Ohio State is tracking toward getting a healthier group back in time for its trip to Indiana, and Ryan Day said Monday he expects most of the six starters who sat out against Maryland to return this week.
The Buckeyes were without wide receivers Brandon Inniss and Devin McCuin, offensive linemen Austin Siereveld and Phillip Daniels, linebacker Christian Alliegro and nickelback Jay Timmons in Saturday’s 45-16 win. Day said on the Buckeye Roundtable show on the Ohio State Sports Network that he doesn’t expect all of them to be back, but he does anticipate a bulk of the group will be available for the top-five matchup with the Hoosiers.
“I don't know if we'll get them all back, but I’m hoping to get the majority of these guys back. We'll see how they come in tomorrow,” Day said.
“It was kind of a strange week, with some strange things, a few non-football-related issues that popped up. So we just had to manage it the best we could.
But yeah, I don't think we'll get all of them back, but we should get a good portion of them back for Indiana.”
Day didn’t name which players he was counting on most, but McCuin and Timmons look like the likeliest candidates. Both were listed as game-time decisions against Maryland and went through partial warmups before sitting out.
Daniels also appears set for a return after missing the last four games with an injury he suffered against Texas. Day said after Saturday’s game that he expected Daniels to be back against Indiana, and he sounded even more confident Monday.
“I think we can get Phil back. I think he'll have a full week of practice.
That's the plan,” Day said. “I don't know if he would have been able to, if he was forced to play today ... if he could have done it if he had to, but it was close.
I think we'll come in (Sunday), he'll be able to do everything tomorrow, hopefully have a full day Tuesday and be able to roll for next week.”
Siereveld, Alliegro and Inniss were also out against Maryland despite playing the week before against Iowa and not showing any obvious injuries. In Siereveld’s case, Ohio State learned only hours before kickoff that he wouldn’t be able to go. A source told Eleven Warriors that his absence was tied to a non-football illness, and Day said Saturday that his status was day-to-day.
Ohio State had enough against Maryland to handle business without pushing anyone back too early, but Indiana presents a different kind of test. The Hoosiers have won 22 straight games, and Day made it clear Monday that he has plenty of respect for what they bring to the table.
“I think you start with the run they're on, what they've been able to do since Curt Cignetti’s shown up at Indiana. They've won a lot of football games, you gotta give them a lot of credit for that,” Day said Monday when asked what impresses him about Indiana.
“I think offensively they're very, very efficient in what they do, able to run the ball and stay on schedule. They have two dangerous wide receivers.
They have a very good offensive line, good running backs ... And then on defense, a lot of looks, a lot of front movement.
Defensive line’s very good, very veteran. And then they play well on special teams.
So going on the road against the defending national champs is a great challenge for us, something that we've been looking at since the schedule came out and looking forward to, so everybody in the building has to do their best job this week of preparing.”
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