FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Before the Buckeyes spilled out onto the field for an imperative fourth-and-2 play against Michigan State, Carlos Hyde approached Urban Meyer.

The running back asked his coach for the ball on the most critical play of Ohio State's season.

Hyde said he doesn't remember what Meyer's response was. It doesn't matter.

The football remained in the hands of quarterback Braxton Miller, who was denied the two yards necessary for a first down as the Buckeyes fizzled against the Spartans in the Big Ten Championship Game.

The fact that Hyde requested the football at such a key moment speaks to his belief in his own talent.

Hyde isn't shy about acknowledging his ability.

He has watched his herky-jerky 19-yard touchdown scamper against Iowa "numerous times" on YouTube, and has done so as recently as two days ago.

He said if he hadn't missed the season's first three games, he "would have gotten close to 2,000" yards and "probably would have" won the Heisman Trophy.

He researched the Orange Bowl rushing record and is intent on threatening Ahman Green's mark of 206 yards. Friday's tilt against Clemson will be the senior's final collegiate affair.

"Perfect ending for me would be beating 206," Hyde said. "And a win. That would be the perfect way to go out."

Hyde grew up with his mom in Cincinnati, but relocated to his grandparents' home in Naples, Fla., when he was 15. He only played two years of high school football, spent a trying year at Fork Union Military Academy and spent the first three Saturdays of his senior campaign in the dark theater room of his apartment complex, watching his teammates prey on overmatched non-conference opponents.

The last three months of his college career, during which he has tallied 1,408 rushing yards in 10 games, have served as vindication for the running back who always seems to be finding new chips on his shoulder.

"You don't want to take this football game for granted," Hyde said, "because at any moment it can be taken away from you. I just told myself, 'When you get back out there, you have to go.' I missed three games. I had to make up for those three games."

So, Hyde returned with a mission: Earn a trip to New York City for the presentation ceremony of the sport's most heralded hardware.

"I was thinking in my head, 'I missed three games,'" Hyde said. "'Let's be the first person to miss three games and come back and win a Heisman.'"

It didn't unfold exactly the way Hyde had envisioned, though he certainly can't complain. He'll finish his Ohio State tenure about an hour and a half from home, with a host of friends and family in attendance at Sun Life Stadium on Friday. It's a worthwhile consolation for a team that fell short in its chase for a national championship, its fate sealed on that decisive fourth-and-2 carry that Hyde did not receive.

"I mean, yeah, I could have asked for a better way -- but this is not a bad way to end my career," Hyde said, "back home in Florida."

Hyde has fueled Ohio State's rushing attack -- the No. 3-ranked run offense in the nation -- with his ambition. He initiated some playful banter with quarterback Braxton Miller prior to the conference title game and he might revisit the conversation before the Orange Bowl.

"I joked around with him and said, 'You better be ready, because I'm going to outrush you today,'" Hyde said. "He joked back and said, 'I'll be ready.' We just like to joke around with it. I'm sure I'll bring it up to him this Friday and bring out that competitive edge in both of us."

That competitive edge pushed Hyde to scour the Orange Bowl record books. Will Green's mark still be standing come Saturday?

"I'm sure everybody has goals," said Clemson defensive tackle Grady Jarrett. "That doesn't mean it's going to happen. We'll take that as a challenge."

Hyde is no stranger to challenges. He committed Monday to playing in the Senior Bowl, which means he'll have another rushing record to research.

"That's another one," Hyde said. "I'll look that up after this game."