Ohio State Football: The hidden greatness of Chase Young vs. Michigan

Ohio State football DE Chase Young’s stat sheet didn’t reflect it, but there was some hidden greatness he displayed against Michigan.

By now we all know that the Ohio State football team dominated the Michigan Wolverines for the eighth straight time this past Saturday with a final score of 56-27 in Ann Arbor.  At halftime, however, the Wolverine passing attack had torched the Buckeye defense for over 200 yards.

People started wondering what was going on with their pass rush and where Chase Young was. It was clear and obvious Michigan’s entire offensive game plan was to stop Young by double-teaming him and getting the ball out of quarterback Shea Patterson‘s hands quickly. At the beginning, it worked out well.

Young’s final statistics ended with zero tackles and two quarterback hurries that happened late in the ballgame. If you only look at the stat sheet you would assume the Wolverines did an amazing job at neutralizing him.

Anyone who knows football though, understands it’s easy to go beyond the stats. His mere presence on the field had everyone’s eyes on him the entire day.

Cornerback Shaun Wade not playing had an impact on the passing stats as well. It put younger, less experienced players in the Ohio State defensive backfield which made it a little easier for Patterson to get the ball to wideouts quickly in their routes.

There just wasn’t enough time for anyone rushing the passer to put pressure on Patterson.

The greatness of Chase Young in this game is the simple fact they had to build an entire game plan around just him. After halftime adjustments were made in the secondary at halftime, Michigan didn’t have an adjustment ready which gave Ohio State the upper hand in the second half.

Patterson didn’t even come close to putting up the numbers as he did in the first half and the Buckeyes continued to pull away. The Wolverines focused so much on stopping one defensive player that even doing that successfully ruined their chances to make other adjustments needed.

That is the greatness of Young. Even when he is completely stopped, his talent makes a team focus on that.

He may or may not have fallen out of the Heisman Trophy race, but make no mistake about it, this game just like the ones when he filled the stat sheet, shows he is arguably the best player in college football. He is also undeniably the best defensive player in the game.