For Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott, things Saturday night against Penn State looked awfully familiar. Over the course of four quarters Saturday and a 38-10 victory, all seemed normal for Elliott and the Buckeyes' running game — the part that has turned into the foundation of this team.
“I think we finally looked like the Ohio State rushing game that you saw the last three games last year,” Elliott said. “The holes they were opening today were just so big and they made it easy for me. All I had to do was get to the second level, make guys miss.”
Ohio State tallied 315 yards on the ground against the vaunted Nittany Lions defense. Elliott ran for 153 of those on 27 carries; quarterback J.T. Barrett racked up 102 of his own. It looked a lot like the Buckeyes’ run to the national title one year ago, where Elliott ran rampant against Wisconsin, Alabama and Oregon.
The obvious difference Saturday was Barrett was the quarterback whereas last season down the stretch it was Cardale Jones. Barrett is a dual-threat guy, which makes it extremely difficult for opposing defenses to handle.
But either way, Ohio State’s rushing attack was the key to its victory.
“Zeke and the offensive line took control of the game,” head coach Urban Meyer said. “And I thought J.T. came in and played great. He ran for 100 yards and he obviously gives you that dual threat.”
Barrett carried the ball 11 times and gained 102 yards with a pair of touchdowns rushing. He came on in relief of Jones, who struggled, and made the Buckeyes’ offense a bit tougher to deal with. Penn State seemed to be playing on its heels defensively for most of the game.
“The main thing, I think, was our O-line did a great job getting them off the ball,” Barrett said. “They have a great D-line, Penn State, and our O-line accepted the challenge of having to move the guys off the ball. I think it all started up front and the O-line did a great job.”
That challenge Barrett alluded to was confirmed by the leader of the Buckeyes’ group of front.
“I think going into the game we were kind of challenged knowing that they did have a good defensive front,” left tackle Taylor Decker said. “When things get tough, when things aren’t going right in the passing game, I feel like we can establish the run game and kind of get something going.
“When we’re able to do that, we can do other things off of it. I think it’s just something we can kind of hang our hat on and assert our will.”
Ohio State has proven it can be successful running the ball with both Jones and Barrett as the team’s quarterback. It has just done it in different ways.
On Saturday against Penn State it was Barrett who provided the Buckeyes with a spark. Elliott, who topped the 100-yard mark for the 12th-straight game, was his usual consistent self.
Ohio State prides itself on being a run-first team and the Buckeyes were exactly that against the Nittany Lions. Things were done a bit differently, but the end result was still the same.
“It just gives another element to your offense and it was something that they obviously weren’t ready for and it worked well for us, we were able to gain some plays out of that and kept them off balance,” offensive coordinator Ed Warinner said. “It was a nice little piece we got in there once we got going.”
