Senior running back Bri'onte Dunn has been dismissed from the Ohio State football program, head coach Urban Meyer announced Monday evening.
"Bri’onte Dunn has been dismissed from the Ohio State football program for a violation of team rules," Meyer's statement read.
Dunn served as a backup during his first three seasons with the Buckeyes, rushing for 291 yards and scoring three touchdowns. Last season, while backing up Ezekiel Elliott, Dunn rushed for 91 yards and scored one touchdown.
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With Elliott heading to the NFL — a top-five pick in this spring's NFL Draft — the starting running back job was open heading into the Buckeyes' 2016 campaign, with a battle expected between Dunn and sophomore Mike Weber.
Weber was presumed to end up the winner of that competition, a highly ranked recruit in the Class of 2015 who made headlines when he decommitted from Michigan and then committed to the rival Buckeyes, and now is assumed to have a much easier road to the starting job with Dunn no longer a part of the team.
Dunn himself was a highly touted recruit, the No. 8 running back in the Class of 2012, but he received only 49 total carries in his Ohio State career.