Ohio State has a big game this weekend against the Trojans of USC. It will be the first game in two seasons in which the Buckeyes will have a quarterback not named Julian Sayin starting. It will be either Luke Fahey or Tavien St. Clair, although Day has refused to name one.
Whoever the new quarterback is going to be is going to need help from the offensive line. Day mentioned that Austin Siereveld will be back this week after missing the last two games. He also let people know that there will be a change up front heading into this game.
Ryan Day announces subtle but big change to Ohio State's offensive line
During his weekly press conference, Day was asked if Siereveld was going to be in at tackle. Day responded quickly, "Yes". That means that he will either be at left tackle or right tackle, meaning that someone is getting bumped from the starting lineup this weekend.
Ian Moore has been somewhat disappointing as the starting left tackle. He seems to get pushed back at least once a game, and he has allowed multiple pressures in each game. Still, he hasn't been as bad as the other starting tackle, and that's who should be the most worried.
Phillip Daniels returned from injury last week against Indiana and played poorly, yet again. He is the reason why the Ohio State Buckeyes are having to play a backup quarterback in the first place. He got beaten horribly and allowed Sayin to get smashed on the play he got hurt.
It seems to me that Day is prepared to put Siereveld at right tackle, which would mean Gabe VanSickle would be the starting right guard. That would mean Daniels is the odd man out on the offensive line. Quite frankly, the offensive line played better without him when he was hurt.
Ohio State has to figure out a way to give the new QB as much protection as possible
No matter who the starting quarterback is, the Buckeyes need to have the offensive line play better. Day was asked point-blank who the starting offensive line was, but shied away from answering the question directly.
"I think it's just going to depend on how much Austin is available to play, if he can play a full game or not. We'll have to figure that out this week and see how he does."
He clearly was not committing to Phillip Daniels being in the starting lineup this week. It would be very surprising to see Daniels out there based on how poorly he has played this season and at the end of last year. As I mentioned before, the VanSickle/Siereveld pairing at right guard and right tackle worked well when Daniels was out.
Day needs to figure out the best OL combination that allows his new quarterback to have confidence that he won't get killed. Siereveld is the best offensive lineman the Buckeyes have. Putting him at tackle and sitting Daniels on the bench makes sense. Let's just hope he can play the entire game.
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