What’s my biggest take away from this weekend? It’s a young man with a big heart, a big game, and a whole lot of moxie validating all of the hype surrounding him. We already knew Ohio State pass rusher Chase Young was a special player heading into the noon showdown with Penn State on Saturday.
But, timing and circumstance is everything, and Young’s narrative heading into that game made it even more impressive when he balled out yet again like he has all season long. Let’s count the ways.
Head Scratching Suspension
Outside of being a legit heisman trophy candidate as a defensive player and top defensive prospect for the 2020 NFL draft, Young has had extra special attention on him in recent weeks. The NCAA imposed a two game suspension on Young for reasoning that I can best describe as a huge pile of bullshit and nonsense.
He borrowed money from a close family friend a year ago in 2018 in order to pay for travel expenses for his girlfriend, so that she could fly out to the Rose Bowl and see him play. He reportedly paid the family back a few months later in April.
It’s the grandest spectacle in the entire sport. And it’s not like he’s a verbal commit and not a team member yet, he’s playing on the team and therefore he deserves to get those close to him out there to watch him play. He didn’t steal money or cheat anyone to pay for the expenses, so the whole situation is just so disappointing and frustrating. It really goes to show the NCAA doesn’t care about their athletes all that much and it’s too bad.
From a football standpoint, it would’ve been fair to assume this distraction may have hindered his play and thrown him out of rhythm after getting on such a roll all year long. But clearly there was no slowing him down even after the small break from the field.
“Prove it” game
Fast forward post suspension and what do you know his return is against 9-1 Penn State, Ohio State’s best opponent to date this season. All eyes are on him as he returns and you know folks would be questioning his greatness a bit if he gave a dud versus this opponent in this spotlight.
So what did he do? All he did was have nine total tackles, five solo, four tackles for loss, and oh yeah throw in three sacks too. His third sack on the day gave him 16.5 for the season: sheer stupidity from a numbers standpoint
. It’s a single season sack record at Ohio State, and he’s played in nine games. By the way, the two games he missed were against pitiful Rutgers and Maryland. You don’t think he could’ve collected a few more sacks in those games? Think again.
Timely plays
Not only did Young have that crazy impact, he did so when it mattered most. Ohio State jumped out to an early 21-0 lead and it looked like it would be another blowout victory for the Buckeyes. In the second half Penn State rattled off 17 straight to cut the lead to four. From that point, on big 3rd and obvious passing situations for Penn State in the second half, when Ohio State’s lead was in the balance, Young delivered.
There’s no doubt about it: the guy’s a star. After watching that game Saturday, it became very apparent that only health issues will keep this kid from being one of the better ‘young’ pass rushers in the league real soon. But don’t take it from me if you’re not convinced.
Here’s the voice of college football and regular destroyer of Colin Cowherd, Joel Klatt, explaining Chase Young’s greatness and making a case for him winning the coveted heisman trophy in an enthused manner that I just love.
*Time frame for Young discussion: 2:50-5:10
-Simon Brady