Cardale Jones, Ezekiel Elliott Score Incredible TDs For Ohio State

With J.T. Barrett coming in for mopup duty, Ohio State simply continued to roll past the Hokies en route to their big win in Blacksburg. New place-kicker Jack Willoughby missed a 43-yard field goal at the end of the first quarter, and Elliott muffed a punt right before halftime that put Virginia Tech in position to take a 17-14 lead before the break.

Jones picked up right where he left off last postseason.

The decision paid off early for Meyer, as Jones connected with Curtis Samuel on the team’s first drive of the season for a terrific touchdown.

Barrett stayed engaged on the sideline, dapping up the offensive linemen and greeting his teammates after touchdowns. Prior to his injury, he had played very well, completing 11-of-16 passes for 156 yards and two scores. Jones and Barrett shared practice reps throughout August. Pretty typical. Reporters watched for any signs that might predict the starter. The Hokies went to Ohio Stadium and won a year ago, but they still needed time to adjust to the potent defending national champion.

Run Defense: Ohio State’s run defense had momentary lapses as it was clearly missing star defensive end Joey Bosa.

In 7-on-7 drills, Barrett took the first rep, but then the two alternated. The Buckeyes can push you around, and they can run circles around you.

Jones ran 16 yards on third down.

Elliott had to wait more than half the first quarter to get his first carry of the season, but he made it well worth the wait for the Buckeyes with an 80-yard touchdown run that gave Ohio State a 14-0 lead over Virginia Tech with 6:39 to play in the first quarter.

Jones added a 10-yard TD run in the fourth, and Barrett, who started for Ohio State until he was injured late in the season previous year, threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Thomas with 8:14 remaining.

But Virginia Tech punched back with a dominant second quarter where it capitalized on Ohio State mistakes.

That move is working out great, too.

After the game, Urban Meyer said he thought Jones played just “OK”. If Ohio State needed a visual reminder about how blessed it is at quarterback, all the Buckeyes had to do was turn to Virginia Tech backup Brenden Motley, flailing for most of the game after starter Michael Brewer went down with a broken collarbone.

That regained the lead for Ohio State, but Miller’s real value was shown later.

After sitting behind the scenes and watching several title contenders opened their season with victories, the No. 1 Buckeyes will now absorb all the attention, as coaches, fans and pundits brace for what is expected to be another challenging and unpredicted campaign.

Then begins a Big Ten schedule that is like one long spa treatment: at Indiana (last seen beating FCS Southern Illinois by a point); Maryland (which did not pull away from FCS Richmond until the fourth quarter Saturday); Penn State (gave up 10 sacks in a staggering loss to Temple); at Rutgers (no); home against Minnesota after a bye week (no); and at Illinois (no).

Things will get interesting if Jones struggles.

For now, it’s Jones.