For most of the season, Ohio State’s odds of making the College Football Playoff were slim. Virginia Tech was to thank.

Ranked seventh in the Amway Coaches Poll, the Buckeyes hosted the Hokies on Sept. 8. And they lost, 35-21. It was freshman quarterback J.T. Barrett’s second game as a starter after the team lost Braxton Miller to a season-ending shoulder injury in August. He went 9 of 29 for 219 yards, a touchdown and three interceptions.

Virginia Tech held Ohio State to 108 yards rushing, its lowest of the season, and put a cap on the game when cornerback Donovan Riley returned an interception 63 yards for a touchdown with 46 seconds left.

But the Buckeyes rallied. Ohio State won the rest of its games, Barrett finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy race, and the Buckeyes will face Oregon for the national title on Jan. 12. Virginia Tech remained the lone team to beat Ohio State and associate head coach Shane Beamer spoke with USA TODAY Sports about how the Hokies were able to do so.

“Our guys were motivated,” Beamer said. “We scored on defense, which anytime you score on defense, you’re gonna have a chance to win, and then frankly, we got them at a good time.

“It was Game 2 with the quarterback that they didn’t expect to be their quarterback when the season started, and we played really well. Our guys were excited to play Ohio State. It was a big matchup on national television early in the season.”

Beamer said Virginia Tech simply played better in all three phases of the game.

“When we played them, they had four new offensive linemen who were playing in their second game of the season,” Beamer said. “They probably didn’t have the continuity and cohesion they have now. So that was a good matchup for us at the time. And then the fact that their quarterback was starting his second game…(defensive coordinator) Bud (Foster) felt he could exploit him a little bit.

“Defensively, we really thought their front seven was talented. (Joey) Bosa, what he does speaks for itself. Their outside linebackers can run, when you look at them you don’t see a lot of weaknesses. It wasn’t a surprise to us that they ran the table after that because we knew we beat a really good team.”

Beamer resents anyone — pundits, fans, the selection committee — calling the outcome game a “bad loss” for Ohio State, nearly keeping them out of the four-team bracket.

“I get it,” Beamer said. “I don’t mean to knock anybody and say they don’t know what theyr’e talking about, but I understand that we finished 6-6 (in the regular season), we had a three-game losing streak and had some tough losses that certainly didn’t help Ohio State. But it wasn’t like we were getting blown out. We lost three games by three points or less, and frankly our team changed throughout the season.

“You look at our two-deep that night and then look when season ended, there are a lot of missing names from that night. If the team from Columbus that night had stayed intact, we’re gonna win more than seven games.”

The Hokies didn’t finish the season with starting offensive tackle John McLaughlin, who was replaced by a walk-on, or starting defensive tackle Luther Maddy. They also lost two running backs in Shai McKenzie and Marshawn Williams both of whom scored touchdowns against the Buckeyes.

Beamer wouldn’t call beating the Buckeyes on the road a fluke by any means, but says they’re a much different team now.

“I certainly think the offensive line has come along and has improved,” he said. “We played them that night, then I saw them on video against Cincinnati because we played Cincinnati in a bowl game, and then the next time I watched Ohio State was when they played Alabama.

“I really hadn’t paid much attention to them until the Alabama game, but their receivers are certainly improved and making a lot of plays, their offensive line has improved, which you would certainly expect because they had four new starters heading into their first game. And they had some young guys on defense that we saw that have just continued to get better. They’re big and can run on defense and have just gotten more experienced.”

Though Barrett didn’t play well against the Hokies, Beamer said he saw flashes of a good player. He had size, could throw the ball and run. Obviously Beamer hasn’t played against Cardale Jones, but Ohio State’s new quarterback features similar qualities.

“Anytime you face a team that has a quarterback who can run the football, and bring that element to it, it makes the offense tougher to defense,” Beamer said. “(Barrett) was a guy that just needed experience, but he got better each week.”

The same could be said of Jones.

The Saturday that Virginia Tech beat Ohio State, four other Big Ten schools lost, including Michigan State at Oregon and Michigan at Notre Dame. The season seemed bleak for the conference. But it was only the second week.

“I can remember coming out of that game at Ohio State that night and all the talk was the Big Ten is out of the Playoff hunt and Ohio State’s out and it was Week 2 and it was like come on now, there’s a lot of football left to be played,” Beamer said. “They did a great job of sticking together and getting better.

“They’re hot right now and playing with confidence. I’m happy for them.”