Ohio St. tabs Stroud to start opener vs. Gophers

• College football reporter
• Joined ESPN.com in 2007
• Graduate of Indiana University

Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud has been named the Buckeyes’ starter for the Sept. 2 season opener at Minnesota, coach Ryan Day said Saturday.

Stroud, who was the backup to Justin Fields last fall, won the job this summer ahead of Jack Miller and freshman Kyle McCord. None of them has thrown a pass in a college game, but the 6-foot-3, 218-pound Stroud completed 16 of 22 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns in the spring game, and earlier this week, Day said Stroud had started to separate himself in the competition.

“He will work hard over the weekend and then into next week start to prepare for Minnesota,” Day said at a news conference. “I thought over the body of work between the spring and also through the preseason he separated himself with his decision-making, his leadership skills, his accuracy. Now we’ve got to prepare him to play a game.”

Stroud played in three games as a true freshman in 2020, against Rutgers, Michigan State and Clemson in the College Football Playoff semifinal, and had a 48-yard rushing touchdown against the Spartans.

Day said that while all the quarterbacks have improved, “it was the right decision for sure.”

“I think he knows that this is an opportunity,” Day said. “It’s not an accomplishment, it’s an opportunity. I think he looked at it like that. Now we’ve got to go about the business of putting it on the field.”

Source: Read Full Article