Ohio State goes to Bloomington on Saturday for a top-five game against the defending national champion without a starting offensive tackle or the running back who has scored more touchdowns than anyone else on the roster.
Thursday night’s Big Ten availability report ruled out offensive lineman Austin Siereveld and running back Ja’Kobi Jackson. Friday’s follow-up brought better news.
Who is out, who is back
Out for Ohio State: Siereveld, Jackson, safety Leroy Roker III, receiver Amari Valerio-Hudson, safety Khmari Bing and offensive lineman Jaxon Powell. Receiver Brock Boyd and running back Anthony “Turbo” Rogers are questionable.
Cleared off the report entirely on Friday and expected to play: offensive lineman Deontae Armstrong, running back Isaiah West and defensive lineman Khary Wilder, all three of whom had been questionable.
Also back after missing the Maryland game: receivers Brandon Inniss and Devin McCuin, cornerback Jay Timmons, linebacker Christian Alliegro and offensive lineman Phillip Daniels. Daniels is expected back at right tackle, with Gabe VanSickle likely sliding to right guard.
Jackson’s absence is the one that shows up in the box score. He has 354 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 59 carries this season. Neither his injury nor Siereveld’s has been disclosed, and Ohio State has not said who replaces Siereveld.
Indiana is healthier, which is annoying for everyone else
The Hoosiers’ availability report did not change from Wednesday to Thursday and lists no players out. Running back Khobie Martin is doubtful, having missed five straight games after breaking bones in his forearm in Week 1. Tight end Andrew Barker, who sat out last week at Nebraska, is questionable.
Curt Cignetti’s team beat Nebraska 20-17 last week. Quarterback Josh Hoover has completed 68.2 percent of his passes for 1,364 yards with 17 touchdowns and zero interceptions, which is the stat line of a player nobody is going to rattle at noon in his own stadium.
Ohio State’s real problem is not the injury report
It is nine sacks in six games.
The Buckeyes sent their entire starting defensive front four to the NFL this offseason, and the replacements have not generated pressure. Against a quarterback who has not thrown an interception all year, a pass rush that cannot get home is a worse problem than a missing right tackle.
Ryan Day acknowledged this week that Ohio State is unlikely to have every injured player available, which is about as much as any coach says about an availability report in October.
The details
Kickoff is noon ET at Memorial Stadium on FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff with Gus Johnson and Joel Klatt. Ohio State is favored by 3.5 with a total of 50.5.
One caveat on the rankings: outlets disagree on the exact numbers this week, with some listing Indiana fifth and Ohio State fourth and others flipping them. Call it a top-five game and leave the poll math alone. Julian Sayin and Day on one side, Hoover and Cignetti and a national title banner on the other, at noon, with the Buckeyes short six players.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.