Ohio State Football: C.J. Stroud back on track for Heisman

The Ohio State football team crushed the Toledo Rockets 77-21 on Saturday evening in Columbus. C.J. Stroud may have taken back control of the Heisman race with his performance. 

The Buckeyes were in dominant form last night at the Horseshoe. All aspects of the offense were running on all cylinders as Ohio State scored 28 first-quarter points to quickly end Toledo’s night. All in all, the Scarlet and Gray scored 11 touchdowns in this game en route to a 77-21 blowout of Toledo.

But it was the performance of quarterback C.J. Stroud that had the Ohio State’s offense playing at a high level. Overall Stroud was 18 of 20, with 297 yards and four touchdowns. In the first half! His final stat line read 22 of 27 for 367 yards and five touchdowns. A completely dominant performance.

Toledo head coach Jason Candle had this to say about Stroud after the win, via Eleven Warriors:

"We played a monster opponent tonight. It was as impressive of a performance by quarterback I’ve seen."

It wasn’t just easy pitch and catch all night long for the Buckeyes. Stroud had to hit some tight windows and make some pinpoint throws along the sideline. He found Marvin Harrison Jr. in the endzone with a throw that only a few players in America could make as Harrison got two toes down for an impressive score.

And after looking around at how other Heisman candidates faired last night, I’d say it was Stroud who started to separate himself from the pack a little bit.

Alabama quarterback Bryce Young, USC quarterback Caleb Williams, and Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett all had fine games against inferior opponents, but nobody played close to the level of Stroud.

If Stroud can keep this level of play against Wisconsin come next Saturday, Stroud surely will become the Heisman favorite entering the month of October.