COLUMBUS- The Ohio State Buckeyes looked flat against the Virginia Tech Hokies. The young offensive line was exposed. Quarterback J.T. Barrett was pressured a lot. The Hokies showed a lot of blitz packages and man coverage. The receivers dropped several critical passes. Even kicker Sean Nuernberger failed to execute on two short field goals.
Ohio State stopped Michael Brewer from spreading the ball through the air, so they did one thing right. Brewer was limited to 199 passing yards and two touchdowns. The defense also picked off two of Brewer’s passes.
This primetime game aired on ESPN, was supposed to be Ohio State’s chance to prove they win a big primetime matchup with Barrett at quarterback. Instead, Ohio State will be regarded as a team that many college football fans and reporters will doubt.
Mental mistakes that the Buckeyes normally do not make cost them the game. The offensive line was pushed around many times. Two “bunnies” were missed by Nuernberger. Barrett underthrew several passes which lead to three interceptions. The interception that really hurt was the last one that was returned for a touchdown. Ohio State was attempting to score in the last minute of the game which would have tied the game at 28 forcing overtime. Instead, the Hokies gained a 35-21 lead with less than 50 seconds remaining in the game. The Buckeyes were also out of timeouts, so it was a done deal at that point.
The critics are multiplying. The loss of Braxton Miller is showing. Is this a year that Ohio State will fortunate to have any winning record or will they bounce back and lose no more than two games in the regular season?
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