Ohio State star defensive lineman Chase Young will miss one more game for an NCAA rules violation before returning next week against Penn State, the team announced Wednesday. Young already sat out last week’s game against Maryland and will miss Saturday’s game at Rutgers. He admitted last week that he accepted a loan last year from someone he described as a “family friend,” but repaid it in full.
Although Young repaid the loan, it is still considered an extra benefit from the NCAA because Young didn’t meet the friend until after his recruitment to Ohio State had started.
“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,” Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said in a prepared statement. “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.”
Young has 13.5 sacks this season — just one-half sack shy of Ohio State’s single-season record. He had four sacks, five tackles for loss and two forced fumbles against the Badgers, a performance that put him in the Heisman Trophy conversation.
Ohio State, which dropped to No. 2 in the latest CFP rankings, beat Maryland 73-14 without Young and enters the Rutgers game as a 50-point favorite. Young will return for next week’s home game against No. 9 Penn State. Ohio State finishes the regular season at No. 15 Michigan on Nov. 30.
ESPN’s Mel Kiper has Young at No. 1 on his Big Board for the 2020 NFL draft, and lists the Buckeyes junior as his top defensive prospect.