Though he might not concede the notion, Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott is fully aware of the streak he's on right now. Urban Meyer is, too.
"Coach Meyer really didn’t want to put me in on that last series, he was ready to bench me," Elliott said after Ohio State beat Rutgers, 49-7, Oct. 24. "I think I was like 13 yards away from 100 yards and he just wanted to get that streak. He was like, ‘You better get it early, I’m only going to give you a couple plays.’"
"That streak" is Elliott's current run of 100-yard rushing performances, which sits at 13 games dating back to Nov. 22, 2014 in his team's 42-27 win against Indiana. The Scarlet Knights had bottled up Ohio State's Heisman Trophy contender — he had nine carries for 15 yards in the first half — but a 55-yard rip through the secondary to the end zone early in the fourth quarter pushed him past the century mark yet again and finished the scoring for the Buckeyes that night.
"Basically, me begging Coach Meyer to let me go back in for another possession," Elliott said Wednesday, recalling the conversation between himself and his head coach. "I knew I didn’t have 100 this time and it was just something I was trying to get before they pulled me."
“It’s not really something I pay attention to, just more worried about getting back to the Big Ten championship. You definitely hear about it; it’s an honor just to be compared to the great backs here. I’m just going to continue to do what I can to continue that lineage.”– Ezekiel Elliott on his 100-yard streak
Elliott and Meyer, though, both claim they're not worried about keeping the streak alive. Winning, obviously, trumps all.
"There’s certain times of the game that I’ll ask if he has 100," Meyer said on his radio show Thursday. "But no, get in the left hand of the column, win the game, and Zeke is a big part of that."
Elliott's been the prime focus for defenses so far in 2015, with good reason. As Meyer shuffled quarterbacks and searched for an identity with Ohio State's passing game, Elliott was the workhorse that drove the wagon. His 1,130 yards and 13 touchdowns lead the Big Ten, and his 167 carries puts him at second in the league. The bulk of the numbers come in the second half of games, too.
"From Game 1 to Game 8, he has been really consistent with and without the ball," Meyer said Tuesday.
It's no surprise the head coach called Elliott the most consistent player on his team through eight games for the reigning national champions. The numbers are there to back that up.
But Elliott and Meyer insist the running back's streak of 100-yard performances remains on the back burner, even though he'll only be mentioned more and more among past Ohio State greats if it continues.
"Sometimes (I have a feel for it), but it’s not really like a priority of mine to see how many yards I have during a game," Elliott said. "It’s not really something I pay attention to, just more worried about getting back to the Big Ten championship.
"You definitely hear about it; it’s an honor just to be compared to the great backs here. I’m just going to continue to do what I can to continue that lineage."
