Ohio State held out five starters with unspecified injuries or ailments during its 45-16 win over Maryland on Oct. 10.
The list of unavailable players included wide receivers Brandon Inniss and Devin McCuin, offensive lineman Austin Siereveld, linebacker Christian Alliegro and nickel back Jay Timmons.
But Buckeyes coach Ryan Day suggested most of them would be available to return for next week’s trip to Indiana, a possible top-five matchup that marks a rematch of last year’s Big Ten championship game.
“I don't think we'll get all of those guys back that were on the list,” Day said, “but for sure we're going to get a good portion of them back for next week.”
Their statuses had been in question leading up to kickoff against the Terrapins, who are
at the bottom of the Big Ten standings, while Siereveld was a late addition to the unavailable list.
Day said an issue emerged with Siereveld hours before the game following a test, though he did not divulge specifics. He said Siereveld is day to day. A source said Siereveld is dealing with an illness.
The absence of Siereveld required the Buckeyes to make some of their most significant personnel adjustments on short notice, moving Gabe VanSickle to right tackle and having Jake Cook, a Westerville North graduate, replace him at right guard.
Phillip Daniels, who began the season as the Buckeyes’ starting right tackle before he went down at Texas, missed his fourth straight game, leaving them with fewer options.
Day said they settled on Cook as he has had a larger role as a backup, rotating as their sixth offensive lineman in a heavy personnel package.
“That all kind of came down hours before the game,” Day said. “We would have loved to have a couple days of kind of working it like that. That’s a tough ask for Gabe, but I thought he was able to handle it. That’s a good sign for him.”
Freshman Chris Henry Jr. made his first start at wide receiver opposite Jeremiah Smith and caught a 46-yard pass in the second quarter.
Brock Boyd, a fellow freshman, and Kyle Parker, an LSU transfer who was limited by an unspecified injury to start the season, also saw more snaps. Parker caught a 16-yard pass in the fourth quarter.
TJ Alford was the starting linebacker and made four tackles in place of Alliegro. Cornerback Cam Calhoun started in the secondary with Timmons out.
Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Email him at jkaufman@dispatch.com and follow him on @joeyrkaufman on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football held out 5 starters against Maryland. Will they return at Indiana?
