Ohio State to evaluate its disappointing performance

COLUMBUS, Ohio » One would have thought Ohio State traveled 4,500 miles — and spent the pregame on the beach — after the top-ranked Buckeyes’ sloppy performance Saturday.

They did play at Virginia Tech on Monday night, arriving back in Columbus at 4:30 a.m. Tuesday. But it didn’t rattle any cages in Las Vegas — Ohio State was a 42.5-point favorite.

The brakes have been pushed on the greatest-team-ever talk, a quarterback luxury is once more a quarterback controversy and boos cascaded around Ohio Stadium.

The scoreboard read Ohio State defeated Hawaii 38-0. An entirely different tone rang through the Buckeyes locker room.

"We did not execute well; we didn’t play extremely well," Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said. "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."

In the season opener, Ohio State produced a school-record 10.2 yards per play, on the road, against a Virginia Tech team that’s predicted to finish near the top of the ACC. The picture in Ohio Stadium, with 107,145 scarlet-and-gray clad faithful on hand, was bleaker.

The Buckeyes could only muster 4.4 yards per play against a UH unit that ranked 84th and 117th nationally in total defense the past two seasons.

"I thought we were ready," UH coach Norm Chow said. "I was a little concerned that they would lose some of that energy toward the second half because of the long ride, but we didn’t. I thought we played very well, we played very hard. I’m proud of that."

In the process, the Rainbow Warriors presented a quandary for Meyer, a question that kept the entire college football world rapt with attention all offseason: Cardale Jones or J.T. Barrett?

Neither signal caller distinguished himself on Saturday. Jones, who came off the bench to lead Ohio State to the national championship last season, was 12-for-18 for 111 yards. His rushing total was reduced to 6 yards due to two sacks — Hawaii’s defensive line kept the rushing lanes sealed.

"We keyed on the quarterback the most because of his run game," UH junior defensive end Kennedy Tulimasealii said. "He likes to run a lot."

Barrett, the starter for 12 games in 2014, came on in relief in the second and fourth quarters, completing eight of 15 passes for 70 yards. He added one rush for 7 yards.

As he trotted on the field in the second quarter, a cheer arose from the Horseshoe. This after fans aired their grievances about Jones on Columbus talk radio the past four days. The complaints about a record-setting offensive onslaught against Virginia Tech encapsulated the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately fan base.

"It isn’t strange," Jones said. "The fans have a right to cheer and express their opinions and their emotions."

Few channeled them toward the defense, which went unnoticed despite forcing four turnovers, holding the Rainbow Warriors to 165 total yards — fewer than 100 passing and rushing — and zero points. It’s just the second time in Chow’s career, as an offensive coordinator or head coach, that his offense has been held scoreless.

"We had way too many drops," Chow said. "You know the windows aren’t going to be very big when you play a good football team. The numbers don’t look good. We talked about it before the game — every opportunity that we had to make a play we had to because we’re playing the No. 1 team in the country."

Ohio State hosts Northern Illinois and Western Michigan before the Big Ten season begins. But the schedule doesn’t truly elicit excitement until late-November, with back-to-back games against Michigan State and Michigan.

It gives Meyer 10 weeks to appraise his valuable assets behind center.

"I still have to evaluate how we’re doing that and what’s the best opportunity to go down the field and score," Meyer said. "I can’t recall in major college football history witnessing something where you have two good guys. I have to self-evaluate, too, and make sure we’re doing the right thing by those guys.

"We didn’t play extremely well. But we’ll get better."