In his entire Ohio State career, Ezekiel Elliott had 30 or more carries in a game exactly twice: against Michigan in 2015 and against Oregon in the national championship.
Carlos Hyde, despite his reputation as a diamond-studded wrecking ball, never once hit that mark. Beanie Wells, despite playing in an offense designed to grind opposing defenses into dust with pure rock fury, only toted the rock more than 30 times twice in his career. Braxton Miller, who essentially was the entire offense in 2011, never got there.
J.K. Dobbins just had more than 30 carries for the third consecutive game; his 100 total carries for 540 yards was unprecedented, historic, and one thousand percent required for the Buckeyes to win the Big Ten championship.
Dobbins SOARS into the end zone to put the Buckeyes on the board!
— SI College Football (@si_ncaafb) December 8, 2019
Ohio State trails Wisconsin 14-7 in the 2nd quarter
(via @CFBONFOX) pic.twitter.com/bHbBVncQZK
I've mentioned how what Dobbins has done was unprecedented, but historically these three games have helped him write his name in the record books. Dobbins now sits alone in second place on the all-time rushing yardage list for Ohio State, but he also sits second in all-time attempts and is within 100 yards of Ohio State's single-season rushing record (currently owned by Eddie George, at 1927 yards).
Was is required? Well, you tell me. Every time that the Justin Fields was overthrowing receivers, or the team was turning the ball over at critical points in the game, or the defense was having trouble getting off the field, J.K. Dobbins stepped up and relentlessly moved the chains to victory.
It was the same on Saturday night. When things got tough and looked their most dire, Ryan Day and company looked to the most brilliantly consistent part of their offense: a junior from Houston who simply can't be stopped.
