My Thoughts.....Hawaii

                         The Ohio State Buckeyes had a performance that, at times, seemed lackluster on offense, but they still got the job done against Hawaii.  Shutouts do not happen very often in college football, so when they do, it automatically becomes an impressive feat — no matter the opponent.

Hawaii was not the best team Ohio State will play this season and the Buckeyes played far from their best game offensively.  But, the defense was lights out, limiting the Rainbow Warriors to only 165 yards of total offense and forcing four turnovers.  All-American DE Joey Bosa made his return and although he did not record a sack, he still impacted the game in other ways and paved the way for his teammates to pick up four sacks.  Vonn Bell was all over the field on Saturday, breaking up three passes and returning a fumble for a score.  Darron Lee also played very well with a pair of sacks, a forced fumble, and a pass breakup.  Hawaii quarterback Max Wittek hardly had time to throw as the Ohio State defense limited Hawaii’s quick-pass offense to just seven completions for a meager 67 yards and had two interceptions.  Gareon Conley had what I thought was the best game of his career against Hawaii as he broke up two passes, had a pick, and generally made life miserable for any Hawaii receivers lined up opposite him.

            The Ohio State offensive line turned in a disappointing performance, at least through the first three quarters.  I saw far too many penalties for false starts and Jacoby Boren was flagged for a snap infraction in addition to having a handful of snaps going low and wide right.  I also noticed Billy Price was a bit slow in picking up a few blitzes to his side, one of them leading to an eleven-yard loss on a third down, leading to a punt.  The line allowed the Ohio State offense to produce a paltry (at least compared to the numbers put up against such defenses as Wisconsin and Alabama) 182 yards on the ground while giving up six tackles for loss and two sacks.  Perhaps the short week after a physical game against Virginia Tech had an effect and Hawaii elected to run a 3-4 defensive scheme which added quickness to their front seven.  This quickness was evident when the wide plays they ran for success against Virginia Tech did not gain as much against Hawaii.  It was obvious the Rainbow Warriors were committed to keeping an eye on Braxton Miller and trying to not get beat to the outside with Ohio State’s speed advantage.  The offense was finally able to gain traction between the tackles, where the Ohio State offensive line’s size advantage finally wore down the Hawaii defense once they started running between the tackles more often.

For the second game in a row, Ohio State's placekicking and kickoff efforts have been less than stellar.  Jack Willoughby, a transfer from Duke, came in and wrestled the starting placekicker job away from sophomore Sean Nuernberger while also laying claim to kickoff duties. So far, Willoughby has registered three kickoffs out of bounds, made a 20-yard chip shot field goal and missed a 43-yard try against Virginia Tech.  I was puzzled how Coach Meyer picked him to kick over Nurenberger after he went 13/20 last year and looked to be even better in 2015.  The field goal unit also had a bad snap that caused a field goal try to be botched on Ohio State’s first possession.

But, for as uneven and even ugly at times the game might have been, the Buckeyes still won by 38 and shut out a decent offensive team.