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Ryan Day opens up on Ohio State's run game, how CJ Stroud can improve it

Barkley-Truaxby:Barkley Truax•11/12/22•

BarkleyTruax

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Despite his athleticism, Ohio State‘s CJ Stroud has never been the type of quarterback to utilize his dual-threat ability. That changed last week against Northwestern, as Stroud rushed for a career-high 79 yards as the Buckeyes struggled to get anything going in the passing game.

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said Stroud’s mobility is a wrinkle they could use moving forward. A Stroud-TreVeyon Henderson or Miyan Williams option play isn’t something many defenses could stop.

“I think CJ [Stroud] embraced it and you can see what he can do. I think it can be a weapon for us moving forward. Maybe we found a little something there, but that has pluses and minuses, too,” Day said. “But at the end of the day, our running backs have got to run, our line has to block, tight ends have to block, receivers have to be a part of it whether it’s the perimeter run game with the bubbles or coming down to block safeties.

“Everyone’s got to be involved in this and we’ve just got to execute it better.”

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The Buckeyes were without Henderson last week after re-aggravating a foot injury suffered back in September, but Williams filled in beautifully as he went on to take 26 carries for 111 yards and two touchdowns. Stroud filled in the gaps, and the Buckeyes were able to overcome the Wildcats with a 21-7 victory on the road.

Even still, Day believes his team can do better in the running game, and it will take a team effort to get there.

“I think we all need to do better, absolutely,” Day said. “Going back and watching the film, we’ve got to block better, we’ve got to run better. We’ve got to do a better job of creating numbers – all of the above because in games where they know you’re going to run it, you have to come up with answers. But just moving forward in general, we know we can do a better job.”

Ohio State’s Week 11 slate sees them match up against the Indiana Hoosiers, where the Buckeyes look to secure its 10th 10-win season in 11 years. Kickoff is set for noon ET live on FOX.