Losing a key player for the season is a crushing blow to the Ohio State football team

The Ohio State football team lost to Oregon on Saturday night. They fell 32-31 in a game that was thrilling to watch if you were a neutral college football fan. For fans of either team, it was stressful. Unfortunately, the Buckeyes came out on the losing end of it.

Losing this game is bad enough. It means they are no longer the favorite to win the Big Ten and they no longer control their destiny to make the Big Ten Championship Game. But they lost something more than this game. They lost a key player to their offensive line for the rest of the season.

During the second half of Saturday night's contest, the Ohio State Buckeyes lost Josh Simmons to an injury. Simmons suffered a leg injury that forced him to be carted off the field. While we don't know what exactly the injury is, we do know that it will force him to miss the rest of the season.

The Ohio State football team must find a way to replace Josh Simmons

As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, Simmons had really improved as a player this season. After a poor first year as a starter at left tackle, he was one of the best offensive linemen on the Ohio State football team. Now, he's out for the rest of the season and the Buckeyes have to find a way to replace him.

Zen Michalski was the one who finished the rest of the game. He looked overmatched a lot of the time. He was thrust into a tough situation, so I can't really blame him for such a shaky performance. The good news is that the Buckeyes have a bye week to figure out how to replace Simmons.

Could they put Carson Hinzman at guard and kick Jackson out to tackle? Could Luke Montgomery get the call at left tackle? Or will Michalski continue to be the guy? These are all questions Ryan Day will look to answer during this bye week.