Ohio State is limping into Los Angeles, and Ryan Day is running out of excuses. The No. 2 Buckeyes are down ten players, including starting quarterback Julian Sayin and freshman wide receiver Brock Boyd. With USC desperate to save its season, Ohio State’s injury crisis couldn’t have come at a worse time.
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Two more key starters are questionable, leaving Day with a dangerously thin roster. One ugly loss to USC could wreck Ohio State’s playoff positioning and turn its national championship ambitions into a serious question mark.
Boyd was questionable on Wednesday and was reported as “out” on Thursday’s report, sitting out for the second straight game this season. Though Ohio State still has Jeremiah Smith and Devin McCuin, Brandon Inniss and Jay Timmons are questionable again, as per Eleven Warriors. With Boyd being one of the top backups behind them, the cushion is gone.
Boyd had six catches for 110 yards in the first six games and missed the Indiana win after going in as a game-time decision. Inniss sat out the Maryland game on October 10, came back against Indiana, and caught one pass for six yards. Nickelback Jay Timmons, a true freshman starter and one of the better players on the defense, missed two games with a hamstring injury and left Indiana early in the fourth quarter.
The bigger losses are already known, with Julian Sayin hurting his shoulder in the fourth quarter at Indiana and being out for the season. He was 131-of-192 for 2,007 yards, 19 touchdowns, and four interceptions. Running back Ja’Kobi Jackson had surgery on a Lisfranc fracture this month, and Day said he hopes to have him back for the postseason.
Safety Leroy Roker III, special teamer Inky Jones, tight end Max LeBlanc, linebacker Eli Lee, and safety Deshawn Stewart are out too, along with lineman Jaxon Powell and receiver Amari Valerio-Hudson. However, offensive line captain Austin Siereveld is cleared after missing two games with illness, and defensive end Kenyatta Jackson Jr. is off the report after leaving Indiana with a knee issue.
“It’s going to be everybody’s job to rally around our quarterback,” Day said. “We need everybody in the building. We need the defense. We need the special teams. We need the offense, the offensive line, the receivers. Everyone’s got to help out here.”
Luke Fahey is expected to replace Sayin, though Day hasn’t named a starter. At receiver, Chris Henry Jr. and Phillip Bell are the likeliest to see more snaps next to Smith and McCuin if Inniss can’t go. Smith has 52 catches for 984 yards, about 44% of the team’s receiving yards.
Bo Jackson (107 carries, 516 yards) takes most of the running back work, with Isaiah West and Legend behind him. If Timmons is out, Jermaine Mathews Jr. moves inside to nickel, and Cam Calhoun plays outside. Calhoun gave up deep balls to Nick Martin against Indiana.
Who Takes the Snaps?
Day has hinted that both quarterbacks, Luke Fahey and Tavien St. Clair, could play. Fahey, from Mission Viejo, would be starting in his home state, given that he had posted 9-of-13 for 203 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions this season. St. Clair, the No. 4 recruit of the 2025 class, is currently 5-of-7 for 52 yards, a touchdown, and an interception.
“But both guys had a good week of practice, and I think both will be ready to play. And I think guys on the team have confidence that if both were put into the game, they can do their job. So we’ll keep preparing, and we’ll see how Saturday goes,” Day said.
USC has its own list of injured players, with seven out and four questionable, including tight end Mark Bowman, who has missed three straight games. After USC, Ohio State closes against Oregon, Northwestern, Nebraska, and Michigan. With a gauntlet ahead, whoever fills in this week will shape the Buckeyes’ national championship run well past Saturday.