Ohio State Quarterback C.J. Stroud Showed He Can Run When Needed Against Northwestern
With Ohio State facing 4th-and-1 from the 37-yard line late in the second quarter of Saturday’s 21-7 win at Northwestern, redshirt sophomore quarterback C.J. Stroud did something unexpected.
Instead of handing the ball off to redshirt sophomore running back Miyan Williams up the middle, where a host of defenders were waiting, he pulled the ball back on a read-option and scrambled 16 yards for a first down.
It was a welcomed sight for fans, who have been clamoring for Stroud to run the ball more during his first 20 starts. It also set up the tying touchdown just two plays later after the Buckeyes went scoreless for more than 27 minutes to open the game.
“We have a couple of those in our back pocket if we need them,” head coach Ryan Day said after the game. “We don’t like to go there if we don’t have to, but we did … C.J. wants to run, but we know how important it is to keep C.J. healthy. He’s not going to take shots unless we need him to.”
Stroud completed just 10-of-26 passes for a career-low 76 yards on Saturday afternoon as Ohio State battled heavy rain and blustery winds that made it “almost impossible” for the Buckeyes to throw the ball.
However, he made the play of the game with his legs when he took a read-option keeper 44 yards down the sideline to the Wildcats’ 5-yard line. Williams then punched it two plays later for the two-score lead with 4:21 remaining in the game.
“We needed him to (do it) today, and he did it,” Day said. “You can see what he’s capable of, and when we need him to do it, he’s there for us. He is a weapon. He’s got good feet. You can see him running down the sideline, he almost took that one all the way to the house.”
That marked the second-longest run of Stroud’s career, bested only by his 48-yard touchdown run in the 52-12 win at Michigan State in 2020, when he played the final two drives in relief of starter Justin Fields during his true freshman season.
The Buckeyes learned first-hand the importance of keeping their quarterback healthy that fall, though, as Fields – whose dual-threat abilities made him a first-round pick the following spring – got banged up in the postseason.
Stroud even entered the 49-28 Sugar Bowl victory over Clemson for one play after Fields took a shot to the ribs in the second quarter. It then hampered his play in the College Football Playoff National Championship loss to Alabama two weeks later.
“That affected Justin a little bit, especially in the national championship game,” Day said. “With C.J., he’s such a weapon in the pocket with what he can do, we’ve got to be smart about when we put him in those situations. But that has nothing to do with C.J. He wants to compete and he wants those opportunities, so when the time was right today, he did it to win the game, and that’s what’s most important.
“That’s the balance you try to find. Is it worth it to get the quarterback involved and expose him to shots that could potentially put him out of the game or do you need those yards? I think that’s where you have to make good decisions.”
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Of course, Stroud isn’t Fields, J.T. Barrett or Braxton Miller, so it’s unlikely the Buckeyes will suddenly draw up quarterback runs now. But much like Dwayne Haskins did in the 52-51 overtime win at Maryland in 2018, when he rushed for three touchdowns, Stroud showed on Saturday he can impact games with his legs, even if his – and the coaching staff’s – preference is to beat teams with his arm.
“We had to find another way to win,” Stroud said. “I’m like that every game, though. I’m willing to do anything to win, (whether) that’s throwing the ball or running the ball … It felt good to get a couple runs in today. Hopefully Coach Day calls some more runs, maybe everybody in the world will be happy with me.”
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