Grading C.J. Stroud in Ohio State football’s 21-10 win over Notre Dame

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- C.J. Stroud didn’t have his best performance in Ohio State football’s 21-10 win over Notre Dame, but that didn’t keep him from being satisfied with the outcome, let head coach Ryan Day tell it.

Stroud completed 24 of 34 passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns. It was far from the explosive numbers that have become standard for him, but for him and Day, the more important detail was getting a win over a top-five opponent to start the season. Anything outside of that would’ve been a bonus anyway.

“He was the happiest guy out there,” Day said. “Maybe it wasn’t the perfect night, and everyone wants to talk about the Heisman Trophy and all that, (but) he just want to go 1-0, and he did and made some big-time throws. Scrambling around (and) ... it wasn’t pretty. Made the huge throw to (Xavier Johnson), and that was zero pressure on his back foot.”

Stroud chalked up any funkiness in the passing game being more of it being Week 1 than any indication of a second-year slump. Regardless he was more concerned with walking away with a win than how the Buckeyes went about doing it.

“Coach Day always says that no matter what type of game it is, we always have to stick together, and I feel like that’s what we did,” Stroud said. “No matter how I played, or whatever the case may be, we got the win. We’re 1-0. That’s the No. 5 team in the country. Kudos to Notre Dame they did some good things, and that’s a really tough first game.

“At the end of the day, I’m super proud of my guys, and I think that we’re a tough team, and we’ll keep proving that.”

Ohio State entered the season with plenty of questions about its defense, while its offense spent the summer receiving plenty of praise. Stroud was at the forefront of that as the preseason Heisman Trophy favorite and the potential top pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

But Week 1 proved the defense may be trending in the right direction while the offense had an off night. Regardless, the result was a positive one for Stroud and Day, even if things didn’t go as most would’ve expected.

“It wasn’t perfect,” Day said. “It’s not the way we drew it up, but we’re 1-0. If we can continue to build like that and grow and defensively the way it does, watch out.”

Watch the video above to see how we graded Stroud’s performance and subscribe to our Ohio State YouTube channel to ensure you don’t miss any videos on the Buckeyes from cleveland.com.

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