Ohio State LB honors late friend

Published Oct. 27, 2012 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Ohio State linebacker Ryan Shazier changed his number this week from 10 to 48 as a tribute to a high school friend who died earlier this year.

Shazier then went out and played one of his best games of the season, finishing with seven tackles, two sacks and an interception return for a touchdown in the Buckeyes' 35-23 victory at Penn State on Saturday night.

Gary Curtis, the manager of Shazier's team at Plantation (Fla.) High School, had muscular dystrophy and was wheelchair bound. He managed the team for two years after he graduated.

Shazier says: ''I wanted to wear it sometime this year and this was the best game to wear it. It was one of the biggest games. I just felt like he was with me this game.''