Lathan Ransom To Play Against Penn State, Zen Michalski Likely Will Miss Top-Four Matchup

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day provided two significant injury updates for the Buckeyes game against No. 3 Penn State during his Wednesday “lightning round” press conference held at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. 

Day first revealed that redshirt junior offensive lineman Zen Michalski is unlikely to play Saturday afternoon against the Nittany Lions due to a lower-body injury he suffered late in Ohio State’s game against Nebraska last weekend. 

“It’s trending that he’s not going to play,” Day said. “We’ll keep evaluating it, but we have a pretty good plan moving forward.” 

While Day declined to explain what that plan was moving forward, saying “I’ll save that for Saturday,” all signs point to two-time first-team All-Big Ten left guard Donovan Jackson moving over to left tackle against the Nittany Lions, providing a much-needed stable blindside for quarterback Will Howard. 

The Buckeye who will take over for Jackson at left guard may be more of a question mark, but last week against the Cornhuskers it was sophomore Luke Montgomery who took over the position. 

That combination of Jackson at left tackle, Montgomery at left guard, Seth McLaughlin allowed Ohio State to embark on a game-winning, eight-play, 75-yard drive in the fourth quarter to go up 21-17 on Nebraska last weekend. 

While the Buckeyes will have to mix-and-match on offense due to Michalski’s injury, they will have some more stability on defense against the Nittany Lions. Day confirmed on Wednesday that fifth-year safety Lathan Ransom is “ready to go” for Saturday’s game after missing the previous game with an undisclosed injury. 

Day initially tabbed Ransom as “day-to-day” this week, but it now appears one of the longest-tenured Buckeyes will make his return to the starting lineup, providing the Buckeyes’ secondary with an added boost against an improved Penn State passing offense — who may be missing their starting quarterback, Drew Allar, for the top-four matchup. 

“He had a great day of practice today, a full practice,” Day said of Ransom. 

Against Nebraska, the Buckeyes had to slide nickel Jordan Hancock into Ransom’s bandit role, while they also inserted both Lorenzo Styles Jr. and Jermaine Mathews Jr. into the nickel. 

Ohio State will kick off against the Nittany Lions at Beaver Stadium at noon, with the game set to air on FOX. Buckeye Sports Bulletin will be on site and will provide up-to-date updates on all things game-related on the site and the BuckeyeSports.com Fan Forum.