Ryan Day Would Be “Shocked” If Ohio State's Top Running Backs Aren't Available At Maryland
While Ohio State head coach Ryan Day did not provide specific injury updates on running backs TreVeyon Henderson, Miyan Williams and Chip Trayanum on Tuesday afternoon, he said he would be “shocked” if all three weren't available for Saturday's game at Maryland (3:30 p.m. on ABC).
“We feel like we have a really good chance to get all three of those guys back for next week,” Day said during his weekly press conference at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. “Maybe one of them won’t, but I’d be shocked if all three would not be available. Hopefully we’ll get at least two of them back and go from there.”
Henderson has missed the last two games with a foot injury, which has lingered since the win over Toledo. Williams, meanwhile, rushed for 147 yards and one touchdown before he left the game in the second quarter of last week’s game against Indiana with an apparent right ankle injury.
Trayanum was also held out of the win over the Hoosiers with an undisclosed injury, which was even more notable given he switched from linebacker just a few weeks ago in order to provide some much-needed depth at the position and was also involved on special teams.
But with those three sidelined, freshman Dallan Hayden rushed for 102 yards on a career-high 19 carries. Fifth-year senior wide receiver Xavier Johnson also took his only carry of the game 71 yards for a touchdown, showing the Buckeyes still have some weapons deep down the depth chart.
“I guess it’s part of being a college football coach right now,” Day said. “There’s a lot of changes that go on, and you try to do the best you can to prepare for November in the Big Ten. There’s a lot of variables that come into play, and the only way to do that is to build a tremendous amount of depth.”
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That said, Day won’t know for certain if Henderson, Williams or Trayanum will be available against the Terrapins until Thursday’s practice, approximately 48 hours before kickoff. And even if they’re limited until then, he’s hopeful they’ll prepare as if they’re at full strength.
“In a perfect world, everyone’s healthy and everyone’s practicing and getting all the physical reps that you would need in a game week,” Day said. “What you have to do is really focus hard on – if you’re not getting all the reps that you need in practice – is getting the mental reps, putting yourself in there, actually physically walking through that rep and seeing the picture, then going through, watching the film and doing a lot of extra work on your own.
“That’s why I give Xavier Johnson a lot of credit last week because he didn’t have all the physical reps (in practice), but he was able to put it on the field at a pretty high level when he was in there. That’ll be the challenge if those guys aren’t able to physically practice as much.”
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