Ohio State Buckeyes RB Miyan Williams Out For Season

The Ohio State Buckeyes have had their fair share of injuries this season on both sides of the ball. On Tuesday, that trend continued, with Buckeyes coach Ryan Day announcing that running back Miyan Williams will miss the remainder of the season with an injury.

“I feel really bad with Miyan, he’s not going to be able to play,” Day said. “He’s had a procedure done. That is a big hit for that room and our team. He’s done a lot of great things for our team.” The exact nature of the procedure was not revealed by Day, though he did clarify that it was “not an ACL” injury.

Williams played sparingly this season for the Buckeyes, appearing in six of the team’s eight games, and rushing 49 times for 158 yards and three touchdowns.

His final outing came in the Buckeyes huge win over the Penn State Nittany Lions in Columbus, where he filled in for an injured TreVeyon Henderson and made a big impact. In that game, Williams rushed 24 times for 62 yards and a critical touchdown run. Williams had been a major part of the Buckeyes offense over the last few seasons, Particularly in 2022, where he played in 11 games, rushing 128 times for 825 yards and 14 touchdowns, averaging 6.4 yards per carry along the way.

Against Rutgers that season, Williams had the best game of his career, rushing 21 times for 189 yards and five touchdowns. He was also impactful in the 2021 campaign, rushing for over 500 yards and three touchdowns on the ground, while averaging over seven yards per carry.

Williams, a senior, has now likely played his final game in a Buckeyes uniform, barring the NCAA granting some type of waiver or redshirt status.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State football coach Ryan Day said Saturday’s trip to Wisconsin’s Camp Randall Stadium will be his first.

Perhaps he will end up enjoying the experience more than some of his predecessors. The Buckeyes’ last trip to Madison came in 2016, one year before Day arrived. Urban Meyers’ squad needed overtime to escape with a 30-23 victory.

The last visit before that came in 2012 — also an overtime win for OSU. In 2010, Wisconsin pulled away with the win, 31-18. The most “comfortable” road win at Wisconsin in the past 20 years was a three-point victory in 2008.

Ohio State has won the last nine meetings, though, including 52-21 last season at Ohio Stadium. We made our picks for Saturday’s game against DraftKings’ line of the Buckeyes as 14.5-point favorites, with a point total over/under of 45.5.

With all due respect to Braelon Allen, I cannot predict that Wisconsin will consistently move the ball against a defense playing this well. The Buckeyes have allowed eight touchdowns in seven games. Maybe if original starting quarterback Tanner Mordecai were healthy, the Badgers could summon more of a threat. I think their ground game can control the clock, but if Ohio State’s offense is truly healthier than it has been in weeks, that’s too much for Luke Fickell’s group to keep up with.

This feels like a game where Wisconsin is going to try and drag Ohio State down — and with a talented offensive line, and a great running back in Braelon Allen, the Badgers will certainly have the chance to do just that.

The Buckeyes are coming off a massive win over Penn State and now have a direct shot to the final week of the regular season to head to Ann Arbor 11-0. That, paired with the atmosphere in Madison, feels like the perfect recipe for a letdown for Ohio State.

The Buckeyes will still win by multiple scores, but it’ll come a bit uglier than people think. The Badgers’ defense is talented, and while I don’t believe they’ll be able to do much of anything offensively, it’ll remain, at least on the scoreboard, a game with the outcome in doubt into the second half.

Ohio State’s road to victory is shutting down Braelon Allen in the run game, which it has proven it is capable of doing, given that only two running backs have had over 50 yards against it this season. Purdue’s Devin Mockobee had 110 yards on 18 carries while Notre Dame’s Audric Estime had 70 yards on 14 carries. Everyone else has struggled against a defense allowing just 3.01 yards per carry.

Mix what might be another impressive defensive performance with an offense expected to get back some big weapons and you get a one-sided game much like last year. The Buckeyes haven’t shown the ability to be a 40-point offense yet this season. But their defense has shown that it might not be necessary. That’s even more emphasized in a week when they’re playing a team with an one-dimensional offense and relying on its backup quarterback.