Ryan Day confirmed Seth McLaughlin tore his Achilles in practice this week.
The Ohio State head coach announced the news Wednesday at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. With McLaughlin sidelined, Day said the Buckeyes will move Carson Hinzman to center and have Austin Siereveld at left guard. He also said Luke Montgomery and Joshua Padilla need to be ready if called upon.
Here is a bullet-point recap of Day's media session:
- On Seth McLaughlin: "Seth tore his Achilles on a non-contact injury. Crushed for Seth and our team. Once that wears off, you gotta move on. Next man up mentality. ... We'll make adjustments. We'll move Carson (Hinzman) to center and Austin (Sierveld) to left guard."
- Day said McLaughlin's injury is "like a body blow." He said Ohio State needs to respond this week. "We gotta move on, and we gotta win games."
- On Carson Hinzman moving to center: "I see some confidence in him. I think he's learned a lot from Seth this year. They've been great together. He gained a lot of confidence coming out of the Penn State game. ... He has experience at center. He's done it. ... He'll be ready this weekend."
- On Austin Siereveld becoming the first-team left guard: "What we've seen in practice and what we've seen in the game. ... He's played some football for us. He's the next guy up. He'll do great as well." Day said Luke Montgomery and other young offensive linemen need to be ready to go now that Ohio State has lost two offensive linemen for the year.
- Day said Josh Padilla stood out in his three reps against Northwestern this past weekend. "I did think the last three Padilla was in there during the Northwestern game, he took advantage of them. Those were three really good reps." Day said Padilla is now the second-team center and Montgomery is the second-team left guard.
- Day said Zen Michalski is more "week-to-week" rather than "day-to-day" after he suffered an injury in Ohio State's win over Nebraska.
- Day said McLaughlin will have surgery next week on his Achilles. This week, Day said McLaughlin will "be around the guys" on the field and coaching them up.
- Day said WIll Kacmarek is trending toward being available against Indiana. "Will looks like he's gonna be ready to play," Day said, acknowledging that he's still waiting for confirmation from the team's doctors. "He's had a good week. I think he'll be available."
