Ryan Day gives injury update on Jeremiah Smith, Carnell Tate ahead of Michigan game
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Ryan Day would love to have his star wideout duo of Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate back for Saturday’s rivalry showdown game at Michigan.
The head coach of top-ranked Ohio State just isn’t sure that’s going to happen when the Buckeyes take on the 15th-ranked Wolverines in the noon ET kickoff on FOX. His Friday night update from Ann Arbor on Smith and Tate was hopeful but not incredibly revealing.
Tate hasn’t played since Nov. 1 against Penn State, while Smith missed last week’s victory over Rutgers and only played 22 snaps the week before against UCLA. Their recent absences and lack of playing time hasn’t mattered against those teams, but it could against a Michigan team that is playing for its College Football Playoff lives on Saturday.
Day was coy with reporters when asked on Friday night about their possible return to the field in the regular season finale.
“They’re on the trip and looking for a good night of preparation,” Day said. “Just flew in, it was a great flight, and we’re looking forward to having a great preparation tonight and continue to do that all the way to kickoff.”
And at kickoff, Ohio State fans will finally know the final answer to the question marks surrounding Smith and Tate.
Right now, it’s still a big mystery, and Day wasn’t lifting the curtain on that mystery on the eve of Saturday’s battle.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
