Ohio State has their confidence on top, coming off a dominant win against Northwestern. The Buckeyes posted one of their best seasons in history so far, and they will look to make that discussion alive by racking up another win against the Hoosiers. Curt Cignetti, on the other hand, is too smart to leave an inch to Ryan Day. They stand as the only team undefeated after Oregon and the Army after all! The game will be action-packed, but how much edge does the Buckeyes hold over underdog No. 5? Well, former Georgia QB Aaron Murray picked up on a looming risk in the Buckeyes’ latest tragic episode.

It’s pretty visible that Ryan Day set the Buckeyes in a pretty formidable stand so far. Although, like most other teams, they too, have no merging to error, they have enough gas in their tank to promise a solid beat down. But there are still loopholes that the ‘Google Me’ Cignetti can exploit in the Hoosiers’ favor. In the Next Round podcast, Aaron Murray noted, ‘‘I will worry about the offensive line. I believe they just lost their center for the Achilles’ tear. What happens with that group up front?”

The legit point to take extra care of! Ohio State might have had a sublime win over Northwestern, but they just lost one of the key logs of their offensive line afterwards. During Tuesday’s practice, star Center Seth McLaughlin tore his Achilles Tendon and, unfortunately, went down for the rest of the season.

The Alabama transfer has been a pillar in the middle of Ohio State’s offensive line this season. Day let him start for all 10 games, and he didn’t have to regret it a bit. Losing your starting center is horrible at any time of the season. It’s specifically worse when you lose him during the week of the game as you attempt to finalize your game plan.

The center position is vastly different from other positions. You have to snap the ball, help in pass protection and even block guys to get the run game going. The relationship with the quarterback gets built as you get more snaps together. That relationship will not be there with the backup center. Although Carson Hinzman, McLaughlin’s replacement, has experience playing the position. That’s where the game may be decided as a new-look O-line for the Buckeyes goes against the No. 1 rush defense of the Hoosiers.

Ryan Day takes a no-nonsense approach to deal with Seth McLaughlin’s season-ending injury

Day has been quite aware of the brutalities of the CFB world. They will not see the injury and the other setback. All they care about is a win week in and week out.

Ryan Day, as a veteran head coach, has seen it all. He took a lot of bumps and flakes during his tenure with the Buckeyes, and he can pretty easily imagine what awaits him if Ohio Day derails from this point in the season. This is the shadow side that comes with a high-flying Ohio Day job. So, the coach doesn’t expect it. No more mulligans. It’s simple: win out or get out.

”Certainly, nobody cares. So, we’ll make adjustments. You wake up the next day, and you move on. But, yeah, it’s tough. But that’s why you recruit depth, and that’s why you work to get those guys in the game. That’s why you work in the offseason to build depth.’‘ said Day in a pre-game interview.

The coach didn’t get off-guard by the peak-season injury. While it certainly makes it more challenging for the Buckeyes to hit the playoff, he knew something like this might happen. At the end of the day, all that matters is how he survives the threat and comes out victorious. For now, Coach Day keeps his fingers crossed.