Both of Ohio State’s superstar wide receivers will be out vs. Rutgers.
Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate have both been ruled out for Saturday’s game against the Scarlet Knights as they work their way back from injuries.
Tate will miss his third straight game after experiencing tightness in his lower body during pregame warmups before Ohio State’s Nov. 8 road game at Purdue. While Ryan Day said after that game that Tate “probably” could have played if needed, he’s provided no specifics on Tate’s status for the past two weeks, other than to say that Tate and Smith are both “working hard to get back on the field.”
Smith played last week against UCLA after he was listed as questionable on the pregame status report, but left the game after three series and was seen limping for the rest of the night. Day said after the game that Smith was “just having a little bit of a nagging issue there,” and said Tuesday that he did not believe Smith made his injury worse by playing against the Bruins, but the injury remains significant enough to keep Smith on the sideline this week.
With Smith and Tate both out, Brandon Inniss, Bryson Rodgers and Mylan Graham will be Ohio State’s top three receivers for Saturday’s game against the Scarlet Knights, which kicks off at noon and will be televised by FOX.
Ohio State will release its full status report of unavailable players at 10 a.m.
