With the loss of Ezekiel Elliott to the NFL, it was thought that Bri’onte Dunn would be one of the primary backs to pick up the slack in Ohio State’s running game. Instead, Dunn will be looking for another campus on which to finish his collegiate playing career.
OSU announced in a press release Monday night that Dunn has been dismissed from the football program. The only reason given was a violation of unspecified team rules.
Dunn graduated this past May, and would thus be eligible to transfer to another FBS program and have immediate eligibility for the 2016 season.
Exiting spring, Urban Meyer raved about the running back on and off the field.
“Bri’onte Dunn, I’m so impressed with him,” the Buckeyes head coach said by way of elevenwarriors.com. “Because we all know a couple years ago there wasn’t a whole lot of conversation about him ... He’s doing right in the classroom and doing right everywhere.”
With Dunn (17-132-1 in 2015) out of the picture, the Buckeyes will turn to Mike Weber, a four-star 2015 recruit who took a redshirt as a true freshman, to be the bellcow in the rushing attack. Landgrantholyland.com writes that “Buckeye head coach Urban Meyer said as recently as this March he’d hoped Dunn would win the battle against... Weber to become the Buckeyes’ primary ballcarrier.”