C.J. Stroud throws five TD passes, No. 11 Buckeyes roll past Knights

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Greg Schiano of Rutgers has a warning for the rest of the teams in the Big Ten Conference: No. 11 Ohio State is finding its stride.

C.J. Stroud threw for 330 yards and a career-high five touchdowns after sitting out a game to rest a shoulder and the Buckeyes won their 20th straight conference game with a 52-13 victory over Rutgers on Saturday.

“We had a bad day and we had it against a team that is finding its stride,” Schiano said after suffering his worst loss since returning for a second stint with the Scarlet Knights (3-2, 0-2). “The result was there to see.”

What everyone saw was a dominant Ohio State (4-1, 2-0) put a complete performance on display, especially on offense. The nation’s No. 2 offense scored on its first six possessions and had its defense deliver a pick-6.

“Having a win like this after the last month, it’s given us a little bit of juice now as we head into the next month of October,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. “It was some tough times here, but we grew through it, we didn’t panic, and in that we might have a good team as we head into October, November.”

Stroud connected with Chris Olave on touchdown passes of 56 and 11 yards, found Garrett Wilson on a 32-yard catch-andrun, and hit tight ends Jeremy Ruckert and Mitch Rossi on scoring passes of 19 and 1 yard, respectively. The freshman, who threw four TD passes against Minnesota in the opener, finished 17 of 23 and did not throw an interception. Olave finished with five catches for a team-high 119 yards.

“This is this is what he’s capable of,” Day said about Stroud. “And now he’s got to bring it through and be consistent.”

Ohio State has beaten Rutgers eight straight times. The Buckeyes outgained the Scarlet Knights 541-346.