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CJ Stroud reveals Ohio State won Rose Bowl Game on first-time play-call

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

The Rose Bowl Game between Ohio State and Utah is going to be remembered as one of the best of all-time. Two of the best offensive teams in the country were involved in a high-level shootout that was determined by a last-second field goal from the Buckeyes.

Ohio State was in position to win the Rose Bowl Game because of a 30-yard touchdown pass from CJ Stroud to Jaxon Smith-Njigba with 4:22 to play in the fourth quarter. It gave the Buckeyes a 45-38 advantage on the Utes, their first lead of the game.

Wednesday, Stroud revealed some interesting information that 30-yard touchdown pass that gave OSU a late lead. It was the first time the Buckeyes dialed it up in a game.

Stroud said the play was ran frequently in practice throughout the season but it was the first time it was used in a game. Clearly, Ryan Day wanted to roll the dice … and it worked.

Here’s the play Ohio State dialed up in the closing minutes of the game:

https://twitter.com/CJMPadres23/status/1477464276877004801?s=20&t=A3vgiun9ugdAYI8rBQxXhA

Utah would go down the field and tie the game at 45-45 with a touchdown of its own, but Noah Ruggles converted on a field goal to lift the Buckeyes to a 48-45 win.

Both Stroud and Smith-Njigba were outstanding in Pasadena on Jan. 1. Stroud ended the game with 573 yards and 6 touchdown passes while Smith-Njigba totaled 347 receiving yards and hauled in 3 of those scoring strikes.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB