Shutouts do not happen very often in college football, so when they do, it automatically becomes an impressive feat — no matter the opponent.
Hawai’i was not the best team Ohio State will play this season and the Buckeyes played far from their best game offensively. But that doesn’t mean Ohio State wasn’t impressive in its blanking of the Warriors.
“Any time the offense is ineffective it's on us,” redshirt sophomore linebacker Darron Lee said. “We talked about that in the second quarter, 'It's on us.' We just wanted to be out there the whole game to be honest with you, but that would have been a bad idea. We have so much fun together it doesn't matter if the offense is struggling or not."
The Buckeyes were able to limit Hawai’i to just 165 yards of total offense in Saturday’s 38-0 victory. The Rainbow Warriors picked up just 85 yards through the air and 80 on the ground while also committing four turnovers. Hawai’i also only recorded 12 first downs in the game.
It certainly helped Ohio State got its best defensive player back for this game, too, as All-American defensive end Joey Bosa returned from his one-game suspension for violating team policy. Bosa did not record a sack against Hawai’i and its quick passing game, but he still impacted the game in other ways and the Buckeyes had four sacks as a team. Vonn Bell also made a huge play when he picked up a fumble and returned it for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
“It's exciting for me to keep someone to zero points,” Bosa said following the win. “I think we played really well as a defense and just keep getting better.”
This is Ohio State’s second shutout in its last five games. The Buckeyes also blanked Wisconsin in last season’s Big Ten championship game. And excluding the second quarter of the season opener against Virginia Tech, Ohio State has allowed only seven points in the first two games this year.
Of course, Hawai’i is far from an elite team, but if you’re an Ohio State fan you’re certainly happy with the shutout.
“I thought they played great,” head coach Urban Meyer said of the defense against the Rainbow Warriors. “They created turnovers. We scored on defense. Short field a couple times.”
Following the Buckeyes’ win in the season-opener, there was a lot of talk about Ohio State’s offense and how many records it would break in this 2015 season.
And the Buckeyes can very well still break all of those records on offense. Time will tell that story. But against Hawai’i, it was Ohio State’s defense that stole the show.
“We still have a lot of work to do, but as far as chemistry and stuff it’s there,” Lee said. “We go out and play for each other. We have a bunch of young guys stepping up. It’s just a lot of fun playing with everyone.”
