Ezekiel Elliott Big Day Leads To Big Things

It always seems to happen during playoff time. Its that magical time of the year where anything can happen. Sometimes a team, or a player, can come out of nowhere to have a major impact. A player can have a game for the record books, somehow always finding a way to pop up during playoff time. In the case of the first ever College Football Playoffs, that team was Ohio State and that Player was Ezekiel Elliott.

Things didn't look all that great for the Buckeyes when the season started. First pegged starting QB Braxton Miller gets hurt in August. Then follow it up in September with a loss at home to Virginia Tech. To make matters worse, Quarterback J.T. Barrett got hurt in November, missing the rest of the season. A funny thing happened, though. Every time the Buckeyes looked like they had no chance of making any noise in regards to making a playoff run, they kept getting better. And in the new era of college football, that was enough to earn a chance to win a championship. Had this been the old BCS, they never would have had this opportunity, which is why this new bowl format could really work out for the game.

Ohio State began the first major college football playoff as the fourth and final seed, and was an underdog against both top-seeded Alabama and second-seeded Oregon. Lets not take anything away from the Ducks in this game. They caused Ohio State to turn the ball over four times, a pick and three fumbles, one of which looked a lot like what Jameis Winston did on New Years Day. Heisman Winner Marcus Mariotta had a pretty good day for himself, going 24 of 37 for 333 yards, two touchdowns and a pick. Oregon's offense had many golden chances to get back even and possibly take a lead, but they missed too many red zone opportunities.

As good as the passing game was for Oregon, which worked quite well against Florida State on New Years day, the Ducks couldn't unleash its running game against linebacker Darron Lee and that Ohio State front seven. Even with the benefit of four Ohio State turnovers, the Ducks were held to their lowest point total of the season, four touchdowns fewer than their average coming in. They went 2-for-12 on third downs, with two dropped passes in the first half (ESPN).

Ohio State took full advantage of missed opportunities by the Ducks. A big reason for that was Ezekiel Elliott. Elliott, who is a sophomore, was the named offensive MVP for a good reason. He ran for 246 yards and four touchdowns on a career-high 36 carries. In the past three games, the Big Ten championship against Wisconsin, the Allstate Sugar Bowl semifinal against Alabama and the final against Oregon, Elliott had 696 yards rushing. Its safe to say that Elliott had been feeling it heading into the title game, keeping that good mojo going throughout the day.

Ezekiel Elliott's 246 rushing yards are tied for the 3rd-most in any game in Ohio State history and the most for an OSU player in a bowl game. The only two Ohio State players to run for more yards in a game where Eddie George's 314 yards in 1995 (victory over Illinois) and Keith Byars' 274 rushing yards in 1984 (also vs. Illinois). Ezekiel Elliott finished the season with 1,878 yards, the second-most in any season in Ohio State history. Only Eddie George had more, when he gained 1,927 yards on the ground en route to the 1995 Heisman Trophy. Ohio State closed out the year, after losing at home to Virginia Tech back in Week 2, with a 12 game winning streak.

The national title proved to be the 6th in school history for the Buckeyes in football. That has them with the 5th most national titles in college football history, trailing Alabama (10), Notre Dame (8), Oklahoma (7) and USC (7). Ohio State proved that the playoffs is the perfect place for a new hero to arise at any given moment. Congratulations to the Buckeyes on claiming the National Title!