COLUMBUS – A ticket for next season’s Ohio State-Michigan football game at Ohio Stadium could cost almost $200.
Ohio State’s athletics council has recommended to the university’s board of trustees that the ticket price be set at $195 face value, which is the most OSU has ever charged for general seating, Columbus Business First reported.
Under a variable pricing system that was put into place in 2013 at Ohio State, high demand games cost more than less popular ones.
The low end of the recommended price scale is $70 for games against Bowling Green and Tulsa the first two weeks of the season in September. The Rutgers and Indiana games would cost $80 and $90. The Nebraska game would cost $135.
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WEBB RETURNS: Defensive back Damon Webb, who was indefinitely suspended on Sept. 19, returned to practice on Monday.
Webb was the No. 1 nickel back when Ohio State used five defensive backs before being suspended for unspecified reasons. He played in OSU’s first two games this season and had eight tackles. He played in nine games last season.
Webb’s return could help address a lack of depth in Ohio State’s defensive backfield with Cam Burrows and Erick Smith out with season-ending injuries.
Ohio State never offered any reasons for Webb’s suspension. Two days after it happened, coach Urban Meyer said, “I can’t make any comments about Damon Webb’s situation.”
In early October, defensive coordinator Luke Fickell said, “I know nothing about it.”
WALKER DECOMMITS: Kareem Walker, rated the No. 1 running back prospect in the 2016 recruiting class, took back his verbal commitment to Ohio State on Tuesday night.
Walker, of DePaul Catholic High School in Wayne, N.J., verbally committed to OSU at halftime of the national championship game, but his attachment to the Buckeyes seemed to be weakening in recent weeks.
He visited Michigan on Oct. 10 and has scheduled visits to Alabama, Mississippi and Arizona State. The commitment of another running back, Antonio Williams, a former Wisconsin recruit, to Ohio State last month also might have played a role.
Walker said “my heart was telling me otherwise.” In a statement he posted online, he said, “It is after much consideration, thought and meeting multiple times with my family and coaches that I am rescinding my verbal commitment to Ohio State. At this point the relationship has changed. I’ve wrestled with this for several months and wanted it to work out.”
Rivals.com recruiting analyst Adam Friedman told the Detroit Free Press that Michigan is the leader in the race to sign Walker. “At this point, all signs point to Michigan as the favorite,” he said.
MEYER ON ELFLEIN: For someone who was a first-team All-Big Ten selection last season, OSU right guard Pat Elflein doesn’t attract a lot of attention.
His head coach has noticed him, though. “He’s as valuable as anybody on this football team. He shows up every day with a hard hat and he just goes to work. He’s the culture that everybody wants,” Meyer said on the Big Ten football coaches teleconference on Tuesday.
NICK BOSA INJURY: Ohio State 2016 recruit Nick Bosa, younger brother of Joey Bosa, will miss the remainder of his senior season because of a partially torn anterior cruciate ligament.
The 6-4, 265-pound defensive lineman from Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas High School is rated a 5-star recruit. He is expected to have surgery next week.
BARRETT ARRAIGNMENT: According to The Associated Press, Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett’s arraignment on a citation for operating a vehicle while impaired has been rescheduled for next week.
The Franklin County Municipal Court clerk’s office confirmed Barrett’s attorney requested the continuance but said it didn’t know why. The arraignment, which had been scheduled for Friday, was pushed back until Tuesday.
A message seeking comment was left Wednesday for defense attorney Phil Templeton.
The 20-year-old Barrett was cited for the misdemeanor at a Columbus police checkpoint early Saturday, during the Buckeyes’ bye week. Police say a breath test showed Barrett’s blood-alcohol content was above the legal limit.
Coach Urban Meyer has said Barrett told him he didn’t believe he was impaired.
Barrett is suspended for the Buckeyes’ Saturday home game against Minnesota. Cardale Jones will start in his place.
