It wasn't pretty, but in the end it was a victory for the nation's top-ranked team.
Ohio State outlasted an overmatched Hawai'i team Saturday in its home opener, 38-0, to move to 2-0 on the 2015 season.
Cardale Jones was pulled from the lineup in the middle of the second quarter against the Rainbow Warriors, with the Buckeyes leading 7-0. J.T. Barrett promptly led them to another scoring drive culminating in Ezekiel Elliott's second touchdown run of the day, but both signal callers missed open men down the field and struggled moving the offense.
The short work week could have been to blame, but no matter how you slice it, there's plenty that needs to improve for Urban Meyer's club if it wishes to stay atop the rankings.
"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."
OHIO STATE OFFENSE mistake-prone
The Buckeyes won the game, but had a multitude of mental errors on both sides of the ball that kept them from a wider margin of victory.
The obvious were the seven penalties for 115 yards, though a big error was Darron Lee's roughing the punter penalty when the Rainbow Warriors were kicking from their own end zone. The offensive line was whistled for multiple false starts and also struggled to block the interior defensive linemen with consistency.
On top of that, Jones dropped three snaps Saturday, though not all were his fault.
"I just gotta catch the ball," Jones said. "It doesn't matter where it is. I just gotta catch it."
Each mishandled snap was recovered, though, and Ohio State didn't commit a turnover against the Rainbow Warriors. Its 363 total yards is a far cry from what it did Monday against Virginia Tech and at the tail end of the 2014 season, but ultimately the team earned a check in the win column. Also, Ohio State's streak of 25 consecutive games with a touchdown pass came to an end.
"We didn't play good at all. We were really sloppy," Elliott said. "I think it was that quick turnaround. We didn't prepare as well as we usually do. We just didn't execute well."
LED BY VONN BELL, BUCKEYE DEFENSE SHOWS UP
Vonn Bell at times played out of position Monday night at Virginia Tech, putting forth a performance Ohio State fans and coaches weren't accustomed to seeing from the junior.
Bell, though, bounced back in a big way Saturday against Hawai'i, intercepting a pass, knocking down three others and recovering a fumble for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
"I didn't know the ball was still fumbling around, but when I did I said, 'I'll scoop and score,'" Bell said after the win. "It just happened, guys were running to the ball and it was a big play."
Bell wasn't the only Buckeye defender who had a big day: Darron Lee tallied two sacks and forced a fumble of his own. Joshua Perry and Raekwon McMillan tied for the team lead with seven tackles each, and Ohio State held Max Wittek to seven completions and 67 yards. As a team, the Rainbow Warriors averaged just 2.3 yards per rush.
"I thought they played great great. They created turnovers," Meyer said. "We scored on defense."
SPECIAL TEAMS STILL WORK IN PROGRESS
The Buckeyes committed more than one penalty on special teams Saturday, most notably with Lee's roughing the punter infraction.
Duke transfer kicker Jack Willoughby earned the nod over Sean Nuernberger for the second consecutive week, connecting on a 20-yard field goal after missing his lone attempt Monday at Virginia Tech. He did send a pair of kickoffs out of bounds, though, repeating an error he also committed against the Hokies.
The good field position wasn't utilized by the Rainbow Warriors, but that might not be the case against Michigan State or someone else in the Big Ten and beyond.
Cameron Johnston punted better than he did Monday in Blacksburg, Va., but fumbled a snap on an early field goal attempt and left Ohio State with no points on the drive. That's a tough miscue that can be easily avoided.
