Ohio State Buckeyes H-Back Braxton Miller (1) picks up 14 yards against the Hawaii defense in the fourth quarter, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2015. Ohio State defeated Hawaii 38-0. (Marvin Fong / The Plain Dealer)
That was Urban Meyer’s fear coming into Ohio State’s football game against Hawaii on Saturday in Ohio Stadium. The Buckeyes were coming off a Monday night win at Virginia Tech, had off Tuesday as mandated by NCAA rules, and only had three days to prepare for the Rainbow Warriors.
It showed.
Ohio State’s offense, which saw both Cardale Jones and J.T. Barrett play, was stagnant for much of the afternoon, but the Buckeyes’ defense made sure it didn’t matter in a 38-0 win.
The Buckeyes held Hawaii to 165 total yards. Warriors quarterback Max Wittek finished 7-for-24 for 67 yards and two interceptions.
On the day Ohio State unveiled its 2014 National Championship plaque in the upper bowl of Ohio Stadium, the Buckeyes looked nothing like the team that won it all just a few months ago, at least not on offense. Chalk that up to maybe a little hangover from the Virginia Tech game, but mostly to looking out of sync with either quarterback in the game.
Jones finished 12-for-18 for 111 yards, and ran six times for 5 yards. Barrett finished 8-for-15 for 70 yards, and ran one time for seven yards. Ezekiel Elliott finished with 27 carries for 101 yards and three touchdowns.
The Buckeyes finished with 356 yards of total offense. On any other day, that might have been bad news for Ohio State, but the defense made sure it wasn’t.
When it was over
When Darron Lee came unblocked off the edge, and forced Wittek to fumble in the middle of the third quarter.
The ball was recovered by Sam Hubbard on the Hawaii 6-yard line. Ohio State turned it into a field goal, but it was mostly just the final showing that the Warriors weren’t going to move the ball the way they needed to take advantage of the Buckeyes’ poor offensive play.
Play of the game
Hawaii had a fumble on a handoff exchange, and after a scrum for the loose ball, Vonn Bell came up with it for a 14-yard fumble return for a touchdown that put Ohio State up 31-0 with 7:48 left in the fourth quarter.
What to make of the quarterbacks?
Jones started for the first time in Ohio Stadium, but the offense wasn’t anything close to the big-play machine it was in his three starts last year, or last week’s win against Virginia Tech. So Meyer went to Barrett in the second quarter.
Barrett led a 35-yard touchdown drive in his first action, but the offense didn’t operate much better with him in there. So it was Jones again to start the second half.
Both quarterbacks looked out of sync. Jones dropped a few snaps, Barrett missed a few open throws.
Who stood out on defense?
In addition the scoop and score, Bell had an interception and got his hands on two more passes that probably should’ve been picked off. Cornerback Gareon Conley had Ohio State’s other interception.
Raekwon McMillan and Joshua Perry each had seven tackles. Lee finished with a pair of sacks, while Perry and Jalyn Holmes each had one.
Players back from suspension
Joey Bosa, Jalin Marshall, Dontre Wilson and Corey Smith all returned from their one-game suspensions, and all four played. Bosa had two tackles, while Marshall had three catches for 40 yards.
Offensive line struggles
Meyer wasn’t happy with the play of the offensive line against Virginia Tech, and that seemed to carry over to Saturday. The Buckeyes had four false-start penalties, one penalty for an ineligible lineman downfield and two botched snaps in the first half.
That would’ve been enough, but the Buckeyes also struggled running the ball, and both Jones and Barrett were under pressure for a lot of the game. The Buckeyes had 171 rushing yards on 48 carries, an average of 3.6 yards per carry.
What it means
Ohio State has to like what it got from its defense, but this win means the Buckeyes needs to decide what they’re doing with the quarterbacks. Saturday showed that it’s going to be hard for the offense to find a rhythm if the quarterbacks don’t know what’s going on, and that can be a real problem against a different team.
If the offense was going to have a game like this, Hawaii was the team to do it against. The Buckeyes defense deserves the credit for the win, and the offense has some things to figure out before next week.
What’s next
Ohio State (2-0) is back home next Saturday for a game against Northern Illinois. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m.
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