COLUMBUS — No pamphlet touting the number of All-Americans or NFL draft picks would ever serve as a greater recruiting tool than the game tapes from Ohio State and San Francisco games last weekend.
On Saturday, Chase Young emerged as perhaps the Heisman Trophy favorite, sacking Wisconsin quarterback Jack Coan a school-record tying four times and forcing two fumbles. Sunday afternoon, Nick Bosa became the first player in 49ers history to have three sacks and an interception in one game.
If injuries hadn’t derailed both of their seasons a year ago, oh, what might have been.
“I don’t know,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. “Certainly they’re two of the more talented guys that have ever gone through here and maybe to ever play the game. They’re very, very talented. I try not to play the what-if game.”
In 18 years at Penn State and an additional six at Ohio State, Larry Johnson has created a reputation as the nation’s premier defensive line coach. Fourteen times he’s coached the Big Ten’s defensive player of the year or lineman of the year. Barring the end of the world, Young will become No. 15. He’ll also be the eighth first-round pick Johnson’s mentored.
“Chase has got some high expectations for himself,” Johnson said. “I think that’s cool. The guy really wants to be a great player. Everything he does is based on that.”
What Young and Bosa have done the past two months is equal parts absurd and predictable. Young breaking Ohio State’s single-season sack record was a trendy prediction, and there’s a reason Bosa was the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s draft. Still, the numbers pop out when you see them.
■ Young: 13.5 sacks and five forced fumbles.
■ Bosa: seven sacks, 11 tackles for loss, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, and one interception.
“If you watched him from Day 1 like we got to, he plays like a 10-year vet,” 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman said Sunday. “Right now, he should be in line for defensive MVP.”
Here’s another stat: their teams are a combined 15-0, which is no coincidence. When you have a versatile defensive end who’s virtually unblockable, the offensive lineman staring back at him has a better chance of obstructing an 18-wheeler. Young and Bosa are a one-man ambush, instilling fear in the eyes of quarterbacks who have nowhere to hide.
The Bosa brothers — Joey had two sacks and four tackles for loss for the L.A. Chargers on Sunday — attained almost mystical status during their combined six seasons at Ohio State, recording 43.5 sacks, 80 tackles for loss, seven forced fumbles, one interception, and a touchdown. Young witnessed the carnage first-hand, teaming up with Nick for two years and watching Joey as a five-star recruit from DeMatha Catholic.
“Nick, he used to push me naturally,” Young recently told Lettermen Row. “I used to study Nick, even when he was here. He used to push me in workouts. I would be on his heels every day, trying to beat him at anything. If I beat him at anything, I’m like, ‘Whew, I just did that.’ ”
Young might beat every exclusively defensive player in history this season by winning the Heisman Trophy. It’s already becoming increasingly clear that he’s better than the Bosas, an astonishing summation. Eighty-four years of history are against Young — Charles Woodson is the only defensive player to ever win the Heisman, and he was helped by playing wide receiver and returning punts.
Working in Young’s favor are vocal and influential members of the college football establishment and marquee games against Penn State, Michigan, and a potential Big Ten championship game.
“I don’t think you can make a case [that he’s the best player in the country], I just think it’s the truth,” ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit said. “I just think that’s the way it is.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, home of the 1-7 Falcons, had a headline Monday that read, “Falcons should do what they must to get Chase Young.”
NFL teams are running toward him and college quarterbacks are attempting to avoid him at all costs.
“He’s a complete game-changer,” Ohio State co-defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said. “You can’t block him one-on-one. You can’t try to. You better not try to because if you do, you’re going to pay.”
First Published October 29, 2019, 9:30 p.m.
