Despite foot pain, Shugarts plays

By Ken Gordon

The Columbus Dispatch

An offensive lineman with a sore foot is like a semi truck with a nail in a tire — eventually, they have to pull over. And you don’t want to be stuck behind either one.

So it goes for J.B. Shugarts, Ohio State’s starting right tackle. Since the end of last season, he has fought an apparently chronic condition in his right foot, which causes him first to hobble, then leave games early.

He describes it vaguely, as a “minor injury” and something that is ‘in my toe and the top part of my foot.’

It brings to mind the injury suffered by running back Chris “Beanie” Wells two years ago, which coach Jim Tressel usually described as “a foot thing.”

In Shugarts’ case, Tressel once referred to it as “inflammation,” but other times he simply shrugs and says, “He’s got bad feet.”

That can be a problem for running backs and quarterbacks, obviously, if they’re ineffective. Shugarts has been mostly self-policing, coming out of the game when the pain is too much to bear. Last week against Purdue, he left earlier than ever — with 9:10 to go in the second quarter.

“It’s tough when you have to redirect and plant on it a lot,” Shugarts said. “In the run game, it’s really not that bad, moving forward. It was just hard in the passing game.”

Rest helps the foot feel better, but it’s impossible to get enough during the week to make a significant improvement.

It’s a particularly tough injury for a lineman to have.

But Shugarts soldiers on. He said he has not considered surgery at this point.

Instead, he has been working with specialists and tried out several types of shoe inserts. He’ll try another version this week.

And yes, he will start Saturday at Minnesota — despite the fact that Ohio State is a 25-point favorite and has a bye next week. Sitting out the Gophers’ game would give Shugarts a two-week break.

“No, we wouldn’t go into this game saying we’re going to rest anybody,” Tressel said. “This game obviously has conference implications.”

The saving grace for the Buckeyes is that Shugarts’ backup, Andrew Norwell, has handled himself well.

A true freshman from Cincinnati Anderson, Norwell suffered a broken lower leg bone last November, so nobody knew what to expect out of him. He became even more important after last year’s No. 2 right tackle, Marcus Hall, had to redshirt this season.