ATLANTA—CJ Stroud has had tougher days than this.
After all, this is just a sport. There is life outside the arena too. Stroud knows that better than anyone. That said, a childhood rocked by his father’s incarceration led to the family’s financial difficulties and a late-blooming career.
Still, in this moment, after cutting through one of the best defenses in the country, setting up the team for an electrifying upset, and arranging Ohio State for a trip to the National Championship Game, he’s 100% off. ‘s football dreams were dashed.
Noah Ruggles’ 50-yard field goal attempt was caught just to the bottom left of the goal post, giving the Georgia Bulldogs a 42-41 win over Stroud and his Buckeyes in Saturday’s Peach Bowl. – Annual history of events.
Stroud would have been the MVP if the Ruggles kick split the uprights and the Buckeyes defense didn’t fold the stretch. He would have been the hero who managed to cut through the defenses of coach Kirby Smart and co-defensive coordinator Will Muschamp for 348 passing yards, four touchdowns and several sack-escaping skippers.
Noah Ruggles missed the final second field goal in Ohio State’s win over Georgia in the CFP National Semifinals.
John Bazemore/AP
Instead, he’s lost in one of the most memorable playoff games in college or the NFL, and could be his final outing with Scarlett and Gray.
Emotional and downtrodden, red-eyed Stroud stepped in to defend Ohio State coach Ryan Day on multiple occasions during the postgame press conference.
“We kept rocking like we [program’s] Culture,” Stroud said. “I don’t want to play for someone else.”
“When you have good players, everything plays well,” Day said when asked about his successful game plan against Georgia.
Then Stroud interrupted.
“I will be his man,” he said. “Great game plan. [calls]you can’t play.
Ohio State (11-2) also led 21-7 in the second quarter and 38-24 late in the third. Stroud and Co. seemed destined to beat the best of the SEC, perfectly positioned to oust the defending champions.
And it all quickly unraveled, with Buckeyes’ secondary fold occurring at the most crucial moment and three critical missteps.
- Safety Lathan Ransome twisted and slipped while covering Georgia receiver Ariane Smith, leaving him wide open for a 76-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
- In the following series, Ronnie Hickman and Tanner McAllister couldn’t get close enough to Georgia receiver Careys Jackson.
- The dagger came in the same series a few plays later when cornerback Denzel Burke succumbed to an inside move from Adonai Mitchell. The receiver was left open for the final game-winning dart delivered by Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett.
“I gave up playing explosive again,” Day said. “We did, but it was something we spent a lot of time talking about. To avoid big plays. I think the difference was in this game. We kept swinging and fighting.” But yeah, I mean what it is, if we’re going to win these games, we can’t give up those big explosive plays.
First-year defensive coordinator Jim Knowles and his squad gave up a whopping 14 plays of 15 or more yards, including four plays of at least 35 yards. Georgia accounted for almost half of the total yardage (210) on those four plays. With his four losses in CFP, Ohio State’s defense was capricious. The Buckeyes gave up 31 points (2016 Clemson), 29 (’19 Clemson) and 52 (’20 Alabama) before he 42 on Saturday night.
“We could definitely execute some plays better,” said Ohio State defensive end Zach Harrison. “We could have been in a better position.”
Stroud completed 23 of 34 passes for 348 yards, scored four touchdowns, and had no interceptions in the Peach Bowl.
Bryn Anderson/AP
There was an important play at the expense of the Buckeyes. In the second quarter, Ohio State tight end Mitch Rossi was flagged for an illegal move on the play Stroud converted a fourth down. Then, in the 4th quarter, Smart appeared to convert a fake punt before calling a timeout just before the snap. Instead of continuing the drive, both of those plays ended in punts. Georgia scored on both subsequent drives.
Defensive missteps and crushing losses, including a trip home for the Buckeyes’ star quarterback, shattered anything that was possible. The title match between Georgia and TCU will be held at SoFi Stadium. Stroud is from Los Angeles.
He was great against Georgia, throwing the ball deep, firing midrange darts and using his feet to pick up important yardages. In the final minutes, Stroud did it without a top target: Marvin Harrison Jr., who had five catches for 106 yards and two touchdowns, scored in the fourth quarter after a hit to the head. was knocked out of the game on
However, Stroud used his legs again to put the Buckeyes in position for the winning field goal. One down with about 30 seconds remaining, he ran 27 yards on a tortuous tackle-dodging run to Georgia’s 31-yard line. Then, in his three-play sequence that would be remembered in Columbus for years, the Buckeyes lost one yard on a first-down run and Stroud threw an incomplete pass on second and third downs.
“I wouldn’t change that call,” Day said when asked about the first down run.
Stroud interrupts: “Good. Great call!”
“There were a lot of plays in the game that I would love to see come back as a coach and as a player,” Day said. “But I told them I was proud of the way they competed.”
Stroud, who answered his critics with his greatest performance and greatest stage of all time, no one could dispute that assessment.
“I tried to keep everything on the line,” Stroud said. “A game like this leaves me speechless”