Ohio State Depth Chart for Michigan St. and Preview

Ohio State Depth Chart for Michigan St. PROJECTED STARTERS OHIO STATE POS MICHIGAN STATE OFFENSE JUSTIN FIELDS QB ROCKY LOMBARDI MASTER TEAGUE RB CONNOR HEYWARD CHRIS OLAVE WR JALEN NAILOR GARRETT WILSON WR JAYDEN REED JEREMY RUCKERT TE/WR RICKY WHITE LUKE FARRELL TE TRENTON GILLISON THAYER MUNFORD LT AJ ARCURI HARRY MILLER LG J.D. DUPLAIN JOSH MYERS C NICK SAMAC WYATT DAVIS RG MATT CARRICK NICHOLAS PETIT-FRERE RT KEVIN JARVIS DEFENSE JONATHON COOPER DE JACUB PANASIUK TYREKE SMITH DE DREW BEESLEY TOMMY TOGIAI NT NAQUAN JONES HASKELL GARRETT DT JACOB SLADE PETE WERNER WLB ANTJUAN SIMMONS TUF BORLAND MLB NOAH HARVEY BARON BROWNING SLB/NB ANGELO GROSE SHAUN WADE CB SHAKUR BROWN SEVYN BANKS CB KALON GERVIN JOSH PROCTOR CB/SS XAVIER HENDERSON MARCUS HOOKER FS TRE PERSON After losing three out of five games against Michigan State from 2011-15, Ohio State has won its last four consecutive games against the Spartans, increasing the Buckeyes’ all-time series lead to 33-15. Ohio State has won its last seven games at Spartan Stadium dating back to 2004. Saturday’s game will be Ohio State’s first regular-season December game since 1891. Michigan State’s roster includes 28 players from the state of Ohio. Notable players among them include starting offensive linemen A.J. Arcuri, J.D. Duplain, Nick Samac and Matt Carrick, tight ends Matt Dotson and Trenton Gillison, defensive tackle Jacob Slade, defensive backs Henderson and Angelo Grose and kicker Matt Coghlin. Mel Tucker, a native of Cleveland, was an assistant coach at Ohio State from 2001-04, coaching defensive backs and also serving as co-defensive coordinator in his final year with the Buckeyes. NEXT MAN UP Because Ohio State won’t have its full staff or roster available for this weekend’s trip to East Lansing, it’s going to need both coaches and players to be ready to take on bigger roles on Saturday. That starts with Larry Johnson, who will serve as acting head coach in Ryan Day’s place this week. The rest of the staff will also play a part in making up for Day’s absence, particularly Kevin Wilson, who will take the lead on offensive play calling duties with Day at home. While Day said it will “probably be the hardest three hours of my life” as he watches the team from afar, he’s confident in his assistants’ ability to man the ship without him. “At all positions, whether it’s staff or players, we’ve had to really plan ahead and be ready to put these contingency plans in place, and we have a very veteran coaching staff,” Day said. RELATED Ohio State Coaches Confident in Plans for Saturday's Game at Michigan State Despite Ryan Day's Absence We won’t know exactly which players need to step up until 10 a.m. Saturday, when Ohio State will release its availability report, soon after which the Buckeyes will arrive at Spartan Stadium and we’ll see which players made the trip. But Ohio State has been preparing all season for the possibility of losing players for three weeks at a time due to positive COVID-19 tests; Day said the Buckeyes have not only had to have Plan A and Plan B, but even Plan C and Plan D. Some of those contingency plans will be put to the test for the first time when the Buckeyes play their first game in two weeks on Saturday