Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott will face no discipline for questioning the Buckeyes’ play calls following the 17-14 loss to MI State last Saturday. “My intentions were not to point fingers at anyone for our failure”.
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After the game junior tailback Ezekiel Elliott questioned the play calling and said this would be his last home game as a Buckeye.
Meyer said Elliott apologized to him.
It ended with the Spartans sprinting around the turf, looking for friends, family and anyone to celebrate with after Michael Geiger’s 41-yard field goal as time ran out gave MI State the win.
Be proactive – Use the “Flag as Inappropriate” link at the upper right corner of each comment to let us know of abusive posts. I asked for those plays to be called, and they weren’t.
“The one thing that made a difference… this game we got to be the chaser”, Dantonio said. “I’m disappointed in the situations that we were put in, and I wish it all played out differently”, Elliott said.
Just to get into the conference title game, the Buckeyes must knock off the MI Wolverines, and then hope that the Penn State Nittany Lions upset the Spartans.
And holding Ohio State to 132 total yards – the fewest for an Urban Meyer coached team – was the evidence needed to show the Nebraska loss was the spark the Spartans needed on defense.
Elliott has been the primary reason Ohio State is 10-1 at the moment.
Elliott averaged 22 carries a game before Saturday. It was the first time in 16 games that Elliott finished under 100 rushing yards. “I think it’s important that as a football program you overachieve and I think we did that”.
Meyer agreed the play-calling was “not very good”, and “I have to do better“, which assumes the head coach will do more of the play-calling than offensive coordinator Ed Warinner and co-offensive coordinator Tim Beck will be lessened. You guys saw that on that drive.
Additionally, it was the highest rated late afternoon game (3:30 PM ET window) on ABC in nearly 10 years, since #2 MI at #1 Ohio State in November 2006. “It just hurts. It hurts a lot”.
Meyer has won three close games against mediocre MI teams since his arrival in 2012.
“I think he said what a lot of people were scared to say”, defensive lineman Joey Bosa said. “I was depressed in the hospital and crying like a baby”, he said. “I got to make the most of my time left”.
By the way, when I say Peppers is getting involved in the run game, I’m no longer just talking about a special package; he’s coming in as a regular tailback from time to time.
“For those of you who ever played or coached that happens”, Meyer said. I don’t know what was going on or what they were seeing.
Following the game, Elliott was blunt in his assessment, saying, “I deserve more than 11 carries”, per Dan Wolken of USA Today.
Even with the Buckeyes out of the mix, the Big Ten championship looks like it could be the only de facto playoff quarterfinal of all the conference title games.
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I mean, right? They would have to rotate between backups Tyler O’Connor and Damion Terry.
