Ryan Day provides updated timeline for Ohio State injuries

Ohio State managed to get a big win on Saturday against Penn State, but it did so while some key contributors were out with injury. Buckeyes coach Ryan Day offered an update on those players after the 20-12 victory, beginning with defensive back Denzel Burke.

Burke sat out of Saturday’s contest after suffering an injury in last week’s win against Purdue. Day revealed that the cornerback was “close” to playing and the team believes there’s a chance he could return next week.

“It was close this week,” the coach said. “We’re hopeful to get him back for practice next week. If he has a full week of practice, he’ll be ready to go.”

Running back TreVeyon Henderson, the team’s leading rusher heading into the game, also sat out. It marked the third straight game that he missed for an unspecified issue, and Day did not give much more information on why he was again held out.

Like with Burke, however, he added that he is close to a return.

“TreVeyon, he ended up being unavailable,” Day said. “It was close as we could get to the game to decided whether he could go or not. We’re hopeful to get him back next week. I feel like he is close.”

With Henderson held out, the Buckeyes turned to Miyan Williams, who finished the game with 62 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries. Chip Trayanum got the second-most carries of any Ohio State player with nine, which he turned into 22 yards.

Dallan Hayden did not receive any carried after rushing for 76 yards and a touchdown last week with Henderson out. Day addressed why postgame, saying that the team felt Williams and Trayanum were its two best options.

“I checked with Tony (Alford) and said, ‘if Tre’s not available, where do you want to go?'” Day said. “We felt like if Dallan was available, we would consider using him. Tony felt like those were the two best guys to go with at the time. I trust him. He’s the running backs coach. We’ll reevaluate it this week and see if that was the right thing to do.”

Through the first four games of this season, Henderson managed to rush for 295 yards and five touchdowns. Ohio State will hope he can be healthy enough to return when it next faces Wisconsin at 7:30 p.m. ET next Saturday on the road.