It only took one game for the comparisons to start.
It happened the moment true freshman running back J.K. Dobbins burst onto the scene for Ohio State in a 181-yard performance against Indiana, breaking a 15-year school record in the process.
We know for certain now what we first thought then: Ohio State hasn't had a running back quite like Dobbins since Maurice Clarett led the Buckeyes to a national title in 2002.
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The good news for Dobbins? He has a chance to build on that record-setting campaign next year. But first, he’ll put the finishing touches on a 1,364-yard, seven-touchdown season against USC at the Cotton Bowl Classic on Friday.
That's just part of the reason why Dobbins will be one of college football's biggest players to watch in 2018. It's something Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer saw from Day 1, when the 5-8, 208-pound running back from La Grange, Texas, enrolled at Ohio State.
"He's awesome,” Meyer said of Dobbins before the Big Ten championship. “He's one of those guys who supplies energy every day and shows up ready to go to work. He's a grown man. It's very rare to have a guy that young to come in and provide that for you."
Meyer then watched Dobbins rush 17 times for 174 yards in the Buckeyes' 27-21 victory over Wisconsin. It bookended a regular season that began with his grand entrance against Indiana on Aug. 31. And he was plenty impressive between those games as well.
Dobbins in 2017 became just the fourth freshman running back at Ohio State to rush for 1,000 in a season. He now holds the freshman record, beating Clarett’s 2002 mark of 1,237. He averaged 7.5 yards a carry, good for seventh nationally and best in the Big Ten. And he has the third-most rushing yards of any freshman in the country, behind only Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor and Boston College’s A.J. Dillon.
Dobbins developed an early reputation as a big-game player, and finished the season with six games of at least 100 rushing yards. He outperformed Taylor in the Big Ten championship game — rushing for 174 to Taylor's 41 — and earned the Big Ten championship MVP in the process. He gained twice as many rushing yards as Penn State phenom Saquon Barkley during the Buckeyes’ thrilling 39-38 victory on Oct. 28. And he closed the regular season with some of his strongest performances, combining for 225 rushing yards and two total touchdowns in wins against Michigan State and Michigan.
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Here's another stat that puts into perspective just how good Dobbins has been in 2017: He only needs 136 rushing yards in the Cotton Bowl to become the eighth Buckeyes player to rush for 1,500 yards in a season. That list features names such as Archie Griffin, Eddie George and Ezekiel Elliott. Dobbins would become the first to accomplish the feat as a freshman.
But that's the company he keeps now, which makes Dobbins a prime candidate to earn several accolades in 2018. He’ll be one of the top picks for the Doak Walker Award and be among the early Heisman Trophy candidates. Griffin won that award twice in 1974 and 1975. George is the last Ohio State tailback to win it, in 1995.
Dobbins also will be a primary piece in the Buckeyes' next run at a national championship. Elliott was that for Ohio State with an unforgettable run through the first College Football Playoff in 2014. Clarett was that in the Buckeyes’ 2002 title run as well, but the promise of his career in Columbus was never fulfilled afterward.
Dobbins' 2018 season, then, can be something incredible. And if he improves the way his coach expects him to, it will be.
“There's certain things he can very much improve on, and just physical strength,” Meyer said. “Obviously, he's not a very big guy, but some pass protection and running through tackles. Those are things he can improve on."
Dobbins has two more seasons to develop those skills, a process that will start with that Cotton Bowl against the Trojans. Historically, the game tends to build on tailbacks' legacies — might Dobbins be the next? It would be the final touch to a truly remarkable freshman season, and a springboard into 2018.
We saw all of it, and it leads to one easy-to-reach conclusion.
Dobbins' sophomore season will be spectacular. We’ll all get to see it soon enough.
