Ohio State has been waiting on the return for a while.
Will Carnell Tate come back from injury to take on Michigan? That's certainly the hope when The Game kicks off at 12 noon on Saturday.
Tate hasn't played since Nov. 1.
He was joined on the sideline a week ago by his fellow WR star Jeremiah Smith. The Buckeyes would obviously like to have them both back for the biggest game of their season.
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Michigan has won four in a row in the massive rivalry, a near-unprecedented streak. It was expected to end a season ago when Ohio State was a heavy favorite, but the Wolverines pulled off that upset.
Records and rankings can mostly go out the window for this one. That's a cliche, to be sure, but last season proved it.
But Ohio State can give itself a much better chance if its best players are all available to play.
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Is Carnell Tate playing today?
Signs point toward Tate returning from injury to play, but there wasn't a whole lot of information during the week one way or the other.
On Wednesday, head coach Ryan Day told reporters that all of his players had been at practice.
And in recent weeks, Day's comments have suggested Tate's injury wasn't immensely serious.
But no one has heard from Tate, and there hasn't been any confirmation.
Ohio State's updated availability report is slated to come out at 10 a.m. On Saturday, which likely will provide some sort of confirmation.
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