Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors vs Ohio State Buckeyes Match Player Stats On Sep 12, 2015

The Sports Xchange
Sep 12, 2015

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ezekiel Elliott rushed for three touchdowns, but No. 1 Ohio State could not shake heavy underdog Hawaii until late in a 38-0 victory on Saturday in Ohio Stadium.

The Buckeyes (2-0) led only 17-0 going into the fourth quarter until Elliott's 1-yarder with 9:07 left to complete a 91-yard drive.

Ohio State safety Vonn Bell returned a fumble 14 yards for a touchdown 79 seconds later to make it 31-0 and Bri'onte Dunn rushed for a 4-yard score with 3:51 left.

Ohio State was sluggish and mistake prone at the start but righted itself to take a 7-0 lead on its second possession with 3:25 left in the quarter.

After an opening drive that had two negative yardage runs, a false start and a missed field goal attempt when holder Cameron Johnston mishandled the snap, the Buckeyes got the ball back after a stop and promptly had another false start.

But the Buckeyes then went 82 yard in 10 plays with Elliott scoring from the 1 on his fifth rush of the drive for a 7-0 lead. The score was set up by three runs from hybrid back Braxton Miller for 28 yards and an 18-yard reception by wide receiver Michael Thomas.

Hawaii then begrudgingly gave up yards and even had back-to-back sacks of Cardale Jones, making his first Ohio Stadium start, in his last series of the opening half.

The Rainbow Warriors (1-1) could not take advantage of a roughing the punter call against Ohio State's Darron Lee with nine minutes left in the second quarter. After the penalty, Hawaii got the ball at its own 20, but three plays later quarterback Max Wittek was intercepted by cornerback Gareon Conley and Elliott got his second rushing touchdown, this time from 3 yards with 4:03 left to complete the first-half scoring.

Rainbow Warriors running back Paul Harris rushed for 46 yards in his homecoming. He attended high school in Columbus.

NOTES: Hawaii dropped to 0-4 against teams ranked No. 1 at the time of the game and have twice lost to the defending national champion. In 2005, the Rainbow Warriors were defeated by Southern California 63-17. Hawaii has also lost six straight to ranked teams, with the last win coming against No. 19 Houston on Oct. 16, 2010. ... The Buckeyes have won 36 of their past 37 home openers; the lone defeat was last season vs. Virginia Tech. ... Former Ohio State band director Jon Woods (1984-2011) passed away Saturday before the alumni band performed at the game. He was 76.