The NCAA’s verdict is in. Chase Young will return for the Buckeyes’ game against Penn State on November 23.
Young will serve the second game of a two-game suspension this weekend when Ohio State plays at Rutgers.
He violated NCAA rules by accepting a loan, reportedly to help fly his girlfriend to the 2019 Rose Bowl. Young identified the person who gave him the loan as “a family friend I’ve known since the summer before my freshman year at OSU.”
Young told the NCAA that he had repaid the loan in the spring of 2019.
He will serve the second game of a two-game suspension this weekend when the Buckeyes face the Scarlet Knights.
That will allow Young to return in time for the game against Penn State that will likely determine the winner of the Big Ten’s East Division.
Before the suspension, Young was off to one of the greatest starts of any Buckeye in history, regardless of position.
He has 13.5 sacks in just eight games of action. That puts him just a half-sack behind Vernon Gholston’s 2007 total of 14 for the school’s single-season record.
Young tweeted shortly after the announcement of his impending reinstatement.
Excited to be back on the field next week! Thank you Buckeye Nation for all the love and support. I’m blessed to be a part of this team, this university, and this community. Lots of love to my family. God Bless and Go Bucks!
— CY2 (@youngchase907) November 13, 2019
At the time of the suspension, Young was on pace to break the NCAA’s single-season sack record of 24, set by Arizona State’s Terrell Suggs in 2002. (The NCAA did not officially count sacks as a stat until 2000.)
Now, he will have a tough time catching up to Suggs, even if he plays in all five possible games left on the Buckeyes’ schedule.
Still, it is unquestionably a major win for the Buckeyes to have their best player back before they have to face Penn State, Michigan, and a potential Big Ten Championship Game opponent in back-to-back-to-back weeks.
We will continue to update this story with new information and reactions as they become available.
Here is the full release from Ohio State.
Statement from the Ohio State Dept. of Athletics
November 13, 2019
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The NCAA has concluded its review of The Ohio State University Department of Athletics’ reinstatement request for student-athlete Chase Young, and it has determined that Young should be withheld from playing in one additional game before being eligible to resume competition. Young was withheld from Ohio State’s Nov. 9 game against Maryland while the department looked into and reported a possible NCAA issue from 2018. Young will also miss Ohio State’s Nov. 16 game against Rutgers in Piscataway, N.J.
“I want to thank and express my sincere gratitude to university staff members who worked so diligently and expertly to learn and understand the facts, and then to report these facts to the NCAA as part of our request to have Chase reinstated,” Gene Smith, Ohio State Senior Vice President and Wolfe Foundation Endowed Athletics Director, said. “This is the example of the culture of compliance we have at Ohio State.
“I also want to commend Chase Young and let him know how proud we are of him. He took responsibility for his actions, cooperated throughout the process and understood and accepted that there would be consequences. He’s a team captain and a leader and most importantly, a Buckeye. He wanted nothing more than an opportunity to play again and we’re pleased that he’ll get that chance.”
Ohio State had requested immediate reinstatement on behalf of Young in its formal report to the NCAA.
“I appreciate the expediency to which the NCAA reviewed and responded to our request for reinstatement,” Smith said. “We felt that based on the circumstances, the NCAA would use its leadership capacity to take an understanding approach on behalf of all student-athletes who find themselves in a similar position, and it certainly did just that.”
Ohio State plays on Rutgers at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at SHI Stadium.