EUGENE, Ore. — Justin Frye spent fall camp claiming he wanted Ohio State’s offensive line depth to get to a point where he had eight or nine guys he could depend on, and now we’ll get to see how that’s going.
Austin Siereveld had already emerged as a quality option at guard thanks to filling in for Donovan Jackson the first two weeks. That was why he was ready to do so again when Tegra Tshabola had to leave in the first half against Oregon. But the second-year lineman had played so well that his stepping in wasn’t going to be a concern. Instead, one could even question whether he should just be a starter.
The biggest question in fall camp was at tackle. The starting tandem of Josh Simmons and Josh Fryar was quality, but behind them were two unproven guys who didn’t give you a ton to be optimistic about in Zen Michalski and George Fitzpatrick.
For Michalski, a chance to prove himself would mean a trial by fire in the middle of a second quarter with the Buckeyes down 15-14 on the road, in a game where momentum was hard to get and even harder to hold onto.
He proved quality, keeping Will Howard clean and opening up holes in the run game. That included a fourth-and-2 near midfield where the play call seemed to be just as much about sending a message to a player in his first meaningful snaps as it was about a team trying to be aggressive.
Ryan Day and Chip Kelly chose to use that moment to make sure that Michalski knew they believed in him, and it paid off.
Maybe it will continue to pay off for the final 30 minutes of Saturday’s game, and even beyond, depending on the severity of Simmons’ and Tshabola’s injuries. Tshabola was at least still on the sideline and looked like he was ready to return. Simmons left on a cart never to be seen again in the first half.
The offensive line was Ohio State’s biggest question mark coming into the season because the last time we saw the unit the play was abysmal. Once again, the play of the position group is being called into question thanks to two untimely injuries in OSU’s biggest game to date.
Frye vowed to develop a two-deep of players he trusted to be ready for this unfortunate moment. Now comes a chance to prove that he can be a man of his word.
Doing so could decide whether the Buckeyes leave Eugene, Oregon, still undefeated.
