Saturday night College Football and we will see the Virginia Tech Hokies take on the Ohio State Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. The game has a start time of 8:00 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on ESPN. Current Vegas odds have the Buckeyes listed as 11.5 point favorites, while the total is set at 47.
Analysis: The Virginia Tech Hokies have had a couple of mediocre seasons in a row. This year they have 54 letterman back and while they do have to replace their QB, this looks like it could be Frank Beamer's strongest squad that he has had in the last 3 years. The Hokies started their season off with a 34-9 win over FCS foe William & Mary. Offensively the Hokies were very balanced, racking up 222 yards on the ground and 266 yards through the air. Michael Brewer has taken over for he departed Logan Thomas at QB and had a very nice opening game, hitting 76.7% of his passes for 251 yards and 2 TDs. Leading the ground attack for the Hokies was Shai McKenzie, who rumbled for 106 yards on just 9 carries (11.8 ypc). The Hokie defense was solid as they allowed Will & Mary just 193 yards of total offense, including just 76 yards on the ground at 2.7 ypc.
The Ohio State Buckeyes went 24-0 in Urban Meyers 1st 24 games, but coming into this year they have now lost their last 2 games in a row, after losing in the Big 10 title game to Michigan State and then in a thrilling Orange Bowl game to Clemson. The Buckeyes win their opening game vs the Naval Academy, but it clearly showed that they will miss Braxton Miller this year. JT Barrett did okay as he completed 12 of 15 passes for 226 yards, but then again that was pretty much what Braxton did last year. Where the Buckeyes will miss him is in the running game. Last year the Buckeye put up 309 ypg (6.8 ypc) on the ground, but vs Navy they put up just 194 yards (4.8 ypc). Barrett did lead the Buckeyes in rushing with 5 yards, but still Miller would have commanded more attention and opened up more of the offense for the rest of the players. Disturbing for the Buckeyes was the fact that they were gashed for 370 yards on the ground and on 5.9 ypc. Last year the Buckeyes allowed just 109 ypg rushing on 3.3 ypc.
Pick: Hard to look anywhere but the Under in this game. Both teams have inexperience at the QB slot, both have strong running games and both have stout defenses. That tends to lead to low scoring games. Ohio State was gashed for 370 yards on the ground last week, so I really look for them to batten down the hatches on that side of the ball. This is a team that came in with perhaps the 2nd best defense in the Big 10 and I expect them to play like it here. Virginia Tech has a super quick and super stout front 7 and should be able to contain the Ohio State ground attack. This game will be more about running the ball, tough defense and field positions. Not allot of chances to be taken by either coach, especially knowing that they have such strong defenses to lean back on. This game should be played in the 30s at best.
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