Ryan Day makes a decision on starting quarterback for Ohio State vs. Akron

When the Buckeyes take on Akron this weekend, they will do so with a different starting quarterback.

C.J. Stroud will get the week off in an effort to have him ready for the remainder of Ohio State’s Big Ten schedule, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day confirmed this morning. 

“Going into this game, we’ve asked C.J. to probably take these last two days off and rest that shoulder,” Day said. “[Backup quarterbacks] Kyle [McCord] and Jack [Miller] have done a good job. We’ll see how today goes but we’ll probably use C.J. in somewhat of an emergency capacity on Saturday and play some of those other guys.”

Stroud started the Buckeyes’ first three games against Minnesota, Oregon and Tulsa this season while battling through a minor shoulder injury.

The redshirt freshman has completed 63 of his 101 pass attempts for 963 yards, eight touchdowns and three interceptions.

Ohio State had kept Stroud as their starter to this point because he lacked experience, but the Buckeyes are 49.5-point favorites against the 1-2 Zips, so this game provides a safe opportunity to rest Stroud and get backups Kyle McCord and Jack Miller some playing time.

“If it works out, we’ll [play other quarterbacks],” Day said earlier in the week. “But when C.J. Stroud gets in there, we also want him to find a rhythm as well and get that execution of the offense. That’s the No. 1 goal is to make sure that we’re executing at a high level and finding that rhythm. I don’t think we’ve found that quite yet, and we’re going to get that done here this week with some things we’re going to address in practice, how we’re teaching and all those things.”

Day has not named his starter for the game, which kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET on the Big Ten Network.

McCord is a true freshman and former five-star recruit from Philadelphia, while Miller is a redshirt freshman and former four-star recruit from Scottsdale. Miller saw action in last year’s 52-17 win over Nebraska during which he ran for a 21-yard touchdown. He has zero career pass attempts.

The Buckeyes will be able to lean heavily on freshman running back TreVeyon Henderson on Saturday while getting a new quarterback reps. Henderson has already proved why was the top running back recruit in the 2021 class; he has 38 carries for 346 yards and four touchdowns on the season, an average of 9.1 yards per carry.

Last week, the 5-foot-10, 210-pound back had 277 yards and three touchdowns, earning him multiple Big Ten honors.