COLUMBUS – The Buckeyes remained the No. 1 team in both major college football polls but the no longer unanimously.
Ohio State (2-0) turned in something of a lukewarm offensive performance in the 38-0 win over Hawaii in the Buckeyes’ home opener. OSU amassed only 363 yards of total offense and had built just a 17-0 lead after three quarters against a Rainbow Warriors team that came to Columbus as 40-point underdogs.
“We did not execute well,” head coach Urban Meyer told reporters. “When a coach says that, it sounds like you’re taking away from what those guys did. Tough trip all the way across the world. And we didn’t play extremely well. But we’ll get better.”
Northern Illinois visits Ohio Stadium Saturday (3:30 p.m./ABC).
Big Ten rival Michigan State took two first-place votes from Ohio State after the Spartans held on to beat then-7th ranked Oregon 31-28 Saturday night and moved up to No. 4.
Alabama remained No. 2. TCU is 3 and Baylor was No. 5.
Three Southeastern Conference teams fell out of the AP Top 25, Auburn plummeting 12 spots, after the league that set a record for most teams in the college football rankings last week had a rough weekend.
The Tigers needed overtime to beat Jacksonville State of the FCS and slip from No. 6 to No. 18. Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi State all drop out after losses Saturday.
The SEC was down to seven ranked teams, still the most of any conference.