Ohio State then-redshirt sophomore right guard Branden Bowen warms up prior to the Buckeyes’ 38-7 win versus Army on Sept. 16, 2017 at Ohio Stadium. Credit: Colin Hass-Hill | Former Sports Editor
When Branden Bowen heard the news that he will start at right tackle for Ohio State on Saturday, he was sitting in a massage chair down the hall from the press conference in which Ryan Day made the statement.
By the time the redshirt senior made it to the podium just minutes later, his mixed emotions surrounding the sudden announcement were still palpable.
“It was hard not to break down and cry,” Bowen said. “It’s been a long road.”
The 689-day road since Bowen last started a game for the Buckeyes includes a broken leg, three surgeries, and 22 missed games — but all they’ve done is make him appreciate football more.
A redshirt sophomore heading into the 2017 season, Bowen earned a starting position at Ohio State for the first time as the right guard.
Bowen led the starting line in offensive plays up until the first quarter of Game 6 against Maryland, when the 6-foot-7 Utah native broke his fibula and tibia in a season-ending injury.
At the start of the 2018 season, Bowen said on Instagram that he would undergo a third surgery on his leg, which he said had never fully healed. Once again, Bowen was out with no timetable for return.
“Having that taken away from me through an injury was eye-opening,” Bowen said. “It really gives you a different perspective on how important it is to value your time that you have.”
Life off the field didn’t slow down for Bowen, who had a son with his fiancee in March, and graduated from Ohio State in May.
Bowen said he felt the pressure to get back on the field and reclaim a starting spot in hopes of being able to provide for his family in the future.
“The stakes are definitely higher,” Bowen said. “But at the same time the support system is a lot better, having my fiancee to go home to and my son to look up at me every night.”
After more than a year of rehabilitation, Bowen’s leg was finally back to full strength in the spring, but he ran into another roadblock.
Redshirt freshman offensive lineman Nicholas Petit-Frere entered the program last season as the No. 7 overall recruit in the class of 2018, and the No. 1 offensive tackle. When Bowen came to Columbus in 2015, he wasn’t a top 500 prospect.
With redshirt sophomore Wyatt Davis solidifying himself in Bowen’s old post at starting right guard, head coach Ryan Day and offensive line coach Greg Studrawa said throughout fall camp that Bowen and Petit-Frere were neck and neck for the starting right tackle position.
Bowen welcomed the competition.
“We constantly push each other to make each other better and I think that made us both better than we could’ve ever imagined,” he said.
After so much time off, Day said Bowen’s attitude and body language have been rejuvenated in his return, and his smile and energy have been positive indicators. Day said Bowen also “changed his body” with the help of strength coach Mickey Marotti, all of which likely factored into Bowen’s eventual separation from Petit-Frere on the depth chart for the season opener.
Bowen’s nearly 23-month long journey both began and ended as a starting offensive lineman for Ohio State, but it was the stops along the way that he said benefited him most.
“I’m happy I went through it,” Bowen said. “It’s made me a much better person, a much better player, a much better man.”
