Defensive ends Bosa, Young lower boom
![Ohio State's Nick Bosa sacks Rutgers quarterback Artur Sitkowski in the final seconds of the first half. Sitkowski, a freshman, suffered an injury to his right shoulder on the play and did not return for the second half. [Jonathan Quilter/Dispatch]](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/2018/09/08/NBUX/ghows-OH-7562ec08-a4dd-1fe2-e053-0100007fd844-a3e71b46.jpeg?width=300&height=302&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp)
The Ohio State defense already was playing at a high clip Saturday, dominating Rutgers, when the line seemed to turn it up a notch just before halftime.
In the case of defensive end Chase Young, he turned it up notch too high, according to the officials, gaining an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty. And coupled with one he received in the second half for leaving the bench area and going onto the field to celebrate a big play by the second team, he was kicked out of the game.
But he will be eligible Saturday for the entire game against TCU.
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“I love the emotion and the fever he plays with; we’ve just got make sure we don’t let it get in the way of us winning in a tight ball game,” defensive coordinator Greg Schiano said. “It would be a shame to lose Chase.
“He understands. He’s a young guy, but he plays with great emotion. And when he plays (to his potential), he’s a really good player and hard to block. So it’s not going to be a big thing. We’ve just got to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
But that play near the end of first half was one of the exclamation points in the series. Coming off the edge, Young sacked Rutgers freshman Artur Sitkowski and caused an apparent fumble that Young recovered. Young then spiked the ball, drawing an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty.
Sitkowski had been ruled down before the fumble, however, and the replay official in the press box confirmed that, although the ball appeared clearly to come out before the quarterback was down.
Young, who had two sacks, was pulled from the field at that point. But three plays later, defensive end Nick Bosa again lowered the boom on Sitkowski on the final snap of the half — and the final play of the game for Sitkowski. He suffered a right-shoulder injury.
Bosa, who led the team in tackles with five, wasn’t available for interviews after the game. But there’s no doubt he gained satisfaction from his lone sack because it came against Rutgers left tackle Tariq Cole, who had vowed before the game he would shut out Bosa.
The defense limited Rutgers to 134 total yards on 61 plays. There were no major gaffes like those on Oregon State's three breakaway touchdowns — two on runs of 80 and 78 yards — the week before.
“It ticked us off,” defensive tackle Dre’Mont Jones said. “We watched tons of film, made tons of corrections. That’s something we really harped on, was the run today. I thought we did a good job.”
tmay@dispatch.com
@TIM_MAYsports