Ohio State’s Stroud impresses teammates
The demeanor caught Chris Olave's attention.
As Ohio State emerged from the locker room ahead of the second half in last week's season-opening win at Minnesota, he noticed a sense of calmness from quarterback C.J. Stroud.
Despite bumpy opening quarters in his first start for the Buckeyes, including overthrown passes and an interception, Stroud looked collected.
“Coming out of halftime, he kind of got his head on his shoulders,” Olave said, “and he started throwing the ball.”
Stroud threw all four of his touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters, adding up to the 294 passing yards he totaled that made for one of the most statistically impressive debuts for an Ohio State passer.
As the Buckeyes looked back on the first start from Stroud in recent days, the poise he showed lingered, an often mentioned characteristic.
It was especially at the forefront of Olave's mind as he praised his response to the adversity.
“I just felt like he had to get comfortable,” he said. “Once he got comfortable, once he got his feet under him, he was good.”
Olave said he and Garrett Wilson, the Buckeyes' other star receiver, were veterans there for Stroud to rely on amid the hostile atmosphere in Minneapolis. Not only was the redshirt freshman starting behind center for the first time since enrolling last year at Ohio State, he was doing so in front of more than 50,000 fans, making up a sellout crowd at Huntington Bank Stadium.
But Stroud adjusted without needing much consoling from teammates between series.
“He kind of got through it on his own,” said Olave, who spent his first three seasons with the Buckeyes catching passes from Justin Fields and Haskins.
The experience gave Olave some perspective to assess Stroud's debut.
“He played great,” he said. “Still a freshman, 19 years old. It's going to be a couple of mistakes, but I'm proud of the way he responded and the way he finished the game. That's who C.J. is.”
Coach Ryan Day thinks the experience will be formative, helping Stroud as he prepares for his second start on Saturday.
Though the Buckeyes will be in front of their own fans at Ohio Stadium, the much-billed matchup with Oregon sits as a formidable test. The Ducks sit just outside the top-10 in the national polls and bring a physical defense to Columbus.
But Stroud has now been under pressure at least once.
“You can say you have done it before,” Day said. “There were a lot of things going into that game that we could say C.J. hadn't done. He had never even thrown a pass. It's one thing to be a first-time starter, it's another thing to be doing everything for the first time, going on the road, playing in front of fans, being a starter, throwing a pass in a game.
“All those things. Throwing your first interception, throwing your first touchdown. Those were all new things for him. Any time those things are new like that, there's a toll that's taken. Once it's behind you, then you can grow upon that and use it as a reference point.”
Not long after Stroud settled in at Minnesota, he was able to show off the arm talent that had been lauded by his wide receivers in preseason camp.
His touchdown passes came on throws of 38, 56, 70 and 61 yards. Some of them involved significant yards after the catch by his target, especially when freshman running back Treveyon Henderson turned his swing pass into a score.
But in multiple instances against the Golden Gophers, he kept looking down the field, seeking big plays in the passing game.
It mirrored an effort throughout the offseason, time spent with receivers in throwing sessions to establish chemistry.
Olave saw something in Stroud even then.
“I know C.J. is confident in himself and confident in us," he said. "He's going to give us a chance when he can. He's going to put the ball out there wherever we need it. He's going to put the ball in our radius for us to make plays.
Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Contact him at jkaufman@dispatch.com or on Twitter @joeyrkaufman.