C.J. Stroud's late-game barrage could be prelude to a Heisman

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — There is so much time between now and Dec. 10, between the wild and wacky and breathtaking game at Beaver Stadium on Saturday and this year’s Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York for which Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud will very likely be in attendance.

Three weeks of preamble separate Stroud from a mouthwatering rematch with Michigan after last year’s snow-swept classic in Ann Arbor, and the winner of that contest seems destined to compete for the Big Ten Championship in Indianapolis. Five games, five chances to author an iconic Heisman moment.

Yet there’s a chance Stroud never outdoes the outrageousness he summoned in the fourth quarter of an eventual 44-31 win over No. 13 Penn State, when his completions totaled 128 yards of tight-window throws, heady audibles and the kind of unflappable disposition young quarterbacks dream of. He orchestrated three touchdown drives in six minutes to dislodge the Nittany Lions’ grip on a potentially season-defining upset and remind the college football world of Ohio State’s high-octane flammability.

"I thought C.J. Stroud was unbelievable in the fourth quarter," head coach Ryan Day said, before adding, "To come in and play like that in this environment and go put the offense on his shoulders like that — listen, it’s everybody (contributing) on offense, but he was gutsy in this game. And I’m proud of him."

Stroud amassed more than 36% of his 354 passing yards — and his only passing touchdown — in the final stanza as the offense wheezed to life for the second consecutive game. A week after reaching the end zone just once in their first nine possessions against Iowa, the Buckeyes matched that feat in Happy Valley, falling behind 14-10 in the second quarter and 21-16 in the fourth. That Ohio State remained within striking distance through 45 minutes was a credit to the ball-hawking defense of coordinator Jim Knowles, whose unit notched three interceptions and recovered a sack-fumble, after forcing the Hawkeyes to commit six turnovers last week.

If the destruction of Iowa belonged to edge rusher Zach Harrison, who finished that game with five quarterback pressures, two tackles for loss, one sack and one forced fumble in arguably the best game of his college career, Saturday’s win over Penn State will be remembered for the bulldozing efforts of sophomore defensive end J.T. Tuimoloau, another former five-star recruit.  

It was Tuimoloau whose pass deflection on the Nittany Lions’ first drive launched the ball into the air for Harrison to pluck for an interception. It was Tuimoloau who snagged a pass of his own after dropping into coverage and driving on an underneath route on the very next possession. It was Tuimoloau who bull-rushed the right tackle, swiped the ball from the hand of quarterback Sean Clifford and recovered the fumble as the Buckeyes protected a three-point lead in the fourth quarter. And it was Tuimoloau who punctuated the game by returning his second interception for a touchdown and bumping the lead to 20 with 2:42 remaining.

His final stat line was otherworldly: six tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks, two interceptions, one forced fumble and one defensive score.

"I always say that with our team and our D-line, it only takes one player to have a day like we’re capable of having, and the game is wrecked," Harrison said. "Last week I had a pretty good game, this week J.T. went crazy. ... I’m just excited for the time when all of us are feeling that mojo. We’re unstoppable if we get to that."

Tuimoloau and the rest of Knowles' defense offered the kind of ballast and field position that enabled Stroud to drop jaws in a sensational closeout performance that underscored the chasm between him and Clifford, who threw for a season-high 371 yards but finished with more turnovers (four) than scoring plays (three). While Stroud averaged 16 yards per attempt and saved his only touchdown pass for crunch time, Clifford limped across the finish line with 7.8 yards per attempt and two turnovers in the final eight minutes.

Stroud responded to a 1-yard touchdown run from tailback Kaytron Allen by rifling consecutive completions to wideouts Marvin Harrison Jr. (21 yards) and Emeka Egbuka (13 yards) that immediately pushed the Buckeyes across midfield — at which point running back TreVeyon Henderson zoomed through the line of scrimmage and outran Penn State’s safety for a 41-yard score that gave OSU a 23-21 edge.

Stroud transformed the sack-fumble by Tuimoloau into a one-play, 24-yard scoring drive when he ignored a wave of blitzers and connected with Cade Stover up the seam — at which point the tight end rumbled through three would-be tacklers to surge across the goal line and extend the lead to nine. 

Stroud answered Penn State’s last meaningful score with completions of 16 yards and 12 yards to Marvin Harrison, the second of which was a pre-snap adjustment at the line of scrimmage, and a 42-yard lob to Egbuka that nestled into his receiver’s arms despite excellent coverage — at which point Stroud clenched his fists, hopped with excitement over the pinpoint throw and then, one play later, handed to Henderson for a 7-yard score that iced the game.

"When we go into these games, the expectation is to win," Day said. "I know that’s not everybody’s expectation, but that’s our expectation. Do we wanna play perfect? Yeah. Do we wanna win by four touchdowns? Yeah. But the expectation coming in here has to be to win, and that’s what we did."

They won with Tuimoloau's explosion and Zach Harrison's interception. They relied on Stover's toughness and Henderson's timely runs. They needed Egbuka's long grab and Marvin Harrison's 10-catch, 185-yard brilliance. 

But the player who won it was Stroud. 

"Every game has its own story," Day said, "and this is one that we’ll be telling for a while."

Perhaps, come December, in New York. 

Read more:

• All the top plays from a wild Week 9
• Ohio State's early struggles sure to spark joy in Ann Arbor
• Ohio State's J.T. Tuimoloau breaks social media with huge outing
• Football coaches call game-planning a science, but really it's an art
• Where will Deion Sanders coach in 2023?

Michael Cohen covers college football and basketball for FOX Sports with an emphasis on the Big Ten. Follow him on Twitter at @Michael_Cohen13.