DALLAS (FWAA) – Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott bolted his way through the Indiana defense for a career-high 274 yards on 23 carries to help the Buckeyes edge the Hoosiers, 34-27, in Bloomington. Elliott tallied 195 of those yards on his three second-half touchdowns runs of 55, 65 and 75 yards, and the big plays earned him the AutoNation National Offensive Player of the Week honor for games of the weekend of Oct. 3, as selected by the Football Writers Association of America.

The rushing total for the 6-0, 225-pound junior from St. Louis, Mo., saw him average 11.9 yards per carry, an Ohio State record, and ties for the second-best all-time single-game mark in school history behind Eddie George’s 314 yards against Illinois in 1995. Elliott gave the Buckeyes their first lead at 13-10 with the 55-yard run, wiped out a 17-13 deficit with the 65-yard run, and then put OSU ahead 34-20 with the 75-yarder with 10 minutes left.

This was Elliott’s fourth career game to rush for at least 200 yards – another school record – and his 243 rushing yards in the second half is also a school record. He has now rushed for at least 100 yards in 10 consecutive games.

“I think we were definitely overdue for agame like this,” Elliott told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “The offensive line and I have been feeling that way for the past couple of games. It finally happened at a good time.”

The FWAA National Offensive Player of the Week and National Team of the Week, both sponsored by AutoNation for the first time this year, have been determined collectively by a group of FWAA officers and the FWAA All-America Committee for several years. The AutoNation FWAA Offensive Player of the Week has been added this season. Nominations are taken from game performance all over the country each week and then those nominations are reviewed by the FWAA, which determines the actual recipients.

2015 AutoNation FWAA Offensive Players of the Week
Week of Sept. 5: Derrick Henry, Alabama
Week of Sept. 12: Dalvin Cook, Florida State
Week of Sept. 19: Leonard Fournette, LSU
Week of Sept. 26: Trevone Boykin, TCWeek of Oct. 3: Ezekiel Elliott, Ohio State