Alright so today I wanted to dive into Ezekiel Elliott’s Ohio State records because frankly, I kept seeing his name pop up everywhere but couldn’t remember all the big stuff off the top of my head. Figured I’d track it down properly and share how I went about it.
Where I Started: Totally Lost
I sat down at my messy desk yesterday evening, coffee getting cold, just staring at my laptop. Typed “Ezekiel Elliott Ohio State stats” into search and honestly? Got overwhelmed fast. A million sites popped up – stat pages, fan forums, old news articles. It was a real mess. Clicked a few links, mostly saw basic rushing yards numbers, but I knew there had to be more to his story than that.
Digging Deeper: Like Finding Needles
Started focusing on his biggest seasons, 2014 and 2015 mostly. Went straight to Ohio State’s own athletics site archives – figured that had to be reliable, right? Found season stats and game logs. This is where it got interesting:
- Scrolled through the 2014 National Championship season logs. Damn, he didn’t just play, he exploded late season.
- That playoff run? Stuck out hard. Made myself check each playoff game individually. Saw it: back-to-back games with insane rushing yards against top teams.
- Noticed something wild: three straight games over 200 yards rushing! Alabama? 230 rushing yards. Oregon in the title game? Another 246 rushing yards. Just crazy numbers.
Then I remembered people talking about his place in Buckeye history. Went down a rabbit hole on NCAA and Big Ten record sites, comparing his seasons to legends like Eddie George or Archie Griffin. Found conflicting numbers on his exact all-time ranking at Ohio State. Some sites had him 2nd in single-season rushing yards (1,878 in 2015!), others debated place. Annoying! Cross-checked with official OSU pages again. Seemed solid: definitely top three or four for single-season rushing.
The Record That Stuck With Me
The one that hit me hardest? His 2015 season, just putting up insane numbers every week. Realized he averaged over 140 yards per game for the entire season. For the entire season! That consistency blew me away. Dude was a machine.
Also got sidetracked looking at his total touchdowns. He scored 23 rushing TDs in 2014 and another 23 in 2015. Forty-six touchdowns in two seasons? Yeah, that’s why he became a legend in Columbus.
Putting It Together: The Big Stuff
After all that clicking and scrolling and cross-referencing, here’s the core achievements for Zeke at Ohio State that felt most solid and worth remembering:
- Absolute beast in the 2014 College Football Playoff: National Champion and MVP performance.
- Single-season rushing yards at OSU: Smashed it with 1,878 yards in 2015 (pretty sure it was the record then, some new guys might have edged it since).
- Consecutive 200-yard games: Did it three times in a row! Rare air.
- Back-to-back seasons (2014 & 2015) as a rushing machine scoring 23 TDs each year.
- Left college as one of Ohio State’s all-time top rushers overall. Period.
What My Messy Research Taught Me
Honestly, the whole process kinda pissed me off at times because finding consistent info was harder than I thought. Learned you gotta go back to the primary sources like official university archives first. Fan sites mean well but get dates and stats jumbled sometimes. The big takeaway for me? Elliott wasn’t just good; during that championship run and his final year, he was practically unstoppable. His mix of power and speed defined that Buckeye offense. All those yards and touchdowns tell the story of a dude who just knew how to find the end zone. Good luck finding another Buckeye back who carried a team that hard during a title run anytime soon.
Just another reminder why digging into stats yourself beats reading someone else’s summary!