Ohio State junior defensive end Chase Young (2) sacks Wisconsin junior quarterback Jack Coan (17) in the first half of the game against Wisconsin on Oct. 26. Ohio State won 38-7. Credit: Cori Wade | Assistant Photo Editor

Chase Young was like a festering wound against the Wisconsin offense.

He got in deep early, cut off the Badgers’ circulation and did more damage the longer he went.

By the time the infection ran its course, Young tied a program record with four sacks, forced two fumbles and kept Wisconsin behind the chains with five tackles for loss.

Eight games into the season, and no team has found a cure.

“He’s probably the most dominant player in all of college football now,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said.

The junior defensive end entered Saturday tied for the nation’s lead in sacks, with 9.5 — seven more than the next best Buckeye, and just one shy of his sophomore season total. 

By game’s end, he’d be one sack from setting a new Ohio State single-season mark and have “Heisman” on the tip of everyone’s tongue.

After an early sack against Northwestern Oct. 18, the Wildcats shuffled their scheme around with the sole purpose of avoiding Young for the remainder of the game, utilizing an array of double teams and rollouts to the opposite side.

They may have stopped him from having a chance at making another big play, but with 42 yards through the air on the day, it was hardly a win for the offense.

Young would not be denied against Wisconsin, though.

Lined up in middle linebacker position on the second Badger drive of the first quarter, Wisconsin gave Young free reign at junior quarterback Jack Coan, drawing him in to slip a screen pass to redshirt junior running back Garrett Groshek. It didn’t matter. Young turned on a dime and still made the tackle on Groshek for a loss on third down.

“His impact in a game like this goes to show his versatility,” Day said. “This was not just a passing game where you go after the quarterback. You had to play tough and gritty inside.”

Young and the Ohio State defensive line held 2018’s leading rusher, junior running back Jonathan Taylor, to just 2.6 yards per carry Saturday. But make no mistake — it was Coan on the brunt end of most of Young’s terror.

Later in the first, Young fought through a double team, spun to the right and landed right on top of Coan for a 5-yard loss.

Three minutes into the second, Young bull-rushed Wisconsin’s left tackle, brushed off the late help from the Badger left guard and met a crumpling Coan on the wet turf.

“I just feel bad for [Coan] to be honest, because Chase, in practice, he can get back there pretty much whenever he wants,” sophomore quarterback Justin Fields said. “Chase is a great player. Everybody knows that. He’s probably the best defensive player in the country, so I’m just glad he’s on my team.”

With a 24-7 Buckeye cushion in the third quarter, a Wisconsin team that entered with the No. 17 rushing attack in the country would have to increasingly put the ball in Coan’s hands to make up ground — providing Young with even more opportunity.

On a crucial fourth-and-8, Young beat a tight end off the edge to knock the ball from Coan’s hand before he could throw, creating a fumble recovered by junior linebacker Pete Werner.

Not yet satisfied, though, Young had another strip sack in the fourth quarter, this time lined up on the opposite edge. Werner scooped it up again, this time with room for a 31-yard return, the game’s result already well in-hand.

Young stretched out his arms walking off the field after the play, which he said was a display of acknowledgement to his grandfather, of whom he felt the presence in the moment.

There’s no doubt he’s plaguing opposing defenses, but even with records in Young’s near future, the desire for individual accolades is not plaguing his mind.

“Going into the season you want to play the best. You want to break every record, but right now, I can’t really be worried about a sack record,” Young said. “I just gotta keep on trying to perfect my craft and do what I do, and those other things will come.”