THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS
Ohio State’s Branham, Johnson getting major minutes
A former college guard himself, Jake Diebler has spent much of the last year bringing along a pair of young guards in Meechie Johnson Jr. and Malaki Branham.
In turn, the two youngsters have taught the Ohio State assistant coach a thing or two about himself.
“I think they’re teaching me patience at times,” Diebler said with a laugh. It was Tuesday afternoon, one day after the Buckeyes returned to the Associated Press top 25 poll and two days after a road win against Penn State. The next night, No. 21 Ohio State would defeat Towson.
The trip is a milestone in the redshirt freshman’s fast-rising career. Before September, he had never attempted a pass for the Buckeyes. Four months later, he’s up for the most prestigious player of the year award in the sport, following in the footsteps of Ohio State’s previous starting passers, Justin Fields and Dwayne Haskins.
It’s an especially rare stage for the 20-year-old quarterback. Since the Heisman Trust began selecting finalists in 1982, no freshman in eligibility from Ohio State had been invited to the ceremony.
Here are the five key moments that shaped Stroud’s path to New York:
Aug. 21: Stroud named starting quarterback
A three-man quarterback competition ended 12 days before the season opener at Minnesota, with Stroud beating out freshmen Kyle Mccord and Jack Miller.
The announcement came a day after Stroud secured the job with his performance in an intrasquad scrimmage at Ohio Stadium.
But he had long been in a position to prevail. He backed up Justin Fields in late 2020 and came in on a series when he got hurt in the College Football Playoff semifinal win over Clemson.
Even late in the preseason training camp competition, about a week before officially naming Stroud the starter Day acknowledged he was the front-runner in the competition, praising his decision-making.
Sept. 2: Shoulder setback
Stroud looked comfortable in his debut, throwing for 294 yards, four touchdowns and an interception as the Buckeyes prevailed in a 45-31 win at Minnesota.
There were other reverberations from the game, though.
He took a hit that dislocated an AC
joint in his right throwing shoulder. The injury did not become public until Stroud discussed it in November during an appearance on the Big Ten Network, but it impacted him in the following weeks, limiting him against Oregon and Tulsa and prompting him to sit out against Akron on Sept. 25.
It wasn’t a significant setback and didn’t require surgery, but it made the first month of Stroud’s season a bit bumpier.
Oct. 9: Bye-week momentum
Stroud’s arm looked well-rested after he was held out against Akron.
In the following game at Rutgers, he threw for 330 yards and five touchdowns. Then against Maryland he passed for 406 yards and five touchdowns.
And he didn’t throw an interception in either game.
The stretch was a time in which Stroud built momentum entering the Buckeyes’ idle week in mid-october.
It was around that time that Stroud said this week that he realized he could end up in contention for the Heisman.
“Really after the bye week,” he said, “I feel like I was like, ‘OK, I might be able to do this.’ I don’t try to look at that stuff. I think it’s kind of a distraction, if you ask me. But of course, it was really cool, because my whole life I dreamed of things like this.”
Nov. 20: Six-touchdown day
If there was a period of time when Stroud’s candidacy looked the most formidable, it was following a 56-7 rout of
Michigan State.
In a nearly flawless performance against the Spartans, Stroud completed 32 of 35 passes for 432 yards and six touchdowns, tying the school record for scoring tosses. All of them came in the first half as Stroud sat out most of the final two quarters of the blowout.
A variety of sportsbooks then installed him as the odds-on favorite for the Heisman. At the very least, he had turned the race for the award into a twoman battle between him and Alabama quarterback Bryce Young.
Leading into the second-to-last game of the regular season against Michigan State, Stroud was building his case and had the support of other star teammates.
“I’ve seen him sling it for a year and a half now,” wide receiver Garrett Wilson said. “He’s something really special. If we finish the way we expect to and the way we prepare to, he’ll be right where he wants to be at the end of the season as far as the Heisman race.”
Nov. 27: A loss to Michigan
The Buckeyes didn’t finish their season as planned and were upset at Michigan over the Thanksgiving weekend.
Stroud was solid. He was 34-of-49 passing for 393 yards and two touchdowns. He didn’t throw an interception, either. It was an effort he put together despite falling sick earlier in the week.
But the loss proved costly and a reason Stroud is expected to finish behind Young in the voting when the winner is announced Saturday night.
At Michigan, Stroud was overshadowed by Aidan Hutchinson, the Wolverines’ star defensive end and also a Heisman finalist, who sacked him three times.
The defeat also kept the Buckeyes out of the Big Ten championship game. As other candidates were on the field last weekend, Stroud was idle and unable to make a closing case to voters before the voting deadline on Monday.
Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Contact him at jkaufman@dispatch.com or on Twitter @joeyrkaufman.