Former Ohio State RB Ezekiel Elliott might be one of the best NFL rookies of all-time

“But when you compare what Prescott and Elliott are doing in 2016 to the best offensive rookie seasons of all time, it all comes back to them.”

– Vinnie Iyer, Sporting News

The Dallas Cowboys escaped with a win against the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday night football, now improving their record to an eye-popping 11-1. In the 17-15 win on the road, the Cowboys were lead by quarterback Dak Prescott and running back Ezekiel Elliott.

Between Zeke and Prescott, it’s almost certain that one of them will walk away with the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award. On a bigger level, both rookies are trending on ground of being considered the best rookies of all-time.

Sporting News’ Vinnie Iyer wrote about that topic, and gave suggestions that either have a case to be considered best rookie of all-time. For Zeke, he is projected to get less rushing numbers than the current record holder in a rookie season, Eric Dickerson, but the former Buckeye also is dealing with less touches than Dickerson. In the projection for season totals, Zeke would top off with 351 carries for his rookie campaign; Dickerson had 390 in his record setting 1983 campaign for the Los Angeles Rams.

On the quarterbacking side, Prescott is having a more efficient season in the air compared to the last QB to claim the rookie of the year honor, Robert Griffin III.

Iyer went on to compare Elliott and Prescott to the stellar seasons Gale Sayers (1953), Randy Moss (1998) and Odell Beckham Jr. (2014) had when they bursted onto the NFL scene.

When dealing with different eras, it’s hard to come up with a conclusive ‘who is better’ answer. One thing is for certain: of all the top rookies seasons, the NFL hasn’t seen two offensive rookies blow expectations out of the water playing on the same team.

“But there's also something to be gained from a loss like this. Ohio State didn't crumble in a raucous environment against a team that could make a deep NCAA Tournament run.”

– Bill Landis on Ohio State basketball, cleveland.com

Moving to the hardwood, Ohio State basketball is shaking off the loss suffered on Wednesday night against Virginia. The Buckeyes get a chance to get back on the winning side of the things on Saturday, as they are set to take on Fairleigh Dickinson back in the friendly confines of Value City Arena.

But before we look ahead to the Buckeyes journey to being 7-1, Bill Landis wrote about OSU gaining a moral victory in Charlottesville, Va. on Wednesday night. Even though the Scarlet and Gray squandered a 16 point lead on the road, they didn’t get run out of the arena – something that happened time and time again in last year’s campaign.

Landis pointed out that turnovers by JaQuan Lyle (eight of them) and Jae’Sean Tate’s foul trouble are part of the struggles of the Buckeyes adapting to the half-court offense. At the same time, OSU is in search for consistent play, rather than relying on one member of the team to carry the team on each night.

It’s still a work in progress, but the Buckeyes are off to a nice 6-1 start, and have plenty of time to improve in both the non-conference and conference schedule before March rolls around.

“It’s insane that Penn State could be left out in favor of the Buckeyes. And although the committee seems to be hinting otherwise, I’m not willing to concede that Ohio State is a “lock” to make the Final Four.”

– Aaron Torres, FOX Sports

As Ohio State football rests this week, their fate of being in the College Football Playoff is almost a certain lock. However, there are some critics of the No. 2 in the playoff rankings.

With Penn State and Wisconsin battling in Indianapolis, Ind. for the Big Ten crown, there is a chance that both those teams will be left out of either semifinal contest at the Peach Bowl or Fiesta Bowl. In the case that Penn State does somehow, someway pull out a victory on Saturday night, the pitchforks are out to plead why the Nittany Lions should go to the playoff over the Buckeyes.

Aaron Torres of FOX Sports wrote about five reasons on why PSU should get to the playoff over OSU. One reason being the head-to-head contest. That makes sense. PSU did beat OSU, but got smoked by Michigan. Torres also believes Michigan should get in over both the Nittany Lions and Buckeyes, sighting the Wolverines being only “a bad referee’s call away’ from winning The Game.

He has four other decent reasons why the Nittany Lions have a case for the CFP.

Personally, my OSU take is: 1 loss is less than 2, the Bucks are No. 2 right now, and no matter how the officiating was, Michigan had chances to win the game. Officiating didn’t cause the Wilton Speight pick-6, nor the UM fumble on the one nor Curtis Samuel being able to set the Buckeyes up for a 4th-and-1.

Also, the spot on the 4th-and-1 was good, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

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