Ohio State vs. Virginia Tech Football: 2014 National Championship Race

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the 2014 national championship season, when Ohio State football’s Buckeyes won the first College Football Playoff title with a 14-1 record. We’ll be reliving that remarkable year by sharing game stories from that campaign as they appeared in the pages of the Columbus Dispatch.

Now: Ohio State’s Week 2 game against Virginia Tech.

Attack collapses under pressure

Buckeyes line can’t contain QB Barrett’s rush

September 7, 2014

The largest crowd in Ohio Stadium history witnessed an accident.

Hoping to restore the Big Ten’s image on a miserable day for the conference, Ohio State fell short.

The Buckeyes rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit to tie the game, but Virginia Tech delivered the final blows to beat No. 8 Ohio State 35-21 and hand Urban Meyer the first regular-season loss of his Buckeyes tenure.

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After Michigan State and Michigan’s blowout losses in marquee games yesterday and McNeese State’s near-win of Nebraska, Ohio State was the conference’s last hope for an impressive victory.

When the Buckeyes scored two touchdowns to erase a 21-7 halftime deficit, they appeared ready to do just that.

But Bucky Hodges caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Michael Brewer with 8:44 left, and the Buckeyes’ offense couldn’t respond. A 63-yard interception by Donovan Riley with 46 seconds left sealed the game.

Thanks to the stadium’s expansion in the south stands, a record crowd of 107,517 attended the prime-time game at Ohio Stadium. They had good reason to enter the Horseshoe with confidence. Ohio State had not lost a home game to an unranked non-conference opponent since losing to Stanford and Florida State in consecutive weeks in 1982.

Virginia Tech (2-0) had never beaten a team ranked eighth or higher on the road. After losing a combined 11 games over the past two years, the Hokies were optimistic they could regain a national ranking.

They provided concrete evidence last night, although they received a lot of help from the error-prone hosts.

In his home debut as a starting quarterback, JT Barrett completed just 9 of 29 passes for 219 yards and three interceptions. But it would be unfair to blame him for the loss. He rarely had time to throw, thanks to the pressure from Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster, who overwhelmed the Buckeyes’ rebuilt offensive line with seven sacks.

Barrett’s receivers had some critical passes and struggled to get open. As a result, Virginia Tech was able to maintain its man-to-man pass defense and clog the line of scrimmage to disrupt the running game. Ohio State’s running backs gained just 58 yards on 13 carries.

“I don’t think our receivers played well,” Meyer said. “They’re a good secondary defense. They put their corners on islands, and we didn’t expose them.

Still, Ohio State (1-1) had a chance. Trailing by 14 points, the Buckeyes managed to score a touchdown on a 53-yard reception from Michael Thomas late in the third quarter.

The Buckeyes tied the score with 11:40 left in the fourth quarter on defense. Defensive end Joey Bosa hit Hokies quarterback Michael Brewer, causing the ball to fumble away. Rashad Frazier recovered the ball at the Virginia Technology 15.

Ezekiel Elliott scored from that distance two plays later.

After Hodges’ touchdown, the Buckeyes had three possessions to tie the game. The first went nowhere. The second ended with an interception on third-and-18 with less than 5 minutes left.

The Buckeyes had their last chance after AJ Hughes missed a 46-yard field goal with 3:06 left. Barrett managed to get a first down on a third-and-20, and the Buckeyes reached the Virginia Tech 45-yard line.

But after the Hokies’ final sack, Barrett’s pass intended for Corey Smith was intercepted by Riley and returned for a score.

Ohio State didn’t appear to have much of a chance in the first half, when Barrett’s play was about the only thing going well.

The redshirt freshman quarterback ran for all of Ohio State’s non-penalty yards on its lone touchdown drive. He also had long completions to Devin Smith and Dontre Wilson.

“A courageous performance,” Meyer said of Barrett.

But he received little help.

The other two phases of the Buckeyes’ game were even more mediocre. Ohio State spent the entire offseason building a pass defense designed to challenge every pass.

Brewer didn’t have much trouble picking him apart. The Hokies converted their first five third-down situations on their first two touchdown drives.

The Buckeyes’ kicking game was worse. Freshman Sean Nuernberger missed two field goals, including a 27-yarder. Cameron Johnston missed a punt that set up one of Virginia Tech’s touchdowns. The Buckeyes had a back-blocking penalty and a late kicking penalty and allowed a 35-yard punt return.

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Attack collapses under pressure

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