First Posted: 9/9/2014
COLUMBUS — Ezekiel Elliott hasn’t rushed for 50 yards in a game yet this season, much less had a 100-yard game, but he is clearly the No. 1 running back for Ohio State.
Elliott, a sophomore, and freshman Curtis Samuel were the first two names — actually the only two names — OSU running backs coach Stan Drayton talked about when he discussed the state of the Buckeyes’ ground game on Monday.
Elliott rushed for 32 yards on 8 carries and scored on a 15-yard touchdown run in a 35-21 loss to Virginia Tech last Saturday. He had 44 yards on 12 carries in the season opener against Navy.
No running back has gained more than 45 yards in either of Ohio State’s first two games and quarterback J.T. Barrett is the team’s leading rusher with 120 yards going into Saturday’s game against Kent State.
Ohio State is averaging only 151 yards a game rushing after rolling up an average of 308 yards a game on the ground in 2013 with Carlos Hyde and Braxton Miller running behind a veteran offensive line.
“Ezekiel is the most consistent all-round back right now — running inside and outside and blocking,” Drayton said.
“Ezekiel is providing more consistency in all phases of our offense now,” he said. “But there is definitely a place for Curtis Samuel. He does have a place in our perimeter game. He can run inside. He’s still a rookie who is still trying to figure some things out.”
He described Elliott as “someone who has been in the fire a little more, who is a little older and maturely handles it a little better.”
But Samuel has displayed unusual maturity for a freshman, Drayton said.
“The thing that surprises me about him is he does have a good maturity for a freshman. You feel comfortable putting him in the game in any situation. He’s got some toughness. He will block a linebacker and he can definitely do some dynamic things with the football in space. There is no hesitation putting him into the game,” he said.
Elliott rushed for 262 yards as a freshman and got 162 of those yards in one game against Florida A&M. As a senior at St. Louis John Burroughs High School, he rushed for 2,155 yards and won four races at the Missouri state track meet.
Samuel, like Elliott, was rated a 4-star recruit coming out of Brooklyn Erasmus Hall High School, where he rushed for 1,461 yards as a senior.
Notes:
• LINDSEY GONE: Chad Lindsay, a transfer who started four games as a backup center at Alabama last season, announced Monday that he is leaving Ohio State and giving up football because of a shoulder injury.
“I sustained a serious injury during fall camp and unfortunately was re-injured last week. As a result, and after careful consideration, I have determined that it is time for me to walk away from football,” he said in an email.
Ohio State confirmed Lindsay’s exit on Tuesday. He graduated from Alabama in 2014 and was eligible to play right away after transferring.
Before transferring to Ohio State, he also visited Michigan, Louisville and Oklahoma.
• SPENCE RETURNS: Defensive end Noah Spence will return on Saturday after completing a three-game suspension for testing positive for the drug ecstasy the week of the Big Ten championship game last season.
Spence said that he was unaware that someone had put the drug into his drink at a party after the Michigan game last year and successfully appealed to have his NCAA suspension reduced from one year to three games.
He sat out the Orange Bowl and the first two games this season. Spence led Ohio State with eight quarterback sacks last season.
• HOPING IT’S NOT OVER IN A FLASH: Kent State coach Paul Haynes says keeping Ohio State from getting off to a fast start might be the most important thing for his team.
“The key in games like this is really the first four or five series of the game. It kind of determines the rest of the game. We have to play sound, solid football. In games like this when it’s 28-0 before the balloons leave the stadium, it’s tough to come back. We have to make sure we do a good job at the beginning of the game,” he said on the Mid-American Conference coaches teleconference on Monday.
“It’s a huge challenge for our guys. We know going into the Horseshoe is a huge challenge. They’re very, very talented football team but we’ll go in there and fight and put our best foot forward,” he said.
