Ohio State QB CJ Stroud struggling through lingering shoulder soreness

Freshman quarterback CJ Stroud has had an up and down start to his collegiate career at Ohio State. After the Buckeyes’ 41-20 victory over Tulsa on Saturday, Stroud and Ohio State head coach Ryan Day both acknowledged that Stroud has been dealing with a nagging injury with his throwing shoulder.

Stroud has been inconsistent so far in Ohio State’s offense. His highs have been tremendous, and the Buckeyes’ offense is explosive when Stroud is at his best. But when he’s off, the offense has looked out of sync. His shoulder injury has shown in his accuracy, and Stroud has been in visible discomfort through three games.

“Everybody works through different injuries and different soreness and things like that,” Day said after Ohio State’s win over Tulsa. “He’s been practicing well and he’ll continue to do so.”

Stroud: Winning is tough

Stroud put up big numbers through the first two weeks despite his inconsistencies. In week one’s win over Minnesota, Stroud threw for 294 yards, four touchdowns and an interception. All four of his touchdown passes came in the second half. In Ohio State’s loss to Oregon, Stroud threw for 484 yards and three touchdowns with an interception.

Against Tulsa, though, Stroud’s numbers weren’t spectacular. Tulsa remained competitive throughout the majority of the game. Stroud ultimately threw for 185 yards with one touchdown and one interception for the Buckeyes. After the game, Stroud talked about playing through his shoulder injury. He said that it is just something that he has to do as a football player.

“It hurts, but life hurts,” Stroud said. “Winning is tough. I just have to grind through it. There’s been plenty of guys here grinding through injuries. That’s just playing football. You’re never at 100% after that first game. I just thank God that I was even allowed to play this game today, to even be healthy enough.”

Coach Day thinks that Stroud has shown great growth through the year already

After Ohio State’s week one win over Minnesota, Day talked about Stroud’s growth throughout preseason camp and the early portion of the Buckeyes’ regular season.

“It’s been kind of a work in progress for a while,” Day said after week one of Stroud’s progress. “He started off in the spring and had 15 practices there and then had a healthy preseason camp. The first game of the season was good. It was good to get a head start on the season. But we only had 48 snaps. Early on a couple of things didn’t go his way. But I thought he stuck with it and played pretty good in the second half.

“This week is a different challenge for us though. Now we’re at home, a different environment, and a different challenge. This is going to be something that, over time, there’s going to be really good plays and things that he learns from. Last week was the start and we’ll see what this week brings.”

Stroud and the Buckeyes sit at No. 10 in the latest AP Top 25 Poll. They will face Akron next weekend.