Ohio State Football: Stroud spreads ball around in emphatic 54-7 win at Indiana

C.J. Stroud was nearly perfect in the Ohio State football team’s blowout win over Indiana in Bloomington on Saturday night. The freshman quarterback was making quick decisions in the pocket, seeing the field well, and spreading it around to a number of different receivers.

The Buckeyes had 11 players finish with at least one catch, including seven players with multiple receptions. No matter who was in the game, Stroud was finding the open receiver on time and on target all night.

“It starts with the protection and it starts with the trust in the guys to catch it. He does see the field, that’s one of his strengths, and he’s got a lot of confidence right now. That’s a good thing. He made some nice throws tonight,” head coach Ryan Day said in the postgame press conference. “We’re always aggressive throwing the football but we also ran the ball. I thought the offensive line moved the line of scrimmage.”

After watching Stroud’s puzzling performance against Tulsa in mid-September, it was clear his shoulder injury was severely limiting his accuracy and confidence. Just over a month later and Stroud looks like one of the best quarterbacks in the nation. He went 21-28 for 266 yards and four touchdowns against Indiana, while Jaxon Smith-Njigba totaled a game-high six receptions for 99 yards. Jeremy Ruckert added five catches for 47 yards and two scores.

“We always say if you can know what you’re doing then you’re not anticipating, you’re playing fast. The more you can play fast and just go out there and play ball, the better,” Stroud explained following the win over Indiana. “I try to do my best to just focus on one game, one week at a time. Just watch the film and really hone in on it. You build a rhythm and you build momentum. Our team has a great mindset of just letting stuff go, good or bad.”

Since restarting Big Ten play in early October, the Buckeyes have outscored their opponents 172-37 as both sides of the ball have improved since losing to Oregon. Following the 47-point victory on Saturday, the Ohio State football team has now won 26 straight games over Indiana dating back to 1990.

Ohio State will return home for a matchup with rival Penn State as the team attempts to remain undefeated in conference play with November looming.