K'Vaughan Pope left the field at Ohio Stadium in the second quarter of the Buckeyes' Akron matchup after what appeared to be a heated exchange on the sideline.
After being waved off the field on one defensive series for the Buckeyes late in the first half, the senior linebacker began walking to the Ohio State locker room, but was corralled by director of player development C.J. Barnett and briefly returned to the Buckeye sideline.
Pope took his helmet off and appeared to have a heated verbal exchange with linebacker coach Al Washington before taking off his gloves and throwing them into the crowd. Team captain Kamryn Babb was among a contingent of Buckeye players that attempted to calm Pope down, but the fourth-year defender eventually walked to the locker room with Barnett by his side.
After leaving the game, Pope sent multiple tweets, one of which was deleted a few minutes later:
good lucc to my teammates
— KVaughan Pope (@VonP04) September 26, 2021
Ryan Day declined comment about the situation after the game, saying he wanted to gather all the details on the situation before commenting further.
Thought to be a potential starter for Ohio State this past spring, Pope only played on special teams in the season opener, saw just seven snaps against Oregon and logged a season-high 24 reps against Tulsa.
Senior linebacker Dallas Gant, another player considered a frontrunner to start for the Buckeyes at linebacker this spring, entered the transfer portal on Wednesday.
