FRISCO, Texas — As Ohio travels to Frisco, Texas, to take on San Diego State in the DXL Frisco Bowl, the Bobcats’ seniors will play their final collegiate games.
Some of them have a chance to impress NFL scouts and possibly play in the league; others do not. A.J. Ouellette is arguably one of the best running backs in Ohio history, and he’ll certainly have a shot to find himself on an NFL roster in August.
Ouellette’s 1,181 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns lead Ohio this season. He has four 100-yard rushing games this season, but his career stats speak louder than his season stats do.
In his career, he has 13 career 100-yard rushing games. His back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons make him the fourth player in program history to eclipse that mark in consecutive seasons. He’s third all-time in program history with 3,620 career rushing yards.
Maybe that’s why he said his three favorite players he’s ever played with were senior offensive linemen Durrell Wood, Joe Lowery and Joe Anderson; they’ve paved the way for so many of his yards.
Ouellette’s career seems to be lifted from a storybook; he started as a walk on and has become one of the best backs in program history.
With his final game, The Post looks back at the top five games of Ouellette’s career:
5. Nov. 25, 2014 | Ohio beats Miami 24-21
In Ouellette’s first “Battle of the Bricks,” the Bobcats trailed 21-0 on the road in the second quarter. But Ouellette made the rivalry double dip as his coming out party. He had 96 rushing yards, and caught a touchdown pass from Derrius Vick to trim Miami’s lead to just seven.
The Bobcats came back and won, earning Ouellette his first of four victories over the RedHawks.
4. Dec. 22, 2017 | Ohio beats UAB 41-6
Ouellette wasn’t overpowering or flashy in the Bobcats’ destruction of the Blazers in Nassau, The Bahamas. But this game earned the fourth spot on the list because Ouellette showed his will to help his team in the third bowl win in program history. He had 26 rush yards, but it was enough to push him over the 1,000-yard mark for the first time in his career. An injury almost kept him out of the game, but he was able to play and earn his 1,000th yard.
3. Sept. 23, 2017 | Ohio beats Eastern Michigan 27-20 in double overtime
In one of the hottest games for the Bobcats in recent memory, Ouellette made it memorable in his own right. Although he didn’t find the end zone, he finished the day with 145 yards on the ground on 26 carries. He also hauled in a 42-yard reception. He carried the load for the Ohio offense.
2. Nov. 23, 2018 | Ohio beats Akron 49-28
The fifth-year senior’s final game at Peden Stadium turned out to be one of the best games of his career. He tallied 169 yards rushing and two touchdowns, and he caught one ball for 17 yards. He led the Bobcats on their way to 381 yards rushing and six rushing touchdowns as a team.
1. Nov. 14, 2018 | Ohio beats Buffalo 52-17
Ouellette’s career-high in rushing came on a cold night in Athens against a 9-1 Buffalo team that had been receiving Top-25 votes in the AP Poll. Ohio ended Buffalo’s dream season.
On top of a record-setting 196 yards on the ground, Ouellette stampeded through the Buffalo defense. His two rushing touchdowns were complemented by his receiving touchdown, which he caught before the goal line and plowed through a runner to earn the score for Ohio.
