Ohio State football: 5 takeaways from Ryan Day’s weekly press conference

Head coach Ryan Day touched on those topics and more when he met with the media Tuesday afternoon.

Here are five things to know:

1. TreVeyon Henderson is expected to play.

The junior running back leads the team with 295 yards rushing, but he missed Ohio State’s 37-17 win over Maryland on Saturday with an undisclosed injury.

Day indicated the coaches held Henderson out for precautionary reasons after he battled a foot injury for most of last season.

Day also mentioned the team is attempting to redshirt Dallan Hayden, a sophomore from Tennessee who ran for 553 yards last season in late-season emergency duty but has not seen the field in a game yet this year.

2. Emeka Egbuka might not be available.

Ohio State’s No. 2 receiver left the game with what appeared to be a lower body injury Saturday.

While Day did not identify exactly what he injured, he did not make it sound like the junior will be back sooner than later.

“One thing I can tell you is it’s not going to be a long-term issue,” Day said. “We’ll kind of reevaluate as the week goes along.”

Egbuka Is second on the team with 22 catches. He has 303 yards receiving and three touchdowns, and he has four carries for 21 yards.

If Egbuka can’t play, that figures to mean more snaps for Julian Fleming, Xavier Johnson and Carnell Tate opposite star Marvin Harrison Jr.

3. The running game was a major topic of conversation.

The Buckeyes ran for 62 yards against Maryland, their lowest total in 15 years and the fewest in a win since early 2003.

Naturally, that meant Day was asked about the rushing attack about half a dozen times Tuesday.

“When you look at some of the plays we ran, I think there was one play that I felt like schematically we were going uphill, but for the most part the schemes that we ran, it was really pretty good looks,” Day said. “Now there was an extra (defensive player) there a lot, especially when we had two tight ends in the game, and that opened up some things in the passing game, which was good.”

4. Day does not think personnel changes are in order.

Getting back the speedy Henderson should help the running game, but Day said the coaching staff is confident in backups Chip Trayanum and Miyan Williams being able to do the job after they combined for 84 yards on 26 carries (the team lost 20 yards on sacks).

He also revealed none of the reserve offensive linemen are making much of a push for playing time even as the No. 1 unit, which has three new starters, has had its ups and downs.

“I think we have the personnel to do it,” Day said. “We’ve got to figure out a way, whether we are doing too much, too little or whatever that is. But I felt like the scheme was very sound. I think we’ve got the right guys so it comes down to we have to coach it better.”

5. He is aware of recent history at Purdue, where Ohio State has lost five of its last eight games.

“I know it’s been a difficult place to play for sure, and this is going to be no different,” Day said of the Boilermakers, who are 2-4 overall and 1-2 in the Big Ten. “They are well-coached and have good players and I know they’ll have a great atmosphere there so we’re into October now, middle of the season playing on the road in the Big Ten all these games are critical and difficult.”

SATURDAY’S GAME

Ohio State at Purdue, Noon, Peacock, 1410