Top-ranked Ohio State rallied from a 17-14 halftime deficit with four second-half touchdowns, aided by an injury to Virginia Tech starting quarterback Michael Brewer, en route to a 42-24 win over the Hokies on Monday night.
The Buckeyes (1-0), the defending national champions, avenged their only loss in 2014, a 35-21 setback in Columbus.
The 2015 opener started to look like that game from 12 months ago when Tech (0-1) scored 17 unanswered points in the second quarter to erase an early 14-0 deficit.
Brewer got the Hokies on the board on a 51-yard TD pass to Sam Rogers at the 13:13 mark in the second quarter. A Joey Slye 46-yard field goal at the 7:05 mark cut the deficit to 14-10, and after an Ohio State fumble on a punt in the final two minutes, Virginia Tech capitalized with a 1-yard TD pass from Brewer to Ryan Mallek with 15 seconds left in the half to go up 17-14 at the break.
Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones connected with Braxton Miller on a 54-yard TD pass 1:07 into the third quarter to put the Buckeyes back up, 21-17.
Brewer went down on a third-and-four play at the Ohio State 43. The senior went to the locker room and returned to the field with his left, non-throwing, shoulder in a sling. The word from the Virginia Tech sideline was that he had broken his left collarbone, an injury that will require surgery and keep him out of action for four to five weeks.
A Miller 53-yard TD run on a wildcat play at the 2:05 mark of the third extended the lead to 28-17, and the rout was on.
Jones scored on a zone-read play from 10 yards out 2:34 into the fourth quarter to push the lead to 35-17, and backup quarterback J.T. Barrett connected with Michael Thomas on a 26-yard TD pass with 8:14 to go to make it 42-17 Ohio State.
With Brewer on the sidelines, the Virginia Tech offense sputtered, gaining just 65 yards from scrimmage on their next six drives with Brenden Motley at quarterback before getting a garbage-time touchdown following an Ohio State turnover in the final two minutes.
Jones finished with 186 yards passing, completing nine of his 18 attempts, with two touchdowns and an interception.
Ezekiel Elliott ran for 122 yards on 11 carries, 80 of the yards coming on a first-quarter touchdown run. Jones added 99 yards on 13 carries on the ground.
Brewer was 11-of-16 passing for 156 yards and two touchdowns. Motley completed four of his nine pass attempts for 36 yards, with a touchdown and an interception.
Ohio State racked up 572 yards of total offense on the night. Virginia Tech had 320 yards of total offense.
The Buckeyes ran for 360 yards on 37 carries, at 9.7 yards per run. Virginia Tech ran for 128 yards on 44 carries, for 2.9 yards per rush.
– Story by Chris Graham
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