It was always understood that Chase Young would be very, very good at Ohio State, and five games into his sophomore season, he hasn’t disappointed.
Young is currently tied for the team and Big Ten lead in sacks (4.0) and is second on the team in tackles for loss (6.0).
Coincidentally, he is tied with teammate Nick Bosa in both categories. Bosa, by the way, has missed the last two-and-a-half games for the Buckeyes due to a core muscle injury.
When Bosa went down early in the third quarter against TCU, everyone on the Ohio State defensive line knew they would have to kick it up a notch. Looking at the numbers, that’s something Young has done quite well, as evidenced by his three TFLs and two sacks last week at Penn State.
“I think it changed everyone on the unit’s mindset, that we had Nick down,” Young said. “The best player in college football, so we all knew we had to step it up.”
Even though Young was in the defensive end rotation, he didn’t get into the starting lineup for the Buckeyes until Bosa’s injury. After watching from the sidelines in the games’ most important moments last season, Young was in the middle of the Penn State game from the outset.
Some may have thought he was patiently waiting for his opportunity, but that’s not how things work at Ohio State.
Patience isn’t always a virtue.
“Coach Meyer tells us not to wait,” he said. “So I think every chance I got to get on the field, I tried to put my best out there. I guess in the Penn State game, I just had a really good game. I thank God I had a really good game. National stage, ABC, and I just think God that the Penn State game was that game where I had a really good day.”
The significance of last Saturday’s game cannot be overstated. The winner would gain control of the Big Ten East and have a leg up in the College Football Playoff.
With so much on the line — and without Nick Bosa there to help out — it was understandable if Young was just a bit nervous.
“Yeah, I was nervous. I ain’t going to lie to you,” he admitted. “I was nervous. Big stage. Going out on the field first. The biggest game I’ve ever played in in my life. So I was nervous for sure, but I think it was good.”
It was indeed good.
And then on fourth-and-5 and Penn State’s life on the line, Young was there to tackle running back Miles Sanders in the backfield, ending the game. It was a tremendous individual play on Young’s part, or at least that’s what it seemed like.
“If you look at the play, I would’ve never got there if [defensive end] Jashon [Cornell] didn’t block,” Young said. “His hip blocked the tackle and if the tackle got his hands on me, I probably wouldn’t have made the play. So if it wasn’t for Jashon getting up the field like he did, I wouldn’t have made the play. I thank Jashon a lot.”
The play joins similar efforts from recent defensive ends against Penn State. In 2014, Joey Bosa ended the game with a walk-off sack. Last season, Sam Hubbard tackled an entire backfield with OSU trailing late in the fourth quarter. Then, on the Nittany Lions’ final drive, Jalyn Holmes made a diving sack of quarterback Trace McSorley, forcing a desperation fourth-and-forever that never got answered.
And while everyone will always remember Chase Young making the play, he says there was nothing individual about it.
“I was just thankful for my teammate,” he said. “If [Sanders] would have run the other way, Coop would’ve made the play. It isn’t really about me. It’s about the whole team. If [defensive tackle] Dre’Mont [Jones] didn’t do his job, or if Jashon didn’t do his job, he would’ve gotten the first down.”
It may have been Young’s best game as a Buckeye, but he’s only at the halfway point of his Ohio State career. He earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against Penn State, but he wasn’t close to being as good as he wanted to be.
“Not close at all,” he said. “I made a few mistakes and I’ve got to get them corrected.
“You’re never going to play a perfect game, but you want to try to play a perfect game. That’s what I’m going to try to do. You go back to practice and work hard with my team and just go on to Indiana and try to be perfect.”
