Ryan Day discusses Dallan Hayden's role versus Michigan, TreVeyon Henderson's health

COLUMBUS — Ohio State was dealing with a bit of an existential crisis after its 45-23 loss to Michigan in the regular season finale. It was the Buckeyes’ first defeat to their Big Ten East rival at home since 2000, and it marked their first two-game skid to the Wolverines since the turn of the century.

There were almost as many questions facing Ohio State head coach Ryan Day as there are players in the transfer portal right now. Well, maybe not that many, but conservative play-calling, an abundance of penalties and a defensive implosion raised eyebrows throughout Columbus.

One of those questions was about the limited playing time of true freshman running back Dallan Hayden, the Buckeyes’ hero in Week 12 who rushed for 143 yards and three touchdowns in the second half at Maryland.

Naturally, fans asked, ‘Why didn’t Hayden play more against Michigan?”

Hayden had just two carries for seven yards in the loss. He played 11 offensive snaps after having participated in 30 or more snaps back-to-back weeks, according to Pro Football Focus.

Meanwhile, Chip Trayanum — who transferred from Arizona State and switched from running back to linebacker for the Buckeyes — led the team with 14 carries. To put that into perspective, Trayanum had just one rushing attempt all season before The Game.

Trayanum did just fine, registering 83 yards on the ground, filling in for the sidelined TreVeyon Henderson and hobbled Miyan Williams. But it was odd that Ohio State running backs coach Tony Alford turned to Trayanum, a reserve player at the position, rather than Hayden, a Class of 2022 four star who already had three 100-yard games this season.

“Just kind of the flow of the game, and Tony makes that decision based off how things are going,” Day said Tuesday, when asked about the disproportionate snap split between Trayanum and Hayden against Michigan.

“I thought in the game that Chip ran well. I thought he did some really good things, especially for his first game getting put in that environment. Certainly looking forward to getting some health back in that room, but Dallan’s going to be a big part of that bowl game.”

While discussing Hayden this season, Day has repeatedly mentioned the importance of ball security. So Day was asked Tuesday if ball security is an issue in practice for Hayden, considering that Hayden hasn’t fumbled in a game this season, and if that played into him not playing more against Michigan.

“The ball security is just something we talk about all the time with running backs,” Day said. “It’s just the number one thing — when you hand the ball off, they’ve gotta do a great job of that.

“So, no, that didn’t play into the decision at all.”

Day reiterated that Hayden’s snap counted was dictated by the game flow and noted that the Buckeyes were playing from behind in the second half, hence why six of the first-year back’s 11 offensive snaps were pass plays.

“Dallan wants to play, and he’s going to continue to play,” Day said.

Hayden ranks third on the team with 510 rushing yards on 102 attempts. He’s only 23 carries off the team lead in rushing attempts, which is held by Williams.

The Buckeyes’ running back room has been riddled with injuries in 2022. Ohio State lost Evan Pryor for the season in August. T.C. Caffey was sidelined for the year in October. Henderson’s foot injury has been nagging. Williams missed the Michigan State game with a knee injury, left the Penn State matchup early with a hand injury and then was out 1.5 games with an apparent lower-leg injury he suffered in the first half against Indiana before rushing just eight times versus Michigan.

Henderson was in a boot for the Michigan game after leaving the Maryland contest early in clear discomfort. Day has emphasized that his team is healing up during Peach Bowl preparation, but, when he was asked about Henderson, he didn’t get specific about the sophomore’s status.

“I’ll probably give you an update on Tre here in the next few days,” Day said. “I don’t really have an update on where he is right now as we kind of get off the road. It’s kind of like that with everybody. I’m not sure exactly when we give an injury update on this — we’ll have to talk about that.

“As I get off the road, we’ll get back to you on that one.”

There aren’t many harder on-field challenges in the sport this season than running against Georgia. The Bulldogs are first nationally in rushing defense, as they are the only team in the country allowing fewer than 80 yards per game on the ground.

If the Buckeyes are to maintain offensive balance in the College Football Playoff semifinal matchup, they’ll need all the help they can get in the backfield.

Having Henderson, and a healthy Williams, in the fold would go a long way.