Julian Fleming Listed As Game-Time Decision, Ohio State Otherwise Healthy For Notre Dame

Ohio State is relatively healthy heading into tonight’s season opener against Notre Dame, with junior wide receiver Julian Fleming as the only player listed as a game-time decision.

Fifth-year senior cornerback Lloyd McFarquhar will be unavailable for the game with an undisclosed injury, while redshirt sophomore defensive end Mitchell Melton and redshirt freshman running back Evan Pryor are out for the season with knee injuries.

Melton tore his ACL in the spring game, while Pryor went down with significant knee injury in preseason practice. Still, head coach Ryan Day felt good about the overall health of the team coming out of fall camp.

“The balance you try to find is how do you make your team tougher, more physical and calloused and just hard, but also make sure they’re healthy and ready to go in that first game,” Day said during his lightning round media availability on Thursday.

“I think we struck that balance. When you see it, it’s exciting to know we’re at full strength.”

For comparison’s sake, Ohio State was without 11 players for last year’s season opener at Minnesota, including multiple starters on the defensive side of the ball. Fleming is the only starter whose status in in question tonight.

Meanwhile, fifth-year senior wide receiver Kamryn Babb, who suffered a “setback” in preseason practice that was expected to sideline him for a few weeks, will be available.

Ohio State Availability Report Vs. Notre Dame

Game-Time Decision

• Junior wide receiver Julian Fleming

Unavailable:

• Fifth-year senior cornerback Lloyd McFarquhar (undisclosed)
• Redshirt sophomore defensive end Mitchell Melton (knee)
• Redshirt freshman running back Evan Pryor (knee)

Kickoff for tonight's game between the Buckeyes and Fighting Irish is set for 7:30 p.m. on ABC.

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