Ohio State third-year quarterback has emerged as a running threat since No. 2 Ohio State wins over Northwestern and Indiana. Credit: Katie Good | Asst. Photo Editor
Throughout his Ohio State career, third-year quarterback C.J. Stroud has relied on his arm to advance the Buckeyes’ offense.
However, weather conditions forced him to be more involved in the run game over the last two games — and a mobile Stroud could become a regular sight as the Buckeyes near the end of the regular season.
Prior to Ohio State’s Nov. 5 matchup against Northwestern, Stroud had a career total of 24 rushing yards in 21 games — far fewer than his predecessor, Justin Fields, who picked up 867 ground yards in 22 games with Ohio State.
However, Stroud’s 79-yard rushing outing against Northwestern may have opened the door for a new role in the Ohio State offense.
“I think C.J. embraced it, and you can see what he can do, and I think it can be a weapon for us moving forward,” head coach Ryan Day said. “Maybe we found a little something there, but that has pluses and minuses as well.”
Stroud said his success on the ground at Northwestern could help his running abilities moving forward.
“It made me even more comfortable and made me more confident in myself because honestly, I haven’t ran the ball like that since my senior year of high school,” Stroud said. “It made me a little more confident in being able to run in that type of atmosphere and that environment. So yeah, I don’t know if I’ll do it more, but I’ll be open to it.”
Third-year offensive lineman Luke Wypler noted the difference a dual-threat Stroud made.
“For us, when C.J. got involved, that was another thing to account for that they weren’t ready for,” Wypler said. “C.J. is a great, dynamic athlete.”
Stroud continued carrying the ball, though in a lighter capacity, in the Buckeyes’ Nov. 12 56-14 win against Indiana. Before ending the day with 8 ground yards on four carries, he rushed in each of Ohio State’s first two possessions against the Hoosiers and nearly broke loose for a 30-yard scramble in the third quarter but stepped out of bounds after picking up eight yards.
Despite the rarity of Stroud’s carries in his last two seasons at Ohio State, he is no stranger to running the ball. In his first collegiate appearance — a 52-12 win at Michigan State in 2020 — Stroud took off for 48 yards to score his first and only rushing touchdown.
Additionally, Stroud said he runs the ball often — but fans don’t see it.
“I know it’s probably surprising to everybody else, but I run a lot at practice,” Stroud said. “In some of those situations where I get so used to keeping my eyes down the field to where this weather situation this past week kind of forced me to to make my reads a little quicker.”
Day said one reason Stroud ran the ball more than usual at Northwestern was the “extreme weather” conditions.
He said before the game, he and his coaching staff drew up a special game plan in case the passing game struggled in the windy conditions, and Day will likely do the same thing in the future.
“If we play in a game like that again, I think we would probably maybe try to run the quarterback a little bit more, a little bit earlier, but that comes with risks as well,” Day said.
While some of Stroud’s rushing attempts came from designed run plays, he said he also chose to scramble multiple times.
“It was probably half of them that were improvised, and then a couple of them were I was just reading a defender and it was my responsibility to read a gap or read a specific person,” Stroud said. “It could vary, it doesn’t matter. Either it could be a pass play where I scramble, or it can be a designed run to where I’m just keying one defender or two defenders.”
The extent of Stroud’s future involvement in the run game is unknown, but the Heisman Trophy candidate said he is focused on achieving his team’s goals, no matter what they require.
“I’m putting my body on the line, putting my heart on the line, my head, whatever the case may be, just for my brothers,” Stroud said. “I told coach I’m willing to do anything to get a win, so it’s good just to kind of put that on film, and definitely I think we can build from it.”
