Rutgers Quotebook: CJ Stroud Says “It’s Ohio Vs The World”, Cameron Martinez Says Few Games Past Have Been “A Dream Come True”

Maybe CJ Stroud especially, as the red-shirted first-year quarterback returned after missing last week’s game to throw for 330 yards and five touchdowns.

After the game, Stroud admitted that the last time he had adjusted for Ohio State – the victory tighter than it should have been against Tulsa on September 18 – he was anything but good. health for the exit. In fact, Stroud said her shoulder felt like she was “going to fall” against the hurricane.

“The whole week I had a good week of training and I felt so much better coming into this game with my shoulder,” said Stroud. “This Tulsa game, I really wasn’t feeling well at all. But this week I can actually intervene in my throws, actually really put something in my throws without feeling like my shoulder is going to drop. blessing to be able to be healthy.

With a week off under his belt, Stroud made sure his starting job was secure for the foreseeable future. The second-year Buckeye found Chris Olave for two touchdowns that day, and the wide-all-star had a lot of good things to say about his quarterback after the game.

“This is the CJ we saw at fall camp, summer,” Olave said. “He went out there, he rested on his shoulder a little bit, so he felt like he was 100%. He launched it today.

Stroud said his thoughts on the team haven’t changed after what was arguably his most impressive performance of the season, and believes Ohio State will actually benefit from facing early adversity.

“I feel for my team what I have always felt. It doesn’t matter what the world sees. Like everyone else says, and even before I got here, it’s Ohio against the world. It’s true, how it took me to play to really understand that, and come to this great university. It’s really Ohio versus the world, because everyone’s counting us right now – which is good. What I think is a good thing, because there are a lot of weird and awesome things in college football right now, and that just sets us up to be awesome. ”

As good as the Buckeyes are on offense, they were no less impressive on defense. Ohio State caused three turnovers on the Rutgers offense and forced the Scarlet Knights to return the ball several times as well.

The Buckeyes ‘first big play came when they stifled a false punt attempt on Rutgers’ first possession of the game, when red-shirted freshman safety Cameron Martinez snapped a pass that should have been intercepted. Martinez has now started the last two games after returning an interception for a touchdown against Tulsa, and the Michigan native said those opportunities were the reason he came to Ohio State.

“I would say it’s been a lot, but that’s definitely why I came here,” Martinez said. “You always have to be ready, you always have to be ready for these moments. I finally had the opportunity to play, to be able to play with our guys. I mean, it’s a dream come true.

In Rutgers’ next practice, first-year cornerback Denzel Burke continued his stellar campaign with a six-pick against the Scarlet Knights, which gave the Buckeyes their third in the last three games. Burke made it look easy with the 23-yard score, but had to remind members of the media after the game that he had in fact never had the chance to score a pick-six before, due to the position he ‘he occupied in high school.

“I’ve never had a pick-six in my career, so it was my first. Never. I played catcher in high school.

Ryan Day said the experience his young defensive players have gained over the past few weeks has made all the difference and believes the squad are playing a lot more confidently than just a few games ago.

“It’s just a bunch of guys who are now expecting to make plays,” Day said. “Before, I don’t think they really had – they were just trying to line up, and everything they did was for the first time. I thought the defensive staff had done a good job this week with the plan, I thought they mixed up the looks, I thought we created some disruption in the backfield, and then we were able to create some turnovers.

Day said he saw a different team on the pitch on Saturday and his squad was suddenly in a good position to boost performance and keep improving.

“It was an important game for us, because I felt like September 2, a month ago, when we played against Minnesota, we were a very different team. And I felt like that at the start of this week, but we hadn’t shown it yet, ”Day said. “I felt like we saw some glimpses of it tonight.”