Ryan Day isn't sure who Ohio State's starting quarterback this week will be yet, but he is expecting C.J. Stroud to be back on the practice field.
While Stroud sat out last week's practices and Saturday's game against Akron due to a shoulder injury, Day said Monday on the Ohio State Sports Network's Buckeye Roundtable show that he is “looking forward to a good, full week of work with C.J. and seeing how it goes throughout the week.”
“He’s feeling much better and much more rested, so we’ll kind of see how it goes Tuesday and Wednesday and go from there,” Day said.
With Stroud sidelined, Kyle McCord started against Akron and completed 13 of 18 passing attempts for 319 yards and two touchdowns with one interception while Jack Miller completed five of eight passing attempts for 66 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.
Day believes that game experience was valuable for both of them, neither of who had thrown a pass in a collegiate game before Saturday's 59-7 win over Akron, as the Buckeyes move forward into conference play, which begins this week with a 3:30 p.m. road game against Rutgers, who ranks seventh nationally in scoring defense (13.5 points allowed per game) and 11th in total defense (262.8 yards allowed per game).
“I thought it was good to get Kyle and Jack both reps,” Day said. “A lot to learn from, a lot to grow from. Some good plays and also some plays that they gotta improve on. But I think it was good for them because it makes it real now, and I think they’ll have a little bit better perspective when they’re at practice this week, not just getting scout reps but actually practical game reps goes a long way.”
