Ohio State football’s C.J. Stroud failed to make Heisman statement against Notre Dame, but he’s far from out of the race

COLUMBUS, Ohio — C.J. Stroud’s first half of a 21-10 win over Notre Dame looked oddly familiar to that of his first game as Ohio State football’s starting quarterback against Minnesota last season.

Things weren’t nearly as crisp as one would’ve hoped. Some of his throws that suggested the chemistry and timing with some of the young wide receivers is still a work in progress. A lack of explosive plays that could’ve quickly piled on the points. It didn’t help that his best and favorite weapon Jaxon Smith-Njigba had to leave the game for a short period of time with an injury, but it wasn’t like he was having a big-time performance when he was out there.

The only thing missing was the bad interception.

The slow start is why the Buckeyes went into the half trailing 10-7 while Stroud was 11 of 17 for 99 yards. He wasn’t playing badly, but it just felt like he was leaving some things on the table. It wasn’t the type of start that screamed, ‘I’m here to claim the Heisman Trophy, so the rest of you might as well not even try.’

Stroud had a chance to make a statement in Week 1, and 30 minutes into the game, he failed to do so. The good thing is there are still 11 games left — plus a potential Big Ten Championship Game — and it’s not like anyone else around the country did anything worthwhile either.

• Bryce Young and Will Anderson didn’t have to do much for Alabama to blow past Utah State in a shutout win. But that’s what you expect when the sport’s most dominant program is playing a Group of Five opponent.

• Caleb Williams flirted with perfection — 19 of 22 for 249 yards and two touchdowns — in his and Lincoln Riley’s debut as USC Trojans in a 66-19 win. But that came against Rice, so to some extent, a blowout win is expected.

• Stetson Bennett had the closest thing to a Heisman-level performance completing 25 of 31 passes for 368 yards and two touchdowns plus another on the ground as Georgia dominated 11th-ranked Oregon 49-3 on a neutral site field. But even with that showing, he’s got a long uphill climb to winning the trophy.

Stroud could’ve continued what was a quiet first half for the rest of the night, and as long as OSU won, his Heisman chances would be fine. Or he could turn it up a notch just as he did against the Golden Gophers a year ago.

The former won out as he finished with 232 yards and two touchdowns on 24 of 34 passing. It’s the first time in since last season’s 54-7 win over Indiana that he failed to reach at least 300 passing yards, and only the fourth time in his 13 career starts that he hasn’t reached that threshold.

But an off night from its starting quarterback didn’t matter as OSU still walked away with a win. He has a defense that showed that drastic improvements were made, two running backs in TreVeyon Henderson and Miyan Williams who ran hard — a combined 175 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries — and former walk-on Xavier Johnson making plays in crucial moments to thank for that.

Stroud wasn’t at his best against Notre Dame. Neither was the offense in its entirety. But to say that his Heisman Trophy chances died on the first weekend of the season were be nothing less than a hyperbolic statement. A quality schedule provides plenty of chances for him to build his resume, and this offense has built up enough equity to assume Week 1 was an anomaly and not a sign of things to come.

Just as he gradually turned himself into a Heisman-worthy quarterback in 2021, let’s see if he can do so again in 2022. His next real test comes on Sept. 24 when Wisconsin comes to Columbus.

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