CJ Stroud shares who he is rooting for in Michigan-Washington CFP title game
Houston Texans rookie quarterback and former Ohio State star CJ Stroud joined The Pat McAfee Show on Monday ahead of the college football national championship game between Michigan and Washington.
Stroud shared who he will be rooting for Monday night, and it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.
“It’s respect. I don’t know. I can’t disrespect,” CJ Stroud said of Michigan. “But I’m going for Washington.”
Stroud if a fan of Huskies quarterback Michael Penix Jr., who started his career in the Big Ten.
Penix spent four seasons with Indiana and battled injuries, before transferring to Washington ahead of the 2022 season. After putting together an impressive year in 2022, he was a Heisman finalist this year.
Penix enters the national title game with 4,648 passing yards and 35 touchdowns. He is averaging 9.2 yards per attempt.
“Michael Penix is a great quarterback, by the way, man. He’s a dog,” Stroud said. “I like Penix. I like his receivers. We played them COVID year in 2020, and he lit us up. He lit us up. That was the game he kind of got put on the map. I was like, ‘Who is this dude?’ He was nice.”
Indiana came up just short against Ohio State that year, falling 42-35. But Penix and the IU offense put on a show.
The lefty passed for 491 yards and five touchdowns against the Buckeyes, offering a glimpse of what was to come over the rest of his college career.
Stroud is unsure if he will attend Monday night’s national title game, but he will definitely be following along and rooting for Washington.
“I’m excited to see this place packed. It’s going to be loud. Really loud,” Stroud said.
Texans HC DeMeco Ryans: CJ Stroud ‘special’ in big-time moments
CJ Stroud has taken the NFL by storm in his rookie season. The No. 2 overall pick in the NFL draft led Houston to the playoffs in Year 1.
The Texans will host the Browns on Saturday afternoon after winning the AFC South this past weekend.
Stroud came up big against the Indianapolis Colts to clinch a playoff spot and was at his best in crunch time, leading the Texans on a 12-play, 73-yard game-winning scoring drive in the fourth quarter. The drive took 7:13 of game time, and Stroud went 7-of-7 for 80 yards.
Head coach DeMeco Ryans used the word “special” to describe the 22-year-old signal-caller.
“CJ doesn’t surprise me,” Ryans said after the game, via DJ Bien-Aime of ESPN. “We talked about it earlier in the week with CJ being special in these big-time moments when you need it most. To step up and make plays. He’s done it time after time throughout the entire year. It’s not surprising. That’s who he is. He’s one of the best passers in this league. And he shows it consistently, game in and game out.”