CJ Stroud criticizes Ohio State doubters, talks about missing Jaxon Smith-Njigba

After a huge season-opening win over Notre Dame, Ohio State quarterback CJ Stroud spoke about how they managed without Jaxon Smith-Njigba. The Buckeyes defeated the Fighting Irish on Saturday, 21-10, after a dominant second half that saw Ohio State improve on both sides of the ball. During the first half, Smith-Njigba suffered an injury that forced him to miss the remainder of the game — something that didn’t stop Stroud and the Ohio State offense from stepping up.

CJ Stroud talks about losing Jaxon Smith-Njigba to injury

“First of all I just wanna give all glory to God. This is a hard-fought win,” started Stroud after the game. “I love my brothers man, this is what we did in the offseason man. It was a tough win and we’re a tough team, so that’s what we tried to prove tonight. But without Jaxon it was very tough. But the young guys stepped up really big … I just appreciate my team for sticking with me. It wasn’t perfect by me or the team and Notre Dame played hard, but we came away with the victory.”

Stroud was then asked how it felt to see his team punch the ball into the end zone on their final scoring drive of the game — a 14-play, 95-yard drive that ended with a Miyan Williams rushing touchdown.

“It was just great to see, all the work we put in, in the weight room … Coach Day preaching on us that we gotta run the ball. To be able to do it in those clutch moments, it’s huge.

“We’re just battle tested. God put us through a lot last season but it was on purpose. God puts everybody through something for a reason. We were tough enough to get through it last season, so that’s why we learned from it this year.”

The Buckeyes quarterback then turned his attention to how their critics helped focus him and his teammates during the offseason, using them for inspiration as they entered the locker room at halftime trailing.

“I just told them to remember. Remember how everybody counted us out last season, they said we weren’t tough, they said we couldn’t run the ball, they said we could only throw it — they said a lot of things. We didn’t want to prove nobody wrong, we wanted to prove us right so I feel we did that tonight.”