Ohio State Buckeyes: Multiple starters unavailable against Wisconsin

FILE - Ohio State wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (11) celebrates his touchdown catch with offensive lineman Paris Johnson Jr. (77) during the second half in the Rose Bowl NCAA college football game against Utah on Jan. 1, 2022, in Pasadena, Calif. Smith-Njigba, the starting slot receiver for the Buckeyes as a sophomore last year, stepped out of the shadow of the more established receivers to pace the Buckeyes with 95 catches and 1,606 yards. (AP Photo/John McCoy, File)

Credit: John McCoy

Credit: John McCoy

FILE - Ohio State wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (11) celebrates his touchdown catch with offensive lineman Paris Johnson Jr. (77) during the second half in the Rose Bowl NCAA college football game against Utah on Jan. 1, 2022, in Pasadena, Calif. Smith-Njigba, the starting slot receiver for the Buckeyes as a sophomore last year, stepped out of the shadow of the more established receivers to pace the Buckeyes with 95 catches and 1,606 yards. (AP Photo/John McCoy, File)
Sports
By
Sept 24, 2022
X

Ohio State will be missing key players on each side of the ball Saturday night when the Buckeyes host Wisconsin.

Receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba and cornerback Cam Brown are both unavailable because of injury while running back TreVeyon Henderson is not listed on the injury report, meaning he should be back after leaving last week’s win over Toledo early.

ExploreOhio State unveils new weapon prior to Wisconsin clash

Additionally, Ohio State’s other starting cornerback, Denzel Burke, came out for warmups with a cast on one hand and not in uniform.

Smith-Njigba suffered a hamstring injury in the season-opener against Notre Dame then did not play in week two against Arkansas State.

He played briefly last week, and head coach Ryan Day said Thursday he hoped to have him against the Badgers.

“We’ll kind of keep taking it day by day and see how they do, but so far so good,” he said in reference to both Smith-Njigba and fellow junior receiver Julian Fleming, who missed the first two games but caught two touchdown passes last week.

Brown also left the win over Toledo early with an unidentified injury. He was replaced by JK Johnson, who figures to start opposite Lakota West grad Jyaire Brown on Saturday night.

Jordan Hancock, another of the team’s six scholarship cornerbacks, is also unavailable. He had a good spring but is still working his way back from an injury suffered in the preseason.

Senior receiver Kam Babb and reserve tight end Joe Royer are also out along with defensive end Omari Abor and linebacker Teradja Mitchell.

Mitchell is not a starter, but he might have been someone who could have played a larger role against Wisconsin’s power personnel if defensive coordinator Jim Knowles wanted to go to a 4-3 look.

In Other News
1
35 years later: Celebrating the 1990 Dayton Flyers
2
Social media reacts to Dayton’s upset of Marquette
3
ANALYSIS: Three takeaways from Dayton’s victory against Marquette
4
Dayton rallies from 13-point deficit to upset No. 6 Marquette
5
Archdeacon: ‘More than a basketball game’

About the Author

Follow Marcus Hartman on facebookFollow Marcus Hartman on twitter

Marcus Hartman has been a digital sports columnist and reporter at Cox's Ohio newspapers the Dayton Daily News, Springfield News-Sun and Journal-News since 2016.