Ohio State head coach Ryan Day announced on Monday that sophomore offensive lineman Luke Montgomery has earned the right for playing time at guard for Saturday night’s first-round CFP matchup against Tennessee, while redshirt freshman Austin Siereveld could also rotate in at right guard.
“Luke Montgomery has had some reps at guard, so you’re probably going to see him at guard some this game,” Day said. “We’ll see how this week goes. But Austin will be rotating in there as well with Tegra. So that’ll be the plan now. We still have a whole week of preparation and things can change, as of tomorrow, when we get on the field. But the plan right now would be to rotate those guys.”
Montgomery has been sparsely used so far this season for the Buckeyes, but he could now be called upon for a larger role due to the unit being decimated by injury, with starters Seth McLaughlin and Josh Simmons out for the season and Zen Michalski also missing extended time.
Day said that Montgomery has been getting time at both left guard — which has been occupied by Sierveled for the past two games — and right guard — which has been occupied by starter Tegra Tshabola the entire season — because of both his play recently in practice and the poor performance of the offensive line against Michigan.
“After assessing the last game, we feel like Luke deserves an opportunity,” Day said. “And I don’t know if it’s that he’s done that much more than maybe he’s done in the past. But he was close anyways. And so now it’s about time to give him an opportunity.”
Senior left guard and three-time first-team All-Big Ten selection Donovan Jackson expressed a similar sentiment regarding the young lineman when he took the lectern at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on Monday.
“I would say Luke’s made a good step in his development,” Jackson said. “I feel like he’s taking a step in the right direction where we were all kind of waiting for him to take that step. He’s had a couple more reps available to him and he’s taking advantage of it and he’s done a great job so far in putting the best stuff he can on the practice field to give not just himself confidence but the guys on the line confidence.”
While Day did not say if Montgomery will start or not, this likely means the Buckeyes are in store for a bit of a makeover on the offensive line against the Volunteers, most notably at left guard. Day also said earlier in the month that Josh Padilla was potentially gaining more traction to play at center, but he was not mentioned on Monday, which likely means that Carson Hinzman will stay at center.
