OSU QB C.J. Stroud recovers from early pick-six, throws six touchdowns at Michigan State
EAST LANSING, Mich. — The interception was chalked up to a miscommunication.
On the second drive of Ohio State’s 49-20 win over Michigan State on Saturday, quarterback C.J. Stroud threw a pass intended for Emeka Egbuka.
The play call was designed for Egbuka to run a hitch route, coming back about 7 yards down the field.
But if the secondary was in a press man coverage, that would change. Instead of switching to the comeback route, he would continue running. Egbuka kept streaking as a result.
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Only things broke down from there. Stroud saw cornerback Charles Brantley break off from pressing Egbuka for a split second and threw a pass expecting Egbuka to turn around.
It was picked off by Brantley, who returned it 32 yards for a touchdown, tying the score at seven midway through the first quarter.
“If you watch the replay, I did have a step on him,” Egbuka said, “but that's not something C.J. is anticipating. You just have to be on the same page and work the kinks out in practice.”
Looking back on the sequence, Stroud thought Egbuka made the right move.
“He did the smart thing by taking off,” Stroud said.
Though the Spartans collected the early pick-six of Stroud, the mistake hardly crippled the Buckeyes’ offense. It didn’t spiral into a game-altering setback for Ohio State.
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Stroud connected with Egbuka for a 69-yard touchdown, finding him wide open, on the third play of the following series.
Ohio State would reach the end zone on the six possessions following the interception, pouring on points in its latest blowout as Stroud totaled 361 passing yards and six touchdowns in one of his most prolific performances this season. He had more touchdown passes than incompletions (five.).
“The best thing was like nothing ever happened,” coach Ryan Day said. “We just kept rolling. That shows confidence. I’m proud of those guys the way they played.”
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The two of them convened with Day and wide receivers coach Brian Hartline after the pick to go over the sequence.
Egbuka said all of them remained composed as they reviewed the route and coverage and sought to respond as they regained possession.
“It goes back to C.J.’s maturity level,” Egbuka said. “I see that play happen, and I kind of look at C.J., because he’s our quarterback, he’s our leader, a Heisman contender, and I see his cool, calm and collectiveness, and it just passes on to me, passes onto the rest of the team. We don’t lose our cool. We get to drawing board and what went wrong.”
Stroud can be harder on teammates in practice. Egbuka said he’s eager to fix mistakes ahead of Saturdays, where he’ll be level-headed.
“You have to handle it professionally,” Egbuka said. “You can't lose your head thinking and start getting mad at your teammates. Once you get mad at your teammates, a whole bunch of other things are going to fall apart.”
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Stroud said he’s never been an overly emotional person, something he feels allows him to remain a calm demeanor.
“There’s no tactical advantage to whining or complaining about anything,” Stroud said.
It was one of the reasons he and the rest of his Buckeyes receivers made a swift recovery.
“At the end of the day, plays happen,” he said. “You just got to bounce back. It’s never how you start, it’s how you finish.”
Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Contact him at jkaufman@dispatch.com or on Twitter @joeyrkaufman
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: CJ Stroud and Ohio State recover from early interception vs. MSU
