Ohio State injury updates; what do the Buckeyes' coaches see in Penn State?

Ohio State coach Ryan Day held his first news conference of Penn State week on Tuesday. Coordinators Chip Kelly (offense) and Jim Knowles (defense) spoke as well. The No. 4 Buckeyes travel to the No. 3 Nittany Lions on Saturday for the marquee game of the college football weekend. Kickoff is set for Noon ET on FOX, and head coach James Franklin’s team was heavily discussed during today’s 30-minute news conference in Columbus. Find the top highlights below, in addition to the latest injury information ahead of game day.

Ohio State injury updates

Let’s start on offense. The Buckeyes were dealt a massive blow up front a few weeks ago when star left tackle Josh Simmons was lost for the year due to injury. At Nebraska, backup-turned-starter Zen Michalski made more mistakes than he did good plays before suffering his own injury issue that required him to be carted off late in the fourth quarter. As James Franklin did with his hurt Nittany Lions on Monday, Day left the door open for the blocker to play on Saturday. But, it’s hardly a guarantee at this point.

“We’ll look at it today and see where we’re at. I think there is a chance,” Day said. “We’ll have to see if he can go and go from there. There were plays he got beat. But, he was battling in there. Once he got injured, that changed there. We know what we see in practice and we have to continue to support him and make sure he knows we have confidence in him.”

If Michalski can go, he’ll start. If not, the Buckeyes will move guard Donovan Jackson out to left tackle.

The weekly rundown: Injury talk will dominate Penn State-Ohio State buildup

On the other side of the ball, both Day and Knowles sounded optimistic that starting safety Lathan Ransom would be back this week. With him sidelined, the Buckeyes had to move Jordan Hancock out of the nickel spot and to safety, which is somewhat similar to the situation Penn State finds itself in with Jaylen Reed since Kevin Winston Jr. is dealing with a long-term injury.

“We’re excited to get a full week of practice,” Day said. “We’ll kind of see how the week goes with him. Good to see we built some depth back there. That was good to see, because the depth was a little bit of a concern. We’ll go into this game now with Lathan coming back, kind of figure out what that looks like going into it.”

Added Knowles:

“Having Lathan back, the experience, the run stopping capability, that helps us for sure. Then Jordan [Hancock] can go back to nickel based on how Lathan holds up this week.”

What did the Buckeyes’ coaches say about the Lions’ offense?

A full accounting of everything Day, Kelly, and Knowles said about Penn State is below. Blue-White Illustrated subscribers can read the full news conference recap here.

“It’s a big challenge. You add in all the formations and motions; when you have a quarterback who can run and hurt you with the run, that really changes the game plan. And the tight end is another guy, you never know where he’s going to be and the things he’s going to do. You always have to be aware of where he’s at.”

–Knowles on preparing for both Penn State quarterbacks and also Lions tight end Tyler Warren.

“We’ll prepare for both guys being healthy and ready to go. They both bring different things to the table but both are very effective. We’ll go based on what we’ve seen, and what’s on film, but we have to know who’s in the game. Regardless, we knew we’d have to prepare for both quarterbacks. And both do things, they run, they throw, can both do things very well and are talented. Just a little different in the way their skillsets are set up.”

—Day on preparing for PSU to play Drew Allar and/or Beau Pribula Saturday.

“It’s a lot different. There are multiple formations and shifts. Like, all the time. All of that window dressing to create stress on the defense. That’s really a lot different. And then you add in the quarterback run game. That’s a lot different.”

–Knowles on how the PSU offense is different with Andy Kotelnicki in charge compared to other Nittany Lion offenses he has faced.

What did the Ohio State coaches say about the Penn State defense?

“He’s extremely explosive for his size. He’s played linebacker before. And, then now, they moved him to the front. He’s a lot like Micah [Parsons] in terms of what he can do and disrupting the game as a pass rusher. And I understand why they moved him up there. But I think it’s his athleticism that you probably don’t see that athleticism usually in the defensive lineman that you get from him.

“That’s the one thing you know, even trying to replicate that in practice, do you have somebody that’s that fast? If you do, he’s probably not the same size as him. So, you know, it’s that size/speed combination, and his ability to really get off on the snap is what’s going to make him difficult to handle. And we got to make sure we we understand where he is. They’ve done a decent job; he had been predominantly playing on one side but in the Wisconsin game they moved him to the other side so they could put him on either side, and we need to be aware of where he is.”

Kelly on what Penn State defensive end Abdul Carter brings to the table.

“He’s excellent, and it’s not just him. You have to know where 11 is on the field. He’s dynamic as a player. You have to do a really good job with him. And there are other guys on that line who are really good as well. It will be a challenge for our line. Our guys will be fired up to play in this game. … We got a lot on the line this week. We have to go win this game.”

–Day on facing Carter and the Penn State pass rush.

He said it

“For Will, he grew up in Pennsylvania, so that’s a little bit different for him, but for everybody else, this game has been circled on our schedule. We know what’s at stake here. We’re going to have a great week of practice. We have to go finish and win the game in the fourth quarter. We know it’s going to take four quarters in this game. It always does in this environment. It’s a difficult environment to play in. Now, it’s time to go win this game and get a top-five victory. That’s what we’re focused on right now.”

–Day on Pa., native and OSU starting QB Will Howard saying he is ‘stoked’ for this game after the Lions did not recruit him out of high school.