On The Mark 9.8.15: Ohio State #Buckeyes vs. Virginia Tech Recap

Cardale Jones, Braxton Miller shine for the Buckeyes in 42-24 revenge win against Virginia Tech
By @MarkW2112

Hello and welcome to another season of Buckeyes football!  It's been 8 long months since the Buckeyes won the first ever National Championship trophy and their first game of the 2015 season was a rematch against the Virginia Tech Hokies, who beat the Buckeyes in the second game of the year in Columbus. This year, it was the number 1 ranked Buckeyes who pulled out the big win, 42-24 in Blacksburg, VA.

Urban Meyer kept his starting quarterback a secret until the very first play of the Buckeyes offense.  But it really came as no surprise to see Cardale Jones, who had 3 of the greatest games in college history to end last season, as the starting quarterback.  And he started off this season where he left off, throwing amazing passes and running with power.  He finished the game 9/18 for 186 yards, 2 touchdowns and interception while carrying the ball 13 times for 99 yards and 1 touchdown.  While Jones was mostly solid, with an excellent pass and touchdown catch to Curtis Samuel, it was Braxton Miller who stole the show with 2 show stopping touchdowns.  The converted wide receiver caught 2 catches for 78 yards, including a fantastic 54 yard where he kept his balance while staying inbounds.  His second touchdown was on a spectacular 53 yard run which included an amazing spin move.  J.T. Barrett did come in during "garbage" time to throw a touchdown to Michael Thomas, making it 42-17. 

The defense struggled some after the Buckeyes went up 14-0 early in the first half, especially the secondary.  The Hokies, led by Michael Brewer at quarterback, scored 17 unanswered points before halftime.  While taking some big hits, Brewer was in control throwing some big time throws including a 51 yard touchdown to fullback Sam Rogers and another 1 yard TD before halftime to Ryan Malleck.  However, to start the second half, after saying during halftime that it would "take a hell of a lot more than that to take me out", Brewer was knocked out of the game with a shoulder injury on a big hit by Adolphus Washington.  Junior quarterback Brenden Motley came in to the game and the Buckeyes defense were able to easily shut him down.  Motley finished 4 of 9 for 36 yards passing, a touchdown and an interception.

Thoughts:  The Buckeyes started out quickly on offense, lagged a little bit after being up 14-0 and showed in the second half  how powerful the  offense can be with 28 unanswered points until the very last few minutes where the Hokies scored a garbage time touchdown to make it 42-24 final.  Braxton Miller proved that he is still a dynamic player with his 2 show stopping touchdown plays.  Ezekiel Elliot was able to break away for an 80 yard touchdown run himself and finished with 122 rushing yards on 11 carries.  The possibilities are endless once Jalen Marshall and Cory Smith return next week.  As far as the defense, they were able to hold their own without Joey Bosa.  But with him coming back, look for a more disruptive defense to appear.  That said, there is work to be done in the secondary which got burned multiple times in the first half.

Player Of The Game:  Braxton Miller, who's conversion to receiver/h-back proved to be fluid with his big day both catching and running the ball for touchdowns.

Biggest Factor: The Hokies losing Michael Brewer was deflating for their offense, especially after getting them up 17-14 before the end of the first half.  

Up Next For The Buckeyes: the home opener at "The Shoe" in Columbus against Hawaii

#Buckeyes Preview 9.6.15: Ohio State @ Virginia Tech #Hokies

By @jddisantis

This Labor Day get the family time out of the way early because Monday night the National Champion Ohio State Buckeyes will try to avenge their only loss of last year by traveling to Blacksburg for a showdown with the Virginia Tech Hokies.   There is no shortage of storylines attached to the Buckeyes and their first test of the 2015 season.  Here is a breakdown of four areas of this game that I will be watching closely as the Buckeyes will attempt to extend the nation’s longest winning streak to 14.

1.   Who’s under center?:   Everyone has heard the age-old-adage, “If you have two quarterbacks, you have no quarterbacks.”   Well, that’s not the case for the Buckeyes.  In the 2014 season we saw something that movies are made of as Ohio State had TWO quarterbacks go down to injury yet their third string QB, Cardale Jones, stepped up and won the Big Ten Championship, National Semifinal and National Championship with a combination of size and arm strength reminiscent of JaMarcus Russell.   With 2-time Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year Braxton Miller moving to WR, J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones have been battling it out this summer for the starting job.   After watching Cardale in the final three games of last year many fans forget that J.T. Barrett was himself a Heisman contender before getting injured late in the season. 

Urban Meyer said that both quarterbacks will play in this game and reports have said that he will notify Barrett and Jones on Saturday who will start, although he will not tell the team until Monday night before the game.   Both men have been very humble during this process and have shown 100% support for the other so whatever the outcome I don’t anticipate any animosity towards the other.  Personally I would go with Barrett (who was recently named a team captain) but how could you argue with either player. 

2.  How badly will the recent suspensions hurt Ohio State?:   This offseason four Ohio State players received one game suspensions for “violating Department of Athletics policy.”  It is believed that the violations involve marijuana and academics.  The biggest impact the Buckeyes will be missing is potential #1 overall pick in next year’s NFL draft, junior defensive end Joey Bosa.  Sophomore H-back Jalin Marshall, senior WR Corey Smith and junior H-back Dontre Wilson will also be missing in action against the Hokies.  With WR Noah Brown down for the year with a broken leg the suspensions of Marshall, Smith and Wilson hurt even more.  We can expect to see a healthy dose of newly transitioned Braxton Miller to make up for the loss along with the emergence and continued growth of WR Michael Thomas. 

Redshirt sophomore Sam Hubbard will be starting in place of Joey Bosa, with Jalyn Holmes getting time as well.  Despite not playing all last year Hubbard was compared to J.J. Watt by former assistant coach Kerry Coombs and coach Meyer has mentioned that he thought about burning Hubbard’s redshirt year because he knew Hubbard was an NFL caliber player who won’t end up staying for four years.  Hubbard had two sacks in the spring game and exhibited the type of talent that has coaches excited to see what he can do on the main stage.  The Buckeyes may not have Joey Bosa out there Monday night, but they just might have the next best thing.   

3.  Braxton Miller’s switch to WR/H-back:  This offseason was filled with rumors and questions about the two-time Big Ten Offensive POY.  Will Braxton compete for the starting QB at Ohio State?  Will he transfer to Oregon or FSU to play QB there?  All of those questions were answered when Braxton Miller said he would be staying at Ohio State and make a transition to WR.  This was a great business decision for Miller as his potential at QB in the NFL was minimal but as one of the best athletes in college football he will have an opportunity to showcase that athleticism and playmaking ability at a different position.  Due to his recent injuries I think many fans have forgotten just how dynamic a playmaker Braxton Miller is and he should get ample opportunities to remind the nation Monday night against the Hokies. 

4.  Michael Thomas vs. Kendall Fuller:  One of the best battles you will see this opening weekend and maybe all year will be between Ohio State’s top wide-out Michael Thomas and Virginia Tech’s All-ACC cornerback Kendall Fuller.  We’ll have to wait and see if Fuller is going to follow Thomas throughout this game but they will definitely see a lot of each other.  Fuller is a fluid athlete who has football in his DNA as all three of his brothers have played (two are currently playing) in the NFL.  Michael Thomas also has NFL DNA as he is the nephew of former NFL wide-out Keyshawn Johnson.  Thomas is a technician at the position and will try and use his 6-3, 210 pound frame to his advantage against the smaller, faster Fuller.  Kendall Fuller is being touted as a sure fire first rounder while ESPN’s Todd McShay has Michael Thomas ranked as his #1 WR on his big board.  Keep your eyes on these two players as this battle will surely have game, and draft implications. 

On The Mark: Ohio State vs. Virginia Tech Preview, 9.5.14

By @MarkW2112

Match up: Virginia Tech Hokies at Ohio State Buckeyes
Place: Ohio Stadium, Columbus Ohio
Time: Saturday, 9/6/14, 8 PM
Channel: ESPN

After an exciting 34-17 victory over Navy last Saturday, the #8 ranked Buckeyes are coming home for their first game at The Horseshoe in Columbus Saturday night at 8 PM on ESPN.  Thankfully, most of us will be able to see the game instead of digging through our channel guides to see where the heck CBS Sports Network was located (turns out if you have DirecTV you were able to watch it).

The young Buckeyes will be facing another young team in the Hokies.  Thankfully for the Bucks defense, they do not run a triple option offense.  But the offense and special teams will be facing "Beamer ball", with it's emphisis on special teams and defensive play making.  Will it be enough to defeat a very fast and talented Buckeyes team in prime time?

Who to watch: J.T. Barrett will be under the bright lights of his first nationally televised game.  Can he rise to the occasion and make the big plays he did in the second half of the Navy game?  It should also be a good test for Ezekiel Elliot and freshman phenom Curtis Samuel against the young Hokie defense.

Defensive stand: Will the defense make a stand and show that last weeks game was a fluke?  You have to know Joey Bosa is licking his chops to get to quarterback Michael Brewer, who threw for 251 yards and 2 TD's against William & Mary last week.  True freshman running back Shai McKenzie had a big game as well but the Buckeyes should be able to contain him as well as his fellow running backs.  The Buckeyes secondary need to keep themselves in front of the receivers and not miss tackles like they and the rest of the defense did against Navy.

Prediction: The Buckeyes win 37-20, lead by Barrett and the tandem of Elliot/Samuel with a much improved defense.