COLUMBUS, Ohio — There’s nothing fair about football. The game does not show favorites. That motif, though never far away, appeared early on Saturday in Ohio State’s season opener against Bowling Green, around the three-minute mark of the first quarter.
After a rudimentary 2-yard run from Bowling Green’s Fred Coppet, Tracy Sprinkle, showered with nothing but high praise during fall camp for his maturation both on and off the field, stayed down on the turf, waving frantically toward the Ohio State sideline. It was clear almost instantly that this wasn’t good.
It was the redshirt junior’s first career start. He would not return, and will miss the rest of the regular season with a patella-tendon injury, Urban Meyer said after the Buckeyes 77-10 victory.
“That’s the worst part of this darned game is when a guy gets hurt, especially a guy like that who has committed so much to this team and program.” the coach said. “Our prayers our with Tracy.”
Two trainers helped Sprinkle gingerly walk off the field, applying little pressure to his right leg while he repeatedly shook his head in disbelief. They guided the defensive tackle straight to the covered medical tent on the sideline.
At this point, if the severity of his injury was up in the air, the cart pulling up next to the tent gave it all away. Sprinkle, with a white towel draped over his head, climbed onto the cart’s flatbed before it slowly drove toward the tunnel.
“It sucks,” said junior defensive end Jalyn Holmes. “Tracy is the heart of the D-line, man. It was hard dealing with that in the locker room. He’s everything to the D-line room. I just feel for him.”
Arrested for his role in a bar fight on Independence Day in 2014, Sprinkle was dismissed by Meyer, before eventually being reinstated in August. He saw action in only three games during the Buckeyes’ national-championship run. Sprinkle appeared in all 13 games a season ago, with his most significant action coming in the Fiesta Bowl against Notre Dame because of Adolphus Washington’s suspension.
Coming into Saturday’s opener, he had just four career tackles, but Meyer and his staff were counting on him to be a big part of the rotation on the defensive line. The Buckeyes do have depth on the D-line, but most of it is located at the end position.
Even so, Holmes, who recorded two tackles in the win, said he feels like the unit will “be OK.” Dre’Mont Jones, a redshirt freshman from Cleveland, came in after Sprinkle went out. Holmes praised the 6-foot-3 Jones.
“He’s just got to keep growing every day in practice,” Holmes said, before rattling off a list of other players, such as Joshua Alabi and Jashon Cornell.
“Those guys can really do good for us,” Holmes added. “They’ve just got to keep growing as the season goes.”
Sprinkle, who defensive coordinator Greg Schiano called one of main leaders off the defense, can still help the team as it moves forward, Holmes said.
“Not only is that my teammate, but that’s my brother for life,” Holmes said. “To see him go down, when I’ve witnessed him put in the work since the winter time — I hate to see him go down.
“He’ll still be there in spirit. He’s gonna bounce back.”
