COLUMBUS — As a freshman running back, it was J.K. Dobbins who led the Buckeyes in rushing last year with 1,403 yards. He also won the Big Ten Championship Game MVP award for his 174 yards rushing on 17 carries against Wisconsin.
Dobbins’ name has since popped up in Heisman talk, and he was expected to once again be an offensive weapon for the Buckeyes this season.
Junior running back Mike Weber was a good second option to split carries with Dobbins last season, but it was almost always Dobbins who stole the show.
Weber had just two games with over 100 yards rushing last season, but on Saturday against Oregon State, he reached that mark before halftime of OSU’s 77-31 win over the Beavers.
Dobbins put up solid numbers as well (15 rushes, 74 yards), but it was Weber who shined in the backfield for Ohio State and stole the show this time around instead.
The talented duo of running backs was praised all throughout the offseason by acting head coach Ryan Day and teammates, and for Day, this kind of performance was to be expected by Weber.
“Really proud of the way Mike has practiced,” Day said after the game. “We’ve been talking about that for a while now. He’s had a really good preseason. He’s practiced hard, been taking care of the football. And so that was really good to see him play well today.”
Through the first three quarters, Weber racked up 181 rushing yards and two touchdowns. He finished with 186 yards, three rushing touchdowns, and his first career touchdown reception.
In his 2017 season, Weber totaled 626 yards and 10 touchdowns. In the last four games a year ago, Weber rushed for a total of 189 yards, which was just three more yards than he managed in Saturday’s game alone.
His performance was arguably the best he’s played as a Buckeye. Previously, his career high rushing game was against Michigan State last year when he totaled 162 yards. On Saturday, Weber set a new personal high at Ohio State with his 186 rushing yards on 20 carries.
Weber recognized a lot of similarities between the long runs from Michigan State and Oregon State, and he believes that what he showed in those two games is the new normal.
“Yeah that’s me healthy,” Weber said. “When the line’s blocking good, like they normally always do and I’m doing my job, everyone doing their job, I feel like anybody can get off.”
Day believes that in any given week it could be either player coming out as the star at that position — or both.
“Both guys are talented,” he said. “And some days one guy is going to be hot. Sometimes it’s the luck of the draw based on the way that the guys block up front.”
It was expected again for this season that Dobbins and Weber would split carries at tailback. Against Oregon State, Weber and Dobbins split carries pretty evenly. Dobbins finished with 15 attempts and 74 yards. Weber had only five more attempts than Dobbins, but finished with with more than double the yards.
Splitting the carries between Dobbins and Weber was the strategy going in, and Day anticipates no changes in that plan.
“When we’re playing this fast, those guys, shoot, after they go about five plays, they need a sub anyways,” Day said. “It’s not like we could leave them in even if we wanted to. We try to roll them, keep them fresh, and how the game plays and how the chips fall, they do.”
When asked if his play against Oregon State was what he thought his game should be like, Weber responded with “most definitely.”
“At the end of the day the job is to win the game but if I can get my touches, then I’m happy,” Weber said. “But if we have to win the game with me not to get touches, then I mean it’s a tough pill to swallow, but it’s about the team.”
Weber was previously seen as more of a power running back who could run through tacklers, while Dobbins was the tailback who can juke or or make defenders miss.
Against Oregon State, however, when Mike Weber had the ball, he was both.