BLACKSBURG, Va. – Braxton Miller scored two touchdowns, including an electrifying 53-yard run, and No. 1 Ohio State pulled away from Virginia Tech for a season-opening 42-24 victory on Monday night.
UPDATE: The performance earned Miller his fourth Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week award
Cardale Jones (above center), whose status as the starter was not known until he came out for the first offensive series, threw for two touchdowns and ran for another score as Ohio State avenged a 35-21 home loss to Virginia Tech last season and earned its 14th straight win overall.
The starting quarterbacks identity was one of the most discussed topics in college football over the past nine months and the best-kept secret for the last five days as coach Urban Meyer waited until the Wednesday before the game to make his decision.
“Cardale finished the season as the starter and that kind of started the thinking that he had to get beat out and he wasn’t beat out,” he told reporters after the game.
Jones, who led the Buckeyes to three consecutive victories after replacing the injured J.T. Barrett, who waited on the sidelines until he entered the game in the second half.
“I almost went to J.T. earlier but it was such a pressure game that with Cardale’s size I thought he could get over the top and their defensive front was all over the place and that was the decision,” Meyer said.
Miller (above left) had been the third outstanding quarterback in contention until he switched to the running back/receiver position knows as “H-back,” or “hybrid back.”
In addition to the touchdown run, he caught a scoring pass early in the third quarter that put the Buckeyes back on top, 21-17. He finished with 140 total yards.
The offense seemed to sputter in the second quarter in the face of the relentless Hokie defense and, thanks to two turnovers, the Buckeyes found themselves trailing 17-14 at halftime.
Ohio State’s 14-game overall and road winning streaks are the longest active streaks in the nation. The last team to beat OSU was Virginia Tech and it seemed at times like they could pull off another upset.
“I thought we did average, it all depends on your expectation level and ours at this point I wouldn’t say we played great,” Meyer said.
The Hokies lost more than the game, with quarterback Michael Brewer shelved by a left shoulder injury in the third quarter. Brewer is key to Virginia Tech’s hope for a resurgent season and their offense clearly suffered a decline in potency with him on the sidelines.
Ohio State next hosts Hawaii on Saturday (3:30 p.m./BTN).