Virginia Tech
vs.
Ohio State
College Football Pick
9/6/14
Even after winning in their first Game, Ohio State dropped three spots in the AP Poll to No. 8. When something like that happens it usually means the team struggled, or in the Buckeyes case, they lost Braxton Miller the week before the season started. That said, OSU is still a decent-sized -11 point favorite against Virginia Tech.
The question in this one will be what J.T. Barrett can do against a much better defensive team. The Hokies had one of the best defenses in the nation last year, and while William & Mary isn’t a powerhouse, VT still held them to three field goals. Maybe Barrett had nerves last weekend, but he’s definitely not Miller. against VT, the story could be a little different for him.
To help Barrett, OSU will need to get a ground Game going, because asking him to lead the team to a win on passing alone may be too much. Without Carlos Hyde, the Buckeyes used a committee against Navy, which will be the case again. Devin Smith is the target to watch out for and can open up the Hokies defense.
Ohio State didn’t look much better on the defensive end either, as they gave up an enormous 370 rushing yards to Navy. Of course, that’s all Navy does in their triple-option attack, but there’s still plenty of room for improvement.
Virginia Tech will also be using a new quarterback, with the former Texas Tech man Michael Brewer leading the way. It’s hard to gauge them after last week, as the Buckeyes will be a much harder task.
Brewer has an arm on him, but this is by no means a top offense. Logan Thomas was a solid quarterback for them in previous years, but he still didn’t make them a great scoring team. They’ll also lean on an RB committee with J.C. Coleman and a couple others. Brewer and the passing Game will need to pick up where they left off if they want to win.
The line has moved down since releasing, as not a lot of people are comfortable with picking Barrett and Ohio State. There’s good reason for that if they watched their first Game. Virginia Tech is not Navy and they showed last year that they can stay competitive with most teams. Barrett will need to prove himself before bettors are comfortable with the Buckeyes.
Ohio State has not lost a home opener since 1978, and this is the first ever meeting between these teams. The Hokies are a poor 2-11 ATS in their last 13 road Games and 1-4-1 ATS in their last six out-of-conference. The Buckeyes are 4-1 ATS in their last five non-Conference Games, but are only 1-5 ATS in their last six Games overall. The over is 4-1 in VT’s last five Games and has hit six straight times when OSU plays a team with a winning record.
check back on Friday afternoon for a pick on this Game