Ohio State Football: C.J. Stroud did not lose the Oregon game

C.J. Stroud was forced to shoulder this offense because of the poor play from the defense and the inability of Ohio State to run the ball.

For two straight games, C.J. Stroud should have been able to rely on a punishing run game to help him ease into the starting role, but was instead forced to shoulder the entire offense. Especially against Oregon, Ohio State was not able to have any kind of balanced offense.

Under Ryan Day, Ohio State is not going to go back to a team that runs the ball 80% of the time and plays the field position battle. That’s not who this team is. They are going to throw the ball and take plenty of shots. But what the Buckeyes need to have is a balanced threat where all the pressure is not on one facet of the attack. On Saturday, Ohio State was not able to do much of anything on the ground.

This makes it incredibly difficult for the passing attack to know that the defense can defend against the pass every play because they do not have to do anything different against the run. Stroud was facing pressure and coverages that allowed Oregon to focus solely on defending the pass. Even with the Oregon defense knowing he was going to be throwing the ball, Stroud still put up huge numbers.

The Buckeyes were also playing from behind most of the game, which puts more pressure on Stroud being able to throw the ball and generate quick scores. Without being able to have a balanced attack, Stroud was behind the 8-ball and still came up with a big game.