Ohio State Football without two key players vs. Penn State

The Ohio State football team has had to navigate the last couple of weeks without star running back TreVeyon Henderson. Ever since his great game against Notre Dame, he’s been out. That game was a month ago. Yet, he still isn’t ready to play.

Henderson was listed out against Penn State earlier this morning. Ryan Day then told ESPN that he is a game-time decision. Once he said that the Ohio State football program changed his designation from “out” to “game-time decision”. I highly doubt he will end up playing.

Henderson isn’t the only key Buckeye who will probably miss the game. Emeka Egbuka is listed as questionable on the injury report as well. Day had said that neither injury was supposed to be long-term, and yet both players seem likely to miss the biggest game of the year.

One player we know will miss the game for sure is Denzel Burke. The cornerback is officially listed as out. That’s a big blow for the Buckeyes. Burke has been the best member of the secondary for Ohio State all year long. He’s by far the best corner they have.

If Henderson can’t go, expect Dallan Hayden to get carries again today. He played extremely well against Purdue once Chip Trayanum went down. If Day is smart, they’d get him at least 15 touches in this game against a tough Penn State defense. They need to show that they can run the ball.

Having some of your best players out for a massive game like this is far from ideal. It will be up to the rest of the Buckeyes to step up and do what is necessary to still win this game. I do think it will be a lot harder for this team to beat the Nittany Lions now. I still think they will though.