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What if Emeka Egbuka played against Penn State? Would Ohio State have won by two touchdowns?
By three?
Would anyone question the Buckeyes' status as the top team in college football?
Egbuka, who suffered an ankle sprain during the fourth quarter of the Buckeyes' win over Maryland, did everything possible to get his body back on track for the mid-October matchup against the top-10 Nittany Lions. He entered the building in the early hours of the morning and left late in the evening after hours of treatment.
The junior pass-catcher even went through pregame warmups Saturday morning before kickoff, but he said he was only at 85 percent speed.
“If I needed to play, I definitely would have,” Egbuka said Wednesday evening. “But we felt as if the dudes who were behind me had more than enough ability to be able to execute the job. So if one of them were to go down or something, we were in need or any type of thing, I was there. I was ready.”
The Buckeyes (9-0, 6- Big Ten) proved fine without Egbuka, largely due to a two-touchdown performance from Marvin Harrison Jr. en route to a 20-12 victory at Ohio Stadium. They were fine a week later in a 24-10 victory over Wisconsin.
As for Egbuka, missing time took a toll on his psyche, but he didn't allow his off-field aliments to affect his mental state as a teammate, often being right in the mix of celebrations on the sidelines.
Egbuka ended up missing three games before returning last week in the Buckeyes' 35-16 win over Rutgers. He intends on embracing every snap the rest of the regular season as Ohio State marches toward a shot at the Big Ten title.
“If I'm on the field, I expect to play at a level no matter what my body feels like,” Egbuka said. “If I'm out there, in my mind, I'm 100 percent. So I'm going as hard as I can every play, and I'm doing what my team needs me to do and expects me to do.”
Ohio State might not need Egbuka to have a breakout game this Saturday when it hosts Michigan State at 7:30 p.m. The emergence of a healthy TreVeyon Henderson now has the Buckeyes being more dimensional with the playbook, especially when dialing up options in the run game.
But no one would say no to a vintage outing against the Spartans (3-6, 1-5) prior to their Week 13 showdown against No. 3 Michigan. And vintage it would be; Egbuka was an Achilles heel of defending for Michigan State, totaling five catches for a career-best 143 yards and a touchdown last season in East Lansing.
"We're going to continue to find a way to get him back into the lineup," said Buckeyes coach Ryan Day. "[Rutgers] was the first time he's been back in, so it's good. Now
After a breakout 2022 campaign, production has been limited for Egbuka, who's caught 26 balls for three touchdowns. Individual numbers don't matter anymore for the Washington native.
The focus is on winning a Big Ten title and securing the No. 1 status past Week 11. Effectiveness comes outside of hauling in passes, and Egbuka intends to be present however Day sees fit.
"Whatever my team needs me to do that given week, that's what I'm going to do," said Egbuka.
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