Ohio State football without 23 players vs. Michigan State and beyond
By Ryan Stano
Ohio State will be without several starters on both sides of the ball against Michigan State, including not having three starters on the offensive line.
We knew COVID had gone through the Ohio State football program. We didn’t know how badly it affected them or who was going to be out. We now know who those players are that will be missing the next two games of the regular season, and it’s a significant loss.
Three offensive line starters will be out for that time period. Those players are Thayer Munford, Josh Myers, and Nicolas Petit-Frere. They are also down Paris Johnson Jr. That unit is completely decimated for the remainder of the regular season. Justin Fields might be running for his life.
Tuf Borland, Josh Proctor, and Tyler Friday are among the starters out on defense as well. The defense wasn’t hit quite as hard, which is good. But those guys are hard to replace, especially Borland who might be having his best season as a Buckeye.
Those are all of the starters that Ohio State will be without for the next two games. If everything goes well, they will all be back for the Big Ten Championship game. That’s what is most important right now. Today will tell us a lot about how they will handle being without those starters.
Keep an eye on the offensive line today. Fields had issues with pressure in the last game against Indiana. Today might be even worse without those starters on the offensive line. It is a big concern today because of the defense that Michigan State has.
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This game will be the hardest for the Buckeyes to win because Ryan Day is also not there. That might make it even harder for the offense to execute. They have had two weeks to prepare for games with this lineup, so hopefully they can get a win today.