Rivalry weekend college notes … A couple or three observations from this weekend’s rivalry college games. Ohio State junior DE Chase Young, the consensus top non-QB prospect for the upcoming draft, if not the top prospect overall period, did not not have a particularly noticeable outing in the Buckeyes’ big win over Michigan. True, Young wasn’t really needed as Ohio State rolled to a 56-27 win, but pro scouts probably would have liked to have seen a little more in his stat line than 0 tackles, 0 sacks, and 2 QB hurries. Not to worry, though, as that’s going to be anywhere enough to move Young’s standing among NFL teams as he still leads the country with 16.5 sacks despite missing a couple of games because of that improper benefits issue. More troubling to pro scouts was the lack of production by Alabama junior WR Jerry Jeudy, who was a virtual non-factor in the Tide’s 48-45 loss to Auburn that for all intents and purposes knocked Bama from the national playoff picture for the first time since the 2014 post-season. Jeudy did have 5 receptions, but for only 26 yards. And it was hard not to notice that with Alabama’s CFP hopes on the line, Jeudy wasn’t even on the field for a number of plays as the Tide went with juniors Devonta Smith and Henry Ruggs and emerging true soph Jaylen Waddle, who had four scores in the loss. Not sure if there is any kind of injury slowing Jeudy, but it’s hard to see a top 5 WR when one isn’t even necessarily in the top three on one’s own team. On the other hand, Iowa junior DE A.J. Epenesa is hot. Epenesa entered the season carrying a possible top 10 grade after leading the conference with 10.5 sacks, but he struggled through much of this year’s campaign as he registered just 3.5 sacks thru the Hawkeyes’ first 8 games. Indeed, there were whispers around the program that Epenesa was leaning toward returning to school rather than enter the draft. However, Epenesa has really picked up the pace, posting 5.5 sacks in Iowa’s final four games including two in Saturday’s win over Nebraska when he also had a team-leading 14 tackles. There are still going to be some questions about Epenesa’s consistency, but the 6-6, 280-pounder appears to have clearly righted the ship and is on the rise again.
