Injuries to two wide receivers have Ohio State football fans concerned. Carnell Tate did not play against UCLA or Purdue, even though the Buckeyes won't explain what injury he has. Tate's injury doesn't seem to be serious, so that's at least a positive update.
The much bigger issue is the injury that Jeremiah Smith is dealing with. Again, Ryan Day won't specify exactly what the issue is. He was seen limping during pregame warm-ups of the UCLA game, but still played in the first half. They sat him out of the second half.
Smith fought to play against the Bruins, even though he clearly wasn't 100 percent. That shows how tough he is. There's a chance he doesn't play against Rutgers, but Ohio State fans don't need to worry about his availability for the Michigan game. He'll play against TTUN.
Jeremiah Smith will not leave Ohio State hanging vs TTUN
Smith clearly didn't want to be held out of the UCLA game, even though he was far from fully healthy. When the Ohio State Buckeyes travel to Ann Arbor, that will be Smith's birthday. There is no chance that Smith misses that game with a chance to end the terrible losing streak on his birthday.
Day has been coaching with a different look in his eye since losing that game a year ago. That was the last time that the Buckeyes lost. His players love playing for him, and they want nothing more than to win this game for him. Smith is one of those guys.
There's a chance that Smith sits out this weekend to make sure that he's fully ready to go against Michigan next week. That's probably the right call, especially because backup receivers can still beat Rutgers with Julian Sayin throwing them the ball. There's no reason to risk further injury to him.
Smith is hungry to dominate every game he plays. If he has a monster game against TTUN, he has a shot to propel himself back into the Heisman Trophy race. Fans shouldn't worry that he won't play that game. He might want to play in that game more than any other in his career so far.