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Nick Bosa: Ohio State star out for Penn State, but expected back this year

Austin-Wardby:Austin Ward•09/24/18•

AWardSports

Nick Bosa 8 by Birm:Lettermen Row

COLUMBUS — Nick Bosa is officially out again as Ohio State prepares for one of its most important games of the season.

But the Buckeyes are expecting him back at some point this season, potentially getting the star defensive end back in time for the other huge tests late in the year.

There is still no definite timeline for Bosa coming off his surgery for a core-muscle injury, but Ohio State coach Urban Meyer indicated it wouldn’t be a season-ending injury for the junior and potential No. 1 overall draft pick.

“Nick Bosa is still not ready,” Meyer said during his Monday press conference. “It’s going to be a few more weeks. But we expect him back.”

The Buckeyes will obviously welcome Bosa with open arms whenever he’s ready. Until he left the Week Three matchup with TCU injured, there was no defensive player in the country playing at a more dominant level than Bosa, who had already made six tackles for loss with four sacks, a forced fumble, two recoveries and a touchdown despite a light workload thanks to blowout wins.

Nick Bosa’s father, John, further clarified the timeline for recovery on Monday, telling the Columbus Dispatch that it will be at least November before any clearance to return for the Buckeyes is given following the procedure last week performed in Philadelphia.

“Here’s the reality of what’s going on: Nick won’t be evaluated by the surgeon until November,” John Bosa told the Dispatch. “The bad news is, he had surgery. The good news is, it’s 100 percent fixable.

“And that is fantastic for Nick, because once he recovers he will be 100 percent. … Certainly Urban wasn’t trying to mislead anyone, but the reality is Nick won’t be evaluated by the surgeon until November, and to speculate past that timeframe really would not be helpful for anyone.”

Nick Bosa-Ohio State-Ohio State Buckeyes-Ohio State football

Ohio State star Nick Bosa had surgery for a core-muscle injury last week. (Birm/Lettermen Row)

Bosa’s status as one of the nation’s most talented players likely ensures there will still be speculation about his future with the Buckeyes, particularly when it comes to his looming decision to head to the NFL after the season. Voted a captain during training camp, Meyer and Ohio State are expecting him back whenever he’s fully healthy to make a run at the goal he’s repeated over and over since the start of the year.

The strong start was solidifying his stock as an early first-round pick, and it was also generating some buzz about a history-making run at the Heisman Trophy. But Bosa himself never bought into that hype, and his primary goal all along has been winning a national championship — which it now appears he’ll be able to chase again if the Buckeyes can survive without him.

“We’ve already had those conversations [about handling him] a little bit, but that’s down the road when he becomes healthy again,” Meyer said. “You can’t ask for a better family and people, and I don’t want to paraphrase John and Cheryl Bosa, but as they said: ‘We trust our children to this program, and we will continue to do so.’

“That’s a real conversation that we’re going to have.”

It won’t be happening this week as the Buckeyes head to Penn State. But the fact that Ohio State gets to have it at all will go down as good news for the program.

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