Urban Meyer Says Dontre Wilson Will Remain Ohio State's Punt Returner

By Tim Shoemaker on October 26, 2016 at 7:28 pm
Dontre Wilson fields a punt against Wisconsin.
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The Dontre Wilson punt returning experience lives on for at least another week.

Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer said Wednesday after practice there is no plan to make a change in the return game despite Wilson's struggles in recent weeks fielding punts. Wilson muffed punts in each of the Buckeyes' last two games though neither resulted in a turnover for Ohio State. 

"We just keep coaching him through it," Meyer said. "He's a very talented guy and we're hoping he gets a chance to get a return out of it."

"Last week, they were all very short punts and very high and it seems like we've had a lot of those. We haven't really had a chance to get it started."

Wilson muffed a punt in the third quarter of Ohio State's 30-23 overtime win at Wisconsin two weeks ago. It was recovered by a teammate, though, and after the game, Meyer said he "liked aggressive guys" in the return game.

On Saturday against Penn State, Wilson again had trouble fielding a punt on a cold and windy night. Again, the Buckeyes caught a break as they recovered and avoided another near disaster.

Wilson, a senior from DeSoto, Texas, has 15 punt returns this season for a total of 102 yards, good for just 6.8 per return. His long on the year is 27 yards. 

Ohio State hosts Northwestern on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

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