(Reuters) – Ohio State University’s head football coach suspended his starting quarterback J.T. Barrett from the team’s next game after the player was charged with driving a vehicle while impaired, the university said.
Columbus police stopped Barrett, 20, at a campus area checkpoint and gave him a misdemeanor citation for impaired driving, the school said in a brief statement.
The suspension by head coach Urban Meyer will keep the sophomore out of Ohio State’s Nov. 7 game against Minnesota, the school said.
Police told the Columbus Dispatch newspaper that Barrett’s blood-alcohol content was .099 when he was stopped. The legal limit for a driver younger than 21 is .02 and .08 for those 21 and older, the newspaper reported.
A police spokesman could not be reached immediately for further comment.
As a freshman during the 2014 season, Barrett lead Ohio State to a 11-1 record before breaking his ankle in the Big Ten championship game against Michigan. The team went on to win the national championship while Barrett finished fifth in Heisman Trophy voting.
(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee)
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