Buckeyes confident Miyan Williams injury against Indiana isn't long-term issue
COLUMBUS — Ohio State running back Miyan Williams was running with bull horns in the first half of a 56-14 win over Indiana Saturday. The Hoosiers’ defense wasn’t stopping him.
The only thing that did was an apparent right leg injury late in the second quarter. It ended Williams’ day and put him in a boot after he piled up 147 rushing yards and a touchdown on 15 carries.
Luckily for the Buckeyes, it seems as though Williams could be back sooner rather than later.
“We’ll have to see, but it didn’t look like, based on what we saw here in the locker room, that it was going to be something that was going to be really long term,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said postgame. “So we’ll see how he feels overnight, and then we hope to get [TreVeyon Henderson] back for next week.”
Henderson was out for the second straight week. He’s been dealing with a foot injury since the Toledo game. Additionally, reserve running back/linebacker Chip Trayanum was a scratch.
So the already-thin Buckeyes running back room took another hit when Williams went down in the first half. The rest of the way, Day and the offensive staff leaned on true freshman Dallan Hayden and Swiss Army knife Xavier Johnson out of the backfield.
Hayden went over the century mark on the ground with 102 rushing yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. Meanwhile, Johnson logged more than 100 yards from scrimmage, most notably zig-zagging for a 71-yard rushing score in the fourth quarter.
“I think both of those guys showed that they can do a good job,” Day said. “I think it’s pretty remarkable that we have that many guys who are capable. Whether it’s Tre, Miyan or Chip — we’re hoping to get all these guys back here as soon as we can.
“It’s frustrating obviously not having a full strength room there. But the positive spin on that is the depth we’ve shown.”
Day said he’s expecting to get Trayanum, right tackle Dawand Jones and cornerback Denzel Burke back next week at Maryland.
Jones and Burke didn’t play against Indiana, either. Jones went through both warmup periods but, ultimately, couldn’t go. Instead, Josh Fryar made his first career start in Jones’ place and more than held his own.
