When people caught wind of Ohio State running back Carlos Hyde’s suspension for allegedly slapping a woman at a Columbus night club this summer, the reaction was interesting to say the least.
Some thought it wasn’t a big deal because Ohio State was loaded at the running back position and Hyde wasn’t that good to begin with. His numbers in 2012 (970 yards and 16 touchdowns) were just a byproduct of teams having to focus on Braxton Miller all the time.
At least that was the spin by some in Buckeye nation.
Yet, over the past three games one could easily argue that without the results Hyde put up, Ohio State isn’t sitting here 7-0 heading into a matchup with Penn State this week.
The Buckeyes have won each of their three Big Ten games to date by 10 points or less and Hyde’s importance to each of those results has increased by the week.
In the Buckeyes’ Big Ten opener at home against Wisconsin, Hyde was a huge part of the way things went down at the start of the game when Ohio State jumped out to a 17-7 lead by the early parts of the second quarter.
On the night, Hyde managed 85 yards on 17 carries, but he had 38 of those 85 yards on three key carries in the first three OSU drives as the Buckeyes went up 14-7.
He went for 15 yards for a first down on a 2nd-and-4 on the opening drive that ended in a touchdown, then went for 11 yards on another 2nd-and-4 on the second drive for Ohio State and capped it all off with a 12 yard run on the third drive, which also ended…
Continue Reading: Carlos Hyde Has Kept Ohio State Undefeated the Last Three Games
