Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott went beast mode in 2014, particularly down the stretch, en route to 1,878 yards and 18 touchdowns. But what’s interesting is that more than half of Zeke’s 18 scoring runs covered double-digit yards (and kudos to 11W reader Fred Cantor for bringing this to our attention!).
Any old running back can plow into the end zone from inside the 5-yard line, but Elliott specialized in the quick-strike score from distance, earning 10 of his touchdowns by going 10 or more yards to the house. Think of him as the football equivalent of a three-point shooter.
Even more striking though, is that those longer touchdown runs came at critical moments in games during the 2014 run for the CFP championship.
Of Zeke’s 10 “long-range bombs,” five of them came in the fourth quarter, showing how much stronger both he and Ohio State’s offensive line were at the end of games last year. Two of his double-digit scoring runs tied the game at the time. On five occasions, Elliott broke a long TD run to put the game out of reach. Oh, and on three occasions one of his bombs gave the Buckeyes their first points of the game.
| Date | Opponent | distance | time of game | summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8/30/14 | vs. Navy | 10 yards | 8:54, 4th Quarter | Buckeyes up 20-17 at the time. |
| 9/6/14 | vs. Virginia Tech | 15 yards | 11:40, 4th Quarter | Tied the score at 21-21. |
| 10/24/14 | at Penn State | 10 yards | 10:15, 1st Quarter | Opened the game's scoring. |
| 11/8/14 | at Michigan State | 17 yards | 7:12, 4th Quarter | Extended 42-31 lead to 49-31. |
| 11/22/14 | vs. Indiana | 65 yards | 13:49, 1st Quarter | Opened the game's scoring. |
| 11/29/14 | vs. Michigan | 44 yards | 4:58, 4th Quarter | Extended 28-21 lead to 35-21. |
| 12/6/14 | vs. Wisconsin | 81 yards | 4:06, 1st Quarter | Extended 7-0 lead to 14-0. |
| 12/6/14 | vs. Wisconsin | 14 yards | 6:36, 2nd Quarter | Extended 24-0 lead to 31-0. |
| 1/1/15 | vs. Alabama | 85 yards | 3:24, 4th Quarter | Extended 34-28 lead to 42-28. |
| 1/12/15 | vs. Oregon | 33 yards | 4:36, 1st Quarter | Tied score at 7-7. |
It all started in the opener, when Elliott’s 10-yard touchdown run, with just 8:54 to play, turned a three-point Buckeye lead into a 10-point advantage. That was huge against a run-heavy team like Navy. With time winding down and two scores to overcome, the Midshipmen were ill-equipped to come from behind, preferring instead to churn out time-consuming possessions for points.
Zeke did it again the following week against Virginia Tech. His 15-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter tied the game at 21 with 11:40 to play. Although Ohio State eventually lost the game, Elliott had given his team a chance at a critical juncture. The Buckeyes learned a lot from that loss to the Hokies and were able to use it as motivation from that point on, but even that contest was within Ohio State’s reach thanks to No. 15.
Elliott didn’t break a long scoring run in the next four games. He was hardly needed in easy wins over Kent State or Rutgers, and he tore up Cincinnati and Maryland for 182 and 139 yards, respectively.
But then Zeke emerged again. He opened the scoring at Penn State with a 10-yard score just five minutes into the game, before again being largely mothballed in a 55-14 bombing of Illinois. His long game returned at Michigan State, with a 17-yarder that pushed the score out of reach with 7:12 left in the game, extending the Buckeye lead to 49-31 at the time.
| Ezekiel Elliott's long runs... |
|---|
| Gave Ohio State its first points: 3 |
| Came in the fourth quarter: 5 |
| Tied the score: 2 |
| Put the game out of reach: 5 |
After coming up with just 91 yards and no touchdowns at Minnesota, Zeke finished strong, with six double-digit scoring runs in the last five games of the season, breaking at least one in every game. That run of excellence started against Indiana, when he busted a 65-yarder just 1:11 into the game for the first points of the day. A week later, he put Michigan away with 4:58 remaining on a 44-yard fourth-down touchdown run to push a 28-21 lead to 35-21.
Then came the postseason.
Elliott really shone over the last three games. He gashed all three opponents for more than 200 yards, including two home runs against Wisconsin in the B1G championship. His 81-yarder with 4:06 to play in the first quarter turned a tight, 7-0 affair into a 14-0 lead and an eventual laugher. In the second quarter, he scored from 14 yards out to make it 31-0, murdering any Wisconsin comeback hopes on the way to a dominating 59-0 win.
We all remember the Sugar Bowl blast. Zeke went 85 yards through the heart of the south (hey, they should put that on a t-shirt) with 3:24 remaining on the clock to turn a 34-28 lead into a 42-28 cushion (with the two-point conversion), which the Buckeyes would need.
In the CFP championship game against Oregon, Elliott was at it again, blasting in from 33 yards out to put the Buckeyes on the board and tie the game at 7-7 with 4:36 to play in the first quarter. Anything could have happened in that game after the Ducks scored early, but Zeke’s run lifted the Buckeyes and demoralized a defense that would end up yielding 246 yards and four touchdowns to the (then-) sophomore from St. Louis.
We’ll have to keep a close eye on Zeke in 2015 to see if he can top his 10 long-range bombs of 2014, with five of those covering more than 30 yards and three coming beyond the midfield stripe. And we’ll see if he can beat his 85-yarder.
