Ohio State football: Run the ball!!

I don’t think there has been more a point of discussion and outright frustration on the part of Ohio State football fans in recent weeks than the lack of running by quarterback C.J. Stroud. Let me amend the lack of running to steadfast refusal. When presented with the opportunity, Stroud will NOT take off and run.

I don’t doubt some of his reluctance comes from coaching. Ryan Day has an NFL background. When an NFL quarterback leaves the pocket, he keeps the play alive while keeping his eyes up the field looking for a receiver. You can see Stroud doing this and, considering the high quality of the Ohio State football team’s receiving group, I’m all for getting the ball to one of them. But, even NFL quarterbacks use their legs when they have to.

After the Nebraska game, Stroud was asked to explain why he doesn’t run when the opportunity looks to be there,

"“If my job was to run the ball, I’d be a running back or something,”"

Ok, that’s all fine and dandy, but a quarterback’s job is to advance the ball however he can and keep his team moving down the field. If that means scrambling for a few yards, then he does so. Stroud said he gets paid to throw the football. He gets paid to lead the offense and if that means running, then he needs to learn to run.

This is hurting the Buckeye offense. Defenses know Stroud is not a threat to run. When he leaves the pocket, do you ever see a defender come off the receiver he is covering because they fear Stroud taking off? No, you don’t.

If Stroud takes off when he sees an expanse of green plastic grass in front of him, it will begin putting pressure on the defense and lead to more big plays down the field. After he hurts a defense a few times with his legs, I promise they will abandon their receiver and come up at the hint of a Stroud run. When that happens, a Buckeye receiver will be open somewhere.

A quarterback must be willing to push, pull, cajole, and even drag his offense down the field. J.T. Barrett did it as well as anyone you’ll ever see. Justin Fields was more than willing. It took Dwayne Haskins much of a season to learn how to do it, but once he did the offense became that much better.

Stroud must come to understand being primarily a throwing quarterback doesn’t mean all you do is stand in the pocket looking pretty. Sometimes you have to get your hands dirty for the benefit of the team.

I’m not an advocate of Stroud running 10-12 times per game. But, I definitely think 5-6 times will help this offense tremendously and keep defenses more honest. The Buckeyes need Stroud to run the ball.