The Ohio State football team has lost its first game of the season in the Big Ten Championship. They lost the game to the Hoosiers 13-10, failing to score in the second half of the game. It was the first time that the offense was not able to respond to a little bit of adversity.
Following the game, fans of the Buckeyes questioned the preparedness of Brian Hartline. The offensive coordinator decided to take the head coaching job at USF. That's fine, but he decided to stay with the Ohio State Buckeyes throughout the CFP run.
His play-calling was not strong when the Buckeyes got into the red zone, and that has been an issue for the team all season long. Now, fans should be concerned about his answer when he was asked if he would be calling plays for the Bulls next season.
Ohio State football fans should be concerned with Brian Hartline
Hartline waffled on calling plays next season for South Florida, saying he wasn't shutting the door on it.
"It's all for discussion. I want to make sure the staff is right first and what that has to take. Obviously, I will be heavily involved in the offensive game plan, scheme, and week-to-week conversation. But I'm not saying no or yes to anything at this point."
This is deeply concerning for Ohio State fans. Why wouldn't he want to call plays? If he thinks he's good enough to call plays for a national championship-contending team, why wouldn't he do it for the team he's running? This screams that he is not confident that he is a good play-caller.
Unfortunately, he might not be. The offense has struggled to score touchdowns in the red zone all season long. This past game was just the first time they've played an equal opponent, so they were punished by not putting it in the end zone. Hartline should be better than his at this point in the year.
Perhaps it would be better if Ryan Day took over the play-calling duties until the season is over. Maybe the Buckeyes could convince Chip Kelly to come back on staff. Either way, what happened on Saturday night is not acceptable for this team moving forward.