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Buckskin86
Moderator
For Ohio State's Braxton Miller, the answers - and the Heisman Trophy - are all in front of him this season
Ohio State's Braxton Miller, shown running to daylight in practice, says his footwork and field vision are miles ahead of where they were last season. (AP)
By Doug Lesmerises, Northeast Ohio Media Group
August 31, 2013
COLUMBUS, Ohio – To understand how Braxton Miller may have changed as a quarterback, to understand how far his coaches think he has come from a year ago, watch what he does when Buffalo gets a bit of pressure on him Saturday in Ohio State's season opener.
With four senior offensive linemen and offensive options that range from senior running back Jordan Hall (“His practice this last week and a half has been as good as I’ve ever seen” Urban Meyer said this week) to super-hyped freshman H-back Dontre Wilson; to the tight end tandem of Jeff Heuerman and Nick Vannett that offensive coordinator Tom Herman called as good as any tight end duo in the nation, a lot of the time Miller will have it easy.
He'll make simple throws for big plays, while left tackle Jack Mewhort and friends allow Miller to take his time. That's the life of a third-year starter and 35-point favorite.
But the Buckeyes should take at least 80 offensive snaps Saturday, with an offense that should, in year two of the Meyer-Herman system, have a little more giddy-up than a year ago. Even in a blowout, Miller should play at least 50 of those snaps. And not all 50 will go perfectly.
Then what?
Will he panic? Will he take off and let his feet to bail him out? Will he he absorb a sack, the way he did last year when the Buckeyes allowed 30, which tied for 90th among 120 major-college offenses? Will he ponder his status as the frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy, listed as the 5-1 favorite according to Pregame.com?
Or will he trust himself, trust the offense and find an answer?
The coaches think he'll do just that. Because that's where Miller - fifth in the Heisman voting last year after gaining 3,300 total yards and earning the Big Ten's offensive player of the year - has changed the most.
“(It's) confidence in himself and in what he's doing,” Herman said. “We can say all we want to say about his improved mechanics, his improved fundamentals, but I think when the confidence in what he was doing and the plays that were called and where his eyes needed to be and the reads that he needed to make and the decisions that he needed to make were second-nature to him and very comfortable for him, he gained a level of confidence that then allowed him to play with much better fundamentals and mechanics.”
cont...
http://www.cleveland.com/osu/index.ssf/2013/08/braxton_miller_ohio_state_buck.html
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1926Buckeyes
Head Coach
It was frustrating to see him dominate in the first quarter and then slowly go back to some of his old ways last year. I think he scrambled a little better, but he was still way too slow to just make the decision to pass or scramble. I think, or at least hope, that this will start to fade after 4-5 games in this season. Troy was a much better scrambler, but he suffered from his own problems early in '05 and then by the end of the season seemed like a new QB. Like you said though, it's crucial that he figure out this problems otherwise OSU will not be able to win every game.
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maximumblitz
Buckeye Samurai of Big League Blitzkreig
Braxton Miller looked better today, BUT I will never forget that Justin Zwick looked good against Kent.
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southcampus
Go Bucks
I wouldn't describe anything I saw from Braxton as being a serious problem. I was very impressed with his first quarter. The interception he threw to Mack was bad, but not that alarming in my IMHO. I thought it was a great play by Mack. In the 2nd half, the play calling was clearly being dialed back and I felt like they were adjusting to Braxton's cramping. But you know what? When push came to shove and we were backed up on our own 3 yard line on 3rd and long, we saw Braxton being Braxton. He busted a 40 yard run like it was nothing. I'm pretty sure he can do that at any point if it's needed.
Does he need to be more decisive? Maybe. But I think it was game planned to have him stay in the pocket and work on his progressions. Against a B1G opponent, I think you see him run a lot of those, and you'll see him take less sacks. 4 sacks is completely unacceptable and 2 of those were completely on Braxton. Not to mention the one that didn't even count because of the hands-to-the-face penalty against Mack.
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Bill Lucas
Assistant Coach
The indecision that could have been very costly was the fumble on the 1 yard line where he got bailed out because of a defensive penalty against Buffalo. That play cannot happen.
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He needs to bust a run early in the game to slow down pursuit, imo. I think it really settles him down too and he then starts to relax. After those big scores early on it almost seemed as if he forced a little after that. I still think his adrenaline gets the best of him at times. Nothing serious though. He can overcome all of that.
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brandonTHEbuck
Catch me if you can!
Well, IMO Miller look light years better than Pryor at this point - he has great motion, great mechanics, and can only get better (yeah, he COULD get worse). I agree with the above statement - when we needed the biggest play, with braxton in the endzone, he nearly took it to the house. Thats all I need to see.
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