Chiefs’ Terrell Suggs is convinced his NCAA single-season sacks record will be broken
AVENTURA, Fla. – Every few years, Terrell Suggs will see his name pop up during the college football season when a defensive player gets on pace to take down one of the most remarkable records in NCAA history.
This past fall, in fact, Ohio State’s Chase Young looked like he might just be able to challenge the 24 sacks Suggs recorded at Arizona State in 2002, which the 37-year old pass rusher for the Kansas City Chiefs calls one of the greatest accomplishments of his career.
“He had a really good chance to do it, and then he got suspended for (two games), so I was kind of bummed,” Suggs said Thursday while preparing to play in his second Super Bowl. “I wanted to see him chase it, but I’m happy my record still stands, too.”
Though it’s closing in on 20 years since Suggs set the NCAA sacks record, he’s convinced more now than ever that he’ll eventually get passed. But history shows it’s not easy. Utah’s Nate Orchard had 16 through 10 games in 2014 but couldn’t make a real run at it. In 2009, Von Miller had nine through his first four games at Texas AM but couldn’t keep up the pace and finished with 17. Likewise, Washington’s Hau’oli Kikaha generated some buzz that he might pass Suggs in 2014 with 14 1/2 sacks in eight games but finished five short of tying the record.
“When Elvis Dumervil (in 2005 at Louisville) had gotten to 20 with four games left, I was like, ‘it’s out of there, it’s gone,’” Suggs said. “But I guess they started tripling him and he finished with 20, but him (and Young) are the two times I was really thinking it’s coming up again. But I figure it was so long ago nobody remembers; it’s just a name in a book.”
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In fact, it might just be the opposite. Though Suggs is likely headed to the Pro Football Hall of Fame eventually for a host of reasons related to his 17-year career with the Baltimore Ravens, his most noteworthy achievement as a Sun Devil has taken on almost a mythical place in college football history.
