Scarlet Sunrise: Buckeyes kicker Austin Snyder loses black stripe
COLUMBUS — Ohio State ran into issues with its kickoffs this week when kickoff specialist and starting place kicker Jayden Fielding booted three straight kickoffs out of bounds, missing to the left.
In Fielding’s place after he was pulled, Austin Snyder stepped in and kicked two kickoffs into the end zone. He also went 2-of-2 on extra points following Ohio State touchdowns in the second half.
Snyder has now lost his black stripe Tuesday after practice, a mark that he’s officially a member of the Buckeyes program following his impressive debut.
Snyder started his college career at Findlay and followed now-Buckeyes special teams assistant Rob Keys to the Ohio State program.
Fielding ‘tweaked’ something, which led to his bad kickoffs, according to head coach Ryan Day. The starting kicker alerted the Buckeyes that he had tweaked something, leading to Snyder entering the game — and succeeding.
If Fielding can’t play Saturday at Michigan State, Snyder may get the nod as the starting kicker for Ohio State in the first road test of the season. He now has his black stripe off ahead of that potential opportunity.
Tyleik Williams ‘day to day,’ according to Ryan Day
Ohio State was without star defensive tackle Tyleik Williams for its final nonconference game of the season.
After the win over Marshall, Buckeyes coach Ryan Day listed Williams as ‘day to day’ coming out of last weekend. Day and the Buckeyes are sticking with that line ahead of the Big Ten opener at Michigan State on Saturday night (7:30 p.m., Peacock).
Day said Tuesday that Williams ‘will be out there today, so we’ll see how that goes’ when asked if Williams would practice this week. He maintained that the star defensive tackle will remain day to day heading into the matchup against the Spartans.
If Williams returns this week, Ohio State will be in a good spot to defend a streaky Michigan State offensive attack. If he misses a second straight game, the Buckeyes could have more problems in the teeth of their defensive line.
Tywone Malone, Hero Kanu, Jason Moore and Kayden McDonald will need to be better as second-team defensive tackles regardless of whether Williams is back in action.
Day wanted to see more from the defensive tackles who took over for Williams on Saturday in that win over Marshall.
“There was good play,” Day said of his defensive tackles in Williams’ absence. “But there needs to be more consistent play.
“… It was a mixed bag. Do we want to see more? Yeah, we do.”
Buckeyes kickoff time vs. Michigan State now at 7:30 p.m.
Ohio State announced a time change for its Big Ten opener against Michigan State this weekend. The Buckeyes hit the road to take on the Spartans in primetime.
However, the game was originally set for a 7:00 p.m. ET time start. It’ll be a little later now, according to Associate AD Jerry Emig.
Ohio State and Michigan State will kickoff at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday and will be streamed on Peacock.
Counting down
Buckeyes at Michigan State: 3 days
Ohio State at Oregon: 17 days
Ohio State at Penn State: 38 days
Buckeyes vs. Michigan: 66 days
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