Ohio State football: Should Ryan Day start Kyle McCord or C.J. Stroud vs. Rutgers?

Ryan Day must pick between Kyle McCord and C.J. Stroud to lead his Ohio State football team vs. Rutgers in Week 5.

Ohio State football head coach has a tough decision to make at quarterback between Kyle McCord and C.J. Stroud.

For the first three games of the season, Stroud got the nod. While he did have his moments, Ohio State did not look spectacular with him under center vs. Minnesota and in the home upset loss to Oregon. In those three starts, Stroud completed for 963 yards for eight touchdowns and three interceptions. A shoulder injury kept him out of Week 4’s game vs. Akron and McCord got the start.

In McCord’s first career start for Ohio State, he completed 13-of-18 passes for 319 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Though he did not complete a pass on his first drive of the game and fumbled, McCord bounced back the rest of the way, as Ohio State won easily over Tulsa, 59-7. A win is a win, but Tulsa is also 1-3 on the year and far cry from what the team was a season ago.

With a sneaky-tough road game coming up vs. the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, Day must make the right decision between McCord and Stroud to lead his team on Saturday. So who should it be?

Ohio State football: Ryan Day must pick between Kyle McCord and C.J. Stroud

While McCord and Jack Miller III got very important experience vs. Akron last week, if Stroud is healthy enough to play, he needs to get the start for the Buckeyes, albeit with a short leash. This would be highly controversial within Buckeye Nation, as McCord was a five-star coming out of high school and may opt to transfer after this season if he is not the long-term fit for Ohio State. On the other hand, Stroud could transfer too. There’s also true freshman Quinn Ewers waiting in the wings.

If this game were at home, it would increase the likelihood of McCord getting the start. While he still may get it anyway, there is a reason Day tabbed Stroud to get the Week 1 start vs. Minnesota in Minneapolis. Over the course of spring practice and fall camp, Stroud did enough to earn that starting job.

Day may want to give Stroud one last chance to prove he’s the guy he envisioned when he named him the Week 1 starter and not have him lose his job, in part, due to injury.

And for as much as Rutgers has struggled since joining the Big Ten, the Scarlet Knights have played well the last two years upon Greg Schiano’s return to Piscataway. They were 3-0 heading into last week and only lost by seven points on the road to undefeated Michigan.

So what would it take for Day to bench Stroud and go with McCord in this divisional game? Ohio State needs to trail Rutgers in the first half with Stroud not providing a lift to the offense. With the season on the line against a team Ohio State should beat, Day can feel comfortable making a change to McCord.

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