By PAUL GOTHAM
COLUMBUS, OH — On a day when the offense struggled to find rhythm, Ohio State’s defense (insert the defense-wins-championships discussion here) answered the bell. The top-ranked and reigning national champion Buckeyes held the Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors to 2.7 yards per play in a convincing 38-0 victory.
No player put his mark on the game more than Vonn Bell. The junior safety filled the stat sheet as the Buckeyes won for the 15th straight time. Bell registered a career-high three pass break-ups (two could have been interceptions) to go with a second quarter pick.
“He is a playmaker,” Ohio State defensive coordinator Luke Fickell said. “He’ll be kicking himself on the two he dropped. He caught the hardest one and dropped two other ones.”
Bell was part of an overall effort by the defensive unit which created a combined more pass break ups (8) and interceptions (2) than allowed pass completions (8). His interception at the Ohio State 28 stopped Hawaii’s deepest penetration of the game.
“He had a heckuva of an interception, but you think back to the two he could have had. He might have the best hands on the team, but I told him after that ‘he just dropped,'” Fickell said with a smile. “I’m not sure he’s in top five now best hands in the team. But he’s a playmaker.”
Bell added three solo tackles. He scooped up a fumble and ran 14 yards for a touchdown to give the Buckeyes a 31-0 lead in the fourth quarter, but Fickell points out Bell’s influence extends beyond the box score.
“It’s the confidence and that little swagger thing that everybody talks about,”Fickell added. “Everybody thinks they got swagger. Reality is not everybody truly deep down inside has it… It’s who he is. I tell him that all the time. ‘You bring a lot. Not just your play but your attitude. The way you go about it.’ Actually the way he works. The way he practices. He’s a leader. He might not be a captain right now, but he’s every bit a leader as anybody.
“A guy can have great confidence in what he does, but the reality is if he doesn’t have people around him it’s hard to really build that. This is a game of emotions. This is a game of momentum. Things like that. When you got it, you got to keep it. Vonn Bell is one of those guys who’s always got that positive, that’s always got that belief and that confidence. He’s in a leadership role now. It’s more evident. The thing that he also does is he does it every day.”
The Buckeyes turn their attention to the 2-0 Northern Illinois Huskies and Kenny Galloday who is second in the country averaging 178.5 yards receiving per game.
Bell’s interception was the eighth of his career.
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