'Can he play or not?' Impacting injuries dot Ohio State football history | Rob Oller

Football injuries are like death and decay. Everyone agrees they are inevitable, but no one wants to talk about them.

Well, we’re talking about them, not only because we don’t believe in jinxes, but anything that coaches and players agree is “part of the game” should not be shushed. Injuries happen, impacting games, seasons and careers. They deserve to be discussed in more than whispers.

When Ohio State receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba went down on the home sideline Saturday against Notre Dame, then got up limping and did not immediately re-enter the game, a collective “Oh no” filled the air above Ohio Stadium and inside living rooms and sports bars across America.

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Smith-Njigba is an essential piece of the Buckeyes offense, second only to quarterback C.J. Stroud importance, which proved true when OSU’s offense sputtered after the preseason All-American injured his hamstring on the Buckeyes’ second drive and sat out most of the game.

Smith-Njigba caught a school-record 95 passes last season. Without its leading receiver against the Fighting Irish, Ohio State scored its fewest points since 2018.

“It skewed our game plan a little bit,” Stroud said, explaining that losing his favorite target meant “taking fewer shots” down the field.

“Having him part of our offense is a big deal,” coach Ryan Day said. “He makes such an impact. Not too many guys at the wide receiver position make everybody else on the field better. But Jaxon does.”

Fortunately for both Smith-Njigba and the offense, the leg injury does not appear to be serious, or at least is not season-ending. The junior most likely will sit out Saturday’s game against Arkansas State − at least he should; no reason to risk aggravating the hammy against such an inferior opponent − and be back at it next week against Toledo.

Decisions on player availability are made by medical personnel, with input from the player, which can get heated. Coaches are supposed to be bystanders in the process, taking their orders from the doctors.

“We first go to the medical professionals and say, ‘Can he play or not?’ If the answer is no then the answer is no,” Day said. “If the answer is yes the answer is yes. If it’s somewhere in between, like, ‘We have to see how he does here,’ then it depends on the maturity of the player. We trust Jaxon, so we wanted his feedback. He tried to see if he could get in there and play and just said, ‘I’m not going to be at my best. I don’t want to put the team at risk.’ When you have a more experienced guy who has played, you trust his feedback.”

During ABC’s broadcast, sideline reporter Holly Rowe said Smith-Njigba had “long conversations” with the staff about the back of his left knee and hamstring.

“It’s tough. Being competitors, I feel (Smith-Njigba and I) both have dog mentalities where we want to dominate every time we step on the field,” said Stroud, who sat out the Akron game last season after separating the AC joint in his throwing shoulder in the opener against Minnesota. “But you have to be smart. It’s the longevity of the season … and your best ability is your availability.”

All things considered, the Buckeyes caught a break. Could they contend for a national championship without Smith-Njigba? Maybe. His surrounding cast is talented enough to get OSU close, but winning it all requires having multiple elite players in the toughest games. Lose even one and the job becomes more difficult.

Defensive end Nick Bosa was elite. Tailback Keith Byars was elite. Ohio State’s history is littered with instances where an injury severely impacted a single game or sidetracked an entire season.

∎ Bosa was a pass rushing beast who tore an abdominal muscle against TCU in the third game of the 2018 season. He never returned, opting for surgery and declaring early for the 2019 draft. The Buckeyes finished 13-1 but did not make the College Football Playoff. We’ll never know if having a healthy Bosa would have helped OSU avoid the shocking 49-20 loss to Purdue that cost the Buckeyes a playoff berth.

∎ Byars finished second in the Heisman voting as a junior in 1984, leading the nation in scoring (144 points), rushing (1,764) and all-purpose yards (2,441). The Buckeyes finished 9-3 and were considered a top-five team entering 1985 until Byars broke his foot during preseason practice. Without him, OSU again finished 9-3 and fell to fourth in the conference.

More common are injuries that influence a single game.

∎ Ted Ginn returned the opening kick for a touchdown in the 2007 BCS national title game against Florida, then was lost for the game when teammate Roy Hall accidentally slid into Ginn’s ankle during the TD celebration. The Buckeyes were beaten on both sides of the ball, so it is doubtful Ginn’s presence would have altered the outcome of the Gators’ 41-14 win, but his absence led to one of the biggest “what-ifs?” in OSU history.

Similarly, losing tailback Trey Sermon to a collarbone injury on the first drive of the 2021 national championship loss to Alabama, and losing tailback J.K. Dobbins to an ankle injury on the first play of the second half during the 29-23 semifinal loss to Clemson in 2019 − Dobbins had 142 yards rushing before getting hurt − almost certainly factored into the final score.

And don’t forget about quarterback Braxton Miller injuring his throwing shoulder in the 40-35 loss to Clemson in the 2014 Orange Bowl, which triggered a series of events leading to the Buckeyes winning the 2014 national championship. As it turns out, in the big picture not all injuries are injurious to a program’s success.

If Miller does not injure his shoulder against Clemson, he likely does not aggravate the injury weeks before the 2014 season opener against Navy, which led to redshirt freshman J.T. Barrett becoming the starter, which meant Barrett was playing against Michigan when he broke his ankle in the fourth quarter, which forced backup QB Cardale Jones into the game. You know what happened next. Jones led OSU to wins against Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship game, against Alabama in the playoff semifinal and against Oregon in the national title game.

Would the Buckeyes have reached the playoff with Miller at QB? Do they defeat Alabama and Oregon in the playoff with Barrett taking snaps? I think not. On the flip side, Ohio State has benefited from other's misfortune. Recall that Miami tailback Willis McGahee was heating up against OSU's defense in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl until a helmet to the knee knocked him out of the game early in the fourth quarter.

That doesn’t mean you don’t hold your breath hoping the player is OK when he crumples to the turf. But there is nothing wrong with pointing out that sometimes a bad break becomes a fortunate one. It’s part of the game.

roller@dispatch.com

@rollerCD

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba latest injury casualty