Chase Young, the star defensive end for No. 1 Ohio State who will miss Saturday's game against Maryland due to an NCAA issue he later described as borrowing money from a family friend, is expected to sit for a few more contests. On Friday, Ohio State announced Young would miss the game vs. the Terrapins, but ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit said Young will likely be held out for up to four games, but could appeal to return sooner, based on similar cases.
Herbstreit, a former Buckeyes quarterback, said on "College GameDay" Saturday morning that the amount of money Young took would equal a four-game suspension, which would sideline him for the rest of the regular season. However, Ohio State is apparently planning to appeal the length. Here are Herbstreit's words as transcribed by 247Sports' Brad Crawford:
"Depending on how much money you take, you get slotted with how many games you're going to be suspended," Herbstreit said. "In this case, this amount of money is over a certain percentage which means he's going to be suspended for four games, not just today. What needs to be remembered now is Ohio State this week will collect their intel. They'll look at all their information and they will appeal.
"Ohio State feels they're going to hear by next week the answer on their appeal. And because he's in good standing, he made a mistake here, but he's a good student, goes to class and doesn't have any issues off the field ... because of that, the NCAA takes that into consideration and more than likely this will come down and be reduced to two games, maybe three games. It won't stay at four."
If Chase were to sit for the next four games, he would miss the remainder of the Buckeyes' regular season, but could return in time for the showdown with No. 4 Penn State if his suspension is reduced to two games. Ohio State's next games after Saturday's game vs. Maryland, at Rutgers on Nov. 16, vs. No. 4 Penn State on Nov. 23 and at No. 14 Michigan on Nov. 30.
Young admitted that he took a loan "from a family friend I've known since the summer before my freshman year at OSU." He added the money has already been paid back in full. What isn't clear is what the family friend's relationship may be or the amount of money Young took. However, Young's statement was obviously carefully worded to state the person of interest had a relationship with him prior to his enrollment at Ohio State, even if recently prior.
Most accounts pass off Young's "mistake" (his words) as small potatoes. The Columbus Dispatch and Bruce Feldman of The Athletic both reported similar accounts of what the money was used for. The Dispatch stated it was to fly Young's family to the Rose Bowl last season. Feldman reports it was used to fly his girlfriend out for the game. Most notably, Feldman reported the person was not an agent or booster.
One day into college football's biggest suspension is not enough time to determine all the facts of the case. If Feldman's report is true, the optics will be bad for the NCAA, though that won't be anything new. Between Young and the James Wiseman saga at Memphis for college basketball, college athletics' governing body has taken it on the chin for what a growing number of people feel is blatant hypocrisy. The tone of what college athletes should and shouldn't get has changed over the years in favor of the player. While the whole name, image and likeness debate is separate from Young's case, it highlights that the NCAA's rules are in desperate need of updating.
The NCAA can continue to look into the details of this case and parse through fact from fiction. But the longer it does that, the longer college football's most dominant player sits on the sidelines. At a certain point, it's fair to question whether the time, energy and resources to do so are worth it.
