Ohio State Football: Carlos Hyde Makes the Buckeyes Elite

After watching his Ohio State team get pushed around by Northwestern for a majority of Saturday’s game, Urban Meyer turned to his most physical runner, Carlos Hyde, to give the Buckeyes a lift.

Hyde delivered with one of the best performances of his collegiate career, running for a game-high 168 yards and three touchdowns to lift the Buckeyes to a 40-30 victory.

He was the difference between a win and a loss against the Wildcats. He’s also the difference between Ohio State being a very good team and an elite team.

As a power back, Hyde lacks the game-breaking speed and shiftiness that Meyer usually prefers in his running backs. When Meyer was hired by Ohio State in 2011, Hyde was concerned he wasn’t a fit for the spread offense.

“I was like, I don’t see no big dude running around, except for Tim Tebow, and he’s the quarterback,” Hyde said, according to Ben Axelrod of BuckeyeGrove.com. “I don’t play quarterback.”

As it turned out, Hyde’s physical running was exactly what Meyer needed to guide the Buckeyes to an undefeated 2012 season.

The 6’0″, 235-pound running back exploded for 970 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns. Hyde posted those numbers despite missing two-and-a-half games after spraining his MCL (the same injury Braxton Miller suffered against San Diego State) early in the season.

Hyde surged in Ohio State’s final seven games, running for 812 yards and 14 touchdowns. Despite Miller’s brilliant play, it was Hyde who paced the Buckeyes…

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