Despite injury, Homan delivers

By KEN GORDON

The Ohio State linebacker made 10 tackles with a numb shoulder.

COLUMBUS — Ross Homan says he takes better care of his body this year, but that notion went out the window Saturday on Ohio State’s second defensive play at Wisconsin.

Homan, a linebacker, watched Badgers running back P.J. Hill take a handoff and head for a hole off right guard.

Now, Hill is a tree trunk, listed at 5-foot-11 and 239 pounds. And he had a running head start. Look under “harm’s way” in the dictionary, and this was it.

Yet Homan ran forward to meet him. That’s what linebackers do. Hill lowered his head, and the collision snapped his helmet back up.

It looked just like any other solid tackle after a 5-yard gain. But what Homan didn’t tell anyone was that his right shoulder had just gone numb.

“Anytime you take on P.J. Hill …” Homan said.

But he didn’t come out of the game — not until two plays later when Ohio State forced a punt.

Then his teammates noticed something was wrong.

“He couldn’t even move his arm,” cornerback Shaun Lane said. “When he came to the sideline, he couldn’t even take his helmet off, because the arm was so messed up.

“But he played the whole game, and that was the second play of the game. It was amazing. I have amazing respect for him and his toughness.”

Homan simply shrugs: “When adrenaline takes over, you don’t really feel anything, anyways.”

Supposedly, Homan had learned a lesson from his experience in 2007, when a nagging turf toe injury eventually led him to redshirt. The consummate tough guy, he had tried to just tape it up and keep playing, but he couldn’t run on it, and that rendered him useless.

So with a newfound appreciation for how injured little digits can turn into a big season-ending problem, Homan has been more diligent about his body since then.

“ ‘Prehab before the rehab’ is what I say now,” Homan said. “If I have anything [hurting], I’m in that training room, working it out, getting it stretched, icing constantly. After [a long-term injury] happens to you, you take everything seriously now. You don’t take any bump or bruise light.”

Except for that numb shoulder. Homan was a force in Ohio State’s 20-17 victory, tying for the team lead with 10 tackles.

“I know his shoulder was hurting him a little bit, but you couldn’t tell,” defensive tackle Nader Abdallah said. “He was getting after it, he was blowing up the gaps. … He was laying the wood; man, he was coming after those guys.”

It’s the second straight week he has made 10 tackles, and he is second on the team with 39 tackles, trailing only Butkus Award winner James Laurinaitis (57).

Homan’s numbers are remarkable, considering he comes off the field when the Buckeyes are in their nickel package. And as often as they have faced spread offense teams, he has been on the sideline a lot.