COLUMBUS – When the All-Big Ten football team as voted by the league’s coaches was announced on Dec. 1, Ezekiel Elliott’s name was absent.
He wasn’t on the first team. Or the second team. Not even honorable mention.
Six week later he was one of the top contenders for this year’s Heisman Trophy.
A combination of a slow start by Elliott and an abundance of good Big Ten running backs, like Wisconsin’s Melvin Gordon, Indiana’s Tevin Coleman, Minnesota’s David Cobb and Nebraska’s Ameer Abdullah, probably is the best explanation for the snub.
But no one is overlooking Elliott this year after a huge postseason meant he ended the season with 1,878 yards rushing, more than any Ohio State running back except Eddie George’s 1,927 yards in 1995.
Elliott rushed for 220 yards in the Big Ten championship game, 230 yards in the Sugar Bowl win over Alabama and carried 36 times for 246 yards and four touchdowns in OSU’s 42-20 win over Oregon in the national championship game.
His 696 yards in the postseason were more than Ohio State’s leading rusher for the season had in 2004, 1987, 1978, 1971 and every year from 1962-1967.
Ohio State scored 44.8 points a game last season, which was first in the Big Ten and fifth nationally. And the Buckeyes might have the talent to score more points this year.
Elliott and whoever plays quarterback, either J.T. Barrett or Cardale Jones, will be operating behind an offensive line with four returning starters from the group that dominated Wisconsin, Alabama and Oregon last year. Guard Pat Elflein was a first-team All-Big Ten selection and tackle Taylor Decker was on the second team.
Barrett was voted first-team All-Big Ten after his brilliant work as an emergency replacement for Braxton Miller. He threw for 2,834 yards and a Big Ten-high 34 touchdowns before a broken ankle in the Michigan game ended his season.
Then Jones emerged from backup quarterback obscurity to deliver an even more surprising relief effort. He threw for 257 yards, 243 yards and 242 yards and a total of five touchdowns against Wisconsin, Alabama and Oregon.
Whoever wins the starting quarterback job will have lots of targets to throw to, especially when Jalin Marshall, Dontre Wilson and Corey Smith return after serving a one-game suspension in the opener at Virginia Tech.
Wide receiver Michael Thomas (54 catches, 799 yards, 9 TDs) was last year’s leading receiver. Marshall caught 38 passes, six of them for touchdowns and tight end Nick Vannett had five touchdown receptions. Young receivers like Parris Campbell, Johnnie Dixon, James Clark and maybe Torrance Gibson could get onto the field.
The big question mark is who will replace Devin Smith as the deep threat among the receivers.
That answer could be Miller, who announced a move to receiver after sitting out last season with a shoulder injury. The two-time Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year as a quarterback has 12 running plays of more than 40 yards in his career. Miller has looked good in practice according to teammates, so an already explosive offense might have just become even more productive.
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DON SPECK The Lima News
