Ohio State football coach Ryan Day still wants to see improvement from his team, despite making a College Football Playoff championship game appearance. Day is pointing to one specific area that must be fixed.
“There's nobody that came back on offense and was pleased with the fact that we had those penalties,” Day said Sunday, per ESPN. “The issues are there. We certainly have the right and opportunity to persevere through those penalties, but certainly sets us way behind the sticks, and we cannot have that in this game. Efficiency is going to be something that we've got to do a much better job of if we're going to win it.”
Ohio State committed nine penalties in the team's win over Texas. The Buckeyes also had fewer first downs, and also fewer total plays on offense.
Ohio State football plays Notre Dame in the CFP final on January 20.
Ohio State is right where many predicted this season

The Buckeyes made the CFP final, but didn't get there the way many had hoped. Ohio State qualified for the event as an at-large. The Buckeyes didn't even make the Big Ten championship game, after losing to Michigan in the final regular season game.
Ohio State football made quick work of Tennessee, before blowing Oregon away in the CFP quarterfinals. In the team's semi-final game, strong defense led to offense for the squad. Jack Sawyer's scoop and score against Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers proved to be the dagger.
Day wants his team to play with even more urgency against the Fighting Irish.
“But to me, the story of this past game was the self-inflicted wounds that set us back and allowed us to be in the game in the fourth quarter, when we could have done a better job executing and made it a little bit of a bigger spread down the stretch,” Day added. “That's going to be the focus this week. We've got to play our best game against Notre Dame.”
Notre Dame football is playing in its first national championship since 1988. The Fighting Irish also entered the CFP as an at-large. The squad defeated Indiana, Georgia and Penn State to get into the finals.
Ohio State football's last national championship came in 2014, when Urban Meyer led the team. Meyer has gone on to say that this year's Ohio State football team is the best possibly ever assembled.