MIAMI GARDENS, Florida – Ohio State has approached full strength, but it is not designed to deal with adversity, even in the national championship.
And the latest setback has hit the strongest man on the list.
The Buckeyes will not have the defensive highlight for Tommy Togiai on Monday night in the high stakes match with Alabama at Hard Rock Stadium. And the Rushmen unit will also miss the Tyreke Smith relay at the limit, perhaps the best performance of its career in the Sugar Bowl explosion that opened the way to South Florida in the title race.
However, Ohio State will have some major contributors back in lineup, and clearly the program never took the risk of needing to postpone the College Football Playoff final based on the number of players available. That list includes defensive ends Zach Harrison and Tyler Friday, which should help make up for the loss of Smith and Togiai.
“Whenever you deal with it and lose people, it’s a punch in the gut,” said Ohio State coach Ryan Day. “But it’s not something we’re not used to. We played matches with most of our offensive line out. We played the Big Ten Championship game without our best receivers, or some of our best receivers. We had beginners everywhere at different times and we found ways to work with that. It’s been like that.
Ohio’s defensive side, Tyreke Smith, will lose the title game. (Birm / Lettermen Row)
“You can feel sorry for yourself or you can just keep working and get over it. The hard thing is, at the end of the day, most people don’t care. They just watch the game and the result is the result. But for us, that’s why this season’s story is so incredible to me, that we’re continuing to move forward despite all the difficult challenges along the way. It is no different this week. We have a new set of challenges this week. We’re going to have to figure this out, go to Miami and play. “
The Buckeyes officially arrived at the stadium, and the availability report has been finalized. Outside the absence of these two initial entries and a positive test for kicker Blake Haubeil, Ohio, appears to have arrived at the title game as healthy as one might expect, given the COVID problems that have impacted him over the past six weeks.
Here is the complete list of players released to play for Ohio State, keeping in mind that the program does not reveal test information or specify between injuries or possible disciplinary issues.
Ohio State Game Time Decisions
Out of stock Buckeyes
- CB Cam Brown
- DL Jacolbe Cowan
- K Dominic DiMaccio
- DT Ty Hamilton
- WR Jaylen Harris
- K Blake Haubeil
- OT Dawand Jones
- LB Cade Kacherski
- LB Mitchell Melton
- DE Tyreke Smith
- DT Tommy Togiai
- SAF Kourt Williams
- RB Miyan Williams