Ohio State may have had its most complete game of the season Saturday night at Rutgers, but the team continues to display certain obvious trends. Namely, the team starts slowly and finishes strongly.
There are few more obvious examples of this than in the running game. By looking at Ezekiel Elliott’s numbers at halftime and at game’s end, the disparity is fairly obvious. Only against Virginia Tech and Penn State did Zeke have more yards before halftime than after. Whether it’s halftime adjustments or the opposing defense breaking tendencies and giving new looks or new schemes not shown on film—or simply a world-class running back and the big offensive line wearing down the enemy—Zeke and the rushing attack have thrived in the third and fourth quarters.
Here’s a quick look at Elliott’s first-half rushing totals this season (and a big shout-out to our own Chris Lauderback for his help with compiling the numbers in this column):
Virginia Tech: 4 carries, 105 yards (including an 80-yard TD)
Hawaii: 14 carries, 48 yards with 2 TDs
Northern Illinois: 11 carries, 43 yards
Western Michigan: 6 carries, 44 yards
Indiana: 10 carries, 31 yards
Maryland: 12 carries, 29 yards
Penn State: 15 carries, 78 yards (including a 10-yard TD)
Rutgers: 9 carries, 15 yards with 1 TD
Zeke’s average in the first half this season: 10 carries, 49 yards.
Obviously the performance against the Hokies was skewed by an 80-yard run. The Penn State game had the most first-half rushing attempts, which began with Elliott gaining 11 yards on his first five carries, then saw him go for 67 yards on the next 10.
Here are Zeke’s second-half numbers in 2015:
Virginia Tech: 7 carries, 17 yards
Hawaii: 10 carries, 53 yards with 1 TD
Northern Illinois: 12 carries, 65 yards
Western Michigan: 10 carries, 80 yards, 1 TD
Indiana: 13 carries, 243 yards, 3 TDs (55, 65, 75 yards)
Maryland: 9 carries, 77 yards, 2 TDs
Penn State: 12 carries, 75 yards
Rutgers: 10 carries, 127 yards, 1 TD
Zeke’s second-half average: 10 carries, 92 yards.
Elliott is nearly doubling his yardage on the same number of carries after halftime. Virginia Tech and Indiana are the big outliers here on either end of the spectrum. But even without those two games, Zeke would have averaged 10 carries for 79.5 yards in the second half.
Fans have been frustrated throughout the season with Ohio State’s first-half play, particularly in the opening quarter. It’s understandable to want the Buckeyes to dropkick everyone right from the beginning. But this isn’t a new phenomenon. Go back and look at the halftime scores against Oregon and Alabama last season.
Despite the slow starts, it’s important to keep in mind that the coaching staff, Elliott, and the Slobs tend to get this stuff figured out by halftime. If your running back is gaining nearly 100 yards after the break, all is well.
There are only four regular season games left and the season is quickly slipping through our fingers. Enjoy the Grind.
— Urban Meyer (@OSUCoachMeyer) October 27, 2015
