Ohio State and Northwestern are heading into Saturday’s game short-handed at quarterback, and the Buckeyes may also have to piece together their receiver rotation.
Northwestern will be without Aidan Chiles for a second straight week after the starting quarterback was ruled out with an upper-body injury. Chiles also missed last week’s game against Iowa. He is one of eight Wildcats listed as out, with cornerback Josh Fussell standing out among the absences after opening the season as a starter before disappearing from the lineup after Northwestern’s third game against Indiana.
Ohio State’s injury report carries a different kind of concern. Three of the Buckeyes’ top six wide receivers - Brandon Inniss, Phillip Bell and Brock Boyd - are listed as questionable for Saturday.
Inniss has sat out three of Ohio State’s last four games because of an undisclosed injury, while Boyd has missed the last three. Ryan Day said Wednesday that Boyd is unlikely to play this week, though he still expects a possible return before the season ends.
“He's slowly getting back into it now. I'm hoping we can get him on the field by the end of the season, because he's somebody that we thought really could make a difference for us this year,” Day said of Boyd.
“And he's working his tail off to get back on the field. And he's somebody that is extremely competitive, so it's been hard for him to watch from the sidelines.
But somebody that we think is going to be a good player here, and somebody that we thought would be a contributor here, and hopefully he will be by the end of the season.”
Bell’s status is the biggest surprise on Ohio State’s report. He started in the slot and played 45 snaps in each of the last two games, so his inclusion leaves the Buckeyes with some uncertainty in the middle of the receiving group.
If Bell, Inniss and Boyd all sit, Ohio State’s top three receivers against Northwestern would be Jeremiah Smith, Devin McCuin and Chris Henry Jr. None of those three have been regular slot options this season. Behind them, Kyle Parker, De’zie Jones and Jerquaden Guilford are the names most likely to see more run.
The Buckeyes will also be without running back Ja’Kobi Jackson, who is set to miss his fourth straight game because of the Lisfranc foot injury he suffered against Maryland. Fourth-string tight end Max LeBlanc is out as well for a third straight game, making him the only other Ohio State player on the report who has played more than 50 snaps this season.
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Northwestern is the kind of opponent Ohio State should be able to handle, but the larger issue is whether the Buckeyes can show the kind of response that has been missing during this slide. A prediction here favors Ohio State to get the win, with coaching adjustments expected to be part of the fix, but the bigger story is whether the team can use this game as a reset rather than another reminder of how thin the margin has become. [Read more 🡒]