CJ Stroud explains how his elusiveness helped him adjust to Notre Dame pass rush

CJ Stroud found himself running quite a bit during Ohio State’s season opener against Notre Dame in Week 1. The Fighting Irish ramped up their pass rush late in the game, and that meant Stroud had to scramble to make plays.

That elusiveness proved to be important as the Buckeyes stymied Notre Dame in the second half en route to the 21-10 victory in Columbus. All told, Stroud rushed for one singular yard. But the scrambling and ability to shed Fighting Irish defenders helped Ohio State to the big season-opening victory.

After the game, Stroud credited his offensive line for holding up well enough to make plays after Notre Dame started blitzing. However, he said there’s still some room for improvement.

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“It [was] definitely an adjustment, but I think my o-line did really well in pass protection,” Stroud said. “Sometimes, it happens. They seep through and maybe I’ve got to drop back a little farther, give them a little room so I can see the field a little better. At the end of the day, I feel like they did a great job up front. Luke [Wypler] did a great job setting IDs, making our protection calls, trying to make sure that everything was set and straight-forward.

“I think maybe we can be more efficient … early on, set our rhythm early. I think we didn’t get a rhythm until the very end. That’s on my part, though. I got to play better. At the end of the day, I’m still excited. We’re 1-0 against Notre Dame, the No. 5 team in the country.”

Ryan Day discusses CJ Stroud’s budding chemistry with younger receivers

With Jaxon Smith-Njigba out for most of the game and Julian Fleming a game-time holdout for an injury, CJ Stroud and Ohio State’s young receivers were put to the test in the opener against Notre Dame. There is no question the group oozes with talent, but they hadn’t played significant snaps in a real game prior.

Things were certainly rocky at moments, especially the first few series with Smith-Njigba absent, but the newer faces set to feature in the Ohio State receiver room looked the part and Stroud got them ball enough. Emeka Egbuka led the Buckeyes in receiving with nine receptions for 90 yards and a score. Marvin Harrison Jr. logged five catches for 56 yards. New tight end Cade Stover even caught three balls from Stroud.

“I think certainly CJ and Jaxon have a great rapport and chemistry,” Day said after the game. “But he and ‘Meka, and then Marv, as well. We also didn’t have Julian tonight, he was a game time decision, we couldn’t quite get him going. So we were down some guys there. I thought the tight ends played well. Seeing Cade step in there. The running backs ran hard. The offensive line was strong.”