Alongside all the conversation about Tegra Tshabola and Joshua Padilla at right guard, a third name emerged in Saturday's game against UCLA for Ohio State: Gabe VanSickle.
With Padilla out due to an injury, VanSickle actually played more snaps than Tshabola while rotating in with Ohio State's second-year starter, seeing 44 reps to Tshabola's 26. During his weekly appearance on 97.1 the Fan's Buckeye Roundtable show, Ryan Day spoke highly of VanSickle, saying he can “see the talent” in the way he creates movement in the run game and can bend for leverage.
Speaking of injuries like the one to Padilla – but more notably, to star wide receivers Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate – Day told the hosts that there were "no real updates," but he hopes to know more after Ohio State's Tuesday practice. Day also dove into the progress he saw in the run game and on special teams vs. the Bruins.
- On the running game against UCLA: "We put a lot of work into it, we always do, so it was good to see some results. I think the guys up front got better technically. ... Also some really good effort by the tight ends and the receivers."
- On Gabe VanSickle at right guard: "There was positives. Anytime someone's in there for the first time, they've gotta get the jitters out. ... But I think you can see the talent. He can bend. He's strong."
- Day was excited to see the preparation and work Ohio State put into his kick return game pay off with a 100-yard kick return touchdown from Lorenzo Styles Jr., the school's first in 15 years. "We saw some things on film that we thought we could take advantage of. ... It was just great effort on the play, first off. ... Really, really clean (blocking). It's hard to get a kickoff return to be that clean. ... It was great to see all the hard work paying off."
- On how Ohio State prepares its kickers for potential game-winning field goals: "We try to find different ways to put pressure on everybody, but certainly for Jayden (Fielding). ... We know, like you said, a game will come down to a field goal. So we've gotta be ready to execute."
- On his raising the champion-level grade from 80% to 83%: "It's hard to grade out as an offensive lineman closer to 90%, and some of our guys did. ... But what we're doing and where we're going, we have to do that. ... We've gotta be on our game and it can come down to one play."
- There isn't a lot of familiarity on Ohio State's staff with Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano from his Buckeye tenure, so Day said it will mostly be a "regular week" in terms of studying and game planning for Rutgers. "They're coming off of a bye week, so they'll be all loaded for bear, ready to go and have some stuff up their sleeve. So we’ve gotta be ready to respond."
- Day said there are "no real updates" on any injury situations, though he said the Buckeyes “had a good Sunday” in terms of players coming in and their injuries not being worse than they were before. He hopes to know more after Tuesday's practice.
- Ohio State likes to defer and win the middle eight when it comes to coin tosses, Day said.
- Day said it was great to see his younger players get some reps late in the game and get some film to be graded. "We need those guys to step up in a big way. We need everybody to step up."
