Ohio State Football: C.J. Stroud left it all on the field

There were a lot of questions about C.J. Stroud‘s legacy heading into the Peach Bowl. He is the first quarterback in Ohio State football history to go 0-2 as a starter against TTUN since the 1999-2000 seasons. In fact, one could argue he didn’t win any big games in his career.

The biggest win Stroud has on his resume is the Rose Bowl last season. He played fantastically in that one, throwing for 6 touchdowns and over 400 yards. But it wasn’t a College Football Playoff game. That makes it worth a little less in today’s college football landscape.

A couple of days removed from the Peach Bowl against Georgia and having rewatched the tape, I can emphatically say that Stroud played the best game of his career on Saturday night in Atlanta. The loss is not at his feet. No blame should come his way for the way he played.

C.J. Stroud did whatever it took to get the Ohio State football team the win.

Stroud finally did the one thing that we have been asking him to do in his two years as a starter; tuck it and run it when it was available to him. Stroud did that several times to pick up critical first downs. He ran for only 34 yards when you include the sack yardage, but those were big yards.

Stroud also used his legs to create space for himself in the pocket. He scrambled and kept his eyes downfield and made some big plays with his arm. He threw for 348 yards on 23/34 passing and 4 touchdowns. Most impressively, he didn’t turn the ball over.

At the end of the game, Stroud was down Marvin Harrison Jr. and didn’t have a running game to speak of. He did everything he possibly could to lead his team to the National Championship Game. His defense let him down yet again, a theme for him in the losses he’s suffered.

Stroud should either be the first or second quarterback off the board come April. I’d be happy to have him on my Colts, that’s for sure. Even though he didn’t win on Saturday, he proved to be the quarterback that everyone thought he could be.