Ohio State Football: How Jamal Marcus’ Dismissal Impacts Buckeyes’ 2014 Season

Even though it’s May and Ohio State is still three months away from kicking off the 2014 season, Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes just suffered a huge loss.

According to a report from Kyle Rowland of Eleven Warriors, defensive end Jamal Marcus has been dismissed from Ohio State for an unspecified violation of team rules.

The junior pass-rusher played sparingly in his first two seasons with the Buckeyes, but that was expected to change this season—especially early.

Marcus was primed to fill in for Noah Spence, who will miss the Buckeyes’ first two games as part of a three-game suspension he received before last year’s Orange Bowl. Spence’s suspension was handed down by the Big Ten for using an “unapproved dietary supplement,” according to Tim May of The Columbus Dispatch.

Marcus played in place of Spence against Clemson and was one of the few defensive bright spots during a game in which the Buckeyes surrendered 576 total yards and 40 points. Marcus piled up six tackles, which led all defensive linemen, and recorded a pass breakup in the loss.

Ohio State was counting on Marcus to provide a similar lift to start the season.

The Buckeyes are slated to open against Navy and its vaunted triple-option attack in Baltimore. A week later, Ohio State will play its home opener against Virgina Tech in a prime-time matchup.

Those are the two toughest nonconference games of the year, and Ohio State will be down its top two edge-setters outside of Joey Bosa.

That…

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