No. 2 against No. 5 on November 23! It’s Ryan Day vs Curt Cignetti. The winner is granted a spot in the playoffs. The loser? Well, apart from an ‘L’ in the record, the loss would bring on an army of naysayers. Unfortunately for the Buckeyes, Ryan Day’s offensive plans went for a toss with an injury to his star center, Seth McLaughlin, who has had a remarkable year so far. McLaughlin suffered a torn Achilles during practice on Tuesday.

A fifth-year player, Seth started his college career at Alabama under Nick Saban, featuring in 35 games (4 seasons). However, after Saban departed the Crimson Tide, McLaughlin transferred to the Buckeyes. Earlier in the season, Ohio State lost left tackle Josh Simmons to a knee injury he sustained against the Ducks. Another name who has featured on the injury list in 2024 is Guard Donovan Jackson. What does the injury change for Ryan Day? How would having a backup center affect the team?

On the November 21st episode of the Ruffion and Joe show, Blake Ruffino and Joe Deleone discussed the implications of the injury on the Buckeyes. Ruffino, who played at the center position in high school, started the discussion by presenting a stat. “Joe, do you know that teams are likely to lose 65% to 70% of the time when a starting center goes down in the season? So it’s interesting because it’s Ohio State, not even against Indiana, but long term, how much does this affect them?” 

However, Ruffino doesn’t necessarily agree with the stat, especially considering that the Buckeyes have had O-line injuries this season, and they scraped past those rather comfortably.

“The problem that I have with this is twofold. Number one, I feel like Power Rankings also have a large part of it in being injuries do play a part in this. Don’t get me wrong, but a lot of this goes on to what you have built up to the season already. And if I’m splitting hair, and if I’m splitting hair, the last time I saw Ohio State have just, for what it’s worth, O-line injuries. They had so much depth.”

Deleone counters Ruffino’s point, highlighting how in the modern era of transfer portal, teams can’t deal with two O-line injuries. Of course, that theory remains to be tested against the Hoosiers, and the Buckeyes’ offensive line may still end up high-flying, but it is the center position. What does that entail?

“The number one issue is snap. Okay, do you have somebody that can simply snap the football? How much of the cadence has a backup center done with the first-team quarterback? Quarterback’s cadence is different, and your rhythm is different; how you sit back on your heels is different,” Ruffino asked.

That’s just the QB relationship. The position gains more importance in a team’s run and pass games. While rushing this season, the Buckeyes are averaging 5.3 yards/carry. The duo of Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson has been the backbone of the run game. That may also be impacted. For now, let’s see who Ryan Day has picked as the backup center.

Ryan Day updated who’s going to replace Seth McLaughlin

While talking to the media on Wednesday night, Ryan Day alarmed the Buckeyes fans ahead of a big matchup. He confirmed Seth’s injury and continued by saying, “Crushed for Seth and our team, but once that wears off, you have to move on. It’s the next-man-up mentality.” Day went further and said that McLaughlin would undergo surgery the following week. Now, a question arises: who’s going to fill this spot?

While McLaughlin is recovering from the injury, Carson Hinzman will take his place for the Indiana game, Day confirmed. After Josh Simmons suffered an injury playing against Oregon, Hinzman started as the left guard for the last three games. Moving forward, Day expressed his faith in Hinzman.

“I think he’s learned a lot from Seth this year. I think they’ve been great together. I think he gained a lot of confidence coming out of the Penn State game. He’s playing with a lot of confidence. he has experience at center. He’s done it.” Although Day is optimistic for Hinzman, will he be able to maintain McLaughlin’s chart? Only time will tell that.