Ohio State Football: The Rise of Chase Young
A look at how one Ohio State football player, sophomore defensive end Chase Young, has burst onto the scene and established himself as a household name.
Ohio State Defensive End Chase Young has burst onto the scene this year for the Buckeyes. The former five-star was a player who showed signs of brilliance last year during the moments he saw game time which happened in twelve of the fourteen contests.
Many thought it would take most of the 2018 season for Young to really develop into the next premier Ohio State defensive linemen under legendary coach Larry Johnson. However, “The Predator” has wasted no time when it comes to flashing his raw talents and establishing himself among the best in the country.
Young began the year lining up opposite of Nick Bosa, giving the Buckeyes a virtually unblockable pass rush without even needing to blitz. Moreover, his role has been elevated after the Rushmen lost arguably the best player in all of college football,
Nick Bosa is now sidelined due to a lower abdominal injury. Young, in turn, has stepped up as a leader on the defensive line alongside Dre’mont Jones.
Last Saturday night in Happy Valley, Chase Young became a household name. The sophomore filled out the stats sheet totaling six tackles, three for loss, two sacks, two quarterback hurries, and two pass breakups. The Maryland native halted one of Penn State’s third quarter drives by swatting Trace McSorley’s fourth down pass that would have most likely gone for a first down.
Young continued to have his way and took over the game as the fourth quarter rolled around. The Buckeyes, who entered the final fifteen minutes up by a point, found themselves trailing midway through the fourth quarter by 12.
Following two heroic touchdowns by the offense, Ohio State had a one point lead with two minutes to go leaving the ball in the hands of Heisman candidate Trace McSorley. He only needed a field goal to win.
Throughout the game, the Silver Bullets bent but they never broke. McSorley accounted for a whopping 461 yards on the night, but when it mattered most and the game was on the line, the Buckeye defense stood tall.
The Nittany Lions faced a fourth-and-five with the coveted driver’s seat in the Big Ten East at stake. Both Ohio State and Penn State called time out prior to the snap to get the exact look they wanted.
In front of the largest crowd to ever fill Beaver Stadium, James Franklin called what appeared to be a Zone Read that was turned inside due to the lineup of the Ohio State defensive line. The Buckeyes lined the ends out wide and then stunted Chase Young, not one but two gaps, and he dropped Penn State Running Back Miles Sanders for a loss to clinch the comeback victory.
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If you didn’t know Chase Young before the Penn State game you do now. He has emphatically solidified himself as the next elite defensive lineman for the Buckeyes.
The future is now for Ohio State, and if Nick Bosa is able to return from injury this season, the pass rush for the Buckeyes could be the best college football has seen in years. With Bosa and Young on opposite ends and Dre’mont Jones and Robert Landers inside, opposing quarterbacks would have no way of escaping the Rushmen.
A Buckeye has been the recipient of the Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year each of the last four years. It is hard to foresee this trend stopping anytime in the near future.
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Nick Bosa has missed the last two games as well as parts of the first three due to an inflated lead or going down to injury but still leads the Big Ten in sacks. This statistic speaks volumes of the level of talent in Columbus at defensive end, and Chase Young appears to be the next Buckeye great at the position.