Carnell Tate injury update: Ryan Day reveals reason for Ohio State WR's absence vs. Purdue

Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate will not play in the second half of Saturday’s game against Purdue, Buckeyes coach Ryan Day told Big Ten Network. Tate did not play to start the matchup.

Tate was tight during warmups, according to the BTN broadcast, which is why he did not make an appearance in the first two quarters. Day said the staff is being cautious and opting not to play him at all on Saturday.

Ohio State had a strong first half against Purdue, taking a 24-3 lead into the locker room. It’s another strong showing for the Buckeyes, even without one of their top playmakers.

“He’s not gonna play,” Day told Brooke Fletcher. “We’re gonna hold him. It was a thing before the game, we just didn’t feel comfortable putting him out there. You won’t see him in the second half.”

Tate emerged as an important part of the Ohio State passing game this year, providing quite the 1-2 punch with Jeremiah Smith. Through his junior season, Tate has 39 catches for 711 yards and seven touchdowns, and his 18.2 yards per reception ranks as the best in the Big Ten this year.

In fact, Smith went so far as to put himself and Carnell Tate in a category of their own. He thinks they form the best duo in the nation.

“Best in the country. Nobody’s better than us two,” Smith said after last week’s win over Penn State. “Even Brandon Inniss as well, we’re the best receiver corps in the country as well. The whole receiver group all got talent, we just go out there each and every weekend and put it all out on the field.”

Ohio State’s offense is a big reason why the Buckeyes came in as the No. 1 team in the first College Football Playoff rankings earlier this week. Their playmakers, along with a surging quarterback in Julian Sayin, helped put Ryan Day’s group atop the rankings – although ESPN analyst Joey Galloway expressed surprise with that decision.

“I was very surprised, honestly, at the top,” Galloway said on Nonstop. “And we had discussed this. In my own personal rankings, I had Ohio State No. 1, but I did believe that the committee, once you get into analytics, which you and I do when we’re ranking our teams, we don’t have analytics. We’re just looking at these teams, and here’s what we think. But when the committee ranked Ohio State 1, Indiana 2, and Texas A&M 3, when Texas A&M is better in all the analytics, that was a bit of a surprise to me.”