If you watched Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship game, you no doubt took note of how out of rhythm the passing game looked. Some of that falls on Justin Fields holding the ball too long and trying to press the issue, but a lot of it also had to do with the absence of star receiver Chris Olave.
There’s no doubt the Buckeyes have an abundance of talent at receiver, but when your top big-play threat that stretches the defense misses time, everything gets shuffled. We saw Garrett Wilson look out of sorts, Jameson Williams run some incorrect routes, and the timing between Fields and his receivers more off than ever.
But never fear Ohio State fans, it sounds like the Buckeyes might have Olave back for the run through the College Football Playoff, starting with the Sugar Bowl against Clemson.
When appearing on ESPN, Day was asked about the proposition of having some of his guys back, now that the Big Ten will revise its policy for the number of days players have to sit out after testing positive for the coronavirus. It had been 21-days, but the conferenced will be moving that to 17 based on reporting from ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg.
Day didn’t flat out confirm, but he alluded to the timing that Olave is under when responding to the question about continuity and practice rhythm.
“That’s the problem we’ve had,” said Day. “Guys have been kind of in and out, but they just keep finding a way to win. But I think we get Chris (Olave) back, now the offensive linemen, three of those guys this is their second game in a month, so that’s been the challenge. But I think us all practicing together — practicing at a high level, understanding that we’re going to go good on good the best we can to get the best look we possibly can to keep the timing up, I think this is our best chance.”
That was confirmed later in the day by the Columbus Dispatch’s Bill Rabinowitz based on a source close to the situation.
From the Dispatch:
Olave will have to go through the conference’s COVID protocol before he returns, but the timing would allow for his return if the testing goes well. It is not known when Olave tested positive. He was listed on the team’s status report as unavailable Saturday morning.
The source said that some of the players who were unavailable on Saturday because of COVID will not be able to play in the Jan. 1 CFP semifinal against Clemson in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans but didn’t specify a number.
That sounds like good news and not so good news. It sounds like the team may have Olave back as long as things progress as expected. That’ll be a good thing for Fields and the passing game, especially seeing how the OSU receiver still has a bad taste in his mouth for how things ended against Clemson last year in the Fiesta Bowl. If anyone wants to play and have a shot at redemption, it’s Olave.
As we hear more about any kind of numbers of players that may or may not be out for the Sugar Bowl, we’ll be on top of it.