Justice Ellison: RB · Indiana · #6.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Justice Ellison
Hits the crease and outruns the angle. Played for two head coaches at two programs in five seasons: Dave Clawson and Curt Cignetti. All-ACC in 2022 made it two straight seasons on the honors list. A game that shows it: 123 rushing yards and 2 receiving yards against Washington — Week 9, 2024.
Play style
Cuts upfield fast. Designed to find the crease, not run through the line.
Closer · Q4-with-lead carry share
Not actually a closer
34.1% of carries overall (157/460) → 17.6% of Q4-with-lead carries (24/136) — 79.2% of those in competitive (≤16-pt) games.
Counted from the play-by-play, so a carry or two can differ from the box score.
Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration
Who gets the tough yard
13 of 16 on 3rd/4th-and-2-or-less (81.2%). 12 of the team's 38 inside-the-5 carries (31.6%).
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
The Daily Hoosier Oct 28
The Herald-Times Oct 21
USA Today Oct 17Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Indiana | 159 | 848 | 5.3 | 10 | 47 |
| 2023 | Wake Forest | 120 | 548 | 4.6 | 1 | 51 |
| 2022 | Wake Forest | 170 | 707 | 4.2 | 6 | 45 |
| 2021 | Wake Forest | 107 | 541 | 5.1 | 7 | 63 |
| 2020 | Wake Forest | 29 | 111 | 3.8 | 1 | 17 |
| Career | 585 | 2,755 | 4.7 | 25 | 63 |
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Indiana | 13 | 90 | 6.9 | 0 | 19 |
| 2023 | Wake Forest | 10 | 61 | 6.1 | 0 | 18 |
| 2022 | Wake Forest | 6 | 62 | 10.3 | 0 | 22 |
| 2021 | Wake Forest | 7 | 37 | 5.3 | 1 | 13 |
| 2020 | Wake Forest | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 0 | 3 |
| Career | 37 | 253 | 6.8 | 1 | 22 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2024 season · 13 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 31-7vs Florida International | 10 | 68 | 6.8 | 0 | 14 | |
| Wk 2 | W 77-3vs Western Illinois | 9 | 117 | 13.0 | 2 | 47 | |
| Wk 3 | W 42-13@ UCLA | 10 | 47 | 4.7 | 1 | 11 | |
| Wk 4 | W 52-14vs Charlotte | 9 | 58 | 6.4 | 1 | 17 | |
| Wk 5 | W 42-28vs Maryland | 12 | 51 | 4.3 | 1 | 19 | |
| Wk 6 | W 41-24vs Northwestern | 14 | 68 | 4.9 | 1 | 17 | |
| Wk 8 | W 56-7vs Nebraska | 9 | 105 | 11.7 | 2 | 43 | |
| Wk 9 | W 31-17vs Washington | 29 | 123 | 4.2 | 1 | 12 | Season-high 123 yds |
| Wk 10 | W 47-10@ Michigan State | 9 | 32 | 3.6 | 0 | 9 | |
| Wk 11 | W 20-15vs Michigan | 9 | 17 | 1.9 | 0 | 4 | |
| Wk 13 | L 15-38@ No. 2 Ohio State | 17 | 62 | 3.6 | 0 | 11 | |
| Wk 14 | W 66-0vs Purdue | 11 | 63 | 5.7 | 1 | 15 | |
| Bowl | L 17-27@ No. 3 Notre Dame | 11 | 37 | 3.4 | 0 | 15 | |
| Total | 159 | 848 | 5.3 | 10 | 47 |
Week 8 · 2024
W 56-7
vs Nebraska
105 rush yds (9 car) · 2 TD · 2 rec · 16 yds
Dominant 49-point win at home against Nebraska.
With K. Rourke — 189 yds · 1 TD · 1 INT · QBR 89.8 · T. Jackson — 91 yds · 2 TD · 0 INT · QBR 99.9 · 21 rush yds (2 car)
The plays that mattered most
Rush profile · Shape, efficiency, and ball security
How he gets his yards, and how often it works
Success rate
54%147 carriesFumble rate
0.6%1 of 159 carriesStuffed
0 or fewer ydsGrind
1–3 ydsChunk
4–9 ydsExplosive
10+ yds5.3 yds/carry on 159 carries · 15% explosive (10+ yds) · 54% success rate.
Situational · Carry shape (PBP, full season)
Yardage DNA
Stuffed (≤0)
Grind (1–3)
Chunk (4–9)
Explosive (10+)
Splits · Per-game
2024 season · 13 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home8g | 75.2 | 6.8 | 1.0 |
| Road4g | 44.5 | 3.8 | 0.2 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 63.7 | 6.2 | 0.9 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 67.0 | 5.1 | 0.7 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Curt Cignetti
Pass share
43.4%
360 pass / 470 run
Plays / game
63.8
13 games
Team sack rate
5.5%
383 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2024
Our Heisman model had this player inside its top 25 in 2024.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #51 at the position.
How it ended
Five seasons, at Wake Forest and Indiana, 2,755 rushing yards — the college career is complete.
Four or fewer games in the first season, then ten or more.
The role got bigger.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-ACC
All-ACC mention (2022)
Weekly recognition
1 weekly honor (2021)
ACC Rookie Player of the Week
Coaching lineage · 2020–2024
2 coachesPlayed for 2 head coaches at 2 schools: Dave Clawson and Curt Cignetti.
