After the Ohio State football team beat Purdue last Saturday, wide receiver Carnell Tate would miss the game, with fans wondering if he would be available for the upcoming matchup against UCLA. With the Ohio State football team chasing another championship, its passing attack will be hurt once again by Tate's absence.
According to Pete Thamel of ESPN, Tate will miss his second straight game on Saturday against the Bruins, but on the bright side, it is a “short-term issue and he's expected back soon.”
“Sources: Ohio State star receiver Carnell Tate will not play today against UCLA,” Thamel wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “He missed the Purdue game last week after an issue emerged in warm-ups, and was held out of the game out [of] precaution. His situation remains a short-term issue, and he’s expected back soon.”
Ohio State football's Ryan Day explains holding Carnell Tate from playing
News about Tate came about during Ohio State football's win over Purdue when head coach Ryan Day told the Big Ten Network that they were “gonna hold” Tate from the game as he had hamstring tightness during warmups before.
“He's not gonna play. We're gonna hold him,” Day said during the Purdue win, according to Eleven Warriors. “It was kind of a thing before the game — we just didn't feel comfortable putting him out there, so you won't see him in the second half.”
After the win, Day would give more insight into the decision to hold off on playing Tate last weekend.
“Carnell, we felt like he was gonna be OK to play, but when he went through warmups, he just felt something there, so we just wanted to be really careful,” Day said. “Could he have played? Yeah, probably. But we’re just gonna rest him to make sure.”
Fast forward a week, and the Buckeyes will be doing the same in keeping Tate from playing as quarterback Julian Sayin will look to Jeremiah Smith and other weapons to beat UCLA. So far this season, Tate has caught 39 passes for 711 yards, to go along with seven touchdowns; each statistic is ranked second behind Smith on the team.
At any rate, Ohio State is 9-10, looking to keep the ship afloat without Tate as the program takes on UCLA on Saturday evening.
