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Hokies at Ohio State: College Football’s Almost Most Impactful Game

By Tim Thomas

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Sep 6, 2014; Columbus, OH, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies tight end Bucky Hodges (7) catches a pass in the end zone for a touchdown during the fourth quarter against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

Back on September 5th, the Virginia Tech Hokies were making their final preparations to make the trip to the Horseshoe in Columbus, Ohio to take on the 8th ranked Ohio State Buckeyes. At the time, this seemed like the game that would prove if Ohio State was for real in 2014 without Braxton Miller or if the Hokies could pull off the massive upset.

No one expected that the next following day could include the most impactful game of the 2014 college football season.

Before kickoff on September 6th, some thought that the Hokies might be able to pull off a huge upset but many believed that the Buckeyes could take care of business at home in front of a record crowd of 107,517. At 8:07pm, the game that almost became the most impactful game of the 2014 college football season got under way.

At halftime, many Hokie fans were starting to believe that they might just pull off the upset with Virginia Tech beating the Buckeyes 21-7. However, that lead disappeared as the Buckeyes tied up the game with 11:40 to go. It seemed like the Hokies might not be able to pull off the upset and that Urban Meyer’s Buckeyes would finish the comeback.

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Then, the Hokies used 6 plays to go 65 yards finishing with a Bucky Hodges’s touchdown catch with 8:44 left in the game. All of a sudden, Hokie Nation realized that this team might just be able to pull off the biggest road victory in program history. The question was whether the Hokies could finish this game and get this massive victory against their highest-ranked opponent of 2014.

Ohio State tried to put a drive together late but with 59 seconds left, J.T. Barrett and one of his receivers had a major miscommunication over the route he was supposed to run. Donovan Riley took advantage and not only got the interception but also took it 63 yards to the house for a touchdown to give the Hokies a 35-21 lead.

Stunned fans in Columbus left in droves while an elated Hokie Nation started celebrating in Blacksburg knowing that the upset was complete. At 11:54pm, the clock ran out and the Hokies had taken down the 8th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes 35-21 in what would become one of the biggest upsets of 2014.

After this game, most believed that the Buckeyes were not going to be a playoff contender while many started to wonder if the Hokies were sleepers for the 2014 College Football Playoff. Instead, the exact opposite happened for both of those teams.

The H9kies’ playoff hopes went up in smoke very quickly with back-to-back home losses to East Carolina and Georgia Tech. Meanwhile, the Buckeyes started blowing out teams before getting a huge win in East Lansing, Michigan over the Michigan State Spartans.

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As we approahced the end of the regular season, the Hokies’ win over Ohio State loomed larger and larger as a game that could completely change the playoff. Even after Ohio State beat Wisconsin 59-0 in the Big 10 Championship, there was still some talk about the Hokies’ win over the Buckeyes and whether a loss to the 6-6 Hokies could cost Ohio State.

Yesterday, the 4 playoff teams were announced 3 months and 1 day after Virginia Tech’s win over Ohio State. The good news for fans in Columbus was that their Buckeyes would be in the first College Football Playoff.

However, the Hokies nearly had the biggest impact on the 2014 College Football Playoff when they beat the Buckeyes back in early September. That game was almost the most impactful game of the 2014 college football regular season but the Buckeyes were still able to get in despite a disappointing season by the Hokies.

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