Pope dismissed by Ohio State after appearing to quit team midgame

Warning: Tweet contains coarse language

Ohio State dismissed K'Vaughan Pope after the linebacker appeared to quit the team midgame Saturday after he was replaced in a substitution package in the first half.

The senior threw his gloves into the crowd and started to remove his jersey before halftime versus Akron, leading staffers to take him to the locker room, according to Austin Ward of Lettermen Row. Instead of returning to the sideline for the second half, Pope tweeted two apparent farewells to the Buckeyes, eventually deleting the more vulgar one.

"A lot of guys, they want to play," head coach Ryan Day said after the Buckeyes won 59-7, according to ESPN's Adam Rittenberg. "You can't play everybody, and their frustration kicks in."

Pope began flaring up on the sideline after a teammate waved him back to the bench as he was coming onto the field as part of a substitution package.

The Dinwiddie, Virginia, native made 33 appearances for the Buckeyes. He was a three-star recruit in 2018.