USA TODAY International Edition
Meyer’s call on Elliott correct
Ohio State coach opts not to punish star for criticism
Finally, the right call by Ohio State.
Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer said Monday that he won’t discipline Ezekiel Elliott after the star running back complained about Ohio State’s play- calling following the upset by Michigan State. Specifically, Elliott questioned why he wasn’t given the ball more often after getting 12 carries in the 17- 14 loss.
It’s a valid question, and one echoed by anybody who has watched Ohio State for, oh, about 90 seconds over the last two seasons.
Elliott is one of the best running backs in the country, a dynamic player who can carve daylight out of impenetrable walls of defensive linemen. In Ohio State’s previous 17 games, he’d rushed for 100 yards or more in all but one of them.
No coincidence, Ohio State won all those games.
For all the attention Cardale Jones, J. T. Barrett and the quarterback conundrum have gotten, it’s Elliott who makes the Buckeyes go. Yet with nasty winter conditions wreaking havoc on the passing game, the Ohio State staff seemed to forget they had the
Heisman Trophy candidate on their roster. He finished with 33 yards, including 27 on a 32- yard drive capped by his 1- yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
“I just feel like we weren’t put in the right opportunity to win this game, we weren’t put in the right situation to win this game,” Elliott said.
He was right. Even Meyer acknowledged it, saying the playcalling had been “very conservative.”
Yet Elliott has been roundly criticized for being “disloyal,” as if winning the national championship last season puts Meyer and his staff beyond reproach. News flash: They’re not. From the time Meyer made Jones the starting quarterback but said he was still going to give Barrett playing time, Ohio State has been on a slow ride to ruin. The Buckeyes have lacked the confidence and creativity that carried them to the national title, to say nothing of the carefree attitude with which they played.
No, everything about Ohio State this season has been heavy and dull — including its playcalling.
“I couldn’t disagree with him and his comments,” Meyer said Monday. “He should have gotten the ball a little more. But that was not the place for it.”
Sure, Elliott could have timed his rant better, made his plea behind closed doors. He also would have been wise not to announce right then that he plans to go pro after the season, even if almost everyone already assumed it.
But none of that changes the fact that Elliott was right, and Meyer is wise to recognize that.
Ohio State has problems bigger than Elliott’s mouth. Making him a scapegoat won’t solve any of them.
FOLLOW COLUMNIST NANCY ARMOUR @ nrarmour for commentary on the latest in major sports.