The University of Hawaii football team has undertaken many difficult road assignments over the years. Actually, every game away from home is a challenging one when your closest opponent’s stadium is 2,500 miles away.

But some are harder than others.

Saturday’s opponent, Ohio State, may turn out to be the best team Hawaii has ever played. And the game is at 411 Woody Hayes Drive, in Columbus — otherwise known as Ohio Stadium, or The Horseshoe.

Since the Rainbow Warriors played their season opener on Thursday and the Buckeyes opened Monday at Virginia Tech, the visitors go into Saturday’s game with two more days of rest than usual, while the hosts have two fewer.

Does that cancel out jet lag? Regardless, it doesn’t change the fact that Ohio State is loaded. The Buckeyes are the defending champions and the unanimous No. 1 in the Associated Press college football poll — and more than 100,000 of the 104,944 watching in person will be cheering for them.

Four players, including All-America defensive end Joey Bosa, didn’t even play against the Hokies due to suspension. But Ohio State won 42-24 anyway. The Buckeyes trailed at halftime, but they knocked VaTech’s starting quarterback out of the game, and that was part of why the Hokies couldn’t hold their lead. A bigger part was OSU’s overwhelming talent.

But what happened when Michael Brewer left with a broken collarbone reminded UH fans how important it will be for the Warriors’ starting QB, Max Wittek, to stay healthy.

As it is, OSU is a 40-point favorite, and pretty much everyone is expecting it to win in a blowout. Everyone except the Rainbow Warriors.

“My first thought is they can be beaten. We saw that in the VaTech game, on many plays,” receiver Quinton Pedroza said. “It comes down to the team that makes the fewest mistakes. They’re very disciplined. We’ve got to be just as much or more.”

It’s homecoming for UH running back Paul Harris, born and raised in Columbus. He said he was never really an Ohio State fan.

“I had another favorite team, but I’d rather not say who. Let’s just say right now it’s Hawaii,” Harris said after Tuesday’s practice, the last before Wednesday’s departure.

Defensive end Luke Shawley said Harris, who led UH with 68 rushing yards in his Warriors debut, is hard to stop in practice because of his quickness.

“His speed goes from 0-to-100 in no time. As a defensive lineman, you’re told to take angles on running backs. That’s virtually impossible with a guy like Paul.”

Harris averaged 10.9 yards per rushing attempt in 135 rushing attempts over two seasons at Marion-Franklin High. But the hometown college passed on him.

“They never recruited me, even though I did well at their camp,” he said. “I’m pretty sure it was because of my GPA in high school. There’s no hard feelings.”

But there is motivation — especially since Harris expects 75 to 100 friends and family members at the game.

So there will be a few folks from Columbus in the stands hoping to see the visitors pull off a miracle.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quickreads