Suspensions for Bosa, others make it clear: Buckeyes’ repeat won’t be easy

CHICAGO—The first problem with Ohio State’s bid to repeat as national champion landed like a safe dropped from a roof on Thursday, and the problem is Ohio State. Four players are suspended for the season opener at Virginia Tech for violations of athletic department policy: All-America defensive end Joey Bosa, wide receiver Corey Smith and H-backs Jalin Marshall and Dontre Wilson. The reported specifics for the punishments are more or less beside the point. The suspensions themselves hardly vaporize the Buckeyes’ highest aspirations; in the worst case, Ohio State has experience losing to the Hokies and winning a title anyway. Essentially, Big Ten media days opened here with a great screaming reminder of the copious challenges in defending a championship, and the danger of assuming college kids won’t self-destruct at very inconvenient times. This was going to be hard enough without the Buckeyes upping the degree of difficulty. So, if there’s a concern here, it’s that. It’s the notion that Urban Meyer and Co. doubtlessly warned the roster against atrophy from within after raising a trophy last Jan. 12, and here are four important players responsible for it. It’s too big a leap just yet to consider this symptomatic of deeper-rooted team-wide distraction. …

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