40 best Ohio State football players this century, ranked

Best Ohio State football players this century 7. Ezekiel Elliott – Running back 2013-15

The Big Ten has had a lot of great running backs in its history, and Ohio State accounts for a lot of the greats in the backfield, but few had a better college career than Ezekiel Elliott. He started off his career as a backup to Carlos Hyde, but when he got the ball he was amazing. He averaged 8.7 yards per carry in his freshman year, but he spent most of the year on special teams.

Hyde went to the NFL in 2014, and Elliott took over as the starter. Elliott started off slow, failing to get to 100 yards in three non-conference games to start the season. However, against Cincinnati, Elliott found his stride. He rushed for 181 yards and then added 51 yards receiving. He kept crushing the competition week in and week out. The Buckeyes didn’t lose another game, as Elliott was even better in the big games. He had 154 yards against Michigan State, 121 yards against Michigan, and 220 yards in the Big Ten Championship Game against Wisconsin.

In the College Football Playoff, Elliott started it with a bang. He had 230 yards on just 20 carries. The Buckeyes needed every yard in a 42-35 victory. In the National Championship Game against Oregon, he put up 246 yards as Urban Meyer carried Elliott to a championship. He had 36 carries against Oregon, four of which went for a touchdown.

Elliott returned for his junior season, and had an equally successful season in terms of stats. He once again broke 2,000 total yards, this time scoring 23 touchdowns. He finished his career with 4,400 yards total and 44 touchdowns. He was only behind Archie Griffin in most rushing records at Ohio State.