WR Braxton Miller (B1G POY, National Champion)

[Wells4Heisman]

I hope that your not implying that Joe Bauserman is comparable to Troy Smith...

 

[HOLYBUCKEYE10]

And you dont think benching Joe after one "so-so" game would kill his confidence. The miracle season of 2002 had so many close calls every week, and Krenzel wasnt always perfect.

How about we let Joe head into practice with the starting job, let him learn from this weekend and move on to prepping for Miami. If Joe struggles against the Hurricanes, let Braxton go in.

Just because we have a highly touted prospect doesnt mean he should or has to be at the helm. Choose wisely, Braxton may not be the save-all you are looking for.

Who said anything about benching Joe? I am talking about using Braxton like they said they would. I didn't say completely replacing Joe. Braxton is a different kind of QB, and Joe's style wasn't workin so we should mix it up a bit, but rather we didn't we kept the same kind of offense.

Don't compare Joe to Krenzel, Craig was still a fairly mobile QB who had no issue putting his head down and busting for some running gains. Not at all the same player.... except maybe they are both white, that's it....

 

[MaxBuck]

Joe has always struggled mightily when the opposing team applies any measurable pressure. Today was consistent with his past performances. I'm very disappointed we didn't see Miller in the game.

 

[Onebuckfan]

Baus is fine..but he hasn't had as much success as Boeckman or Bellisari yet..so give both a chance like you said you would LF.

 

[SEREbuckeye]

Who said anything about benching Joe? I am talking about using Braxton like they said they would. I didn't say completely replacing Joe. Braxton is a different kind of QB, and Joe's style wasn't workin so we should mix it up a bit, but rather we didn't we kept the same kind of offense.

Don't compare Joe to Krenzel, Craig was still a fairly mobile QB who had no issue putting his head down and busting for some running gains. Not at all the same player.... except maybe they are both white, that's it....

Oh Im sorry - I didnt know you KNEW that about Craig Krenzel going into his first starting season.

My comparison was that this isnt a video game man, Joe will make mistakes just like Krenzel and every other QB did. An off day shouldnt warrant a change in the system.

 

[Bucknut24]

I don't know about all the people in here, but I don't think most of us are asking for a system change, just wondering why Braxton wasn't used for just a few drives today to change the pace

 

[NUTS4theBUCKS28]

there is no reason why braxton didnt take a snap today. if the game today was a high scoring shootout, then i would understand. but our offense was so futile today, and it needed a spark badly. brax would have been a huge difference maker in the outcome of the game today. what can i do tho? a wins a win.

 

[SEREbuckeye]

there is no reason why braxton didnt take a snap today. if the game today was a high scoring shootout, then i would understand. but our offense was so futile today, and it needed a spark badly. brax would have been a huge difference maker in the outcome of the game today. what can i do tho? a wins a win.

Thats just your opinion.

And no it wasnt a high scoring shootout - the entire 4th Quarter was a lowing scoring shootout.

 

[Crump's brother]

Joe has always struggled mightily when the opposing team applies any measurable pressure. Today was consistent with his past performances. I'm very disappointed we didn't see Miller in the game.

I'm disappointed about it too. I know that the game didn't exactly present a golden opportunity to play a freshman QB, but I really thought we'd get to see #5 at some point.

 

[jwinslow]

I'm disappointed about it too. I know that the game didn't exactly present a golden opportunity to play a freshman QB, but I really thought we'd get to see #5 at some point.

There wasn't that much that Joe did that Braxton can't do.

He threw an uncovered touchdown pass.

He threw well over a dozen check downs, including a half dozen to the RBs in the flats.

He threw very inconsistently downfield.

He threw a nearly identical pass to Devin Smith in the endzone to Braxton's last week (the corner just played this one better).




The problem was the defense was flying 100 mph to the ballcarrier without hesitation. With Braxton in the game, 1-2 guys have to stay home long enough to make sure he hasn't snuck the ball out of there for a bootleg pass or keeper.



They also ran that fly sweep to death in the first half. If you're going to overuse that play, at least do so with a QB who provides a third option.

 

[Crump's brother]

There wasn't that much that Joe did that Braxton can't do.

He threw an uncovered touchdown pass.

He threw well over a dozen check downs, including a half dozen to the RBs in the flats.

He threw very inconsistently downfield.

He threw a nearly identical pass to Devin Smith in the endzone to Braxton's last week (the corner just played this one better).

The problem was the defense was flying 100 mph to the ballcarrier without hesitation. With Braxton in the game, 1-2 guys have to stay home long enough to make sure he hasn't snuck the ball out of there for a bootleg pass or keeper.


They also ran that fly sweep to death in the first half. If you're going to overuse that play, at least do so with a QB who provides a third option.

I'm with you on all counts-guess I was tempering my disappointment trying not to be vociferous for a change. I'd much rather be understated than second-guess the coaching staff. I'll save that for my living room.

 

[GomerBucks]

I am willing to bet that jet sweep thing we saw today in the first half was a little bit of giving teams some film to think about. We will see that again later this year with a fake that comes off of it.

My guess as to why we haven't seen Miller other than the two early drives a week ago is because the coaches do not feel he is ready to get it done.

To date, I have never really been very impressed with Bauserman's play. He has a very strong arm. He is athletic. He is smart.... The problem that seems to be the over riding factor is that he does not handle pressure well. His eyes drop and he loses his ability to find targets well.

That being said, I do not think Bauserman is in there for any reason other than he has a great handle on the play book and the coaches feel he gives us the best chance to win right now and in a time of suspensions and changes, ... Forget about Miller, Guiton came in with more hype than Joe. It isn't some kind of political thing with playing Bauserman. In fact, I don't really know of anyone outside of the coaches and most likely his family that are clamoring for Joe to play.

At the end of the day, I have to take the coaches word for it that Joe is the best guy to be under center right now. They are the ones who are there for practices, they are the ones who review and grade every snap each man takes in practice and in games. They are the ones who know better than I do whom should be under center on Saturdays.

If the coaches do not plan on playing Miller much more, I would rather he be red-shirted and save a year of eligibility.

 

[jwinslow]

To date, I have never really been very impressed with his play. He has a very strong arm. He is athletic. He is smart.... The problem that seems to be the over riding factor is that he does not handle pressure well. His eyes drop and he loses his ability to find targets well.

The problem is he doesn't deliver the ball that quickly or accurately when he does have time. He is solid sometimes, mediocre other times (see those deep balls today), but he often takes a really long time figuring out what to do with the football. Even in practices without a pass rush.

Todd had to be replaced because of the turnstiles upfront. That was unfortunate because he could throw a great deep ball and had far better accuracy underneath than Pryor.

Joe understands the offense a lot better than Braxton, but doesn't really possess many of the advantages that a veteran should have over a rookie.

He may know where the routes are going, but he takes as long as Braxton to pull the trigger.

When things do break down, he's often a sitting duck, as he is limited athletically and doesn't sell pump fakes very well, nor relocate in the pocket to set up a dumpoff pass or broken play.

That being said, I do not think Bauserman is in there for any reason other than he has a great handle on the play book and the coaches feel he gives us the best chance to win right now and in a time of suspensions and changes, ... Forget about Miller, Guiton came in with more hype than Joe. It isn't some kind of political thing with playing Bauserman. In fact, I don't really know of anyone outside of the coaches and most likely his family that are clamoring for Joe to play.

I agree.

That's why I think it's imperative that you script certain snaps for Braxton so that his skillset is a compliment to Joe while he is the unquestioned starter rather than a challenger.

 

[scarletmike]

The problem was the defense was flying 100 mph to the ballcarrier without hesitation. With Braxton in the game, 1-2 guys have to stay home long enough to make sure he hasn't snuck the ball out of there for a bootleg pass or keeper.


They also ran that fly sweep to death in the first half. If you're going to overuse that play, at least do so with a QB who provides a third option.

These were my biggest issues. Joe is such an easy target for defenses right now. He didn't present any issues to the defense when pressure got there, and I can't see that changing at all during the season. Braxton provides such a different threat that it almost forces the opposition to rethink their defensive approach. With Joe you can count on him staying behind the line, and likely in the pocket. With Braxton, you have to account for his speed and mobility, which means if you rush and he isn't staying in the pocket, you're likely going to be burnt.

I don't want him to "take over" Joe's spot, per se, I just want to see them truly use a two QB system with Braxton coming in to throw defenses off their rhythm.

 

[ScarletnGray 33]

Who's making the decisions on the quarterback? If it's Luke Fickell, the only thing he seems to care about (from his interviews) is not turning the ball over. He said that he was impressed with how Joe played in the first half (when coming out for the 2nd), whereas I don't think anybody else was.

Being a defensive tackle as a player and strictly a defensive coach for the past decade, he may not be the best judge of what is needed at the quarterback position. I'm sure Bollman is involved as well, and he's all about conservativeness, so it's not surprising Braxton didn't play, it is just illogical.

If you're going to list them with an "or" on the depth chart, you're saying that they are neck and neck. In order for one to not play, you'd think the other would have to play an outstanding game? Because that certainly wasn't the case. And when Fickell was asked about if Braxton would play the second half, he said that they would do whatever they had to do, like it would be some groundbreaking decision to play the kid.

I will respect coach Fickell's decision, but I don't agree with it. Good God, just imagine if Urban was calling this game... Would've had to mute it.