The Ohio State Buckeyes will be without their best player in defensive end Chase Young for the next four games. He’s appealing and here’s an update.
Ohio State Buckeyes defensive end Chase Young is bracing for a four-game suspension after accepting a loan from a family friend to cover the travel costs for his girlfriend to see him play in the Rose Bowl last year. Young and the university will appeal the four-game suspension in the hopes of it potentially getting cut in half to two, according to ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit, which would see him return for Penn State and Michigan to close the regular season.
This isn’t the first time a popular NCAA athlete will receive improper benefits and it won’t be the last. But one would think with the NCAA lessening its stance on a player’s ability to profit from his image and likeness that it would matriculate down to other parts of their oversight.
For now, Young is projected to miss the Buckeyes’ final four regular-season games. He is not playing on Saturday against the Maryland Terrapins at home. Young probably won’t be able to play on the road against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights next week either. But there is a reason Ohio State is hoping this gets resolved and Young is back for the final two games.
The reason for this is that the Buckeyes’ last two games will be their most important of the regular season. They will host a fellow College Football Playoff contender in the Penn State Nittany Lions before having to go on the road to play the rival Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor during Thanksgiving weekend. Ohio State can win both without Young but totally want him back.
Helping Young’s appeal to the NCAA is he repaid the loan months ago and has been forthcoming with where the loan came from, why the loan was needed and that plays in his favor for the appeal going in his favor. Of course, predicting what the NCAA will do in these cases is tricky. Just ask Missouri, Ole Miss and any other number of programs who have been in their crosshairs.
The good thing is Ohio State doesn’t need Young to win this week or next, but if he’s out for Penn State and Michigan, it could derail their Big Ten and National Championship hopes.
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