How Curtis Samuel Earned His First Start and Why It's Big For Ohio State

By Patrick Maks on November 3, 2014 at 8:35 am
Ezekiel Elliott is Ohio State's best running back, but Curtis Samuel offers the Buckeyes a pretty solid backup plan.
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If we’re being honest, Ezekiel Elliott is Ohio State’s clear-cut starter at running back, and he’s plenty worthy of such a distinction.

“He's the epitome of our team ... he puts his foot in the ground,” head coach Urban Meyer said Thursday during his weekly radio show.

After all, Elliott — who’s rushed for 709 yards and five touchdowns on 126 carries this season — is turning into one the Buckeyes’ biggest weapons. And though he’s not quite the feature back that former star Carlos Hyde was last season, the sophomore seems to run a bit harder and a bit faster with every game. Heck, he’s on pace to become the second running back to ever rush for at least 1,000 yards under Meyer after Hyde did it a year ago.

So when Elliott watched the offense take the field without him on its first two drives against Illinois Saturday night, it sent reporters and fans into a scramble to unearth what had happened.

In his place was Curtis Samuel, a talented freshman from Brooklyn whom Elliott had — for all intents and purposes — beat out for the starting job long ago.

What’s the deal, coach?

“(Running backs coach) Stan Drayton came to me in the middle of the week and said: ‘I'd like to start Curtis Samuel this week,” Meyer said after a 55-14 obliteration of the Fighting Illini. “‘He's doing everything right, and practices at an extremely high level.’”

The notion of Samuel practicing like a pro doesn’t come as much of a shock: In the preseason, Meyer ranted and raved about the kid and went as far as to say he had “stolen his heart.”

What’s surprising, though, is that it was enough to unseat Elliott — even if it was just once for a throwaway game against an overmatched opponent. It was a bizarre ordeal that still doesn’t make much sense. But here’s what might shed some light:

“There's nothing quite like competition,” Meyer said.

And it was apparently enough to temper Elliott’s surging momentum at the position. Upon learning he would start Saturday, Samuel — who had previously conceded carries to his elder teammate — said he called his family.

“I told my mother. That’s the first person I told,” he said. “And I told my father that I was starting for the game and they were really hyped for me … She was really excited. She was like: ‘I’m going to make sure I watch the opening snap.’”

On his first series, Samuel scored on 23-yard scamper to the outside, where he stretched the Illinois defense to the right before blazing past it. It put the Buckeyes up, 7-0, less than four minutes into the contest.

“It was a sweep play going outside. There was nobody there. It was surprising that it was that easy,” Samuel said. “Running in the end zone, I was just excited. I’ve got to give credit to my line for blocking so well and my receivers. It was just a great play.”

Samuel finished the night with 63 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries and now has 314 yards and four touchdowns on 45 attempts.

His outing helped Ohio State demolish the Fighting Illini, but in a larger context, it was a reminder of what he offers the Buckeyes as they gear up for a monster bout with Michigan State in East Lansing this weekend.

It seems unlikely Meyer will start Samuel in what’s arguably the biggest game of the year. But he’s got a pretty solid backup running back to spell Elliott in a game where little things like fresh legs could make a big difference.

“We still have great confidence in Zeke,” Meyer said. “But we have two guys that can play.”

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