanner McCalister and Ronnie Hickman are expected to be the three starters at safety, Williams is also expected to be a part of the rotation in 2022, and his leadership will be invaluable to the Buckeyes’ success.

 FIELD DAY FOR FIELDS. It’s well-documented that I am a Cleveland sports fan. On Saturday, former Buckeye and current Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields picked apart my beloved Browns in the first half of an NFL preseason game. 

While difficult to watch Cleveland’s defense replicate Swiss cheese with the number of holes in the back seven, I loved seeing Fields throw darts to several different receivers as part of a performance where he went 14-of-16 passing for 156 yards and three touchdowns.

Yes, it stinks watching the Browns lose, but at least an Ohio State legend was primarily responsible for beating them.

Last season, Fields threw for 1,870 yards with seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions as a rookie. The numbers weren’t fantastic, but no player on the Bears’ roster in 2021 was particularly great. Chicago’s front office made several offseason moves to weaken the team, indicating a rebuilding season is coming. Unfortunately, that means those numbers might not be much better for Fields and his teammates in 2022.

Ohio State and Bears fans might need to bask in this performance from the second-year quarterback, as they might only see flashes of his potential again this season behind a porous offensive line and subpar receiver room outside of Darnell Mooney.

 TICKET STUBS AREN’T DEAD. If you attended an Ohio State football game last season, you needed a smartphone that could present ticket(s) to enter Ohio Stadium. Gone were the days when a printed ticket could gain you access to a football game. It was time to get with the times and make everything digital.

However, that doesn't mean ticket stubs are dead.

Ohio State athletics announced over the weekend that a company called Stub-e would sell official souvenir ticket stubs for the 2022 football season. The printed tickets will feature exclusive designs fans can personalize with their seat locations. They will also feature game recaps from the contests.

According to an athletic department release, fans can pre-purchase and secure their commemorative stubs for all eight home games at a discounted rate. Additionally, a limited edition ticket to honor 100 years of Ohio Stadium will be sold while supplies last.

If you're old school like me, you'll appreciate having a token that will bring back memories of a fond time. I still have a few tickets from sporting events I attended as a kid, and the good thoughts always rush back when I see them.

Should you want something to remember about a season in which Ohio State has legitimate national title aspirations and three Heisman Trophy candidates on its offense, this might be the way to do it.

 SONG OF THE DAY. “Tennessee Whiskey” by Chris Stapleton.

 CUT TO THE CHASE. A Mickey Mantle card breaks records and sells for $12.6 million... NASA is sending a rocket to the moon on Monday... A bald eagle flies on planes more than most people... A study found that ultra-processed is linked to worse mental health... A deer wandered into a Dollar General in Michigan.

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