After a season of shadows, Braxton Miller offers a bright light of optimism for Ohio State: Bill Livingston
Published: Saturday, December 31, 2011
By Bill Livingston, The Plain Dealer
Marvin Fong, The Plain Dealer
Braxton Miller can't walk on air quite yet, but he remains the biggest reason why there's optimism for the start of the Urban Meyer era at Ohio State beginning in 2012.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The quarterback of the future at Ohio State, Braxton Miller, succeeds Terrelle Pryor, who traded his own wider horizons for cash and tattoos gained in scandal.
In the Gator Bowl Monday against Florida, Miller becomes the first Ohio State freshman quarterback to start a bowl game since Art Schlichter in the 1978 Gator Bowl.
Pryor ran by far the most plays at quarterback as a freshman in the Fiesta Bowl against Texas three seasons ago, but senior Todd Boeckman took the first snap. This enabled OSU to say, truthfully but also disingenuously, that Pryor should not be charged with the loss on his ballyhooed 31-4 starting record.
Pryor destroyed his college career because he had a voracious sense of entitlement, one that rivaled that of his Twitter and texting buddy, LeBron James. The catalyst for the memorabilia sale scandal that brought down former coach Jim Tressel, Pryor entered OSU as the most heralded recruit in the nation. He left with red flags flying about his character on draft boards all around the NFL, finally landing with the Oakland Raiders in the third round of the supplemental draft.
Miller was well-known in the Ohio high school ranks, but was the No. 34 recruit in the country. He was not invited into the diva circles of celebrity jocks as a freshman. Shaquille O'Neal did not give him public pep talks. Nothing was expected of Miller this season until he had to deliver something big in a hurry after Pryor's suspension and defection to the NFL.
Pryor's offensive line was so suspect when he was a freshman that he was forced to rely on his own size (6-6, 235) and speed to combat the pressure defenses put on him. For all that, however, he could hand off to Beanie Wells and throw to Brian Hartline.
Behind a makeshift line, Miller ran for both big gains and his life this season. He was missing what seemed like half of the Ohio State offense at times, due to injuries and the various suspensions.
It says much that his freshman stats still stack up well against those of Pryor.
The freshman Pryor threw for 1,311 yards, completing 60.6 percent of his passes, with 12 touchdowns to four interceptions. He rushed 631 yards with a 4.5-yard average and six touchdowns. He also caught a TD pass, from Boeckman. He barely played in one game, against Ohio.
Miller finished the regular season with 997 passing yards on a 50 percent completion rate with 11 touchdowns and four interceptions, nearly the same ratio as Pryor. Miller rushed for 639 yards with a 4.7-yard average and six touchdowns. He missed all of the Toledo game and played sparingly against Akron and Miami.
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