COLUMBUS — Miyan Williams was not yet born when Keith Byars was scorching turf at Ohio State from 1982-85. Byars scored five touchdowns against Illinois in 1984.
The 5-foot-9, 225-pound bowling ball’s elders may barely remember Pete Johnson, the bruising fullback from 1973-76. Johnson scored five TDs against North Carolina in 1975.
But Williams now has his name etched alongside both of those former standouts in OSU lore. Williams ran for a school-record tying five touchdowns during Saturday’s 49-10 rout of Rutgers at Ohio Stadium.
“It’s a blessing just to be up there with those names, those legends. It’s a blessing,” the Cincinnati product said.
Coach Ryan Day’s offense typically features quarterbacks, receivers and a deadly passing game. Justin Fields and C.J. Stroud put up Heisman statistics, while Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Emeka Egbuka and Marvin Harrison Jr. record video game receiving numbers and climb to the top of the NFL draft ratings.
The running game, particularly a physical, punishing running game, has largely been an afterthought in Day’s system. It’s hard to argue with the results. The Buckeyes are 25-1 in the Big Ten with Day at the controls in this system.
But on Saturday, the focus shifted to the ground — out of necessity.
“Well, I’ll tell you the thing that had me the most fearful was their passing game,” Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said. “So we were going to make sure that we defended the pass, because if we don’t, the game gets out of hand.
“We’ve seen that happen to many people. They are just explosive. They have a Heisman candidate quarterback and a stable of (elite) receivers.”
Stroud finished with a pedestrian stat line, 13-of-22 passing for 154 yards, 2 TDs and an interception.
But Williams and the ground attack more than made up for it.
“It was the run that beat us,” Schiano said. “Again, you kind of have to pick what you are going to try and cover. But Ohio State is the third ranked team in the country for a reason. I thought we played our guts out.”
Third-ranked Ohio State (5-0 overall, 2-0 in the Big Ten) churned out 252 yards rushing, and that was without starter TreVeyon Henderson, who sat out with an undisclosed injury and may have lost his starting spot in the process.
Williams was a more-than-capable replacement.
“Miyan was running hard today and finished a bunch of runs in positive,” Day said. “He turns a three-yard run into five and keeps us on schedule. It was tough down there in the red zone. They kind of dug in a few times and we had to go for on the fourth down. But Miyan had a really good day for us.”
Henderson has long been the preferred back because of his explosiveness. He ran for 1,248 yards and 15 TDs last year as a true freshman.
Yet Williams showed the Scarlet Knights (3-2, 0-2) he has a flammable side to his game, too. The Cincinnati Winton Woods graduate roared up the middle for a 70-yard TD dash in the second half to put the icing on his cake of a day.
“When I got the ball, I knew the safety blitzed. So, when I made him miss, I knew there was nobody behind him,” Williams said. “When I broke, I just was seeing green grass and telling myself, ‘Don’t get caught.’
“Once I was running, I didn’t feel like I was going to get caught, but it was just a thought in the back of my head.”
While fans will no doubt debate the fate of the No. 1 tailback spot in the pecking order, it probably doesn’t matter to Day. The Buckeye boss has a viable 1-2 punch at running back.
Perhaps Williams’ emergence will offer a bit of balance to an offense that has frequently battled the red-zone blues against quality foes during the Day era.
“I think our red-zone numbers right now are really good and it’s a big part of the offensive line and the way we’re running the football,” Day said. “I just think overall the tight ends, the wide receivers, everybody’s involved with this run game.”
