Miyan Williams, Ohio State’s second-leading rushing this year with 249 yards on the ground, will be out for today’s game against Rutgers.
Williams started the first two games for the Buckeyes this season, but did not see any action in the win over Tulsa. He played last week against Akron, rushing for 47 yards on nine attempts.
Freshman TreVeyon Henderson has started the last two games for the Buckeyes, rushing for an OSU freshman-record 270 yards in his first career start against Tulsa, and then 93 yards on just eight carries last week against Akron. Henderson will likely get the start today against Rutgers and be backed up by fourth-year junior Master Teague.
Teague has rushed for 162 yards this season, with 133 of those yards coming the last two weeks. Third-year sophomore Marcus Crowley is back this week should the Buckeyes need another running back. Crowley has missed the previous two games following a blow to the head earlier in the season.
True freshman running back Evan Pryor also got the first action of his Ohio State career last week against Akron, rushing for 35 yards on five carries.
Senior defensive end Tyreke Smith is out again this week. He missed last week’s win over Akron as well. In his place, freshman JT Tuimoloau got the start. Fourth-year junior Javontae Jean-Baptiste is back this week, so he may get the start for Smith being that he’s back in his home-state of New Jersey.
Linebacker Palaie Gaoteote is a game-time decision. Gaoteote has begun to find a home as Ohio State’s Sam linebacker (in the rare instances when the Buckeyes play three linebackers). Ohio State doesn’t have many linebackers on the roster right now, so it will be interesting to see what they do when they go to their heavy packages on short-yardage.
This could be an opportunity for OSU to play their three most productive linebackers together in Cody Simon, Steele Chambers, and Teradja Mitchell. But which of the three would be the Sam?
Freshman defensive tackle Mike Hall is also listed as unavailable after getting his first action last week. Sophomore receiver Julian Fleming is unavailable for the second week in a row as he deals with an injury.
Here is the full availability report from Ohio State.
Game-Time Decision
LB Palaie Gaoteote
Unavailable
WR Kamryn Babb
WR Julian Fleming
DE Tyler Friday
DT Mike Hall
DE Darrion Henry-Young
CB Jakailin Johnson
SAF Jaylen Johnson
LB Mitchell Melton
DT Noah Potter
SAF Josh Proctor
K Jake Seibert
DE Tyreke Smith
RB Miyan Williams