A lot of the talk heading into Ohio State's date with Alabama in Monday night's national championship game has centered on the health of Justin Fields and to what extend the Buckeyes may be dealing with COVID-19 issues once again impacting player availability.
Ryan Day, as you'd expect, has been tight-lipped on both topics though we do know Fields took part in yesterday's practice, for the first time this week, and that he'll wear extra padding around his midsection based on his comments to ESPN's Maria Taylor.
As for any player availability issues due to coronavirus, that won't likely be confirmed by Ohio State until two hours before kickoff.
Speaking of Day, he met with the media yesterday and had this to say when asked what Urban Meyer charged him with doing to Ohio State's offense upon his arrival in 2017 as the Buckeyes' new co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
I think he just felt like there needed to be a change. We spent a lot of time talking about what really the offense was and where he saw it going. Each year it's changed, tweaked here and there, but at the end of the day I think the basis of it has pretty much stayed the same. – Ryan Day on Ohio State's offensive transformation
If you've paid attention to Ohio State's offense pre-Day and with-Day, dating back to Meyer's arrival, you'd likely agree Day undersold his impact on the offense. Sure, it's still an "offensive line driven" program as Meyer loved to profess but the advancement of the passing game, and with it the impact on total offense and scoring offense is hard to miss.
| YEAR | TOTAL OFF | NATL RANK | PASS OFF | NATL RANK | RUSH OFF | NATL RANK | SCORING OFF | NATL RANK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 544.9 | 4 | 272.3 | 31 | 272.6 | 5 | 43.4 | 5 |
| 2019 | 529.9 | 4 | 266.1 | 36 | 266.8 | 5 | 46.9 | 3 |
| 2018 | 535.6 | 2 | 364.3 | 2 | 171.4 | 63 | 42.4 | 8 |
| 2017 | 506.0 | 7 | 262.8 | 36 | 243.2 | 17 | 41.1 | 6 |
Since Day began wielding his influence, Ohio State has finished in the top-8 in scoring offense and top-7 in total offense each of the last four years.
Only the 2018 rushing attack, when the offense was seemingly forced to ride the right arm of Dwayne Haskins and a deep group of receivers, ranked outside the top-36 when looking at both pass offense and rush offense units respectively.
Ohio State's worst offensive season since Day showed up is the 2017 offense that averaged a cool 506 total yards per game and scored 41.1 points per contest. Seems decent.
| YEAR | TOTAL OFF | NATL RANK | PASS OFF | NATL RANK | RUSH OFF | NATL RANK | SCORING OFF | NATL RANK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 459.2 | 31 | 213.9 | 81 | 245.2 | 11 | 39.4 | 13 |
| 2015 | 434.1 | 41 | 190.6 | 100 | 245.2 | 11 | 35.7 | 28 |
| 2014 | 511.6 | 9 | 247.1 | 52 | 264.5 | 9 | 44.8 | 5 |
| 2013 | 511.9 | 7 | 203.3 | 90 | 308.6 | 5 | 45.5 | 3 |
| 2012 | 423.8 | 46 | 181.5 | 105 | 242.3 | 10 | 37.2 | 21 |
Looking at the five years in which Meyer's offense was without Day's guidance, the Buckeyes were far more inconsistent.
Ohio State managed two top-10 total offense seasons but finished outside the top-30 in the other three. The scoring offense was more effective boasting two top-5 finishes but still failed to average at least 40 points in three seasons.
What really sticks is out is the passing game troubles. Before Day modernized the aerial attack, Meyer's offenses finished outside the top-80 four times in five years with the best performance being a No. 52 placement in 2014. Of course, the Buckeyes featured a lethal rushing attack each season but the lack of balance caused instances of being too easy to defend, particularly when facing elite competition.
After Day's current squad hung 49 on Clemson behind virtuoso performances from Justin Fields and Trey Sermon, it must now pass the Alabama test in hopes of outscoring the vaunted Crimson Tide and capturing a national title.
Presuming the offensive starters remain free of coronavirus concerns and Fields is healthy, there's reason to believe Day and company can do exactly that.
