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Buckeyes hoping for, rather than expecting, a Jaxon Smith-Njigba return this season

Spencer-Holbrookby:Spencer Holbrook•11/17/22•

SpencerHolbrook

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Jaxon Smith-Njigba has yet to be cleared to return for Ohio State. (Matt Parker/Lettermen Row)

COLUMBUS — Ohio State star receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba has played in just three games this season after suffering an injury in the season-opening win over Notre Dame.

He returned for a limited number of snaps a few weeks later against Toledo and again after the idle week in the victory over Iowa.

But he left the win over Iowa with a clear problem, and he has not played since then.

While the Buckeyes haven’t provided many updates on the status of their preseason All-American and Biletnikoff Award favorite, Ohio State coach Ryan Day did answer a question about whether he was expecting Smith-Njigba back in the lineup at some point this year.

“I wouldn’t say ‘expecting,’ ” Day said Thursday as Ohio State prepares to head to Maryland. “I’d probably say more ‘hoping.’ But no update at this point.”

Smith-Njigba caught 95 passes for 1,606 yards last fall for the Buckeyes, becoming a go-to weapon on a Rose Bowl-winning team. He entered the year as the clear-cut best receiver in the country, but he just hasn’t been able to recover from that season-opening injury.

Despite Smith-Njigba’s absence this fall, Ohio State has still been able to have one of the top offenses in all of college football. Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka have emerged as the top two receiver options for the Buckeyes as Smith-Njigba tries to work his way back.

“If you had said to me that was gonna happen this year I wouldn’t have believed you, but here we are and that’s football,” Day said this week. “You have to overcome these types of things and that’s where depth becomes critically important and understanding that when you come here you come here to play.”

Ohio State has been forced to flash that depth without Smith-Njigba. And it seems more and more like the Buckeyes might need to do it more for the rest of the year.

Ryan Day is going from expecting Smith-Njigba back to now just hoping his best receiver can return for one of the final games in the coming weeks.

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