Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins, Chase Young earn Big Ten Player of the Week honors

The No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes walked out of Happy Valley victorious on Saturday night, but it wasn’t easy. After looking a little uncertain in the early going against the blitz-happy Penn State defense, OSU quarterback Dwayne Haskins ended up having a pretty impressive day.

The red-shirt sophomore ended up going 15 for 23 for 212 yards and 2 touchdowns in the second half, including a masterful 12-play, 96-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. In total, he had 270 passing yards and three TDs.

For this efforts, Haskins was named this week’s Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week. This is the third time that Haskins has earned the honor, and second time in as many weeks.

However, he wasn’t the only Buckeye to be singled out after the White Out win. After giving up 461 combined yards to Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley, the OSU defense recovered in the second half, and late in the fourth quarter blew up a 4th-and-5 zone-read to effectively end the game. The player in the middle of destroying that play, Chase Young.

On the day the OSU defensive end had 6 tackles— three of which were for loss— including 2 sacks, 2 pass break-ups, and 2 quarterback hurries. For his efforts, Young was name this week’s Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week.

With Nick Bosa, arguably the best defensive player in the country, out at least until November, Young and fellow end Jonathon Cooper are being asked to contribute at a higher level, and Young certainly stepped up when the Buckeyes needed him most on Saturday.

In addition to ending the game on the fourth-quarter fourth-down attempt, Young also ended another PSU drive just outside the red zone. Late in the third quarter, McSorley attempted to throw a quick pass to tight end Pat Freiermuth on 4th-and-1, but Young— blitzing on the play— threw his right hand up and knocked down the pass, turning the ball over to the Buckeyes and preserving OSU’s 14-13 lead at the time.

Young shared the honor with Michigan’s Chase Winovich.

Others being recognized by the Big Ten this week were Purdue’s Joe Schopper as the Special Teams Player of the Week, and Penn State’s KJ Hamler was were the Freshman of the Week.