Ohio State's Arthur Smith under fire as Boom Herron calls for OC's exit after Oregon loss

Ryan Day has already made one staff change at Ohio State after Saturday's 41-28 home loss to Oregon. Now a former Buckeyes star wants another. As HEAVY reported, Day fired special teams coordinator Robby Discher on Monday. Oregon's fake punt before halftime had swung the game. Daniel "Boom" Herron, who ran for close to 3,000 yards in Columbus from 2008 to 2011, then went on X and told Day he wanted first-year offensive coordinator Arthur Smith fired by noon that day.

Noon passed and Smith still had his job. The pressure on him has not let up, though. Quarterbacks trainer Quincy Avery also criticized Smith publicly, according to HEAVY. The Oregon loss gave his critics plenty to point at. Ohio State led 14-0, then gave up 38 straight points. Star receiver Jeremiah Smith went 32 minutes and 44 seconds of game time without a target, and the offense didn't get him the ball again until it trailed 38-14. The Buckeyes ran 21 times for 53 yards. HEAVY puts their season rushing average at 147.7 yards per game, 77th in FBS, which is a hard number to defend for a coordinator hired to fix the running game.

Smith, the former Atlanta Falcons head coach, took over from Brian Hartline, who left to become South Florida's head coach. Smith started the year with Heisman finalist quarterback Julian Sayin, a two-time All-American in Jeremiah Smith and running back Bo Jackson, who ran for 1,090 yards as a freshman. Sayin is now out with an arm injury, and freshman Luke Fahey has lost both of his starts. After the game, Day said he and his staff would "evaluate everything" and that accountability starts with the coaches. Discher was the first to go, and the rest of the staff will now be judged week to week.

What it means for Northwestern

The Buckeyes are 6-3 and have lost two straight for the first time this season. Fahey started both games: an 18-30 loss at USC and the Oregon defeat. The trend is clear in the numbers. Ohio State scored 42 or more points four times in its first six games. Over its last three it has scored 19, 18 and 28. The defense allowed 18.3 points per game across the full season but gave up 71 over the last two weekends. Oregon, also 6-3 after the win, hosts Michigan next.

Northwestern comes to Ohio Stadium on Saturday, November 14, on Fox. The board still has Ohio State as a clear favorite. On this site's board, Ohio State is favored by 12.5 at Novig, priced at -106, and its moneyline there is -426. Northwestern is +400 on the moneyline and +12.5 at -102 on Novig. The most points available for Northwestern among the 12 venues is +13 at BetRivers, at -114. The total is 46.5 at Novig, and theScore Bet lists 45.5. Sportsbook hold ranges from 3.6% to 7.0%, so the venues are close on the side and differ mostly in price.

Those numbers assume Ohio State fixes its offense quickly. If the Buckeyes go another long stretch without getting the ball to Jeremiah Smith or establishing the run against a Northwestern team Oregon needed a fourth quarter to put away, the criticism of Arthur Smith will only grow louder.