COLUMBUS, Ohio – For most Ohio State fans any statement with CJ Stroud generally has Jack Miller in it and vice versa. There is going to be plenty of focus on both of Ohio State’s true freshmen quarterbacks who are both mid-year enrollees and going through winter/spring ball with the team but don’t lose focus on the point that Ohio State went to great lengths and distances to pull in quarterbacks from across the country.

Miller was the more familiar name to Ohio State fans as he committed to the program while Urban Meyer was still the head coach, stuck through the coaching change and never wavered in his pledge to the Buckeyes.

Stroud was the new name and the less familiar name to most Ohio State fans. Fans knew that he had a bunch of offers from other schools to be the primary quarterback in their recruiting class, not an additional one. They knew he was from the West Coast. But beyond that? Bits and pieces as the casual recruiting fan generally says, ‘Do not tell me about the labor, just show me the baby’.

Earlier this week we had a chance to sit down with Stroud and find out a little bit more about what went into his decision to join the Buckeyes and what put Ohio State ahead of so many other programs for the Rivals100 signal caller.

Ohio State certainly was not the first program to offer Stroud with a quarterback in the class of 2020 but it became more and more obvious with the early departure of quarterbacks like Dwayne Haskins (NFL), Tate Martell (transfer – Miami) and Matt Baldwin (transfer- TCU) that Ohio State had to stabilize the numbers in the quarterback room and that would mean a class with two quarterbacks and the time was now, if the right quarterback was available.

Stroud remembers when he first heard from Ohio State.

“(Coach Ryan Day) was the first person who contacted me from Ohio State,” Stroud recalled. “I had never talked to Ohio State or even thought about going there. I was like. ‘whatever happens, happens’. It was right before The Opening. I had a lot of Pac-12 and Big 12 schools, but didn’t have any Big Ten (offers) at the time.”

Obviously, the Buckeyes had been keeping tabs on some of the other top uncommitted quarterbacks nationally and Stroud would go on to win the QB competition out at The Opening, and that would really thrust him further into the national spotlight. Ohio State got involved at the right moment.

“Coach Day texted me that day before The Opening, before I won it,” Stroud added. “He told me they were interested in me. He told me to keep my leadership up. I was with the Ohio State guys at The Opening. That was my first contact with Ohio State.”

Day has become a name to know in the world of quarterbacking and offense, so Stroud was well aware of the significance of this contact, but really had never expected to hear from him.

“I never thought I would talk to him,” Stroud said. “I knew of him. I knew he was a great offensive mind.”

Stroud admits that he has gone through a lot in his life and is appreciative of blessings as they come along and that his faith has been a huge factor in his life.

When the Ohio State offer came through, he obviously was excited but admits that he did not fully appreciate the enormity of it at first.

“At first, I really didn’t understand the Ohio State offer, to be honest,” Stroud admitted. “I thought it was going to be another USC or UCLA. But when I got here for my first unofficial visit for the Michigan State game and going into the stadium, I could see the tradition and the people outside and the walk into the old basketball arena with the (cheers) and the motivational speeches.”

Then he had a chance to enter Ohio Stadium for the first time.

“It’s 105,000 (fans) and everybody is squeezed against each other,” Stroud said. “Everybody is screaming their lungs out just for the Buckeyes to win. That was the support I wanted in my college experience. I wanted to play in front of that so I could get ready for the next level.”

Stroud would take his official visit in mid-December and five days later he would commit to Ohio State.

The journey is not lost on Stroud.

“These last six months have been crazy. I went from being a two-star nothing to now…” Stroud remembered. While being a four-star by Rivals.com, the signal caller earned five-star status through other ranking services. “I knew it mattered because it’s cool. But it doesn’t matter because look how the media portrayed me back then. I was still good and I played well and I had the skills and attributes to play at a high level, but nobody thought I could.”

We will hear plenty over the coming weeks and months about the battle to back up Justin Fields with Stroud, Miller and Gunnar Hoak. It is too early to handicap that race at this point with spring ball still a few weeks away. If Stroud is No. 2 on the list or No. 4, it is not going to change his approach.

“I’ve always, in a sense, been the underdog,” Stroud said. “I like that feeling. That just brings the dog out in me. I’ve been through a lot in my life and a lot of hardships. But I feel like if I can get through things, I can get through anything with God by my side.”