COLUMBUS, Ohio » How much of that $1.2 million check the University of Hawaii gets for coming here, you wonder, would the Rainbow Warriors have gladly parted with to buy a little offense Saturday?
On a day when UH’s stellar defense flustered the No. 1-ranked team in the land for three quarters, the offense was unable to hold up its part in an eventual 38-0 loss to defending national champion Ohio State.
"Thank God for our defense today," exhaled Buckeyes quarterback Cardale Jones after the Ohio State offense struggled mightily with UH’s inspired 3-4 defense. "It was a reality check not just for me, but for the whole offense, " Jones said. "We’re not where we thought we were."
Despite pledges of expanding their highlight reel at UH’s expense, there would be no Buckeyes spin moves, long bombs or breakaway runs to light up social media or be rerun on "SportsCenter." Not until UH’s defense wore down in a 21-point fourth quarter did the assembled 107,145, the fourth-largest crowd in Ohio Stadium history and most ever to see UH play, get the kind of margin they came expecting.
For that, Jones said, "All credit goes to Hawaii. They played a tough game. They played hard and they did things we didn’t prepare for."
In their retro Rainbow uniforms, defensive coordinator Tom Mason’s legions gave a performance worthy of the ‘Bows of the past and one to hearten the faithful going forward.
We are left to wonder where the ‘Bows might have been had their offense found any semblance of rhythm at all or mounted a couple of drives instead of being mired in 8-for-26 passing.
Offensive coordinator Don Bailey, striking a pose like Auguste Rodin’s "The Thinker" outside the locker room long afterward, might have wondered the same thing.
At no time did you think the ‘Bows were going to win the game with the wealth of talent arrayed against them, but four UH turnovers, three of which the Buckeyes recycled into 17 points, turned what had the potential to be an interesting game into an eventual runaway.
It began promisingly enough for UH. On the first offensive play of the game, quarterback Max Wittek dropped back and fired a 29-yard pass to Dylan Collie.
"I thought, ‘Hey, we’re gonna have a shot,’ " Chow said.
Who knew, at that point, it would stand up as the offensive highlight of the day for the Rainbow Warriors?
Who knew that UH would manage just 56 yards of passing and only 136 yards of total offense thereafter? Overall, UH totaled 165 yards of offense and 85 yards through the air.
As a result, 12 of UH’s 14 possessions ended in either punts or turnovers.
It wasn’t just the turnovers; it was also the airmailed passes and five drops against an unforgiving Buckeyes defense.
"We made enough mistakes to last a season," Chow mourned. "We dropped too many balls. I haven’t seen the stats, but it must have been a ton."
Wittek said, "We left a lot of yards out there and even some points out there. We left a lot of good plays out there."
That would be something to haunt them for the 4,516-mile trip home.
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.
