A week after getting huffy, Ohio State’s Ezekiel Elliott blows through Michigan

Ezekiel Elliott apologized, but now you have to wonder whether he’s really sorry, because his message obviously was heard loud and clear.

Ohio State’s star running back, in the wake of a loss to Michigan State last week, complained about not getting the ball enough and announced he would skip his senior season next year to enter the NFL draft.

No doubt Buckeyes Coach Urban Meyer was listening.

A week after his snit fit, Elliott got the ball on Ohio State’s first play against Michigan, and by halftime he had 10 carries for 99 yards and the Buckeyes had thrown only six passes.

Elliott finished with 214 yards and two touchdowns in a season-high 30 carries as Ohio State routed Michigan, 42-13. The Buckeyes have now defeated the Wolverines four consecutive times and 11 of the last 12.

Afterward, player and coach appeared on national television in a half hug as Meyer heaped praise on Elliott and then gave him an affectionate forehead nuzzle — the football equivalent of a public kiss-and-make-up.

Later, though, Elliott apparently just couldn’t help himself.

After Alabama’s Derrick Henry finished up running for 271 yards in 46 carries against Auburn, Elliott tweeted: “40+carries . . . must be nice lol”

Yeah, lol.

Tie that binds

The 5-year-old grandson of former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr was honored in a moment of silence before the Michigan-Ohio State game.

Chad Carr died Monday of brain cancer. His father, Jason, is a former Michigan quarterback and his grandfather on his mother’s side is former Michigan defensive back Tom Curtis, but Chad united the Wolverines and their biggest rivals.

Ohio State and Michigan State players wore “ChadToughFDN” decals and Michigan players wrote #CHADTOUGH in black marker on the back of their helmets.

Eyeing the Hawkeyes

Iowa (12-0) finished with a perfect regular-season record for the first time since going 7-0 in 1922, and Coach Kirk Ferentz said he couldn’t care less that the Hawkeyes didn’t look great Friday in their 28-20 win over Nebraska that closed it out.

“Football’s not gymnastics,” Ferentz said after his team was out-gained 433 yards to 250 and went 0 for 9 on third-down plays. “There are style points in gymnastics. Here, it’s having one point more than your opponent. We’re 12-0. You can’t do better than that.”

Iowa will play Michigan State next Saturday in the Big Ten Conference championship game.

Still Beaming

Even as rumors swirled that Memphis Coach Justin Fuente would succeed him, Frank Beamer showed he wasn’t quite finished coaching Virginia Tech.

A 23-20 win over Virginia evened Virginia Tech’s record at 6-6 and qualified the Hokies for their 23rd consecutive bowl-game appearance.

Beamer has been Virginia Tech’s coach for 29 seasons, and he finished with a 20-9 record against the Hokies’ intrastate rival.

Said Beamer: “Really proud of our players, really proud of our coaches and,” he added, referring to the Virginia Tech faithful who traveled to Charlottesville in force, “really proud of our fans.”

It was Virginia Tech’s 12th consecutive victory over Virginia, and 16th in the last 17 games, though the last four have been decided by a total of 20 points.

Temporarily permanent

Take heart USC Coach Clay Helton, at least one interim coach has caught on permanently — for whatever span that is in college football.

Bill Cubit, who guided Illinois after Tim Beckham was fired a week before the team’s opener, agreed to a two-year contract — at $1.2 million per year — to stay on.

The school announced the move shortly before the opening kickoff in a 24-14 Illini loss to Northwestern. Illinois finished the regular season with a record of 5-7.

One liners

California and Hawaii will open next season in Australia in the Sydney College Football Club, a game played in 83,500-seat ANZ Stadium that was used in the 2000 Olympics. . . . Wisconsin and Minnesota’s football rivalry dates to 1890, and with a 31-21 win Saturday the Badgers have now taken Paul Bunyan’s Axe — spoils for the winner — home to Madison a record 12 consecutive times and 19 of the last 21 years. . . . The big winner in the Bayou Classic between Grambling State and Southern was New Orleans, which benefited from what experts estimated was $200 million in economic activity drawn from the game. . . . Tulane fired coach Curtis Johnson, who won a total of six games the last two seasons after taking the Green Wave to a bowl game in 2013. He was there four years, after replacing former UCLA coach Bob Toledo in 2012.

mike.hiserman@latimes.com

Twitter: @MikeHiserman

Times wire services contributed to this report.