Three best individual seasons in Ohio State football history
By Ryan Stano
Last year’s Ohio State football squad was the best team that I have ever personally seen take the field. They were dominant in so many different areas on the field and would crush opponents before they could even get started. The best player on that team was Chase Young.
Young is the most dominant player I’ve ever seen play at Ohio State. He physically manhandled tackles and was the best pure pass rusher in the country. He was so good that he was invited to be a Heisman finalist and ultimately finished 4th in that voting.
Young led the country with a school record-breaking 16.5 sacks and 21 tackles for loss. He also forced 7 fumbles. He did all of this while being suspended for two games as well. If he had been able to play a full slate of games, 20 sacks were legitimately within reach.
The sack totals weren’t the only reason why Young’s season was so good. His presence on the field made the opposing offense have to adjust to everything he did. He had to be double-teamed every play. If he wasn’t it was an automatic sack. Quarterbacks had to throw the ball way sooner than they normally did.
Because of how good of a season he had, Young was the number 2 overall pick int he 2019 NFL Draft. He should wreak havoc in the NFL as he did in college. The Buckeyes will certainly miss his production in 2020 as well.
The best individual season in Ohio State history was almost 50 years ago, but it was a truly dominant display of football.