New Ohio State freshman running back emerges as one-two punch against Wisconsin

The Ohio State Buckeyes have a one-two punch in the backfield.

And it's not revolving around CJ Donaldson or James Peoples.

On Saturday, Oct. 18, Ohio State travelled on the road to take on the Wisconsin Badgers in another Big Ten battle. The Buckeyes, who were undefeated heading into the contest, left without a blemish on their record as they moved to 7-0 on the season.

In the Buckeyes' 34-0 takedown of the Badgers, the team got really strong contributions from the rushing game. It was spotlighted by the freshmen duo of Isaiah West and Bo Jackson, who combined for 19 rushes and 81 yards.

Jackson has been reliable this season, but the emergence of West comes as a surprise.

He just recently had his black stripe removed in last week's Wednesday practice, earning the trust from the coaching staff. Earlier in the season, he took a then-season-high of eight attempts for 42 yards and a score against Grambling State in Ohio State's 70-0 win.

With the rushing attack struggling through the past few weeks, the usage of West makes it obvious the team is searching for answers.

Jackson played the highest amount of snaps on the season, coming in at a mark of 32 against the Badgers. His 10 carries for 26 yards obviously came as a struggle, but he made up for his issues in the rushing game in his pass catching abilities where he hauled in five catches for 57 total yards.

Behind Jackson in snaps played was Donaldson, who did very little on the field in his 17 snaps, carrying the ball just twice. He hasn't been that good this season as he is averaging 4.2 yards an attempt, the lowest average of his career, for a total of 349 yards and six touchdowns. The Buckeyes have been primarily using him in short-yardage situations, but it hasn't been enough to give him reliable chances over Jackson.

Jackson leads the team in rushing numbers with 68 carries for 433 yards and two touchdowns, good enough for an average of 6.4 yards an attempt. He also has over 100 receiving yards and a score there as well.

West, who played in just his four game of his college career, played 14 snaps on Saturday. Prior to that, he played just 15 all year. With him leading the team with nine carries for 55 yards, its a sign in the right direction for the Buckeyes rushing game.

Jackson and West still are in the midst of adjusting to the college game, but they look like real threats.

Both running backs are shifty, have the right level of athleticism and are welcoming the challenge in front of them. If they can keep growing and developing, Ohio State may have just found the next one-two punch on offense.

After losing both Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson to the 2025 NFL Draft Ohio State needed someone to shine thorugh and fill their void left behind.

Fortunately, West and Jackson may have shown they have what it takes to balance out the offense and help guide this team to back-to-back national championships in their freshman season's.