Ohio State star C.J. Stroud accomplishes rare feat with national award

Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud has been awarded the 2021 Freshman Breakout Performance presented by Chris Doering Mortgage for not one, but two great performances, including a record-shattering Rose Bowl game.

The freshman was the star of this year’s Rose Bowl, completing 37 of his 46 passes for 573 yards, six touchdowns and one interception. He hooked up with Jaxon Smith-Njigba 15 times for 347 yards and three touchdowns. Both performances are Rose Bowl records.

Ohio State would take the victory and the Rose Bowl trophy back to Columbus after a 48-45 shootout against Utah.

“That quarterback is terrific,” Utes coach Kyle Whittingham said after the game. “Statistically, the best in the country, as far as quarterback rating system, and he proved it tonight.”

Two games prior, Stroud had a performance that was just as impressive his one at the Rose Bowl. He went 32-35 for 432 yards, six touchdowns with zero interceptions in an even more impressive 56-7 rout of then-No. 7 Michigan State.

Those six touchdowns all came in the first half, and Stroud was pulled from the game as the Buckeyes held a 49-0 edge over the Spartans.

Stroud, who was a Heisman Trophy and Davey O’Brien Award finalist as well as the Big Ten’s Offensive Player of the Year, was chosen unanimously due to these two performances, which deemed worthy of the breakout award, according to the Football Writers Association of America.

Stroud finished his freshman campaign completing 317 of his 441 passes for 4,435 yards (No. 5 nationally), 44 touchdowns (No. 3 nationally) and just six interceptions. He also finished the season with the No. 1 QBR rating at 91.6.

“[Stroud] is tremendous,” Whittingham said. “The QBR, the quarterback rating system that ESPN uses — which in my estimation is the most accurate and the most telling of statistics for determining how well your quarterback’s playing — he leads the nation. I think you saw why [in the Rose Bowl].”

The previous winners of the Breakout Freshman Award are LSU’s Kayshon Boutte (2020), Arizona State’s Jayden Daniels (2019) and Purdue’s Rondale Moore (2018).