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Hosting the No. 8 Penn State Nittany Lions on Saturday, the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes have an important task at hand.
Taking a peak ahead at the 2020 season, however, Ryan Day’s program received a bit of encouraging news on Saturday, as well.
FOX Sports’ Bruce Feldman shared the latest on Twitter:
#OhioState announces DE Jonathon Cooper, a veteran team leader, will redshirt this season and return for a fifth year in 2020.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) November 23, 2019
Hampered by an ankle injury all season, Cooper, a hometown senior from Columbus, will take advantage of the NCAA’s 2018 legislation allowing players to appear in up to four games and retain a year of eligibility.
A two-time Academic All-Big Selection, Cooper has totaled 50 tackles (10.5 TFL) and five-and-a-half sacks in 28 games as a Buckeye.
Appearing in three games this season, most recently against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on November 16, he has recorded three tackles.
Following the departure of Nick Bosa and Dre’mont Jones for the National Football League, Cooper was expected to play a big role along Ohio State’s defensive line. Instead, the Buckeyes have more than mitigated his absence by holding opponents to 9.8 points per game entering play on Saturday, the best mark among FBS programs.
Live from Ohio Stadium, Penn State at Ohio State is currently airing on FOX with Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt and “The All-American Girl” Jenny Taft on the call.
A graduate of Bowling Green State University, Rydquist has been contributing to Saturday Down South and Saturday Tradition since 2019. He can be found on Twitter @TeddyRydquist.