Desmond Howard digs on Ryan Day as playcaller for Ohio State in College Football Playoff

As Ohio State heads into tonight’s College Football Playoff game against Miami, all eyes are on the offense. Offensive coordinator Brian Hartline took the head coaching job at USF, leaving head coach Ryan Day to once again call the plays.

According to ESPN analyst Desmond Howard, Day called the plays in the Big Ten Championship Game loss to Indiana. That’s unconfirmed, of course, but it gives him reason for pause.

“My biggest concern was who was calling the plays,” Howard said Wednesday on ESPN’s First Take. “That was my biggest concern. Because I understood that their OC took the USF job, right, and so I’m like, ‘Who’s calling the plays in the Big Ten Championship Game?’ I heard it was Ryan Day.

“And now this week, Heather Dinich came out and said that Ryan Day is going to call the plays in the game against Miami. So I said, ‘Well, does this mean he didn’t call it in the Big Ten Championship Game, or did he make some tweaks to the system?’ I’m not sure what happened offensively. Don’t forget, they only scored 10 points against Indiana and they were shut out in the second half.”

Ohio State may not survive another game where its offense is as limited as it was against Indiana. The team totaled just 322 yards and quarterback Julian Sayin was picked off once.

The Buckeyes never really got into a rhythm. That can’t happen again.

“I’m not sure what was going on that game,” Howard said. “I think they tried to change the system, but Ryan Day has come out this week and said he’s calling the plays in this game against Miami, so we’ll see if there’s going to be a big difference offensively from the Buckeyes from what we saw the last time they played, which was the Big Ten Championship Game.”

There’s also simply the question of how well Ohio State can bounce back. Its last trip out provided the first loss of the season.

Not all teams respond to losses the right way. Will the Buckeyes?

“I don’t drink, so I don’t know how long hangovers usually last, but I mean that was early December,” Howard said. “Like, I think Dec. 6 when they had that game. Obviously, I said I think that Ryan Day didn’t know a lot about his team going into that game. But then, coming out of the game, he knows a lot about the Buckeyes. Because at that point, they just hadn’t been tested. And I said that week in and week out. I also went on Stephen A’s show and said of all the teams playing on championship weekend, that conference championship weekend, that Ohio State had the easiest path to get to their conference championship game. And it showed up against Indiana. That’s why I picked the Hoosiers to beat them in the Big Ten Championship Game.

“So they’ve had weeks now to make some adjustments, to see where they had their weaknesses and what strengths that they can, I guess, help them in this next game against Miami.”