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Three stats that made C.J. Stroud a Heisman Trophy finalist

IMG_7408by:Andy Backstrom•12/10/22•

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Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud is a repeat Heisman Trophy finalist. (Matt Parker/Lettermen Row)

COLUMBUS — Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud hasn’t put up the numbers he did as a redshirt freshman. Most notably, his completion percentage has dipped to 66.2%, and he’s thrown for 1,000-plus fewer yards than he did last year. Stroud has struggled under duress — his completion percentage under pressure (40.6%) is 124th nationally, according to Pro Football Focus — and he had a midseason streak of four games with an interception.

Still, Stroud has done more than enough to make NFL scouts salivate and college football fans everywhere “ooh” and “ahh.” The projected top-five pick in next year’s draft has also guided the Buckeyes back to the College Football Playoff after a one-year hiatus.

And so he’s a Heisman Trophy finalist for the second year in a row. Stroud is actually Ohio State’s first two-time Heisman finalist. When program legend Archie Griffin won the award twice in 1974-75 — the running back is the only college football player to ever achieve that feat — the Heisman Trust was not naming finalists. It didn’t start that process until 1982.

But there’s more to Stroud’s 2022 campaign than winning. Here are three stats that made him a finalist.

37 PASSING TOUCHDOWNS

Stroud is tied for first nationally with 37 touchdown passes. He’s the first Big Ten quarterback to post back-to-back seasons with 30-plus touchdowns. Stroud has registered six games with four or more scoring plays through the air in 2022, tossing at least five touchdowns four times. Most of his touchdown strikes — 26 to be exact — have come between the numbers, according to PFF.

Stroud once again tied the single-game program record with six touchdown passes against Michigan State, and he didn’t even play the fourth quarter of the Buckeyes’ blowout win in East Lansing. Stroud has now thrown six scores in a game on three separate occasions in his prolific Buckeyes career. Unfortunately for Michigan State, it has been on the receiving end of two of those air raids.

Stroud has piled up 81 touchdown passes over the last two seasons, moving him into second place all-time in Ohio State history. He trails J.T. Barrett, who recorded a Big Ten-record 104 from 2014-17.

46.3% COMPLETION ON DEEP PASSES (20+ YARDS)

Stroud has great touch and anticipation. He can deliver a throw on a rope or loft it to the back corner of the end zone. That’s a big reason why he’s such an accurate downfield passer. Stroud has completed 25-of-54 passes, or 46.3%, that have traveled 20-plus yards through the air this season. That clip is 16th nationally among FBS quarterbacks with at least 20 such pass attempts, per PFF. The only Heisman finalist with a higher completion percentage in that depth is TCU’s Max Duggan, as he has hit on 34-of-68 passes traveling 20 or more yards downfield.

Stroud has logged a 92.6 PFF grade on deep throws, and his 21 big-time throws — a metric PFF reserves for passes “with excellent ball location and timing, generally thrown further down the field and/or into a tighter window” — in that depth are good for 14th in the country. His ability to take shots, and actually connect on them, have helped him rank third nationally this season in yards per attempt (9.4).

Stroud is a quick decision maker, even on downfield throws. Of the top-20 passers, in terms of deep passing completion percentage, he is one of eight to get the ball out, on average, under three seconds. His time to throw on such passes is 2.89 seconds, which is six hundredths of a second faster than he logged last season, according to PFF.

176.3 PASSER RATING

Stroud’s 176.3 passer rating is tops in the FBS. For reference, Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker is second (175.5), and USC’s Caleb Williams is fifth (167.9).

Passer rating isn’t measured the same in college football as it is in the NFL. Well, the same statistical factors (pass attempts, pass completions, passing yards, passing touchdowns and interceptions) are used to determine a player’s aggregate passing performance, but those factors are weighed differently. If you’re curious, here’s the NCAA passer rating formula.

Even though Stroud was second to Coastal Carolina’s Grayson McCall in passer rating last year, his mark of 186.6 was superior to the one he notched in 2022. Passer rating at top of the leaderboard is down this year, but, nevertheless, Stroud is first this time around, and that jumps out on paper.

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