Ohio State All-American defensive end Chase Young won’t play in tomorrow’s game at Rutgers. That is not news, as his two-game suspension was already announced earlier in the week. This weekend’s contest will be his second and final missed game. Young will then be back for next weekend’s tilt against Penn State.
Young won’t be the lone Buckeye missing the game, however, as 13 other teammates — all due to injury — will be unavailable this weekend as well.
Fellow defensive end Jonathon Cooper is out again this week. Cooper has played in just three games this season. He missed the start of the year due to an ankle injury.
Junior middle linebacker Baron Browning is being held out as well. Browning only played a snap or three last week against Maryland. Ohio State head coach Ryan Day didn’t say anything this week about Browning, so the severity of his situation has not been confirmed.
Redshirt freshman offensive lineman Matt Jones went down late in last week’s game with an injury and he is listed as being out this week. Day did not confirm any type of timeframe for Jones this week. He also declined to answer whether or not fifth-year senior receiver CJ Saunders will miss the season. Saunders is again unavailable this week.
Saunders is not the only receiver out, as senior Austin Mack continues to struggle with an ailment. Mack has missed the last two games, but was a game-time decision for both. He warmed up with the team prior to the Maryland game, but ultimately did not dress. This may simply be precautionary so that they will have him back for Penn State. Redshirt sophomore receiver Ellijah Gardiner is also out.
Freshman running back Marcus Crowley is out this week following a knee injury suffered late last week. Crowley was able to walk off under his own power. In his absence this week at Rutgers, Demario McCall could be looking at a sizable load of carries.
Fifth-year senior offensive tackle Josh Alabi continues to be out and no timetable has been given on his potential return.
The rest of the injured have been dealing with their ailments all season long and are all out as well. Those players are WR Kamryn Babb, DL Noah Donald, SAF Ronnie Hickman, OL Brett Novick, and DT Taron Vincent.
There are no game-time decisions for this weekend’s game.
