NFL News NFL News, Reports and Updates
The main topic Tuesday at Ohio State football coach Ryan Day’s weekly press conference was the injury-affected offensive line and its impact on the ground game.
The fourth-ranked Buckeyes (3-1, 6-1) are searching for answers as they prepare to face No. 3 Penn State (4-0, 7-0) Saturday at noon (TV-FOX) at Beaver Stadium in a game with major implications on the Big Ten and College Football Playoff picture.
They lost starting left tackle Josh Simmons three weeks ago at Oregon to a season-ending injury. Zen Michalski, his backup, sustained a lower-body injury last week early in the fourth quarter of a 21-17 comeback win over Nebraska and did not return.
When he was in the game, Michalski struggled as Nebraska held Ohio State to 64 rushing yards and 285 total yards, the Buckeyes’ lowest output of the season.
“If Zen can’t go, we’ll continue to evaluate where we’re at,” Day said. “There were definitely plays in the game where he got beat. He was battling. Once he got injured, that obviously changed things. He had some tough plays, some negative plays.”
Against Nebraska, veteran guard Donovan Jackson slid over to left tackle after Michalski’s injury and finished the game there. Jackson was an All-Big Ten first team pick last year.
“We’ve practiced with him there in the past knowing this could be a situation we needed to go to,” Day said. “We’ll get him some more (reps) this week. He’s a veteran guy who’s played a lot of football. We’ll have to continue to identify the things that he’s going to do well and the things that he’s going to need more reps.”
Ohio State’s uncertainty up front could not have come at a worst time. Penn State has one of the best defensive lines in the country and outstanding edge rushers, most notably Abdul Carter. He leads the Lions with four sacks and 9.5…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/ohio-state-ryan-day-focuses-034700595.html
Author : Reading Eagle, Pa.
Publish date : 2024-10-30 03:47:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
