Ryan Day shares update on Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith ahead of Michigan matchup

After Ohio State throttled Rutgers 42-9, head coach Ryan Day was immediately asked about his two superstar wide receivers.

Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate were sidelined against Rutgers due to lower leg injuries. Tate has been injured since pregame warmups against Purdue on November 8. Smith’s injury is more recent, and Saturday was the first game he was completely sidelined.

The Buckeyes will look to improve their season to 12-0 against Michigan, the team that has gotten the best of them in their last four meetings. But will Smith and Tate play?

"The only thing I'll say really is that they are day-to-day. The staff and those guys are working really hard to get ready to play next week," Day said after the victory.

Last season, the Wolverines completely stifled Ohio State’s talented receiver duo. Tate led the Buckeyes in receptions with six grabs for 58 yards in the loss. Smith had five catches for 35 yards.

On Saturday, Ohio State Heisman contender Julian Sayin proved that he didn’t need his talented wideouts to defeat an inferior opponent. He was 13-for-19 passing for 157 yards and two touchdown passes. Sayin has been brilliant all year and that will need to continue in Ann Arbor next week.

True freshman running back Bo Jackson added two touchdowns on his legs as he tallied 19 rushing attempts for 110 yards. James Peoples also found the end zone on just three carries for 55 yards.

Day’s offense is incredibly balanced as the run game has improved despite being a question mark earlier in the season. Beating Rutgers was an expectation for Ohio State, though. They will want all of their weapons healthy against Michigan.

The Wolverines came into Saturday’s matchup against Maryland with an 8-2 record. Certainly, the No. 18 team in the nation will be vying for another massive upset against Ohio State to try and crash the 12 team College Football Playoff.

Day has spoken at length over the recent weeks about how Ohio State is hyperfocused on every single detail with Michigan in mind. After defeating Rutgers, the attention immediately shifted to the Wolverines.

"They're always in the back of our mind in terms of what we're working toward," Day said. "We know this is the last game of the year and what it means to everybody here. It doesn't take long in the fourth quarter once the game was in hand for everybody to start figuring out this thing is coming fast.”

Buckeyes on SI will continue to monitor the availability of Tate and Smith throughout the week.