COLUMBUS: Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott thought he should have got the ball more often in the Buckeyes’ 17-14 loss to Michigan State on Saturday at Ohio Stadium, and he wasn’t afraid to say so afterward.
Elliott wasn’t pleased with only receiving 12 carries that resulted in 33 yards and snapped his nation-leading streak of 15 consecutive 100-yard games.
Visibly upset, he didn’t hold back and repeatedly called out the team’s play calling.
“It’s very disappointing,” Elliott said. “The plays we ran [early], we ran a lot of gap schemes and we were gashing them. You guys saw it on that [touchdown] drive and we had a lot of momentum. Honestly, we didn’t see those plays at all for the rest of the game. Those plays weren’t called anymore. I asked for those plays to be called, and they weren’t. It just hurts. It hurts a lot.”
Even before Saturday night, Elliott stood a strong chance of entering the NFL Draft after this season. But after watching MSU celebrate on the field in a game in which he felt he was not properly used, Elliott was upset enough to outright say that the game will be the last time that Ohio State fans see him play at home.
“There’s no chance of me coming back next year,” Elliott said. “I have to make the most of my time left. I just want to thank Buckeye Nation for making this place so special and I’m sorry about tonight.”
Elliott said he spent the entire game lobbying Ohio State coach Urban Meyer to give him the ball. Elliott put OSU ahead 7-0 in the second quarter with a 1-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-goal but was given just two carries in the second half.
“I was lobbying all game,” he said. “I’m talking about the play calling, so whoever calls the plays. I was lobbying to Coach Meyer all game. … I heard no explanation.”
Meyer said he “wasn’t content” with the play calling as well, although he spoke to reporters before Elliott and wasn’t in the room when players were made available to media.
“I call a lot of plays anyway, so the finger will be pointed right here,” Meyer said. “And I have to do better.”
Elliott nearly didn’t play. He revealed after the game that he spent three days in a hospital this past week with a cyst on his right leg. Depressed and crying, he didn’t think he’d able to play in the biggest game of the season thus far. But he said he was “100 percent” good to go and that it didn’t affect him.
As it turns out, Elliott was able to contribute. It just ended up falling short of his expectations, particularly in a game that garnered at least 18 NFL scouts to the press box.
“I think I deserve more than [12] carries,” he said. “I think I really do. I can’t speak for the play calling. I don’t know what was going on. I don’t know what they were seeing. It wasn’t working.”
Stuck in the mud
As a team, OSU averaged just 3 yards per rushing attempt. It forced some third-and-long situations, something that isn’t ideal in windy and rainy conditions. Facing a stiff Michigan State defense, the Buckeyes were forced to adapt and were never able to do so successfully.
It highlighted the issues at quarterback position this season. The offense had rarely looked like it did at the end of last season with Cardale Jones in at quarterback. It’s looked better with Barrett, but he hadn’t had much time and lost a game with his suspension over an OVI stop. It might have caught up with OSU on Saturday.
“Being that we’re an offense that definitely likes to run the ball and we were getting 2 yards on a run play, we’re not accustomed to that,” Barrett said. “It was different, we tried to find different ways to attack them. They did a good job of keeping everything between the D-ends and we couldn’t really attack the edge. They try to restrain you from getting outside because that’s where they’re weak at. We just couldn’t get outside.”
Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/RyanLewisABJ and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RyanLewisABJ