Ohio State Football: Comparing Kyle McCord to C.J. Stroud through their first four starts

Former Ohio State football quarterback C.J. Stroud is making an impact in the NFL, having been named the offensive rookie of the year for the month of September. New Ohio State starting quarterback Kyle McCord has also made an impact, filling in for Stroud as the starting quarterback for the undefeated Ohio State football team.

There was much anxiety among Buckeye Nation in McCord being named the new starting quarterback for Ohio State. After a quarterback battle with Devin Brown that started during the spring, the competition wasn’t settled until the second game of the season in the home opener against Youngstown State.

McCord then went on to win against Western Kentucky, and then in dramatic fashion, led the Ohio State football team on a game-winning drive on the road against Notre Dame. McCord went from being supported by half of the fan base and head coach Ryan Day to being nicknamed Kyle McCool. Yes, the win in South Bend, Indiana was legendary, but where is he in his development when compared to Stroud at this point in his career?

In order to answer that question, let’s look at his numbers in his first four starts this season compared to the numbers that Stroud produced in his first four starts in 2021.

Kyle McCord

Game 1 – at Indiana 20/33 for 239 yards, 0 TDs and 1 INT.

Game 2 – vs. Youngstown State 14/20 for 258 yards, 3 TDs, and 0 INTs.

Game 3 – vs. Western Kentucky 19/23 for 318 yards, 3 TDs, and 0 INTs.

Game 4 – at Notre Dame 21/37 for 240 yards, 0 TDs and 0 INTs.

Total – 74/113 (0.65%) for 1,055 yards, 6 TDs and 0 INTs.

4-0 record

C.J. Stroud

Game 1 – at Minnesota 13/22 for 294 yards, 4 TDs and 1 INT.

Game 2 – vs. Oregon 35/54 for 484 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT.

Game 3 – vs. Tulsa 15/25 for 185 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT.

Game 4 – at Rutgers 17/23 for 330 yards, 5 TDs and 0 INTs.

Total – 80/124 (65%) for 1,293 yards, 13 TDs and 3 INTs.

3-1 record

The biggest difference between Stroud and McCord when looking at their numbers is the passing yards and touchdowns. Stroud didn’t split time with McCord in his first four starts like McCord has done with Brown in the first two games this season. However, Stroud did sit out that fourth game of the 2021 season against Akron, which was McCord’s first official start, which I am not counting in this exercise.

Stroud averaged over 16 yards per completion while McCord is averaging just over 14 yards per completion. Stroud also had 13 touchdown passes to McCord’s six. Stroud was a little more explosive through his first four games compared to McCord.

However,  with the explosive passing plays also came turnovers. Here in lies the biggest difference between McCord and Stroud up to this point. McCord, although not as explosive as Stroud, has done a good job of taking care of the football.

Ryan Day was preaching all fall camp about doing the routine things routinely. That’s exactly what he has gotten in McCord. One could argue that that game-winning drive a week ago was anything but routine, which might be the catalyst for McCord getting a little more aggressive in the passing department. But if he remains routine, so far statistically, it has proven to be a winning formula thus far.