Ohio State football | Ezekiel Elliott left his mark without Heisman

Running back Ezekiel Elliott (15) joins Archie Griffin as the only Ohio State backs to top 1,500 yards in consecutive years.

In the perpetual Heisman Trophy primary that is the college football regular season, Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott ended his campaign with an exclamation mark but was not invited to the final debate.

Alabama running back Derrick Henry, Stanford running back Christian McCaffery and Clemson’s quarterback DeShaun Watson gained the tickets to the Heisman presentation ceremony on Saturday in New York. It likely helped boost their chances that they played in key conference championship games on the final weekend of the regular season while Elliott, Louisiana State running back Leonard Fournette, Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield and Florida State running back Dalvin Cook, among others being considered, did not.

“Don’t worry about the things you can’t control. Just make the best of the hand you are dealt,” Elliott tweeted on Tuesday. “That’s all a man can do.”

Elliott is still in the running for the Chicago Tribune Silver Football, along with quarterbacks Connor Cook of Michigan State and C.J. Beathard of Iowa. The award goes annually to the Big Ten most valuable player as decided by a vote of the coaches. The winner will be announced on Friday.

As for the Heisman, in a comparison of stats, Elliott did fall short of some of those others, though he now is the No. 2 all-time rusher in OSU history behind two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin. And with 1,672 yards rushing this season to go with 1,878 last year (second most in school history behind the 1,927 of Eddie George in his 1995 Heisman year), Elliott has left his mark in what he said will be his final collegiate season. He joins Griffin as the only Ohio State backs to top 1,500 yards in consecutive years.

But for the voters who focused only on stats, Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett said, they missed the big picture when it came to Elliott’s campaign. As coach Urban Meyer has been saying for two years, it’s what Elliott does when he doesn’t have the ball that sets him apart.

“You watch our games — when he doesn’t have the ball in his hands is like when it’s a crazy deal,” Barrett said. “People outside really don’t look at that. They see what he does when he has the ball in his hands.

“But as far as like when he’s pass blocking or when I’m running the ball, I see the blocks. I’m running a sweep to the left and I see him chop a guy like a cherry tree. How many other backs can do that in the country?”

Or will do that.

“Yeah, not can do it, but will do it, put their body on the line just so I can get 3 yards,” Barrett said. “I definitely think he’s deserving of being in there. You don’t get running backs like that” all the time.

That all-around game is why Meyer was still stumping a few days ago for Elliott to be invited to the Heisman ceremony.

“There’s no question he should be in New York,” Meyer said.

He added, “I think the Heisman should invite more; they used to invite four or five guys,” recalling 2013, for example, when six were brought to New York in what was a close race won by Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston.

But Heisman officials determine who is getting the lion’s share of support on the 929 ballots at the beginning of the week and invite those deemed to be in serious contention. Last year, only three were brought to the ceremony, where Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota was declared the winner.

Elliott’s 214-yard, two-touchdown effort in the Buckeyes’ 42-13 win at Michigan was an emphatic statement in his last regular-season game. It also was a major rebound from his 12-carry, 33-yard outing against Michigan State in the team’s loss the week before, after which he criticized the play-calling and his 12 carries, an action that likely cost him some Heisman support.

He didn’t lose support from his teammates.

“He said that (because) … he wants the ball in order to help the team win,” Barrett said.

Even though he ultimately fell short in the Heisman race, Elliott said all along “It’s an honor to be mentioned in the conversation. It’s just an honor, just a blessing, and I’m just thankful to my teammates for giving me the opportunity to do what I do every week.”

Despite solid season, Ezekiel Elliott not good enough for Heisman consideration

Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott was not on the list of players invited to New York for this year’s Heisman Trophy ceremony

Going into the football season, Buckeye fans had legitimate belief that there could be not just one, but potentially multiple Heisman contenders on their roster. Ezekiel Elliott was coming off of three straight games of over 200 rushing yards, and there was seemingly no reason that this shouldn’t have continued.

Whoever started for Ohio State at quarterback, either J.T. Barrett or Cardale Jones, was also projected to be in the mix. As the weeks progressed, and the Buckeyes never took off on offense, these expectations were quickly lost. What started as a two-quarterback system eventually became so bad that Cardale wasn’t even seeing playing time by the end of the year.

Elliott had a solid, consistent year outside of the mind boggling game against Michigan State. This was not entirely his fault, as the coaching staff was seemingly making a conscious effort to not use him. But that one game did not overshadow a season-long effort that solidified Zeke as one of the best running backs in the history of Ohio State football. When it was all said and done, Elliott finished second in career rushing yards at Ohio State, only behind Archie Griffin.

Ezekiel’s 1672 total rushing yards on the year are fifth-best in the country. With Ohio State absent from their conference championship game and not in the College Football Playoff, Elliott does not get the same hype that Alabama’s Derrik Henry or Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey do. Both of those players were invited to New York, and it also helps that they finished first and second in total rushing yards respectively.

Clemson’s Deshaun Watson was the only other invitee, representing the number one team in the country at quarterback. Watson will look to continue a streak of five straight years that have seen quarterbacks win the award.

Elliott has already announced that he is going to the NFL, so there is no chance for him to try again next year. This entire season was a mess for the Buckeyes on offense, and it is hard to not imagine what could have been.

Were Expectations Too High for Ezekiel Elliott?

COLUMBUS, Ohio — With just under six minutes remaining in the third quarter of Ohio State's 20-13 win over Northern Illinois on Saturday, Ezekiel Elliott took off from the Huskies' 48-yard line and bounced outside down the west sideline of Ohio Stadium.

Darting toward the north end zone, the Buckeyes running back suddenly found himself taking flight, as he cleanly hurdled NIUdefensive back Albert Smalls before stumbling forward for what was ultimately a six-yard gain.

The sold out crowd in The Horseshoe let out an audible gasp, followed by an even louder one when Elliott's jump was replayed moments later on the south end-zone scoreboard.

It was the type of play Ohio State fans have come to expect from Elliott, the type of highlight made for instant Internet consumption. 

Yet in what was an otherwise forgettable day for the Buckeyes offense, which totaled just 298 yards and 13 points against its opponent from the Mid-American Conference, Elliott's hurdle, too, got lost in the shuffle.

Moments earlier, LSU's Leonard Fournette provided college football with its most watched running back-related highlight of the day, essentially performing a WWE-style back body drop on Auburn defensive back Tray Matthews during a 29-yard touchdown run against the Tigers.

In a way, it wasn't just Matthews but also Elliott whom Fournette found himself tossing to the side.

LSU's sophomore running back is the new front-runner to win the Heisman Trophy, according to Bovada (h/t Odds Shark).

This wasn't the way it was supposed to be for Elliott, the preseason favorite for college football's most prestigious individual award following a historic run through last winter's postseason.

In the Big Ten Championship Game, Sugar Bowl and national title game, the then-sophomore totaled 696 rushing yards and eight touchdowns, earning Offensive MVP honors in both of the Buckeyes' two victories in the College Football Playoff.

"He's the most underrated back in America," Urban Meyer said of Elliott after the national title game. "A monster."

But before Elliott could even put down his championship trophy, the hype machine for his encore season was already hitting on all cylinders.

Some, such as Time's Sean Gregory, even questioned whether Elliott should challenge the NFL draft's restrictions, which don't allow a prospect to turn pro until three years after his time in high school has come to a close.

Elliott, a projected first-round pick by Bleacher Report's Matt Miller and one of the few remaining faces of college football, entered 2015 with no shortage of expectations attached to his name as Ohio State set out to defend its national title.

But through three games, Elliott's numbers have hardly matched what he did last winter, as his rushing totals in his past three games (331 yards and four touchdowns) aren't even half of what he combined for in his three previous games.

"We're not playing well, we're not executing," Elliott said of the OSUoffense's recent struggles. "We're not paying attention to the details of the game."

That's not to say that Elliott is underperforming, as the Buckeyes offensive line has endured inconsistencies and the Ohio State quarterback situation remains a work in progress, with Meyer needing to declare Cardale Jones his starter 

three times in four weeks.

Despite all the question marks around him, Elliott has been the one steady force in the Buckeyes offense, rushing for more than 100 yards in each of Ohio State's first three games.

"The confidence level I have right now is to give it to one of the best running backs in America," Meyer said of his team's offensive strategy.

But just being "steady" wasn't what led to preseason magazine covers and ESPN E:60 segments. And it raises the question of whether expectations were simply too high for Elliott heading into the 2015 season.

Perhaps, although that could be viewed more as an indictment of today's hyperbole friendly, quick-to-crown media landscape. After all, while Elliott looked like an all-world player in the postseason, he wasn't even an all-conference selection at the end of his sophomore season.

Nor was Elliott thought of as one of the headlining players in the 2016 NFL draft until he gashed an Alabama defense with no shortage of pro prospects of its own for 230 yards and two touchdowns in last season's Sugar Bowl.

That doesn't make the praise that's been heaped on Elliott any less warranted, but it does make one wonder if there was too much, too soon.

It'd be hard to classify what Elliott is currently going through as struggles, especially after he turned just 11 carries into 122 yards and a touchdown against Virginia Tech in the season opener. Some of his most impressive work on the season can't even be quantified on a stat sheet, as he's drawn universal praise for his ability in pass protection.

But it wasn't his blocking that landed the St. Louis, Missouri, native at the forefront of the Heisman Trophy discussion before the start of the season.

And while there's still plenty of time left in the season for Elliott to reinsert himself in the conversation, he currently finds himself third when it comes to running backs behind Fournette and Georgia running back Nick Chubb.

For now, Elliott's lack of eye-popping numbers can be considered the result of an Ohio State offense still searching for its identity. The Buckeyes, however, know what they'd like their calling card to be, and it involves Elliott making a jump not only over defenders but also back into the Heisman race.

"We're a power-running team," Elliott asserted. "The thing is, on our drives, we're not starting out well. So we're getting behind and we're not running the type of offense we're used to running. That's a problem."

OSU's Ezekiel Elliott has practical reason for hurdling more tacklers

Ezekiel Elliott not only has a practical reason for adding more hurdles to his array of moves on the football field.

He also might be genetically inclined to do it.

First there was the explanation for why the Ohio State running back leapt over two would-be tacklers as the Buckeyes beat Western Michigan last weekend:

"My first time hurdling someone in football was last year when we played Alabama," Elliott said. "This year, it seems like it's been a real emphasis from defenses to cut tackle me. I'm tired of taking those shots to the leg, those thigh bruises, so I decided to go up top a couple times."

Then came more background via ESPN.com, which caught up with Elliott's mother -- who just happened to be a former track standout at Missouri.

Dawn Elliott pointed out her son used to actually run the hurdles in high school but had not done it on the football field during his prep days.

"I was laughing and asked him about it after the game Saturday, and he said he had always just been scared to do it," she said. "He did not do that in high school or any other time he played, but I mean, it doesn't surprise me, because Ezekiel is a very good athlete, just very athletic."

Hurdle gene: Ezekiel Elliott's new go-to move came from his mother

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Over time, the hurdles have progressively grown in size. These days, the obstacles Ezekiel Elliott are leaping over have the ability to move and fight back.

But Elliott's form is as impressive on the football field, flying over potential tacklers, as it ever was for the Ohio State running back when he was a high school track sensation. And whether the hurdles were 33 inches tall when he was 13 years old or 6-foot-1 and 250 pounds, as they are now, Dawn Elliott is watching the same thing in action from the stands.

It's a genetic gift from Mom, an all-conference track star at Missouri, to her son, a Heisman Trophy candidate with the Buckeyes.

“That’s me,” Dawn Elliott said with a laugh. “I get the hurdle credit.

“But truthfully, I don’t know where this is coming from [lately]. He’s been hurdling since he was 13; he’s just never done it before in a football game.”

Those moves have proved to be quite useful in pads recently, and Elliott has turned the hurdle into a go-to move that does far more than provide easy filler for the highlight reel.

During the last two weeks, Elliott has jumped over defenders three times to pick up extra yardage, including once with what his mom quickly identified as the wrong “lead leg” when his left was used instead of his typical right. But in addition to the short-term benefit of tacking on a couple of yards to a carry, Elliott has more practical reasons for taking to the air.

The junior running back has noticed more defenders lowering their targets when they try to tackle him, aiming for his legs to avoid the punishment he’s been known to deliver with his shoulder pads. Those leg shots not only hurt to receive, but they take away his ability to pick up yards after contact. That left Elliott in need of a different approach to account for the adjustment, and a solution wasn’t all that hard to find, thanks to his bloodline.

“It was not something I really planned, but it was just more of something that just kind of happened because of the way teams have been playing us,” Elliott said. “It seems to be a tendency for opposing defenses to aim for my legs when tackling, and it’s kind of hard to do anything when you’ve got a bunch of guys aiming for your legs. Those aren’t shots you want to take; they’re pretty dangerous.

“I just decided I’m going to try to go up and over some guys, and I’ve definitely seen it working already in games. Guys are just hesitant when they’re trying to tackle me now, and they don’t really want to hit me high. It plays to my advantage.”

More often than not, Elliott already has the advantage thanks to his natural athleticism, his ability to read blocks and a fearless attitude, whether he’s taking on a tackler head-on or jumping over him.

Just about the only thing that can slow down Elliott so far this season is Ohio State itself, which hasn’t been giving him rushing attempts as frequently as it did last year during his ridiculous run through the postseason. Elliott still has 455 rushing yards and five touchdowns and has been a factor as a receiver with eight receptions for 51 yards. But he has averaged five fewer touches per game than he did during the three-game barrage that produced nearly 700 rushing yards, eight touchdowns and a national championship.

Ohio State is aware of all those numbers, and coach Urban Meyer has made it clear he plans to get his workhorse tailback more involved as the season progresses. But if the concern for the moment is just about keeping the tailback’s body fresh, Elliott actually came up with his mother-approved way of doing that already.

“I was laughing and asked him about it after the game Saturday, and he said he had always just been scared to do it [on the football field],” Dawn Elliott said. “He did not do that in high school or any other time he played. But, I mean, it doesn’t surprise me, because Ezekiel is a very good athlete, just very athletic.”

And Mom’s influence in that is impossible to miss now.

CFB AM: Some jerk stole Ohio State RB Ezekiel Elliott's dog

You'd think being the star running back for the Ohio State Buckeyes -- the running back who quite literally ran the Buckeyes to a national championship last season -- would make you and your family untouchable in Columbus, but apparently not.

Ezekiel Elliott retweeted his dad, Stacy, on Monday evening to alert everyone that the family dog was stolen from his dad's house.

According to a local TV station, Stacy found that someone had cut a hole in the fence to steal Chase from the backyard.

This isn't the first time Chase has gone missing, as the family also needed helped finding him in May 2014.

What kind of jerk would cut a hole in the Elliott family's fence and steal Zeke's dog?

The good news: Elliott's dad announced Tuesday morning that police had found Chase and he was coming home safe and sound (it's not clear if the police identified anyone as responsible for Chase going missing).

Now Zeke can enjoy his pup and rush for 300 yards at Indiana this weekend without this burden on his mind.

SOME THINGS TO DISCUSS TODAY

Scooby is back on the shelf. Arizona star linebacker Scooby Wright is going to miss "several weeks" after spraining his right foot against UCLA last weekend. Scooby hurt his knee in Week 1 and missed the following two games before coming back to play the Bruins, but now the reigning Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year will probably miss all of October. Bummer -- college football needs guys like Two Star Scoob.

Here's Georgia's shot to change the narrative. As colleague Stewart Mandel writes in this week's Forward Pass, Georgia and Mark Richt -- for all of their success -- are habitually tabbed as the ones who "can't win the big one." All of that can change in Week 5 when No. 13 Alabama visits No. 8 Georgia in the weekend's best game, and it's a tipping point of sorts for the Crimson Tide. A loss in Athens all but ends 'Bama's hopes for getting back to the College Football Playoff. While everyone will be watching what running back Nick Chubb does against that 'Bama defensive front, I'm excited to see how QB Greyson Lambert attacks the Tide. He's playing like the best quarterback in the SEC.

Big 12 says the officiating in Texas-Oklahoma State wasn't bad. Big 12 coordinator of officials Walt Anderson defended the officiating in last weekend's game that saw Texas get charged with 16 penalties to OK State's seven, with several of them causing controversy (with a defensive holding call and an unsportsmanlike conduct flag on Charlie Strong both pretty bogus). Here's more on the plays that have people upset and what the Big 12 saidabout them if you care.

LASTLY

An important tradition is coming to an end at Florida: The band has been instructed to not play the "Move back, you suck" tune any more after penalties on the opponent. Gainesville is so nice.

Have a great Tuesday, everyone.

After Theft, Ezekiel Elliott Finds His Dog

The city of Columbus was on alert Monday, when Ohio State star Ezekiel Elliott announced that his 1-year-old dog, Chase, had been stolen from his father's backyard.

According to My Fox 28, thieves had cut a hole in the chain-link fence of Chase's enclosure. Elliott's father, Stacy, posted a missing dog poster to Twitter, including pictures of the dog and Ezekiel's cell number in case people had any information.

Fortunately, this sad story has a happy ending: Chase was found unharmed and chained to a random fence in Columbus. Police haven't said how or where the dog was found .

"It's one of the happiest days of my life," said Ezekiel's father to My Fox 28.

Police did capture the suspects, but Ezekiel decided not to press charges.

Given how the dog was chained up and left to be discovered, it seems like the thieves stole the dog without realizing how famous it was.

Elliott bought his dog in spring of 2014, and named him after the Buckeyes' slogan for the 2014 season, "The Chase."

The team won the national championship, so Chase has become something of a pseudo-mascot, if not the most beloved dog of Buckeye Nation.