Julian Sayin’s injury may have grabbed the headlines during Ohio State’s bye week, but the Buckeyes lost something important in the backfield too.
Ja’Kobi Jackson had Lisfranc surgery on his foot after getting hurt against Maryland, and Ohio State is hoping to get him back for the Michigan game and the postseason. That’s a major setback.
Jackson had already piled up 354 yards and six touchdowns on 59 carries, averaging six yards per attempt, and he had started the two games before he got hurt. Ryan Day kept praising the way he ran hard.
That absence matters even more now, with a freshman quarterback stepping in. Ohio State is expected to lean on its run game more than it has at any point this season, which turns the RB2 job into a real issue.
Bo Jackson is the unquestioned lead back. The real question is who steps in behind him and how the carries are divided.
Right now, Isaiah West looks like the answer.
West entered the season in a battle with Bo for the starting job after rushing for 310 yards and two touchdowns as a freshman. Instead, Ja’Kobi claimed the No. 2 role, and West faded into the background. He managed just 22 carries for 80 yards through the first six games and played only one snap against Maryland.
Then came Indiana. With Ja’Kobi sidelined, West was on the field for 14 snaps, twice as many as Legend Bey, and he made them count. He carried six times for 45 yards, averaged 7.5 yards per rush, caught a 10-yard pass, and came through with key first downs in the fourth quarter.
All of that came against one of the best run defenses in the country, on the road, with the game tight.
The most encouraging part was the way he ran. West showed vision, forced missed tackles and brought the kind of physical style that made Ja’Kobi so useful. That’s exactly what Ohio State needs in this spot.
Bo Jackson can’t be asked to do everything. He played a career-high 52 snaps against Indiana, but the Buckeyes need another back who can bring that same physical edge, and West showed he can fill that role.
Legend Bey is the other piece worth watching.
The freshman arrived with serious buzz, having piled up more than 4,000 rushing yards and 94 total touchdowns in high school, and he even caught a touchdown in his first college game against Ball State.
But Bey still hasn’t fully won the staff over. Day criticized him for taking kickoffs out of the end zone in the opener, and he didn’t play at all against Iowa while Day said he wanted him to build trust in practice.
At Indiana, Bey was technically the first running back off the bench, but he ended up with just three carries for six yards on seven snaps. So far, his role has been more of a change-of-pace package than a full-time workload.
The bigger question is whether that stays the same. Does Ohio State keep him in the scatback lane, using him on screens, perimeter runs and special situations, or do they start trusting him on more traditional carries between the tackles?
For now, the safer bet is the former. Bey’s explosiveness is valuable, but asking a freshman with his build to take on a heavy diet of inside runs against teams like USC and Oregon is a big ask.
If it were up to me, I’d split it this way: Bo Jackson gets about 60% of the carries, West takes around 30% and handles the short-yardage work and the snaps that keep Bo fresh, and Bey gets a few touches each week in designed packages - screens, jet sweeps, maybe an outside run or draw when the defense spreads out.
That setup keeps the offense from becoming too predictable and gives Ohio State a back who can run with force on every snap. And it doesn’t have to stay that way forever.
If Ja’Kobi comes back for Michigan, the Buckeyes could have four running backs they trust when the postseason arrives. Until then, West has a chance to prove Indiana wasn’t just a one-off.
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Ohio State Could Revisit A Familiar Ole Miss Transfer Path
The transfer pipeline from Oxford to Columbus has already worked once for Ohio State, and it could be a path worth watching again if Ole Miss running back Kewan Lacy decides his future is elsewhere. Quinshon Judkins made the jump from Ole Miss to Ohio State in 2023 and quickly became part of the Buckeyes productive backfield rotation, giving the program a clear example of how a proven SEC runner can fit into its system.
Lacys shoulder injury has only added more uncertainty around his next move, with speculation swirling about whether he could eventually enter the transfer portal or even look toward the NFL Draft. For Ohio State, the interest is obvious if he becomes available, but for now it remains just that, a possibility rather than a pursuit, with the Buckeyes and everyone else waiting to see how his situation unfolds. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Just Got A New Warning About USC Trip
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Ohio State Heads To USC With Two Defensive Questions Lingering
Ohio States trip to USC is arriving with a familiar kind of October tension: a big road test, a short turnaround and a growing injury list after the Buckeyes win over Indiana. The latest concern on offense is Julian Sayin, whose injury appears likely to end his season, but the defensive side is carrying its own uncertainty as Ryan Day tries to sort out who will be available in Los Angeles.
Jay Timmons and Kenyatta Jackson are the names that now hang over the matchup, with Day offering only an update that leaves their status up in the air. For a Buckeyes team that is still trying to keep its focus on the next opponent, the timing matters because USC is the kind of game where every available body on defense matters, and Ohio State may not know its full plan until later in the week. [Read more 🡒]