Ohio State Football: Buckeyes’ impressive streak of 1,000 yard backs
The Ohio State football program was one of the best in the country the last 10 years and one of the keys was having plenty of 1,000 yard backs.
During the last decade of Ohio State football six backs rushed for 1,000 rushing yards in at least one season and accounted for 10 total. At least one back has hit that mark each of the last eight years.
Will one of the backs this year keep that streak alive? Before looking at that possibility, let’s look at those who rushed for 1,000 yards in a season the last 10 years.
Dan Herron got the decade off to a great start in 2010 rushing for 1,155 yards in Jim Tressel’s last year as head coach. His senior season he only rushed for 675 yards and no Buckeye rushed for 1,000.
When Urban Meyer took over the Ohio State football team he never had a 1,000 yard back. That changed in 2012 when quarterback Braxton Miller rushed for 1,271 yards. Carlos Hyde came on strong that season and gained 970 yards carrying the football.
In 2013 Miller again had over 1,000 yards on the ground and Hyde rushed for 1,521. Hyde moved on to the NFL, Miller re-injured his shoulder in fall camp and was out for the season so it was up to Ezekiel Elliott to carry the load in the running game in 2014.
Not a problem.
Zeke passed the 1,000 yard mark during the regular season and then gained 696 yards on the ground in the postseason in the National Championship run and finished with 1,856 rushing yards He followed that up with 1,821 in 2015.
With Elliott moving on to the NFL, redshirt freshman Mike Weber rushed for 1,096 yards in 2016. When he was injured in fall camp the following year J.K. Dobbins stepped in as the featured back and rushed for 1,403 yards.
In 2018 Dobbins rushed for 1,053 yards and Weber added 954. With Weber choosing to turn pro, Dobbins was the main guy and he became Ohio State’s first 2,000 yard rusher.
Now let’s look at the rushing numbers the 1,000 yard backs put up during the last decade.
- Dan Herron: 1,830 yards, 19 touchdowns
- Braxton Miller: 3,315 yards, 33 touchdowns
- Carlos Hyde: 3,198 yards, 37 touchdowns
- Ezekiel Elliott: 3,961 yards, 43 touchdowns
- Mike Weber: 2,626 tards, 24 touchdowns
- J.K. Dobbins: 4,459 yards, 38 touchdowns
The totals for these 1,000 yard backs during the decade are nothing short of amazing. They rushed for 19,389 yards and scored 194 touchdowns on the ground. Wouldn’t Woody Hayes be proud of those rushing totals?
The 2020 season has been shortened but a running back could keep the 1,000 yard rushing streak alive. Master Teague rushed for 789 yards last season as a backup to Dobbins and Trey Sermon had 947 yards for Oklahoma in 2018.
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It’s hard to say if the streak of 1,000 rushers will continue. Whatever the case, with these two leading the way and second-year players Marcus Crowly and Steele Chambers behind them I expect the Ohio State running attack will start this decade off strong.