C.J. Stroud's remarkable season continued on Saturday as the redshirt freshman moved into a tie for second on the Big Ten's single-season touchdown pass list.
With three first-half touchdown strikes in the Rose Bowl, Stroud hit 41 TD passes for the season, a mark that ties him with his predecessor at Ohio State, Justin Fields. Jaxon-Smith Njigba had the honor of being on the receiving end of Stroud's 41st score, taking the pass 52 yards to paydirt about midway through the second quarter.
Another former Buckeye in Dwayne Haskin's is the only player ahead of the two most recent OSU signal callers, who had a memorable 50-touchdown season in 2018.
While it's highly unlikely Stroud will leapfrog Haskins with just a half of play to go, there's a good chance the Buckeye signal-caller could finish the day all alone in second place on that list.
Stroud is already on the record expressing his frustration over a fourth place finish in the Heisman voting, and vowed that it would "add fuel to his fire." Now, chasing Haskins' single-season conference passing touchdown record could become an extra source of motivation for Stroud heading into the 2022 season.
For what it's worth, Stroud nearly had No. 42, also to Njigba, but the sophomore wideout fumbled the ball into the end zone on a 49-yard reception and Utah recovered it.
Along with the three scores, Stroud has completed 15-of-20 passes for 289 yards. The Buckeyes trailed Utah 35-21 at the break.
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