TreVeyon Henderson Runs with An Edge in First Half, Will Be Fine Despite Leaving Ohio State’s Win over Michigan State on First Play of Second Half

Ohio State’s one-two punch at running back was reduced to only one for the second week in a row.

In Ohio State’s first game of October against Rutgers, it was Miyan Williams who carried the load with TreVeyon Henderson unavailable to play due to injury. Williams seized the opportunity and ran for 189 yards and a school-record-tying five touchdowns on 21 carries.

Against Michigan State on Saturday, it was Henderson who carried the load – at least for the first half – with Williams sidelined by an injury of his own. Henderson also made good on the opportunity to show what he could do as the bellcow back as he ran for 118 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries.

After watching from the sideline as Williams stole the spotlight against the Scarlet Knights, Henderson seemingly ran with an extra edge in East Lansing, finishing through tacklers and fighting for extra yardage when he could.

“I saw it too. I thought he was running hard, he was running physical, he was finishing runs,” Ryan Day said after the game. “You could see that. He had a bounce in his step and he was running determined.”

C.J. Stroud was also impressed by how Henderson ran in his return to the lineup.

“I definitely think Trey ran very hard. I definitely think he has something not just to prove but prove to himself that he can still go out there and dominate,” Stroud said. “It's tough being one of the only backs and having to come back in, and so he was back there tired and I definitely think that shows the work ethic he has as well of just not being denied.”

Following the first play of the second half, on which Henderson took a low tackle at the line of scrimmage from Michigan State cornerback Charles Brantley and subsequently hobbled off the field, Ohio State was without both of its top two running backs. Day said Henderson could have returned to the game, though, if the Buckeyes had needed him – which they didn’t because they were already up 35-13 in a game they would ultimately win 49-20.

“If it was a different game, he probably would have come back in,” Henderson said. “Just out of an abundance of caution, we just decided to hold him out. We didn’t feel like we needed to use him at that point. But I thought he ran well.”

With Henderson out of the game for most of the second half, Ohio State’s lack of veteran running back depth was displayed as a pair of true freshmen and a converted wide receiver took the remainder of carries for the day. Dallan Hayden ran the ball 14 times for 70 yards, all in the second half, while Xavier Johnson – who played only as a wideout in Ohio State’s first five games of the year – took some snaps at running back against Michigan State and gained 23 yards on three carries. Walk-on running back TC Caffey had nine yards for four carries on the Buckeyes’ final two possessions.

On a day when the Buckeyes ran for 237 yards and finished with 614 total yards of offense, Day was pleased with how Johnson and the freshman running backs performed when called upon.

“We tried to be a little creative going into this game with some of the things that we did and held some things but tried to do a couple different (things in the running game), and I thought Xavier ran the ball hard,” Day said. “He did a nice job on some of those runs. He's a weapon for us. You saw it in the Notre Dame game. You can see it today. He's a good player. But across the board, I thought that unit played well today.”

Dallan Hayden ran for 70 yards on 14 carries in the second half of Ohio State’s win over Michigan State. (Photo: Kyle Robertson/Columbus Dispatch/USA TODAY NETWORK)

With Henderson and Williams both banged up, the Buckeyes are undoubtedly happy to have a bye week ahead, allowing them to get healthy. Day believes both of them will be ready to go, though, when Ohio State returns to action against Iowa at Ohio Stadium on Oct. 22.

“We have the bye week next week, so we are expecting him to come back for the Iowa game,” Day said before Saturday’s game when asked about Williams by ESPN’s Holly Rowe.

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— Chop (@Miyannnn3) October 8, 2022

While Williams made his case for being Ohio State’s top running back against Rutgers and Henderson reminded everyone what he could do in his half of play against Michigan State, Stroud is looking forward to having both of them healthy and complementing each other in the backfield once again.

“I definitely think that (TreVeyon) and Miyan are a dynamic duo and they'll do great things in the future,” Stroud said. “So excited to see that.”