Four individuals from the Ohio State football team will miss the Buckeyes’ first game of the season, September 7th at Virginia Tech, for violating Department of Athletics policy. The individuals involved are junior defensive end Joey Bosa, sophomore H-back Jalin Marshall, senior receiver Corey Smith and junior H-back Dontre Wilson, per Josh Moyer of ESPN.
4 OSU players are suspended for the opener - Joey Bosa, Jalin Marshall, Corey Smith and Dontre Wilson - for violating an unspecified policy
— Josh Moyer (@ESPNJoshMoyer) July 30, 2015
Ohio State players were suspended for marijuana and academics per source
— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) July 30, 2015
Bosa is widely regarded as one of the favorites to become the 1st overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. The All-American had 13.5 sacks last year during his sophomore campaign and could have easily been a high-first round pick in this year's draft if he would have declared himself eligible.
The trio of Marshall, Smith and Wilson are all expected to play integral roles for Ohio State's offense this year, serving as key weapons for whoever wins the current QB competition between JT Barrett and Cardale Jones. Thus, their absence from the opener against the Hokies could end up being a crushing blow for the defending national champs in their quest to open their repeat bid with a Monday night road win in Blacksburg.
The actual nature of the violations haven't been released to the press as of this time. We'll have more on this story, including reaction and details on the offenses, as additional information is made available.
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