C.J. Stroud Earns Big Ten Offensive POY and QB of Year Honors

COLUMBUS, Ohio –

Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud claimed two major pieces of Big Ten hardware on Wednesday as he was announced as the conference’s Graham-George Offensive Player of the Year and Griese-Brees Quarterback of the Year. He earned both honors for the second consecutive year.

Additionally, Stroud was one of four Buckeyes to earn first team All-Big Ten honors on offense by either the league coaches or media. A total of 10 Buckeyes were either first, second or third team All-Big Ten on offense.

 

The Big Ten’s Best Quarterbacks

An Ohio State quarterback has been named the conference’s top QB in 10 of the 12 years that the Griese-Brees Quarterback of the Year has been given out (it was awarded for the first time in 2011). Stroud joins Justin Fields (2019 and 2020), J.T. Barrett (2014, 2016, 2017) and Braxton Miller (2012 and 2013) as Buckeyes who won the award multiple times.

 

Fifth-Straight Graham-George Offensive Player of the Year

In addition to a fantastic run of the conference’s top quarterbacks, Ohio State now also has five consecutive winners of the Graham-George Offensive Player of the Year award. Stroud is Ohio State’s third player to win it multiple times, joining Fields (2019 and 2020) and Miller (2012 and 2013). The five consecutive honors includes Dwayne Haskins’ 2018 award.

 

Tops Nationally in TD Passes and Efficiency

Stroud finished the regular season as the nation’s leader in efficiency rating (176.25) and co-leader in touchdown passes (37). He completed 235-of-355 passes for 3,340 yards and threw three-or-more TDs in six games. In the Big Ten, he had 15 more touchdown passes than the next closest player and his efficiency rating was 23 points better than anyone else.

A finalist for the Davey O’Brien Quarterback of the Year Award and the Maxwell Award, Stroud was a three-time Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week and had five 300-yard games this season. His play helped Ohio State have the nation’s No. 2 scoring offense (44.5 points/game), No. 6 total offense (492.7 yards/game) and No. 15 passing attack (294.2 yards/game). Stroud guided the Buckeyes to 67 offensive touchdowns, which was second only to Tennessee nationally.

Stroud is 21-3 as a starter with 7,775 passing yards and 81 touchdowns against just 12 interceptions. He’s the first quarterback in Big Ten history to have back-to-back seasons with 30 or more touchdowns.

 

All-Big Ten Buckeyes on Offense

Four Buckeyes, including Stroud, were named first-team All-Big Ten by either the league coaches or media. Joining him were WR Marvin Harrison Jr., who was also named the Big Ten’s Richter-Howard Wide Receiver of the Year, OT Paris Johnson and OG Donovan Jackson. Second-team selections were WR Emeka Egbuka, OG Matthew Jones and OT Dawand Jones. Third-team selections included RB Miyan Williams, OC Luke Wypler and TE Cade Stover. RB TreVeyon Henderson was an honorable mention pick.