Ohio State names C.J. Stroud starting quarterback

We now know who the starting quarterback will be for the Ohio State football team, and it’s the guy everyone presumed.

Head coach Ryan Day met with the media on Saturday morning and named redshirt freshman C.J. Stroud the starter for the opening game against Minnesota on Sept. 2. Earlier this week, Day confirmed that Stroud had begun to “separate” from the others but held off on naming him the starter until today.

Out of Rancho Cucamonga, California, Stroud was a bit of a late bloomer in high school but had a precipitous rise in the recruiting rankings, got on Ohio State’s radar, and chose the Buckeyes on the first day of the early signing period in 2019. He was a high four-star prospect ranked at the No. 2 pro passer and 42nd overall recruit in the 2020 recruiting cycle according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings.

Stroud was presumed to be the leader in the clubhouse all along as the de facto backup to Justin Fields last season but has yet to throw an official collegiate pass in a real game setting. However, a QB arms race emerged between him, Jack Miller, and Kyle McCord. Five-star prospect Quinn Ewers entered the fray way too late to factor into the competition.

Just because Stroud is named the starter for the season opener does not mean that the other quarterbacks on the roster are done with the competition. OSU needed three QBs during its 2014 run to the national title and Day has said all along that they’ll need them all this year as well in a long season.

Now that Ohio State knows the starter under center, it can focus on game prep for the season opener coming in less than two weeks. Stroud has the keys to the offense and it’s now his time to shine, and his job to lose from here on out it would appear.

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