Chase Young's Suspension Impacts OSU, Heisman, Playoff
The uncertain status of Ohio State defensive end Chase Young after an NCAA-related compliance issue arose on Friday leaves a litany of unanswered questions as the matter awaits a final resolution.
Young will not play Saturday in OSU's noon home game against Maryland.
The Buckeyes are 8-0, ranked No. 1 in the College Football Playoff poll and 44-point favorites over the Terrapins, who are 3-6 after losing five of six games.
Young is good, but he's not the source of the six-plus-touchdown spread.
Ohio State will defeat Maryland easily without him, and will likewise conquer Rutgers (2-6) next week on the road should Young miss that game, too.
Beyond that, Young's loss would have greater ramifications as OSU finishes the regular season at home against No. 4 Penn State and at No. 14 Michigan.
Could the Buckeyes win both games without Young? Yes, they could, because OSU is that deep on the defensive line and that good everywhere else.
Still, Young's absence would introduce a greater possibility of losing one or both of those games.
There are, however, so many more uncertainties about Young that have nothing to do with the final month on the field.
- If he is cleared by the NCAA after the Maryland game, would Young's Heisman Trophy chances have suffered a fatal hit from the negative publicity of his eligibility being in momentary jeopardy?
- If Ohio State were to win three or four games without Young, but play Penn State and Michigan close before surviving, would the Playoff Committee see the Buckeyes as they were with Young in the lineup or would OSU's spot in the final poll Dec. 8 be based solely upon its margin of victory without him??
- If the NCAA deems Young to be in violation of its rules and suspends him multiple games, would he accept the penalty and return to play for the Buckeyes if he could. Or, if he deems the suspension unjust, might he withdraw from school and concentrate on preparing for the NFL Draft?
Young has voiced a desire to win a national championship this season, so the latter scenario may seem unlikely. But Ohio State fans are sensitive to the possibility because Nick Bosa chose not to return to the field last year after an injury in Week 3. He withdrew from school to prepare for the Draft, in which he went No. 2 overall.
Young released a statement on Twitter Friday that attributed his suspension to an investigation of a loan from a family friend since high school, a loan that he says he re-paid.
The matter could indeed be innocuous and quickly resolved, but it is possible the NCAA will view the relationship differently than Young portrayed due to the business practices of some sports agents.
The NCAA establishes parameters on the length of a relationship a person can have with a player to be classified as permissable.
It is not uncommon for agents to identify future clients as high school players and to approach them at that time to satisfy the NCAA, if questioned later, about the nature of the relationship.
Such a case involving Kentucky's Denzil Ware resulted in him being suspended from the 2017 Music City Bowl.
Young soared into Heisman Trophy contender status with a school-record-tying four quarterback sacks, including two forced fumbles, in OSU's 38-7 victory over No. 13 Wisconsin two weeks ago.
Young leads the nation with 13.5 sacks, is second in tackles-for-a-loss with 15.5 and fourth in forced fumbles with five.
His suspension Friday drew the predicted outrage of NCAA critics for rules many believe are outdated. Those rules, which prohibit athletes from receiving benefits because of their celebrity -- that general students could not receive -- are under fire now in an age where various states are passing laws aimed at changing that paradigm.
Two weeks ago, the NCAA pledged to progress on compensating athletes for their name and likeness, although it said it will do so within the framework of its current eligibility model.
How that will work is anyone's guess, since the current rule book makes almost no such allowance for athletes profiting from being athletes.
For the latest on Ohio State follow Sports Illustrated Buckeye Maven or @BuckeyeMaven on Twitter.
