Ryan Day comments on CJ Stroud's progress for Ohio State

275133747_4796292347117549_592518599057046758_nby:Jonathan Wagner•09/11/21•

Jonathan Wagner

Ohio State got off to a 1-0 start to the season despite a slow first half on opening weekend against Minnesota. The Buckeyes trailed 14-10 at halftime but a strong second half led them to a 45-31 victory. Quarterback C.J. Stroud struggled in the first half, but he bounced back with an explosive second half to lead Ohio State to the win.

Ryan Day: Stroud’s growth has been a ‘work in progress’ for Ohio State

During College GameDay on Saturday morning, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said that Stroud has been a work in progress throughout his transition to becoming the Buckeyes’ starting quarterback.

Stroud finished the first half against Minnesota 8-of-14 with 58 yards, no touchdowns, and an interception. In the second half, Stroud completed just five of eight passes, but his completions were big ones. He averaged 47.2 yards per completion with four second half touchdowns.

“It’s been kind of a work in progress for a while,” Day said of Stroud’s progress. “He started off in the spring and had 15 practices there and then had a healthy preseason camp. The first game of the season was good. It was good to get a head start on the season. But we only had 48 snaps. Early on a couple of things didn’t go his way. But I thought he stuck with it and played pretty good in the second half.

“This week is a different challenge for us though. Now we’re at home, a different environment and a different challenge. This is going to be something that, over time, there’s going to be really good plays and things that he learns from. Last week was the start and we’ll see what this week brings.”

Stroud hopes to get into more of a rhythm this week

Ohio State is ranked No. 3 entering week two. Oregon, Ohio State’s week two opponent, is ranked No. 12. A lot of Stroud’s early struggles last week came because of a large time of possession disparity. Minnesota possessed the ball for 38:41 compared to just 21:19 for Ohio State.

“I mean, everything we called was great,” Stroud said. “Sometimes things just don’t go the way that you want them to. Time of possession was crazy, [Minnesota] held the ball way longer than we wanted them to. They held it for a while in the first half, so we got a little bit cold in the first half, but I was happy we got the win.”