BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Ezekiel Elliott wrapped up his post-game interview session and headed toward Ohio State’s team bus. On his way there, he was stopped by some young fans and posed for some quick pictures. Then, Elliott headed over and gave hugs to some family members. Everybody wanted to say hello to the Buckeyes’ star running back.
And why wouldn’t they? After all, Elliott had just put on the best single-game rushing performance of his career.
Elliott carried the ball 23 times for a career-high 274 yards — tied for second all time in a school history for a single game with Keith Byars — and three touchdowns in Ohio State’s 34-27 survival at Indiana. The junior running back had touchdown runs of 55, 65 and 75 yards — all of which came in the second half, where he gained 243 of that total. Elliott's 11.9 yards per carry the highest average all time in a single game at Ohio State.
“I think we were definitely overdue for a game like this,” Elliott said following the game. “The O-line and I were feeling this way for the past couple games and I think we feel good that it finally happened and it happened at a good time.”
Ohio State fans have grown accustomed to seeing big-time performances from Elliott over the past year. After all, this was the guy who ran for 696 yards and eight touchdowns over the Buckeyes’ three-game run to the national title last season. Saturday’s 274-yard effort also put him over 100 yards rushing for the 10th-straight game and it was the fourth 200-plus yard game of his career.
But those games at the end of last season came with Ohio State’s offense seemingly firing on all cylinders. And so far in 2015, for the most part, the Buckeyes have been doing anything but.
Ohio State racked up 517 yards of total offense against Indiana and was incredibly balanced in doing so. The Buckeyes gained 272 yards on the ground and 245 yards through the air as a team.
But turnovers again plagued Ohio State and the Buckeyes were seemingly out of rhythm in the first half against the Hoosiers, only scoring six points on a team that came into Saturday’s game 12th in the Big Ten in scoring defense allowing 32 points per game.
Ohio State wound up getting to 34 at the final whistle, but none of that would have happened without Elliott’s career day. Cardale Jones played what head coach Urban Meyer described as "not awful" in a 18-of-27 passing effort for 245 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
“Zeke’s just such a good second-level runner and that [55-yard touchdown run] jump started everything,” Meyer said. “We’ve just got to complement that with the pass game a little bit. You know, once again, the darn turnovers. We have to fix that.”
That seems to be the underlying problem with the Buckeyes through the first five games of this season, though. They’ve yet to really put everything together and play a complete game. Whether it’s turnovers, poor play from a specific offensive unit, or lack of execution, something just seems to be a bit off on offense.
“I think we need to have more of an edge to us,” left tackle Taylor Decker said. “This time last year everybody was saying we weren’t good enough to play at a high level and I think that kind of gave us a chip on our shoulder. I think we need to get that chip back.”
Having a player like Elliott can make up for Ohio State’s deficiencies for right now, though, and the junior proved again on Saturday he’s capable of literally carrying the Buckeyes to a victory.
Ohio State has some flaws right now, there’s no denying that. But Elliott is capable of masking those flaws because he’s an elite player. And in Saturday’s win over Indiana, that’s exactly what happened.
“Coach Meyer made an emphasis that in games like this on the road, big plays, that’s what’s gonna spark the team,” Elliott said. “I knew that we needed big plays and the O-line did a great job blocking and they made it easy for me.”
