The quarterbacks in the College Football Playoff championship game are getting most of the attention, and rightfully so. Marcus Mariota won this year's Heisman Trophy, while Cardale Jones did his part in going through two very good Alabama and Wisconsin defenses, despite being a third-stringer.
3 things to know about Ezekiel Elliott and Royce Freeman, National Championship RBs
The championship game features two underrated running backs.
However, the running backs of both of these teams are both among the best in the country, and they'll both need to have good games for their respective teams to win. Here are three things to know about Ohio State's Ezekiel Elliott and Oregon's Royce Freeman.
1. Both have similar styles
Common opinion is that Oregon is a finesse team, while Ohio State is a physical team. However, these teams are among the best in the country at incorporating both finesse and physicality into their offenses.
Oregon's offense uses the whole field, but it's based on a downfield, power rushing attack. Freeman, a 229-pound freshman, has been a perfect fit in that offense, bringing the physicality to run between the tackles that complements the speed of Thomas Tyner.
The similarly sized Elliott has been a bruiser for the Buckeyes, pushing piles, but also using his speed to break some mid-range runs. He set a Sugar Bowl record, rushing for 230 yards against Alabama.
In what should be a run-heavy game, you’re going to hear a lot about a physical runners with “deceptive” speed. But in reality, Freeman and Elliott are similar in that they’re good at just about everything. And they’re both young, so they’ll be around to terrorize college football for a long time.
2. Elliott might be the best non-all conference running back ... ever
The Big Ten was stacked at running back this year, boasting Heisman runner-up Melvin Gordon, snubbed Heisman contender Tevin Coleman, Nebraska star Ameer Abdullah, and Minnesota workhorse David Cobb. For that reason, Elliott wasn't first OR second team All-Big Ten, as voted by either the media or the coaches.
The sophomore has rushed for 1,632 yards this season, for an average of 6.9 yards per carry. He’s shined in big games, with three of his four best coming against Michigan State (154 yards), Wisconsin (220) and Alabama (230).
To be fair, Elliott probably would have been All-Big Ten if the award was voted for after the championship game, and all of the Big Ten’s top runners were deserving of the award. But still, it’s incredible that one of the nation’s best running backs wasn’t even considered one of the best in his conference before the end of the regular season.
3. Like any freshman, Freeman is only improving
Freeman’s put up 1,501 yards from scrimmage and has shown great improvement from the beginning of the season. While he struggled against Florida State, he only had two games below 100 rushing yards in the second half of the season — and those were 98 yards against Stanford and 99 yards against Utah, two good defenses.
Freeman’s surge started in the win against UCLA on October 11, and it continued as he handled a more aggressive workload. Now, he’ll face a run defense that’s among his opponent’s biggest weaknesses, and he has the chance to really open things up in the National Championship.
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