Ohio State safety suffers potentially serious injury in Rose Bowl

Ohio State is already short-handed on defense due to multiple opt outs, and their defensive unit just got even thinner.

Safety Lathan Ransom suffered what appears to be a serious leg injury on a kickoff return in the Rose Bowl against Utah. He hit his leg on his teammate, and he was carted off the field in an air cast. The sophomore was taken to the hospital for x-rays.

Ransom has 38 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble this year. He was a four-star recruit out of Arizona and played a fair amount as a freshman, increasing his playing time as his rookie year progressed.

Record-breaking Rose Bowl a shootout

In a high-scoring affair in Pasadena, Utah leads Ohio State 35-21 at halftime. The teams totaled 56 points in the first half, which is a Rose Bowl record. They posted four touchdowns in under three minutes in the second quarter, including a kickoff returned for a touchdown by Utah’s Britain Covey on the play on which Ransom was injured.

At the break, Utah has 324 yards and Ohio State has 325. The Buckeyes have done most of their work via long pass plays, while Utah already has 166 yards on the ground. The Utes have dominated time of possession, controlling the ball for over 20 minutes of the first half.

Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud continues his dominant season, as he joined Dwayne Haskins and Justin Fields as the only Buckeye quarterbacks to throw at least 40 touchdown passes in a season. He is 15-for-19 with 289 yards and three scores. Wideout Jaxon Smith-Ngiba has two of those touchdown catches, and he has seven total receptions for 185 yards, which is the Ohio State bowl receiving yards record.

Between Utah and Ohio State, five skill players have a play of at least 25 yards. Excluding the kickoff return, Utah quarterback Cameron Rising holds the longest play of the day, a 62-yard touchdown rush.