Ohio State’s sophomore defensive end Joey Bosa has been a beast all year for the Buckeye defense. This week he has been rewarded for his efforts as Athlon Sports has named him the Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts against Penn State on Saturday night.
Bosa, a Fort Lauderdale native, recorded 2.5 sacks and six tackles for a Buckeye defense that totaled 11.5 tackles for loss in the win against the Nittany Lions. His sack of Christian Hackenberg on fourth down in double overtime sealed the 31-24 victory for the Buckeyes, and avoided an upset loss on the road that could have tainted postseason hopes.
On the 2014 season Bosa is the Big Ten leader in TFL’s with 11.5 and has eight sacks, which is also good enough for fifth and sixth nationally. The Buckeyes, as a team, average just over seven TFL’s per game. The Buckeyes owe some part of their 6-1 record to the play of Joey Bosa and the rest of the defensive line.
Since arriving at Ohio State as a freshman in 2013, Bosa has been an absolute monster on defense. He has racked up 67 total tackles, 25 TFL’s, and has 15.5 sacks. His eight sacks in 2014 has already topped his output from last year. In addition he has already forced three fumbles. P
Prior to the start of the 2014 season Bosa was named to the Bednarik Award Watch List, which goes to the best defensive player in the nation. Big Ten offenses should shutter knowing that this behemoth will be back for only his junior year in 2015. It is scary to think how much better he will be with another offseason of training in a college program like Ohio State’s.
*Section Photo credit to Rob Carr, Getty Images; Featured Photo (above) credit to Jerry Lai, USA Today Sports
