Ohio State's marquee non-conference opponent for the upcoming season will have to play without one of its best defensive players this year.
As first reported Wednesday by HornedFrogBlitz's Jeremy Clark, TCU defensive tackle Ross Blacklock is expected to miss the entire 2018 season after suffering a non-contact injury in practice on Tuesday.
According to Fox Sports' Bruce Feldman, Blacklock suffered an Achilles injury.
A 6-foot-4, 329-pound nose tackle, Blacklock earned Big 12 Co-Defensive Freshman of the Year honors and FWAA Freshman All-American honors in 2017, when he recorded 27 total tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and two sacks and started all 14 games.
Going into his redshirt sophomore season, Blacklock was expected to be one of TCU's biggest defensive stars in 2018, along with Ben Banogu at defensive end. Blacklock's injury, however, is a big loss – literally and figuratively – for the middle of the Horned Frogs' defensive front.
According to Clark's report, redshirt freshman Terrell Cooper has taken Blacklock's place in the starting lineup at nose tackle and "has stepped in and had good practices."
Ohio State is set to play TCU on Sept. 15 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
