COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State’s All-American defensive end Nick Bosa will be out indefinitely after having surgery for a lower abdomen injury.

Coach Urban Meyer said on his radio show Thursday that Bosa had surgery on a “core muscle.” Meyer didn’t provide a timetable for his return.

Jonathan Cooper is expected to start in Bosa’s place opposite Chase Young in Saturday’s game against Tulane. Defensive tackle Dre’Mont Jones also can play end if necessary.

Bosa was helped off the field in the third quarter of Saturday’s victory against Texas Christian. He returned to the bench later in street clothes.

NEBRASKA: The Cornhuskers will play Bethune-Cookman on Oct. 27 to make up for the game against Akron that was canceled because of lightning and severe storms in the area.

Bethune-Cookman is a Football Championship Subdivision team that’s 1-2 after losing Saturday to Florida Atlantic. FCS teams are allowed 11 regular-season games but the NCAA granted the Wildcats a waiver that lets them play a 12th to accommodate Nebraska.

Advertisement

Nebraska will pay Bethune- Cookman a guarantee of $800,000 for the game.

BOSTON COLLEGE: The Eagles, ranked No. 23, returned to the Top 25 for the first time in a decade and need to keep winning if they’re going to continue climbing, including Saturday’s game at winless Purdue.

Boston College hasn’t started 4-0 since 2007 and has only achieved the feat four times since 1955.

Purdue, meanwhile, hasn’t opened a season with four straight losses since going 0-5 in 1982 and needs momentum before Big Ten play begins.

PENN STATE: The No. 10 Nittany Lions bring their high-powered offense to Illinois on Friday night, heavily favored against a young team off to an encouraging start.

Penn State (3-0) is a 27-point favorite, not exactly a new situation for an Illini team used to being the underdog.

But Illinois (2-1) nearly upset South Florida last week and is ready for the mutual Big Ten opener.

“We’re going to show up excited about seeing exactly how much improvement we can make and how we come back from adversity,” Illinois Coach Lovie Smith said.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.