Although the Ohio State Buckeyes are now the No. 1 team in the land, they are going to have to attempt to run the gauntlet without one of their very best players. After being held out from the Wisconsin game due to injury, Miyan Williams' season is over. Ohio State head coach Ryan Day informed the media on Tuesday that Williams had season-ending surgery, which was not specified.
Day spoke about the hit this is to the running back room, but did speak highly to Tony Alford's guys.
"I feel really bad for Miyan. That's a big hit for that room and our team, but Tony [Alford has] done a great job building depth in that room."
Ohio State's other star running back TreVeyon Henderson has also dealt with his fair share of injuries. Through the Buckeyes' first eight games of the season, only Arizona State transfer Chip Trayanum has been able to play in all of them this year. Now that Ohio State is the No. 1 team in the country, the Buckeyes will have to prove they are worthy of the top spot in the College Football Playoff rankings.
Ohio State has a sneaky one vs. Rutgers this weekend, with The Game vs. Michigan looming as well.
Ohio State loses it star running back Miyan Williams for the season
While Ohio State has done an admirable job of overcoming constant battles with the injury bug, this is not last year's offense. Quarterback C.J. Stroud now plays for the Houston Texans. Former offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson is calling all the shots in Tulsa. Although Brian Hartline is a brilliant recruiter and developer of wide receiver talent, the offense has taken a step back with him and Day leading it.
Truth be told, Ohio State is on a shortlist of teams who can realistically win the national championship. For them to do so, the Buckeyes will presumably have to beat arch-rival Michigan in The Big House, as well as probably Georgia in a rematch in the upcoming College Football Playoff. If anybody is capable of beating two teams of that caliber, Ohio State has to be among them. However, it will be challenging.
Ultimately, more pressure than expected has been placed on the Buckeyes this week. Not only are they the No. 1 team in the land, but Williams is now down for the count. Even more so, everybody outside of Ann Arbor wants to see Michigan go down. With Penn State not to be trusted at all, Ohio State is probably the best shot we have left to prevent the Wolverines from getting back to Indianapolis again.
This all means more will be put on first-year starting quarterback Kyle McCord's plate. Good luck...