Ohio State may make position changes for bowl game

COLUMBUS — The offensive line might not be the only position where there could be a new starter for Ohio State when it plays Tennessee in a first-round College Football Playoff game on Saturday night at Ohio Stadium. Kicker Jayden Fielding and his back-up, former University of Findlay kicker Austin Snyder, will both be observed in practice before a decision is made, OSU coach Ryan Day said Wednesday in his second press conference in the last three days. Fielding is 9 of 12 on field goals this season but he had costly misses of 34 yards and 38 yards in a 13-10 loss to Michigan. He is 25 of 32 on field goals in two seasons as the Buckeyes' kicker. Snyder was 31 of 40 on field goals at Findlay but has not attempted a field goal in a game at Ohio State. "Today (Wednesday) is our field goal day so those guys will be out there and we'll see how they do," Day said. "We'll see how the rest of the week goes and then we'll make a decision at the end of the week how we want to enter the game. Not that that is any different than any other week but we'll certainly take a hard look at it. "We will make a decision about who gives us the best chance to win and go from there," he said. Luke Montgomery apparently has practiced well enough that he could be part of a three-player rotation, along with Austin Siereveld and Tegra Tshabola at the two offensive guard positions. Whether the sophomore from Findlay gets his first start hasn't been announced yet. "I think you're going to see Austin kind of going back and forth. Luke has been at left guard the last couple of weeks in practice. Tegra stayed at right guard. Austin will be the swing man because he has done both. I think you will see a rotation at both spots," Day said. Day liked what he saw from the Buckeyes' offensive line when they got on the practice field. "I thought we had a bunch of energy in practice. Guys were competing. There was just a good energy. There was a good positive mojo up there. "I want them to play with great confidence in this game. When you get into playoff games obviously the offensive line play is critical. We need these guys to play really, really well. They know how they need to play in this game. Not that everything has to be perfect but we have to rock off the ball and knock people back. "They have a good (defensive) front. We're going to be aggressive. We're going to go after these guys and make sure we're moving back the line of scrimmage," he said. Notes: … FIRST PORTAL COMMITMENT: Phillip Daniels, who started five games at right tackle for Minnesota this season as a sophomore, became the first player to commit to transferring to Ohio State this year in the transfer portal. Daniels, who graduated from Cincinnati Princeton High School, did not receive an offer from Ohio State coming out of high school. He is a cousin of former OSU offensive lineman Paris Johnson. … SMITH LEADS QUIETLY: Asked about freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith's leadership style, Day said, "Right now he's letting his play do his talking for him." … LATE SLEEPERS: Ohio State has made some adjustments to players' daily schedules because Saturday's 8 p.m.,kickoff follows six consecutive noon starts in the second half of the regular season. "We've been practicing a little later. We moved it to 4 o'clock. If it gets any later than that it gets to be too long of a day. We've let them sleep a little later, as opposed to late in the season when we were playing at noon and we were getting them to bed earlier and getting them up later," Day said.