QB/WR Braxton Miller (B1G POY, National Champion, OSU HOF)

[SEREbuckeye]

Brax tried his best to use his feet less and keep the play open in the air. He seemed uncomfortable being contained and handcuffed by the play calling.

The coaching staff needs to let him play and then analyze his performance at half and curtail the play calling then, not before the kickoff.

Great game overall, clutch in the first and fourth quarters when the Bucks needed him to come through.

 

[jwinslow]

I'm really tired of hearing the playcalling complaints, of which there were many in the shoe.

Braxton was missing open guys frequently and throwing behind others. In the end he stepped up and made it happen but he was the reason the offense stalled most of the day.

 

[SEREbuckeye]

I'm really tired of hearing the playcalling complaints, of which there were many in the shoe.

Braxton was missing open guys frequently and throwing behind others. In the end he stepped up and made it happen but he was the reason the offense stalled most of the day.

Then put in some earplugs. This was a weakness today, and its going to be a topic. There were too many times where the run wasn't working out and thats all we did until we were forced to punt.

 

[matt_thatsme]

I'm really tired of hearing the playcalling complaints, of which there were many in the shoe.

Braxton was missing open guys frequently and throwing behind others. In the end he stepped up and made it happen but he was the reason the offense stalled most of the day.

He was also locking in on receivers and telegraphing throws. Still maturing as a QB. Idid not expect him to come out this year tossing for 300+ every game, though. I like his progression thus far.

Playcalling was fine by me. It appeared to me that execution was the problem. Shit like that happens when players/teams transition into new schemes/system.

 

[jwinslow]

So it's my obligation to endure or block out wrongly blaming the coaches for Braxton's failures? In crunch time he stepped up big time and performed and his potential is undeniable. But the biggest limitation on the offense today was Braxton's failure to execute. Jordan Hall ran pretty well, not great but was a steady option the defense had to account for. Braxton did not force them to respect his arm until late in the contest.

"There were too many times where the run wasn't working out and thats all we did until we were forced to punt."

Interesting characterization considering he threw the ball 30 times, the same number of times the entire buckeye squad rushed the ball (excluding kneels). Rollouts where the QB can't find a receiver end up as runs or throwaways.

The defense contained Braxton and he consistently failed to do anything with it through the air until later in the game. They even did a great job bottling up his cutback runs for the most part, on moves that he sliced up the defense with before.

On his rollouts to his left he didn't keep his eyes downfield very well, often missing open receivers because his eyes dropped to the defenders in front of him. Too often he checked down for 2-3 yd passes or missed open guys on third down.

 

[GeorgiaBuck2]

The play-calling was predictable today, from what I could see. Braxton wasn't perfect by any means, but there were to many screens and first down option plays for my taste...

 

[MaxBuck]

... the biggest limitation on the offense today was Braxton's failure to execute.

Hmph. Braxton was far from perfect (especially in the 3rd quarter; what was up with that?), but he had at least four perfect passes dropped today. And our o-line was getting manhandled in the run game.

 

[jwinslow]

Hmph. Braxton was far from perfect (especially in the 3rd quarter; what was up with that?), but he had at least four perfect passes dropped today.

My criticism is tied strictly to throwing the playcallers under the bus. I wouldn't have said a word otherwise.

Braxton also made a lot of good things happen today. Devin Smith did have some untimely drops.

 

[SEREbuckeye]

So it's my obligation to endure or block out wrongly blaming the coaches for Braxton's failures?

Its not your obligation to do anything. You don't play for the Bucks nor employed by OSU. I think blame has to go on the coaches for play calling, my opinion.

On his rollouts to his left he didn't keep his eyes downfield very well, often missing open receivers because his eyes dropped to the defenders in front of him. Too often he checked down for 2-3 yd passes or missed open guys on third down.

While he was missing players down field, again Im not gonna criticize a kid for it. You try put your camera down or watching from your couch, head into the game and find the open receivers.

Did the kid make some mistakes? Yeah, never said he didnt. Did he play a really good game? Yeah, he did the best he could and it reflects as such with a win. Do the coaches have work to do with playcalling? Yup.

Sorry bud but none of us are coaches. Were all just fans here, some with a "moderator" tag because they posted more than others. But the bottom line is that its all debatable to us because we don't know what went on behind the scenes and what is called/said. And its fun to debate because no one is an expert.

Go Braxton, kid played with heart and never lost his cool in the 4th.

 

[fanaticbuckeye]

I love Braxton and I'm happy he is our QB. But if it's clear he isn't making the reads and doesn't progress through the routes, what plays should the coach call? How do you know what plays were called and that they were the wrong ones? There was a play where he threw it to Vannett ( I believe) on the short pass but you could see the receiver wide open on the combo route behind the defender.

I don't see the play calling as the problem at all.

 

[Buckeneye]

There's good and bad in every game. It must all be taken
In stride. When the good becomes more prevalent/consistent
This team will shine.

Braxton made plays when he had too. Looked like a sophmore
In his first year of this offense on other plays. Same with the WR's.

Defense had it awesome moments. Then its nightmare times.

The coaching staff is gelling. Give it time. Consistency is everything.

Herman had some very predictable play calls and for some reason the
Short passing game disappeared when DB's gave large cushion.
That was a glaring problem.

 

[bukIpower]

The play-calling was predictable today, from what I could see. Braxton wasn't perfect by any means, but there were to many screens and first down option plays for my taste...

1st down- Short pass either complete for 2-3 or incomplete

2nd down- Jordan Hall Dive for 3 yards

3rd down-Incomplete

4th down- Punt

That's how the third quarter was every drive it seemed. I thought Braxton did just fine. These open recievers and throwing behind them frequently I think is off mark. He'll have some, thats excusable for any QB of any tenure senior-freshman. He had what? 4-5 drops? Which would've made him 21-30 or something like that? That's pretty good.

Lots of room for improvement but I'll take the performance. I too thought the play calling wasn't that great as well. Braxton is an extremely talented runner, and while he shouldn't run it 27 times I certainly think 12-15 is where he should be game in and game out. He is our biggest ground threat and until someone steps up and does something about it he needs to have slightly more rushes than he had today. Play calling seemed very content on getting the ball out of his hands quickly..

Last week after the game Urban said 3 things really. 1) Braxton had too many rushes, 2) the Defensive Pressure was unacceptable and 3) Too many penalties.

It seemed like we took all three far too seriously and OVER compensated. Braxton is too talented to not have 10+ rushes (especially since other backs haven't stepped up) and they made sure they got the ball out of his hands quickly, The added pressure caused lots of defenders to be out of position and once you break past the first wave of a blitzing defense its trouble. Of course the Penalties continue to be an issue.

Finding balance in every approach on defense/offense is going to do this team a ton of good.

 

[NFBuck]

From my perspective, playcalling became very vanilla after Braxton started to play pretty shaky. For a while there, he was a turnover waiting to happen...and it ultimately did happen with a pretty denard-esque interception. The playcalling was an issue because the key cog in the offense was struggling. Urban an Herman are known as excellent playcallers. They didn't suddenly go "Dave" for the hell of it. There were issues with the receivers, yes, but that doesn't excuse missing open receivers on rollouts and a handful of really bad throws. There's plenty of blame for a mediocre performance to go around, not sure why Braxton has to be immune from it. As for the OL, when the playcalling goes bland, they're gonna look bad. We saw that all of last year and countless other years. When the D knows what's coming, it's easy for them to pin their ears back and apply pressure.

In the end, it worked out. I joked about it, but the horrific 3rd quarter did lull Cal into a sense of security and opened things up for Braxton when he needed to perform...and he did.

And, like I said earlier...despite what I'd call a pretty below average performance, Braxton still accounted for a bunch of yards and 5 touchdowns. Stats aren't the only measure of a performance, but they do show the potential that is there. Braxton is still a work in progress, as is to be expected. When he, and the rest of the offense puts it together, he's going to be an absolute beast.

 

[SEREbuckeye]

Last week after the game Urban said 3 things really. 1) Braxton had too many rushes, 2) the Defensive Pressure was unacceptable and 3) Too many penalties.

It seemed like we took all three far too seriously and OVER compensated.

I kept saying the same thing throughout the game. The coaches Im sure got into the kids for those 3 things and they were concentrated on a bit much.

Kids didn't look like they were playing loose and just going with it, Braxton being one of them. Seemed like plays were being handled in a serious manner instead of just balling the way he normally would. This kind of stuff led to him playing a bit nervous and not playing up to his standards. Theres a difference between making stats and making plays.

 

[BuckJr]

Has 980+ yards, 12 TDs, 62% completion rate in 3 games. So far, I'd say he is the Big10 offensive MVP.