One of the weirder stats concerning Urban Meyer's 12 years as a head coach is that he never has had a 1,000-yard running back. He has had a 1,000-yard rusher, but it was a quarterback (Braxton Miller last season).
Meyer often is asked about the situation and admitted earlier this week that "I'm tired of hearing that, man."
The streak was supposed to end this season because of Ohio State senior tailback Carlos Hyde, who rushed for 970 yards and 16 TDs last season despite missing two games with a minor knee injury. But Hyde was suspended for the first three games this season after an offseason incident at a Columbus, Ohio, bar, and the streak seemed destined to continue.
Don't give up on Hyde and 1,000 yet, though. Hyde, a 6-foot, 238-pound senior who could go as early as the second round in the 2014 draft, has rushed for 294 yards in three games, including a 168-yard outing in Ohio State's most recent game, an Oct. 5 win over Northwestern. That puts him 706 yards short of 1,000 with six regular-season games left. But Ohio State is a lock for a bowl and seems extremely likely to play in the Big Ten championship game, which means the Buckeyes almost certainly have eight games left. That means Hyde must average 88.3 yards per game to reach the 1,000-yard plateau.
"It's a big goal," Hyde told reporters this week. "But I try not to think about it. I just try to do whatever my team needs me to do to get a win. That's all that matters with me."
His toughest test might be Saturday, when the Buckeyes welcome in Iowa. The Hawkeyes are eighth nationally in rush defense (88.5 yards per game) and are the only team in the nation not to have allowed a rushing TD. Still, running the ball is what Ohio State does best, and Iowa's defense won't change the Buckeyes' plans.
"To sit there and say that we are going to go into this football game and not run the ball because Iowa is pretty good at it is not real," Ohio State running backs coach Stan Drayton told reporters. "We are going to run the football and we are going to trust our offensive line to get engaged. We are going to trust our running backs to play through contact."
Meyer called the offensive line "the strength of our program," and players such as senior tackle Jack Mewhort (6-6, 308) and senior guard Andrew Norwell (6-6, 316) can use Saturday's matchup to further impress NFL scouts. Mewhort is considered a potential second-day pick, while Norwell looks more like a late-rounder.
Their task Saturday will be to keep Iowa's senior trio of starting linebackers -- middle 'backer James Morris (6-2, 240) and outside guys Anthony Hitchens (6-1, 233) and Christian Kirksey (6-2, 235), each of whom is a potential third-day draftee -- away from Hyde.
Another stat to keep in mind: Ohio State is riding an 18-game winning streak, the nation's longest.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
