Ohio State Football: 3 Biggest Hurdles to Ezekiel Elliott’s Heisman Trophy Run

There were 28 seconds left in the fourth quarter of the national championship game last January when Ezekiel Elliott took a handoff near the goal line, burst through the Oregon defense and drove in for his fourth touchdown of the night. It was the exclamation point on a brilliant performance for the rising sophomore, who earned MVP honors in each of Ohio State’s playoff victories over Alabama and Oregon. It also served as a prelude for a 2015 season in which Elliott has been marked as the definitive Heisman Trophy frontrunner, according to Bovada (h/t Zac Ellis of Sports Illustrated).  But there are certain hurdles Elliott must overcome to win college football’s most prestigious award. From playing an overlooked position, sharing the ball with too many playmakers and competing with Heisman-worthy quarterbacks in his own backfield, Elliott’s path to New York City may be a tough one to navigate. The Undervalued Running Backs The biggest thing working against Elliott may be the position he plays. Running backs used to dominate the Heisman Trophy voting. From 1970 to 1999, 18 ball-carriers won the award, compared to just nine quarterbacks taking the trophy home. But at the turn of the century, the Heisman Trophy fraternity started to look more like a quarterback club. Tom Pennington/Getty Images Running backs have had a hard time finding the spotlight since 2000. Just two running backs—Reggie Bush and Mark Ingram—have won a Heisman since 2000, and Bush’s trophy was forfeited in the wake of NCAA violations. Running backs such as Montee Ball (2011) and Melvin Gordon (2014) certainly put up Heisman-like numbers during their final collegiate seasons, but both fell short to quarterbacks in the final voting? Will Elliott suffer the same fate?    The Bevy of Playmakers When Urban Meyer took over at Ohio State, he inherited a team that was short on playmakers. His leading receiver (Devin Smith) was coming off a 14-reception, 295-yard receiving year. His leading rusher was his quarterback (Braxton Miller), and he didn’t have the type of speedy H-back that made his offenses at Florida so potent.  “At Ohio State, you should walk off the field going, `Wow! Who are those two guys?'” Meyer said back in 2012, according to Mike Pettica of The Plain Dealer. “I still today haven’t done that.” But after stockpiling talent at Ohio State with recruiting classes that ranked fifth, second, third and seventh nationally, according to 247Sports, there’s plenty of talent ready to take the field in Columbus this fall.  It starts on the perimeter at the wideout position. Michael Thomas is primed for a big season and could become the first Buckeye receiver to surpass the 1,000-yard receiving mark since 2002. Corey Smith had an outstanding spring, highlighted a spring game performance when he caught six passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns. The Buckeyes also have depth with hybrid players such as Jalin Marshall, Dontre Wilson and Noah Brown…

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