K'Vaughan Pope dismissed by Buckeyes following sideline, Twitter outburst

Less than 24 hours after he needed to be escorted to the locker room and directed choice words towards Ohio State on Twitter, Buckeyes linebacker K’Vaughan Pope has been dismissed from the program.

The senior was waved off by teammate Teradja Mitchell on Saturday night when he was trying to run in for a substitution package. The drama began when he returned to the sideline when a visibly upset Pope started walking towards the locker room by himself.

Eventually corralled by Buckeyes staffer C.J. Barnett in the south end zone, Pope was guided back to the sideline. Once there, however, Pope took off his gloves and threw them into the stands and began removing his Ohio State jersey. This apparently caught the attention of coach Ryan Day. After another conversation with multiple staffers, Pope was then led to the locker room while the game was ongoing.

Once back in the locker room, Pope took to Twitter to voice his displeasure. Throughout his Ohio State career, the linebacker has made some not-so-subtile social media remarks about his playing time.

“Fucc Ohio State,” he wrote on Twitter and later deleted. “Good lucc to my teammates.”

Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day did not make an official comment in his postgame press conference, but he did talk about the situation.

“No, it’s just that a lot of guys, they want to play and you can’t play everybody,” he said. “And frustration kicks in.  Again, I don’t want to comment on that particular situation, but I certainly think it’s very isolated.”

What this means for Buckeyes linebacker room

K’Vaughan Pope has played in 33 games with the Buckeyes, but he has never carved out a starting role on the unit. He did flash a couple years ago with a pair of interceptions, showing the athleticism that made him a four-star prospect in the class of 2018. 

This is just the latest drama in the Ohio State linebackers room. Earlier last week, veteran linebacker Dallas Gant entered the transfer portal.