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Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior Writer
No. 1 Ohio State will be without starting defensive backs Denzel Burke and Lathan Ransom for Saturday’s game at Rutgers, while starting wide receiver Emeka Egbuka is set to return to the field.
Burke, the team’s top cornerback, will miss his second game in three weeks because of an ankle injury. He left an Oct. 14 game against Purdue in the third quarter, sat the following week against Penn State and then returned Oct. 28 at Wisconsin and recorded one tackle. Ransom left the field in the fourth quarter against Wisconsin with a noncontact injury to his left leg and was carted to the locker room. He had three tackles, one for a loss, against the Badgers and has 34 tackles, an interception and a forced fumble this season.
Egbuka, the Buckeyes’ No. 2 receiver behind Heisman Trophy candidate Marvin Harrison Jr., has not played since Oct. 7 against Maryland, with a source telling ESPN’s Pete Thamel that he has an ankle injury. Egbuka went through warmups the past two weeks but ended up sitting. He has 22 catches for 303 yards and three touchdowns this season.
Rutgers will be without starting nose tackle Mayan Ahanotu as well as linebacker Tyreem Powell, its leading tackler, who is out for the season with a hand injury.