BLACKSBURG, Va. – If there were a
luxury tax in college football, Ohio State coach Urban Meyer would have
to redistribute some of his ridiculous wealth to the less fortunate.
A quarterback-poor team – Texas, maybe – would get J.T. Barrett. He's a Texan, after all.Another member of the quarterbacking lower class – LSU, perhaps? – could get Braxton Miller.
And Gridworld would be a fairer place.
But there is no luxury tax in college ball, and Urban isn't sharing. The rich get richer – like, Bill Gates rich. Thus there is no team that can remotely compare to the abundance of Buckeyes who can destroy an opponent, one way or another.
The defending champions are even more loaded than we thought they were. The arsenal is staggering, as Virginia Tech found out Monday night in a 42-24 defeat.
Cardale Jones swears he was told he was the starting quarterback in the team huddle seconds before the Ohio State took the field for the first time. (Sounds farfetched, but who am I to cast doubt on a good story?) Armed with the last-second news that he'd beaten out Barrett for the job, Jones promptly went out and led an eight-play touchdown drive. He threw for 54 yards and ran for 25, displaying the jaw-dropping arm strength and deceptive athleticism that helped him beat Wisconsin, Alabama and Oregon last year. At that moment, everyone was penciling Jones onto their Heisman Trophy ballot.
Then came the next possession. It lasted one play, and it reminded everyone who the true star of the 2014 postseason was for Ohio State. It was running back Ezekiel Elliott, who took a handoff and flashed through a big hole and was gone, 80 yards for another touchdown.
Erase Jones. Put Elliott – 11 yards per carry on the night – on top of the ballot.
After that things got hairy, as Ohio State made mistakes and fell behind 17-14 at halftime. The home crowd surged, and it was time to wonder if a massive upset was in the offing.
[ThePostGame: Transfer QBs make immediate impact in Week 1]
Needing a spark, here came the forgotten man, Miller. For a quarter, he turned Blacksburg into Braxburg.
After missing all last year with a shoulder injury, Miller was the third QB in a two-quarterback race. Everyone thought he would transfer, but he didn't. Instead he changed positions for his senior year, moving to wide receiver. And in the third quarter he made the two plays that won the game.
First, Miller went deep and hauled in a Jones bomb, kept his footing as he neared the sideline, eluded a tackle and sprinted into the end zone for his first big play since the 2013 season. That was big, but it was dwarfed by what happened later in the third quarter.
At quarterback, with Jones split out in the slot, Miller took the shotgun snap, ran left and produced the individual Play of the Year to date. Miller outran linebacker Deon Clarke to the perimeter, even though Clarke had the angle on him. Then he headed upfield. As pursuing nose tackle Corey Marshall lowered his head and prepared to blast Miller, the Buckeye pirouetted to the inside with astonishing ease at full speed and ran away for six.
Cardale Jones (center), Braxton Miller (left) and Ezekiel Elliott (right) put on a show against Virginia Tech. …
Marshall hit nothing, his place in highlight ignominy secure. Counselors are hopefully standing by to help him through the aftermath of this trauma.
"Ridiculous athletic ability," Meyer said.
On the sideline after the play, the 250-pound Jones imitated Miller's spin move on a teammate and an assistant coach.
"I thought mine was better," the eternal jokester said. "I saw [Miller] spin and I was like, 'OK, he's back.' "
Erase Elliott. Put Miller – 17.5 yards per touch from scrimmage – at the top of the Heisman ballot.
Those were enough weapons to win the game – but Ohio State had more. It had Barrett, loser of the QB derby but still capable of fracturing a defense in a reserve role. In his first series of action replacing Jones, Barrett ran 40 yards and then threw a 26-yard touchdown.
Barrett actually finished highest of any Buckeye in the 2014 Heisman voting. He was fifth. Now he's hoping to see mop-up minutes.
So there is all that – and still there is more at Meyer's disposal. Because two of Ohio State's most dynamic receivers, Jalin Marshall and Dontre Wilson, were suspended for the game. And so was defensive end Joey Bosa, who some think might be the No. 1 pick in the 2016 NFL draft.
Bosa was reduced to dog sitter, watching his buddy Elliott's new puppy back home in Columbus.
"I think it's kind of scary, really," Elliott said. "We were missing guys and still had so many weapons on the field. We could be very dominant."
Ohio State should be so dominant that it may actually render the next 10 weeks boring. The Buckeyes would have to play a spectacularly awful game or be hit with an unprecedented plague of injuries to lose before meeting Michigan State Nov. 21.
The rest of the non-conference
schedule is Hawaii, Northern Illinois and Western Michigan – all in
Columbus. Chances of losing: zero.
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).
Ohio State is a mortal lock to
be 10-0 when the Spartans come to Columbus. The only suspense will be
finding out which of the Buckeyes' star players turns out to be their
leading candidate for the Heisman.
They could have four candidates,
if they didn't all play for the same team. But they do. And Urban Meyer
isn't sharing with the poor teams tasked with trying to beat the
Buckeyes. http://sports.yahoo.com/video/ohio-state-vs-virginia-tech-050359154.htmlhttp://sports.yahoo.com/news/biggest-question-facing-ohio-state--who-s-the-buckeyes--top-heisman-candidate-060527196.html?soc_src=copy
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