OSU WR Brown to miss entire season

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COLUMBUS — Ohio State receiver Noah Brown, a promising sophomore primed to claim a starting role for the defending national champions this fall, suffered a season-ending leg injury in practice Wednesday night.

A school spokesman said Brown will undergo surgery today at the Ohio State University Medical Center and is expected to make a full recovery.

The extent of the injury could not be immediately confirmed, but the mood inside the team’s practice complex was subdued. The university abruptly canceled previously scheduled interviews with players while Brown’s teammates and coaches offered their well wishes on Twitter.

“This is not our plan. This is God’s plan,” receivers coach Zach Smith tweeted. “Have to have #Faith in His plan and stay true to Him. It will all work out in the end.”

Wideout Parris Campbell wrote: “Prayers to my brother. Love you, homie. Stay up & never lose faith.”

The 6-foot-2, 222-pound Brown played sparingly as a freshman, catching only one pass for nine yards. But after dropping about 20 pounds, he emerged as a standout in the spring and the praise carried over to fall camp.

Coach Urban Meyer said Brown, a Flanders, N.J., native, had solidified his place among the team’s top receivers.

“Noah Brown is probably the most improved receiver right now,” cornerback Eli Apple said Tuesday. “There was a point earlier in camp where nobody could cover him for a little bit. He was just so physical and really good with his hands. He catches everything.”

Ohio State now must head to Virginia Tech for its Labor Day night opener even more depleted than expected at receiver. Already, the Buckeyes braced to be without their top two returning H-backs, Jalin Marshall and Dontre Wilson, and senior wideout Corey Smith — all of whom are suspended one game for an unspecified violation of athletic department policy.

That leaves Michael Thomas, former quarterback Braxton Miller, Johnnie Dixon, Terry McLaurin, and Campbell among the Buckeyes’ top options at receiver for the opener.

The Associated Press

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