When Justin Hilliard ruptured his Achilles tendon on March 23, he thought his Ohio State career might be over.
Achilles injuries can take up to a year or longer to recover from, and the fifth-year senior linebacker had just one more year of remaining eligibility. Unless he recovered much faster than usual, Hilliard faced the possibility of never playing another snap of football.
Hilliard didn’t give up, though, and set his sights on returning to the field in just six months. That’s what fellow Ohio State linebacker Tuf Borland did after suffering the same injury in 2018, and that’s exactly what Hilliard did too, making his season debut in the Buckeyes’ third game of the year against Indiana on Sept.