Bo Jackson

#25 · RB · So. · Ohio State6′0″ · 218 lb · Cleveland, OH · Villa Angela-St. Joseph

Rushing yards63736th of 278 running backsLast gameL 18–30at USC · Oct 31
Nextvs OregonSat Nov 7 · 3:30 pm ET
via ohiostatebuckeyes.com ↗
637 rushing yards in 8 games; their best was 121 at USC.
Game 1: against Ball State, win 56-3, 83 rushing yards, 1 touchdown83WBALLGame 2: at Texas, loss 23-24, 74 rushing yards74LTEX@Game 3: against Kent State, win 59-3, 73 rushing yards, 1 touchdown73WKENTGame 4: against Illinois, win 42-19, 53 rushing yards53WILLGame 5: at Iowa, win 31-14, 70 rushing yards70WIOWA@Game 6: against Maryland, win 45-16, 107 rushing yards, 2 touchdowns107WMDGame 7: at Indiana, win 19-15, 56 rushing yards56WIU@Game 8: at USC, loss 18-30, 121 rushing yards121LUSC@Season high,in a loss
Game 1: against Ball State, win 56-3, 83 rushing yards, 1 touchdownWBALLGame 2: at Texas, loss 23-24, 74 rushing yardsLTEX@Game 3: against Kent State, win 59-3, 73 rushing yards, 1 touchdownWKENTGame 4: against Illinois, win 42-19, 53 rushing yardsWILLGame 5: at Iowa, win 31-14, 70 rushing yardsWIOWA@Game 6: against Maryland, win 45-16, 107 rushing yards, 2 touchdownsWMDGame 7: at Indiana, win 19-15, 56 rushing yardsWIU@Game 8: at USC, loss 18-30, 121 rushing yards121 · season highLUSC@
  • touchdown

USC · L 18-30

21 carries, 121 yards

The other 7 games average 74 yards. This one was 47 above.

Open this game

Dashed line: 100 yards.

Compare with

Jackson against Ohio State’s best seasons, game by game

05001,0001,5002,0002,50012468101214154 to playGames playedDobbins ’19: 1,110 at game 8, 2,003 for the seasonElliott ’14: 709 at game 8, 1,878 for the seasonElliott ’15: 1,130 at game 8, 1,821 for the seasonDobbins ’17: 863 at game 8, 1,403 for the seasonDobbins ’19 2,003Elliott ’14 1,878Elliott ’15 1,821Dobbins ’17 1,403Jackson 637
Through 8 games: 473 yards behind J.K. Dobbins in 2019 (1,110 at this point), whose season finished at 2,003. Open dots: where each stood at game 8. Dotted line: the pace through game 12. Tap a line to see that season.

Backs who run like Jackson, and how their seasons went

05001,0001,50012468101214164 to playGames playedCarson ’14 (Texas A&M): 279 at game 8, 581 for the seasonAllen ’24 (Penn State): 536 at game 8, 1,108 for the seasonBerger ’25 (UCLA): 249 at game 8, 364 for the seasonAllen ’24 1,108Jackson 637Carson ’14 581Berger ’25 364
The closest match is Tra Carson of Texas A&M in 2014: 279 yards at game 8, against 637 this season, and 581 for the season. Open dots: where each stood at game 8. Dotted line: the pace through game 12. Tap a line to see that season.

Jackson against this year’s top backs, game by game

05001,0001,5001246810124 to playGames playedRiley (Boise State): 1,049 at game 8, 1,049 so farWhite (North Texas): 1,043 at game 8, 1,043 so farRoberts (Missouri): 1,005 at game 8, 1,005 so farRiley 1,049White 1,043Roberts 1,005Jackson 637
Through 8 games: 412 yards behind Dylan Riley of Boise State (1,049 at this point). Open dots: where each stood at game 8. Dotted line: the pace through game 12. Tap a line to see that season.

The road ahead: 637 yards, 80 a game, 4 regular-season games left.

  • 1,000 yards: 363 to go, 91 a game, more than the 80 a game so far.
  • 1,090 yards, their own best season (2025): 453 to go, 113 a game, more than the 80 a game so far.

This week

What’s being said

9 stories in the last 30 days, from 6 outlets.

Oct 10: 2Oct 12: 2Oct 14: 1Oct 16: 1Oct 17: 1Oct 30: 1Nov 2: 1W 45-16 vs MarylandWW 19-15 at IndianaWL 18-30 at USCLOct 6Nov 4Most in a day: 2
Oct 10: 2Oct 12: 2Oct 14: 1Oct 16: 1Oct 17: 1Oct 30: 1Nov 2: 1W 45-16 vs MarylandWW 19-15 at IndianaWL 18-30 at USCLOct 6Nov 4Most in a day: 2
Stories per day. W and L: the team’s results.

Pressure is on Bo Jackson, Ohio State running game amid injury news

Lyndy's Sports Annuals Oct 30

All 32 stories this season

Worth knowing

  • Bo Jackson was second-team All-Big Ten in 2025.
  • Bo Jackson is rated 90 overall in EA College Football 27, tied for 10th among the game's running backs.

His most important play this season

  1. Q2, 0:07 · Ohio State down 4, takes the leadJulian Sayin finds Bo Jackson for a 2-yard touchdownOhio State at Indiana, week 7Q2, 0:07 · Ohio State 10, Indiana 7Ohio State took the lead in the second quarterOhio State took the lead in the second quarterJ.Sayin pass complete short left to B.Jackson caught at IND00, for 2 yards to the IND00 touchdown, kick goodWatch from this playBig Ten Football

All 5 of his plays on video

The story

As of

Jackson's first season was a statement: 1,090 rushing yards at 6.1 a carry, enough to make him the fifth true freshman in Ohio State history to crack 1,000 — company that includes Robert Smith, Maurice Clarett, JK Dobbins, and TreVeyon Henderson. A teammate, James Peoples, transferred out before the season in part because Jackson had simply become the guy.

Read the rest of the story

The forward case is about the gap between good and great. He scored just six rushing touchdowns — low for an Ohio State back — and may share carries with returning and added depth, so 2026 is about efficiency and finishing, not just volume. On a national-title contender stacked with Sayin and Jeremiah Smith, a back who is the piece that tips a very good offense into an unstoppable one. The name will always draw the double-take. This is the year he makes people remember him for his own.

Update (Nov. 2, 2026): Ohio State is 6-2. Through eight games Jackson has 128 carries for 637 yards (5.0 a carry) and four rushing touchdowns, plus 13 catches for 103 yards and a score. He would need about 760 more yards to reach the 1,400 the question above asks about.

The record

A falsifiable call from this player's outlook. Not yet gradeable.

What we said

turning 1,000 quiet yards into 1,400 loud ones

Graded as: at least 1,400 rushing YDS in 2026.

What happened

Resolves 2027-01-20.

PENDING

Sources

Style of play

Style of play

Play style

Jackson is a one-cut runner with a second gear — he presses the hole, plants, and is past the second level before the angle closes, which shows up as an 85th-percentile yards-per-carry and a 72nd-percentile explosive-run rate as a true freshman. He's not just a between-the-tackles back; 19 catches keep him on the field on third down, a fit for the way Ohio State spreads you out and runs behind it. The honest gap is the finish: his success rate sat in the 67th percentile and his touchdown rate in the bottom fifteen — he hits the big one but doesn't yet own the grind or the red zone, which is how a back with his yardage scored only six times. So 2026 isn't about whether he's good; it's whether the explosive freshman becomes the complete one — the same chunk runs, more of them ending in the end zone.

Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration

Who gets the tough yard

10/19Inside-5 share

10 of the team's 19 inside-the-5 carries (52.6%).

Similar players

Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.

42% of the carries, 50% of the yards, 31% of the touchdowns

  • Carries42%128 of 306
  • Yards50%637 of 1,283
  • Touchdowns31%4 of 13
  • Yards a carry: 5.0. Everyone else on the team: 3.6.
  • A touchdown every 32.0 carries. Everyone else on the team: one every 19.8.

At least 34% of the team's rushing yards in every game

No bar in a game where the team had under 100 rushing yards: a share of that little says nothing.

Who carried it

Share of the team's total this season.

Most of his carries go up the middle

10203040506528
leftmiddleright
a carry, up for a gain and down for a lossa touchdown

Each line is one carry: taller means more yards, and a line pointing down lost yards. Black lines are touchdowns. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside each lane the carries are lined up shortest to longest, not placed. Of his carries with a spot in the play text: left 35, middle 69, right 24. His longest went for 65 yards.