Rutgers Notebook: Zach Harrison Forces Two Takeaways, Tanner McCalister and TreVeyon Henderson Sidelined by Injuries and Julian Fleming’s Breakout Season Continues

Ohio State had two takeaways against Rutgers, and Zach Harrison made both of them happen.

First, in the final minute of the first quarter, Harrison forced a fumble on a run by Rutgers quarterback Evan Simon that was recovered by fellow Ohio State defensive lineman Mike Hall.

BUCKEYES BALL

Zach Harrison forces the fumble and Mike Hall recovers. @OhioStateFB defense coming up BIG! pic.twitter.com/sFB1lpHYnD
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 1, 2022

Then, in the final minute of the third quarter, Harrison set up an interception for Steele Chambers by tipping a Simon pass after bull-rushing Rutgers’ left guard back toward the quarterback.

11 tackles

2 tackles for loss
and now an INTERCEPTION

Have a day, @steeleC22!!! pic.twitter.com/BG8QH0otSu
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 1, 2022

Notably, both of those plays occurred on third downs in which the Buckeyes slid Harrison inside to line up as a defensive tackle. He played that role more regularly against Rutgers than he had in Ohio State’s first four games of the season, and he says he enjoys playing that role.

“I'm a longer guy, I got long arms, a lot of the inside guys don’t have that length. So I go out there and use that, use my quickness and my speed to get around those guys,” Harrison said. “I trust my coaches, and they feel like I can impact the game in that position, so I’m going to go the hardest that I can and hopefully I can help the team make some plays.”

Harrison has been critiqued throughout his Ohio State career for not making as many big plays as other five-star defensive end recruits who came through the program before him. Harrison still has not recorded any sacks or tackles for loss this season. But he showed Saturday he can be a game-changer – which is exactly what he said he wanted to be going into this season – and Ryan Day believes Harrison’s two-takeaway performance can be momentum-boosting for the rest of his senior season.

“I think he's playing well. I think he has built momentum,” Day said after Saturday’s game. “I think he's playing at a high level. Gotta watch the film and see, but I think he's been growing and building and there’s a chance he’s playing his best football (of his Ohio State career).”

Henderson, McCalister sidelined by injuries

By the end of the first quarter of Saturday’s game, Ohio State was without four starters due to injuries.

Wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba and cornerback Cameron Brown were both ruled out for the second week in a row due to the hamstring injury Smith-Njigba has dealt with since the Notre Dame game and an undisclosed injury Brown suffered against Toledo. The list of unavailable starters grew to three just moments before kickoff when Ohio State announced running back TreVeyon Henderson would be a game-time decision – a decision that would ultimately be Henderson not playing.

While Smith-Njigba and Brown’s absences this week were both expected, Henderson – who suffered a foot injury against Toledo but returned to play against Wisconsin – was expected to be available until he felt discomfort during pregame warmups, which prompted Ohio State to hold him out.

“We certainly didn't expect that to happen going in, but then he just struggled in warmups,” Day said. “So we were expecting him to play, practiced this week, so it showed up and it kind of did linger from last week, but we were kind of surprised he wasn't able to make it.”

Another Buckeye starter joined the injury list in the first quarter when safety Tanner McCalister stayed down on the field after making a tackle and was assisted off the field by athletic trainers. While it was not clear what happened to McCalister on the play, Ronnie Hickman said Wednesday that McCalister had been dealing with a groin injury, which kept him out of the Toledo game.

Day said postgame he did not yet have an update to provide on McCalister but that Ohio State would “evaluate him later today and tomorrow and kind of see where that's at.”

Day said he is hopeful all of those players will be able to return to practice this upcoming week but said he will lean on Ohio State’s medical staff to determine when they are healthy enough to return.

“We'll kind of come in tomorrow and see where things are at and hopefully get a week of practice out of those guys,” Day said. “But again, we're gonna always make sure that we're following the lead of the doctors and the medical staff. And certainly the feedback from the players is critically important in all of this. So at the end of the day, I'm kind of out of it. I gotta trust the guys, and they do a great job.”

Defensive tackle Tyleik Williams was also assisted off the field after suffering an apparent lower-body injury on a pass rush in the second quarter, though he was later seen warming up on the sideline with his helmet on and appeared to be available to return to the game. Day was not asked about Williams’ health during his postgame press conference.

Ohio State didn’t end up missing Henderson much against Rutgers, as Miyan Williams started in his place and tied a school record by rushing for five touchdowns and ran for 189 total yards to lead the Buckeyes to their 49-10 win. Kye Stokes replaced McCalister in the lineup at nickel safety – McCalister’s primary backup at that spot, Cameron Martinez, was ruled unavailable before the game – and recorded one tackle, a four-yard tackle for loss on a run by Rutgers tight end/occasional quarterback Johnny Langan.

Fleming finds the end zone again

Going into the 2021 season, Julian Fleming had scored only one touchdown in his Ohio State career. In his first three games of the 2022 season, he’s reached the end zone four times.

After missing Ohio State’s first two games of the season with an injury, Fleming scored two touchdowns in his first game of the year against Toledo and has scored another touchdown in each of the Buckeyes’ last two games. His latest score came on the Buckeyes’ longest passing play of the day against Rutgers, when he got open over the middle and went all the way for a 36-yard score.

Offense COOKIN' @CJ7STROUD finds @julian_040 for another @OhioStateFB TD pic.twitter.com/jBY0yu19ns
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 1, 2022

For the game as a whole, Fleming caught four passes for 51 yards, bringing him to 11 catches for 141 yards in just three games this year. By comparison, Fleming had only 12 catches for 86 yards and one touchdown for the entire 2021 season and just seven catches for 74 yards as a true freshman in 2020.

Now finally healthy after battling injuries for much of his Ohio State career to date, Fleming says he’s feeling more confident in his body than ever before, which is allowing him to show why he was once the No. 3 overall prospect in the 2020 recruiting class. But he still feels like he has a long way to get to where he ultimately wants to be.

“I feel like some stuff is starting to show through, just little glimpses and stuff like that going on,” Fleming said. “But there's still a lot of football to be played, still a lot of improvements to be made in regards to myself and especially us as an offense as a whole. So I feel like we're gonna continue to improve as a whole entire offense, whole entire team. And you know, sky's the limit.”