In the Big Ten Championship Game against Indiana, the Ohio State football team had its worst performance of the season. They mustered just 10 points against the Hoosiers. Play-calling was highly suspect, and fans had questions about Brian Hartline afterwards.
Hartline has decided to take the head coaching job at USF once the season ends. He wanted to continue to be the offensive coordinator for the Buckeyes throughout the College Football Playoff run. Yet, the first game with him pulling double duty did not look good.
The Ohio State Buckeyes are the second-seed in the CFP and will play the winner of Texas A&M and Miami in the Cotton Bowl on New Year's Eve. Day was asked about Hartline and whether he was the one calling plays against Indiana. Day gave a forceful answer.
Ryan Day says Brian Hartline will keep same roll with Ohio State football team
Day was emphatic that Hartline will continue to call plays for the Buckeyes moving forward.
"Brian was calling it, but we're all involved, all of us. We try to give as much input as we can, try to organize the thoughts and try to help the best we can...But Brian calls the plays and will continue to call the plays, but we're gonna have everybody involved with it, and it's a group effort."
Day clearly has faith in Hartline to continue to make the right calls. He is still in his first season as a play-caller, so he is still figuring things out. Still, the Buckeyes can't have a performance like that in the CFP. If they do, Hartline will get to start his job at USF sooner than expected.
The red zone offense was a big problem for the Buckeyes. That has to be remedied before the Cotton Bowl if Ohio State wants to have a shot at winning back-to-back national championships.