Stroud presses on despite shoulder
Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud is dealing with pain in his shoulder, but he said he was healthy enough to play in Saturday’s 41-20 win over Tulsa.
“It hurts, but life hurts,” Stroud said. “Winning is tough. I just have to grind through it. There have been plenty of guys here who have grinded through injuries. That’s just playing football. You’re never 100% after that first game. So I just thank God I was even allowed to play this game today.”
After nearly throwing for a schoolrecord 484 yards in the previous week’s loss to Oregon, Stroud went through more growing pains against the Golden Hurricane. He completed 15 of 25 passes for a season-low 185 yards and one touchdown.
The explosive element to the Buckeyes’ passing game disappeared. The longest of his 15 completions was a 20yard throw to wide receiver Garrett Wilson. He was also intercepted in the second quarter when he attempted to squeeze a pass to tight end Jeremy Ruckert in triple coverage and later had the ball stripped away when he was sacked.
“Winning isn’t easy, but we knew Tulsa was a good team,” he said. “They do some funky things on defense where if you get greedy, it can cause turnovers, and that’s what happened on the one play. They drop eight every play so it’s tough to find windows in the pass game.”
Stroud, a redshirt freshman, vowed for improvement despite dealing with pain.
“It’s tough,” he said, “but I feel I feel like I’m a tough guy and am going to keep going.”
Poll watch
Voters were unimpressed by Ohio
State’s win.
The Buckeyes, who led the winless Golden Hurricane by only a touchdown in the fourth quarter before adding a pair of late scores, slid a spot in the Associated Press top-25 poll to No. 10.
It was the second consecutive week in which the Buckeyes fell in the rankings. They tumbled six spots following an upset loss to Oregon.
But it marked the first time that they had been dropped after a win since Sept. 8, 2019, when they fell a spot after a 42-0 win over Cincinnati.
Penn State, which had been ranked No. 10, surpassed Ohio State following a win over No. 23. Auburn.
The Nittany Lions are the secondhighest ranked team in the Big Ten after moving up to No. 6, trailing only Iowa, which is at No. 5.
Ohio State also went down a spot to No. 12 in the coaches’ poll.
Early exit for Thayer Munford Late in the first quarter, left guard Thayer Munford suffered an apparent leg injury and was assisted off the field by a pair of trainers.
Munford put little weight on his right leg while walking toward the sideline and was later carted off to the locker room.
“It doesn’t look long term,” said coach Ryan Day. “How long? I don’t know. But the pictures and everything that were taken do not look long term.”
Matthew Jones, a redshirt junior, filled in for the rest of the game. Jones started three games last season at left guard, including both College Football Playoff games after Harry Miller tested positive for COVID-19.
Status of Zach Harrison
Defensive end Zach Harrison, who was sidelined against Tulsa due to an undisclosed injury, apparently won’t be out for long.
“We’re hoping to get him back next week,” Day said. “It was kind of a gametime decision. We felt like the best thing to do was hold him for this game and then get him back next week.”
During the telecast on FS1, the announcers said Harrison has a back injury, but Day did not offer specifics about Harrison’s ailment.
Javontae Jean-baptiste started in his place at the spot opposite Tyreke Smith and finished with a tackle.
Cody Simon starts at linebacker
Sophomore Cody Simon made his first career start at linebacker in place of Teradja Mitchell, who did not play.
Mitchell warmed up and remained in uniform on the sideline, but had previously been a game-time decision because of an undisclosed injury.
Simon finished with three tackles, including one for a loss.
Etc.
Cornerback Sevyn Banks made his season debut when he filled in midway through the second quarter.
Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Contact him at jkaufman@dispatch.com or on Twitter @joeyrkaufman.