Ohio State QB Kyle McCord Talks Injury Status vs. Rutgers

Originally posted on FanNation Buckeyes Now
By Zach Dimmitt | Last updated 11/2/23

The newly-appointed No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes will take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at SHI Stadium on Saturday in a road game that's hardly going to come easy.

Rutgers is already 6-2 to start November, an impressive mark for a program that hasn't had a season with at least six wins since 2014 when the Scarlet Knights went 8-5.

While Ohio State (8-0) is still a nearly 19-point favorite on the road, this clearly isn't the same Rutgers team that the Buckeyes are 9-0 against in the all-time series, all of which have been double-digit wins. This includes last year's 49-10 win for Ohio State in Columbus.

When taking all this into account, it's of the upmost importance that Buckeyes quarterback Kyle McCord is 100 percent despite an ankle injury. He unfortunately won't be 100 percent for Saturday, something he admitted Wednesday when speaking to the media, but this seems like it will hardly impact the the OSU signal-caller's availability.

“It’s not ideal,” McCord said. “Just powering through it, pushing through the pain. The biggest thing is learning how to play with it. And I think it’s been getting better every single week. And, you know, just learning how to move on it a little bit and stuff like that.”

It hasn't been perfect, but McCord has stayed steady this season en route to Ohio State earning the No. 1 spot in the first installment of the College Football Playoff rankings released on Tuesday. The Buckeyes have picked up keys wins over then-No. 9 Notre Dame and then-No. 7 Penn State. All the rest of their victories have been by double digits.

The season has taken a toll on the body of many players, including McCord.

"We're at that point in the year where no one's quite 100 percent," McCord said. "And so I think just playing through it, and obviously, I could continue playing on it and then got back, got some treatment on it. So got it feeling pretty good right now."

This season, McCord has gone 148 of 231 passing for 2,163 yards, 14 touchdowns and three picks.

Ohio State and Rutgers kickoff at 12 p.m. ET on Saturday.