College football saved its best team for last where Week 1 is concerned. Did it also save its best game? We’ll find out Monday night when defending national champion and unanimous preseason AP No. 1 Ohio State takes on Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. The Hokies are currently 14-point underdogs (up from 11.5 points last week) for the 8 p.m. ET kickoff from Lane Stadium. These two teams met in Columbus last season, where the Hokies pulled off a 35-21 upset behind three interceptions of J.T. Barrett. That result was a surprise at the time; by season’s end, when Tech had tied for the ACC Coastal basement and the Buckeyes had won the inaugural College Football Playoff, it looked positively shocking. There’s now no shortage of storylines for Monday’s rematch, from the Buckeyes’ decision between Barrett and Cardale Jones at quarterback, to the raft of suspensions that have robbed Urban Meyer’s team of All-American defensive end Joey Bosa and multiple other playmakers, to whether Meyer and his staff have solved the “Bear zero” look deployed by Bud Foster a year ago to such devastating effect. But as juicy as the surrounding narratives might be, ultimately the game will likely be decided by the individual matchups on the field…
Continue Reading: Ohio State vs. Virginia Tech preview: Five matchups to watch Monday
