COLUMBUS — Ja’Kobi Jackson may not have entered the season as the obvious answer in Ohio State’s crowded backfield, but five games later, he is making a pretty convincing argument that he deserves a much bigger part of it.
Jackson led the Buckeyes with 72 rushing yards against Iowa on Saturday, helping Ohio State grind out a 31-14 road victory over the No. 14 Hawkeyes. He also scored on a 7-yard run early in the fourth quarter, extending his streak to five consecutive games with a rushing touchdown.
At some point, production starts making the argument for you, and Jackson has provided exactly the kind of physical running style Ryan Day has wanted from the position and Ohio State has needed. He is not the flashiest back in the room, but he runs with patience, power, and a willingness to finish through contact.
More simply, he runs angry, and that showed up repeatedly at Iowa.
The Hawkeyes gave Ohio State one of its more physical tests of the season, and the Buckeyes responded by running for 160 yards. Jackson was the most productive part of that effort, consistently initiating contact instead of waiting for defenders to bring it to him.
Ohio State does not need its running back to be the centerpiece of the offense. It needs someone who can punish defenses for committing too much attention elsewhere, keep the offense on schedule, and convert the difficult yards when everyone in the stadium knows the run is coming.
Jackson is looking like that guy.
He has scored in every game this season, beginning with an 83-yard performance against Ball State and continuing through Texas, Kent State, Illinois, and Iowa. He rushed for 56 yards on 10 carries against Illinois before following that with his strongest performance this season against a ranked opponent and one of the nation’s top defenses.
Ohio State still has options in the backfield. Bo Jackson remains part of the rotation, and the Buckeyes do not need to turn the position into a one-man job. But there is a difference between maintaining a rotation and ignoring when one player is consistently giving the offense what it needs.
Ja’Kobi’s path to Ohio State was not conventional. He began his college career at Coahoma Community College before eventually reaching Florida, then arrived in Columbus as an experienced player entering a backfield without an obvious pecking order. Now, five games into the season, that order is beginning to look a little clearer.
Jackson has earned more carries, and that does not mean Ohio State should suddenly give him 25 touches every Saturday or abandon a rotation that can help keep the backs fresh. It simply means the fifth-year senior has done enough to deserve being treated as more than just another option.
When Ohio State needed to control the game in the fourth quarter at Iowa, Jackson was part of the answer. When the Buckeyes needed seven yards at the goal line, he finished the drive.
Those moments are starting to add up, and so is the production.
Ohio State has plenty of stars on offense. Ja’Kobi Jackson does not need to become another one. He just needs to keep doing what he has already been doing, and right now, that should be enough to earn him a bigger role.
