College football games are a delicate balance, with the microscope of national perception shining brighter than most other sports. Top teams are expected to dominate lesser opponents to impress pollsters and remain where they wish to in the rankings.
Urban Meyer knows what must be done in order to get Ohio State into the College Football Playoff, blowing out teams he's supposed to by wide margins and topping tougher opponents regardless the venue, weather or situation.
Hawai'i represented the former of the two set of adversaries for Meyer's Buckeyes Saturday in their home opener, where the crowd witnessed the unveiling of the 2014 national championship banner as well as their favorite team endure loads of errors en route to a 38-0 victory.
"We did not execute well," Meyer said. "When a coach says that, it sounds like you're taking away from what those guys did. Tough trip all the way across the world. And we didn't play extremely well. But we'll get better."
The Buckeye offensive line, supposed to be one of the most secure units on the team with four returning starters and fifth-year senior Chase Farris plugged in at right tackle, struggled at times against the smaller front of Hawai'i.
Starting quarterback Cardale Jones was sacked for the first two times in 2015 and star running back Ezekiel Elliott slipped and slid his way to a 3.7 yards per carry average. Mistakes were everywhere.
"It's that 3-4 defense, and we have not executed greatly against it," Meyer said. "So we're going to go back to the drawing board, because we'll see that three or four times. Remember, Indiana did that same thing last year.
"And they outschemed us a little bit. We checked the protection, and then they come the other way. And they kind of screwed with our offensive line a little bit. But we just have to get better."
No Buckeye offensive linemen were made available for comment following the game, but playing their second game in less than a week at times seemed to play a bigger role than Hawai'i's cross country flight.
"We only had a couple days to prepare," Elliott said. "We just weren't ready to come out and play today."
Luckily for Elliott, the quarterbacks and the rest of the offense, their teammates on the other side of the ball came locked and loaded against quarterback Max Wittek and Norm Chow's offense.
The Buckeyes harassed Wittek all afternoon, sacking him three times and intercepting him twice. Wittek only completed a paltry seven passes.
"We had way too many drops. You know the windows aren’t going to be very big when you play a good football team," Chow said. "The numbers don’t look good. We dropped a ton of balls and we can’t keep doing that. We talked about it before the game – every opportunity that we had to make a play we had to take because we’re playing the No. 1 team in the country."
"Thank god for our defense," Jones said. "It’s probably best we hit this pot hole early in the season. It was a reality check for not just me but for the whole offense. We’re not where we thought we were."
The Buckeyes didn't always look like the team who earned the first unanimous No. 1 ranking in AP poll history the first two weeks of the season. The offense became stagnant with Jones calling the shots in the second quarter, leading Meyer to turn to the man who finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting a year ago, J.T. Barrett, for a spark.
Barrett led the Buckeyes to a scoring drive before stepping aside in favor of Jones after halftime. Meyer said he'd continue to evaluate the position battle as the season progresses, but he wasn't sure what to say Saturday.
"How do you think I've handled it?" he asked a reporter. "We're 2-0. Would you like a grade or something, how have I handled it? I don't know. I guess you ask (Director of Athletics) Gene Smith. That's the guy to talk to. I've never thought of it that way. I guess I'll let you know. I'll do a little eval here. I think our execution is not where it needs to be.
"I think it was pretty good the first game. Still not perfect. So I think we just -- a lot of us, it's also -- just Ed Warinner down on the field, we've got to really get in sync a little bit better."
The Buckeyes still look lethal on offense regardless who plays quarterback, particularly with Jalin Marshall, Dontre Wilson and Corey Smith returning to the lineup following a one-game suspension. Each contributed in various amounts Saturday, as well as All-American Joey Bosa, and it ultimately added up to another victory.
"It was tough. I’m very proud of all of the guys that played last week," Marshall said. "They stepped up and played their game. It was a great experience for them and a humbling experience for me."
With a full week to prepare for Game 3 against Northern Illinois next Saturday, Meyer is wary of the improvements that are needed for his team. But he won't allow the short week to prepare for the Rainbow Warriors to be the brunt reason for an at times anemic offensive performance Saturday.
"You'll never hear that. If I do, then that coach has got a problem and that player has got a problem. That's not execution. That takes away from that team. I would never want to disrespect that crew that came in here and played their tails off. And it's been that way, when I go like that, that's one of those defensive fronts. The whole time, it's just moving, and we could never get our hands on them.
"And someone said back to basics: Our basics are not just north/south, we're east/west as well. But we weren't hitting it like we should. So we'll get better."
