After last season, Ohio State offensive coordinator Brian Hartline decided to leave the Buckeyes for a head coaching job. He took the South Florida job after just one year of calling plays. Thus far, it has worked out fairly well. Heading into Week 6, he was 4-1.
Heading into a matchup against UTSA, Hartline trolled the Roadrunners, saying he's not sure how it gets so loud in there without many fans. Essentially, he accused them of pumping in noise.. He gave them bulletin board material that he didn't need to give. It ended up biting him in the butt, as UTSA won the game 31-24 after scoring a touchdown with 15 seconds left.
Former Ohio State coach Brian Hartline learns hard lesson after losing to UTSA
After the loss, UTSA played the clip of him clowning the Roadrunners fans in the stadium. It was the perfect troll job. Unfortunately for Hartline, it was one that he was on the opposite end of. Both of his losses as a head coach are now in the AAC, with the Bulls only having a 1-2 record in conference.
Perhaps Hartline should have learned from Ryan Day and Urban Meyer during his time with the Ohio State football program. Neither of them has ever given the opponent motivational material like that before a game. They show the ultimate respect for the opponent, even if the opponent isn't good.
That's a lesson that Hartline has likely learned now, although he would have rather figured that out before taking an L. His Bulls have struggled to score the ball, only putting up more than 28 points once, and that was against an FCS opponent. He scored just 14 points in a win over Bowling Green.
If that's what the offense is going to look like moving forward, they might be in trouble. Last season, Ohio State scored the ball well, but it always felt like an extra gear was missing with him calling plays. He was still better than Ryan Day at it, as evidenced by what happened in the final two contests.
Ohio State is having a different issue on offense
Putting points up on the board hasn't been a massive issue this season for the Buckeyes, but they have had another issue. It seems when they don't push the Jeremiah Smith button, it's hard to move the ball. Specifically, on the ground. The rushing game continues to be a disappointment.
There's hope that Arthur Smith can finally get the running backs on track this weekend against the Terrapins. They are the worst opponent left on the schedule. If Ohio State can't find a 100+ yard rusher in this game, they won't have one. That's not something that has been common under Ryan Day.
As Ohio State continues through the rest of the schedule, it will continue to try to find a way to innovate on offense. Having Smith on the outside is great, but they still need other guys who can accumulate yards and score points. That will be important if they want to make the College Football Playoff.
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