Going in to Blacksburg, there was a feeling that revenge was on the minds of Buckeye Fans, hoping that Evil Urban would make an appearance and silence any doubt that the 2014 team at the end of the season was not the same team that lost to Virginia Tech in early September. And early on, all things pointed to just that. Two easy scores in the first quarter, including an 80 yard run by Ezekiel Elliot had Buckeye fans puffing their chests and gearing up for a rout. Cardale took an option off the left edge for another first quarter score, only to have it called back on a holding call. An almost 21-0 lead still had the Buckeyes up 14-0.
Then a muffed punt, an interception, and two throw back passes from Virginia Tech’s Mike Brewer led to 17 unanswered points and a half-time lead, 17-14. Uh-oh.
On, and Ohio State Twitter was kind of on fire. Par for the course, really.
Then the second half happened and nothing went the Hokies way. Their starting QB, Michael Brewer, was hurt on a crunching sack from Aldophus Washington, sending him to the locker room. If there was a glimmer of an upset, it left with Brewer.
Also, if there was a glimmer of an upset, Braxton Miller’s touchdown catch and absolutely ridiculous spin (see above) snuffed that out quickly.
Everything wasn’t perfect. There were defensive missteps, occasional goofy offensive play calls and just some sloppiness in special teams. Ultimately, minus a garbage time touchdown, Ohio State buckled down and dominated the second half to come out on top, 42-24.
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