Caden Curry earns four major defensive player of week honors

COLUMBUS — Ohio State senior defensive end Caden Curry had the best game of his career Saturday at Washington.

The rising star on the Buckeyes defensive line had 11 total tackles, five tackles for loss and three sacks in a dominant 24-6 win over the Huskies; the five tackles for loss gave him a tie for the most such tackles in a single game in Ohio State history.

For that stellar performance, Curry is racking up national recognition and awards. After being named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week on Monday, Curry earned four national player awards.

Here’s the list of awards that were handed down to Curry on Tuesday:

+ Walter Camp National Player of the Week award
+ The Maxwell Club’s Bednarik Player of the Week award
+ Football Writers Association of America’s Bronco Nagurski Player of the Week award*
+ Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week

* Shared with Buckeyes defensive tackle Kayden McDonald, who had three tackles for loss and two sacks

Those are huge honors for the Buckeyes defensive end, who now has five sacks and eight tackles for loss through four games.

He has five sacks through four games, setting him on pace to post 15 this regular season, which would be second all-time in sacks for a single season (Chase Young, 16.5 in 2019 is first). His eight tackles for loss through four games puts him on pace for 24 tackles for loss, which would be second all-time in a single season behind Mike Vrabel, who had 26 in 1995.

Of course, the three-sack and five-tackle-for-loss performance has him on that pace, and he could easily fall off the pace at some point this season. But with the struggling offensive lines from Minnesota, Illinois and Wisconsin on deck in the next three games, Curry could keep racking up big-time numbers from his defensive end position. It’s not crazy to think he could hit the halfway point of the season with a historic opportunity.

“We love to do our job, and we love to do it at the high level,” Curry said. “And we love to make plays on a number of the called. And I mean, if it happens to be in the back of the goal line, or in the middle of the field, or if the game’s on the line, we love all the energy behind it.”

Caden Curry certainly is doing his job at an extremely high level for Ohio State, and he is earning national recognition for his recent play. If he keeps this up, he might have a few records to show for it.