Virginia Tech Football: Ohio State Q&A Preview

Less than a year after defeating the eventual National Champion Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus, the Hokies are geared up to prove last year's win wasn't a fluke. While the Hokies have spent the offseason returning to full health and fleshing out some depth issues, the Buckeyes have experienced a rash of suspensions and injuries — Oh, and there's that seldom-discussed quarterback battle they've had going on — high drama for a team that just claimed college football's ultimate crown. In an effort to sort out all of the roster changes and what we might expect on Monday night, we have once again asked our friends at Eleven Warriors. to provide some insight. I had the pleasure of exchanging questions and answers with Michael Citro, Senior Columnist at Eleven Warriors. Michael's answers to my questions are below, and you can find my answers at Eleven Warriors.

Can you bring us up to speed on the starting quarterback battle between J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones?

Urban Meyer has been playing this very close to the vest. The battle may already be decided, but he's simply not going to tip his hand any earlier than he must. Many will point to the fact that J.T. Barrett was named one of the team's six captains — as a redshirt sophomore — as an indicator that he has won the job. He did beat out Jones last season, after all. If you ask my opinion, the job is likely Barrett's to lose at this point.

It has been a busy summer for the Buckeye coaching staff, and not necessarily in a good way. Stud DE Joey Bosa — along with three other players (we'll get to them in a moment) — was suspended for the opener for a violation of athletic department policy. Who is expected to step in for Bosa and what is the impact (if any) on the game plan versus the Hokies?

There are several possibilities and any (or all) of them may come into play. Meyer has talked about changing the look of the defense and using linebacker Joshua Perry as a defensive end. He might see some snaps there but I don't expect that to be the norm. Sam Hubbard and Jalyn Holmes have had an ongoing camp battle to get into the mix at defensive end, and I think they'll both get some snaps, with Tyquan Lewis at the other end of the line. All are explosive players but none have the experience Bosa does, nor his ability to take over a game (yet).

In addition to Bosa, freshman All-American H-Back Jalin Marshall, WR Corey Smith and H-Back Dontre Wilson were all suspended for the Labor Day opener, severely depleting the wide receiving core. To make matters worse, sophomore sensation Noah Brown broke his leg in practice last Wednesday and will be lost for the season. Who are the guys the coaching staff will be calling upon to step in Monday and help take the load off Mike Thomas, and is their a drop-off in talent/ability behind them that may alter what the staff can do offensively?

At H-back, Meyer is working hard to get Braxton Miller ready for Virginia Tech. At wide receiver, the likely candidates for playing time are Johnnie Dixon, a young kid who was sidelined with knee issues last year, Jeff Greene, a transfer from Georgia Tech who has tremendous size (6-foot-5, 220 pounds), and Terry McLaurin, a speedy sophomore out of Indiana. I think there will be a rotation early to see if someone steps up and demands more snaps than the others. Redshirt freshman Parris Campbell, an insanely fast and shifty kid, may get involved as well. I also think the coaching staff will try to utilize more of tight end Nick Vannett. As for the talent level, the Buckeye receivers have little drop-off in talent, but obviously a big drop-off in experience.

Since we last spoke earlier in the summer, Braxton Miller has been shifted to more of an H-Back role within this offense. How has he adjusted to the new position and what can we expect to see from him come Monday night? Will he be an integral part of this offense, or will it be more of a selective, package-based approach in Week One?

With Marshall and Wilson out, I expect Miller to be on the field quite a bit. He's really embraced his new role and has expressed extreme confidence in his ability to get out there and make plays at the new spot. I expect we'll see both some running and receiving plays from him, with the majority of the latter coming on short routes. At some point, he'll go deep and try to use his speed and the element of surprise to get behind the defense. He may also throw a pass. We're all eager to see what Miller will look like in this new role.

One of the questions heading into spring practice was who would emerge at cornerback opposite Eli Apple. Tell us some more about presumed starter Gareon Conley and the corners behind him on the depth chart. Would you say that the Buckeye corners are an area of weakness that the Hokies should look to attack?

Conley got on the field last year as a true freshman, mostly on special teams, but he did manage 160 snaps at corner. He's got the talent to be great there, but he needs more development. With a year under his belt, he should be better than last season and if he can hold off challenges from the likes of Marshon Lattimore, he will be. I think he's more of a concern against the run than the pass at this point, but before the season starts, who really knows? I guess we'll find out if corner is a weakness.

Alright, score prediction time! Who do you see winning this game and how do they do it?

I'm supremely bad at score predictions so I'll just say that I believe that Ohio State will use revenge as a motivating factor to win a close game. I think the Buckeyes will have more success on the ground than last year and hit a big passing play at some point. But mostly I'll put this on the improved defense to do a much better job against Brewer than last year, particularly on third down.