Bri'onte Dunn's Ohio State football career is just that — done.
“Bri’onte Dunn has been dismissed from the Ohio State football program for a violation of team rules," head coach Urban Meyer said in a statement.
According to a report from the Columbus Dispatch, Ohio State kicked Dunn off the team following an “altercation” with his girlfriend over the weekend. While no charges have been filed, Dunn's girlfriend did file for a civil protection order with the Franklin County Common Pleas Court.
Dunn had been part of a two-man battle to start at running back this fall for the Buckeyes alongside redshirt freshman Mike Weber. It is presumed Weber now leads in the fight to replace 2015 Silver Football winner Ezekiel Elliott.
A four-star recruit in Meyer's 2012 recruiting class — though he committed to former head coach Jim Tressel — from GlenOak High School in Canton, Ohio, Dunn played sparingly as a true freshman and scored two touchdowns in Ohio State's 12-0 season. Immaturity and a lack of desire to contribute on special teams resulted in a redshirt in 2013 before he got stuck behind Elliott on the depth chart the last two seasons.
Finally with his chance at starter's snaps, Dunn made strides this spring as one of Ohio State's six seniors.
"Bri'onte Dunn, I'm so impressed with him," Meyer said this spring. "Because we all know a couple years ago there wasn't a whole lot of conversation about him ... He's doing right in the classroom and doing right everywhere."
But Dunn broke one of Meyer's cardinal rules, and now his Ohio State career is over. It puts the Buckeyes in a precarious spot in the backfield because the feeling around the program was he would certainly get meaningful carries in 2016.
Dunn graduated from Ohio State in May with a degree in sports industry.
