Ohio State suspensions accelerate blue-chipper's path to QB job
Braxton Miller, one of the nation's top quarterback recruits, could start immediately for Ohio State in 2011.
Al Tielemans/SI
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- By the end of this week, Braxton Miller will be a college student. He'll play in the Under Armour All-American game on Wednesday, and he'll head to Columbus on Thursday to start his college career at Ohio State. "I'll make my family proud," the star quarterback from Wayne High in Huber Heights, Ohio, said Monday.
Miller's relatives won't be the only ones charting his early progress in Columbus, though. What would have been an easy, relatively quiet transition -- for a top-shelf quarterback recruit, at least -- has been set on its ear by the NCAA's ruling that Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor must sit out the first five games of his senior season for selling memorabilia. Suddenly, the 6-foot-2, 190-pound Miller is a candidate to be Ohio State's opening-day starter. Miller, a dual-threat quarterback who led his high school to Ohio's big-school state title game this season, admits the prospect of taking the field with the starting offense at the Horseshoe in September is exciting.
"Yeah, it is," Miller said. "It's a lot of pressure, too."
Indeed, because if Miller does beat out rising senior Joe Bauserman and rising sophomore Kenny Guiton for the job, Miller must lead a program that competes annually for the Big Ten title and spends most years in the national title hunt. Certainly, Miller knows he can't simply walk on campus and win the job. "People say that all the time. 'You're going to start the first five games,'" Miller said. "It's not that easy."
Complicating matters even more is the fact that quarterback is not like tailback or cornerback. The player who starts the season might, by game six, be better suited than the incumbent starter to lead the team. Also, there are still a few questions that need answering even before Miller takes his first spring practice snap. Chief among them: Is Pryor even coming back?
Pryor said last week that he plans to return for a truncated 2011 season. But that was before the Columbus Dispatch ran a story that allowed for one of two conclusions: Either Pryor has terrible luck and only gets pulled over by the cops when he's driving a dealership loaner car, or he's driving loaners an awful lot more than the average NCAA student-athlete. (C'mon, who hasn't been allowed to test-drive a used luxury SUV across state lines?) Pryor was cleared after an investigation into the situation, but the stink from it now that it's public may prod all parties to rethink their decision to reunite for the 2011 season.
Miller, for his part, would like to see Pryor return. "I still would like to learn from him," Miller said.
If Miller learns too well, though, where will that leave Pryor? Whichever quarterback wins the job will start against Colorado, Miami and Michigan State in games three, four and five. Pryor's suspension will end just before the Buckeyes travel to Lincoln to face Nebraska on Oct. 8, and there is no open date between the Michigan State game and the Nebraska game. From a practical standpoint, inserting a quarterback who hasn't played might not be the smartest move if the Buckeyes' offense is humming under the new guy. So what then? Does Coach Jim Tressel ask Pryor to move to receiver? Pryor is too good of an athlete to keep off the field, but he has said all along he intends to play quarterback. (There's also the possibility that the offense will be stagnant under the new guy, in which case Pryor's return would be welcome.)
Miller, who also is athletic enough to play other positions, certainly understands Pryor's thinking. Though he didn't drag out his recruitment the way Pryor did, Miller passed on offers from Alabama, Florida and others because Ohio State made him its first choice at quarterback in the class of 2011. And while Miller is a dynamic runner, he would prefer to move the ball by throwing. "If somebody's blitzing, if they're right in my face, I can scramble and hit a receiver, or I can use my feet to make stuff happen," Miller said. "I always like to use my arm, though."
Thanks to Pryor's suspension, Miller may have to use that arm to move the Buckeyes down the field sooner than expected, but the soon-to-be-freshman seems ready for the pressure. Miller's future teammates understand his importance, too. Wednesday, Miller will face off against fellow Ohio State commit Ryan Shazier. Shazier, a linebacker from Plantation, Fla., said he may have to take it easy on the franchise in their only meeting as opponents.
"I'll tackle him softly," Shazier said with a laugh.
Jared Sullinger carries unbeaten Buckeyes past Illini
Bucks Slide by Illinois
OSU ILL
Points 73 68
FG Made-Attempted 21-53 (.396) 28-65 (.431)
3P Made-Attempted 7-15 (.467) 4-17 (.235)
FT Made-Attempted 24-27 (.889) 8-10 (.800)
Fouls (Tech/Flagrant) 14 (0/0) 21 (0/0)
Largest Lead 8 8
Game Leaders
OSU ILL
Points J. Sullinger 27 J. Richmond 18
Rebounds J. Sullinger 16 J. Richmond 10
Assists D. Lighty 4 D. McCamey 5
Steals D. Lighty 1 D. Richardson 2
Blocks J. Sullinger 3 M. Tisdale 3
Big Ten Conference Standings
TEAM CONF W-L TOTAL W-L
#1 Ohio State 7-0 20-0
#13 Purdue 6-1 17-3
#17 Wisconsin 5-2 15-4
#22 Illinois 4-3 14-6
#18 Michigan State 4-3 12-7
#19 Minnesota 3-3 14-4
Penn State 3-4 10-8
Northwestern 3-5 13-6
Michigan 1-5 11-8
Iowa 1-6 8-11
Indiana 1-6 10-1CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- With Ohio State down by eight and just under 13 minutes to play, Jared Sullinger assured his teammates that this one was in the bag.
"Don't worry, don't worry," the freshman sensation said over and over as he and the Buckeyes gathered for a timeout.
No. 1 ranking and undefeated season on the line. Big Ten road game at Illinois (No. 22 ESPN/USA Today, No. 23 AP).
Who's the No. 1 contender?
Ohio State has emerged as the unquestioned No. 1. But if we learned anything Saturday, it's that the national title contender race is wide open, writes Eamonn Brennan. Blog
Nothing to worry about, right?
Yeah, as it turns out, right.
Sullinger had 27 points and 16 rebounds while playing all 40 minutes, and the Buckeyes scored 14 straight points in the second half to rally past Illinois 73-68 on Saturday.
"I felt like Jared was pretty good today," Ohio State coach Thad Matta deadpanned, then waited a beat for the reporters in the room to take in what he'd said. "That was a joke -- he was awesome."
Sullinger was 13-for-15 at the free throw line and scored Ohio State's first nine points of the second half, keeping his team in the game when none of his teammates could find the basket.
And finally, when Illinois' last gasp ended, it was Sullinger, sitting in the lane grinning and holding the ball, signaling that it was over and the Buckeyes (20-0, 7-0) could relax.
"Pride, heart and composure," Sullinger said. "Those three things -- we really showed a lot of composure."
None of it, though, came easy.
Trailing 34-33 at halftime, the Buckeyes came out cold. Sullinger's nine points over the first 6:30 were all they could muster.
Fast Facts
• The top-ranked Buckeyes remained undefeated and started 20-0 or better for the third time in school history (1961 and 1962).
• Both previous 20-0 starts resulted in Ohio State advancing to the NCAA title game.
• Ohio State has won four straight and nine of 11 against Illinois. The Buckeyes have also won 10 straight road games in conference play.
• Freshman Jared Sullinger scored 27 points and added 16 rebounds, his second game this season with at least 25 points and 15 rebounds
Matta said afterward that Sullinger would have been just as happy if someone else was scoring the points, as long as the result was the same.
"He's a special young man," Matta said. "His humility -- he's all about winning."
Jereme Richmond had 18 points and 10 rebounds for Illinois (14-6, 4-3), and Mike Tisdale added 15 points. Demetri McCamey, who leads the Illini with 16.2 points a game, scored just five on 2-of-11 shooting.
Still, when Mike Davis' layup dropped with 12:51 to play, Illinois was up 50-42 and Matta called a timeout.
That's when Sullinger, waving his arms like a football referee signaling an incomplete pass, told his teammates they shouldn't worry.
They must have listened.
Starting with a pair of free throws by Jon Diebler with 11:39 left and ending with a 3-pointer by Deshaun Thomas with 7:47 to go, the Buckeyes went on a 14-0 run that gave them a 56-50 lead.
"We started playing a little tentative, they turned up the pressure," Tisdale said. "They made plays, we didn't."
The Illini, though, still had a run left in them.
Down 68-61 with 2:12 to play, they scored seven of the next eight points, the last of them on a 3-pointer by the 7-foot-1 Tisdale to close to 69-68.
The Illini were forced to foul Aaron Craft, who sank both free throws for a 71-68 Ohio State lead with 15 seconds left.
The Illini brought the ball back up and McCamey flipped it to Tisdale as he moved inside toward the basket. Diebler stripped the ball from Tisdale's hand and Sullinger, heading to the floor, latched onto it to seal the win.
Talk in Illinois for much of the week centered on the last time the two teams met with one undefeated, in March 2005. Ohio State ended Illinois' unbeaten run that season, though Illinois went on to play in the NCAA title game, losing to North Carolina.
Sullinger's brother, J.J., was part of that Buckeyes team.
The younger Sullinger lived up to his billing, often dealing with two Illinois defenders, but not quite often enough, he said.
"They came with like a semi-double -- if I went to the middle, the other big would just sit there in the middle," he said. "It really wasn't a [true] double-team, so I was able to do what I could do."
In a rough, physical first half, Sullinger led the Buckeyes with 11 points -- three from the free throw line -- and eight rebounds, playing much of the first 20 minutes with gauze in his nose to stop a nose bleed.
"That was one of the big things we talked about -- don't foul him," Illinois coach Bruce Weber said. "You've got to give him a little space and just put your arms up because he's going to come at you."
But Richmond, another highly recruited freshman, traded shots and boards with the big Buckeye.
After Illinois trailed 20-12 with just under 10 minutes left in the half, Richmond scored on three straight possessions, all in heavy traffic under the basket, to cut Ohio State's lead to 20-18.
Sullinger, though, answered with 8:12 to play with a strong, two-handed dunk.
"He's tough," Davis said. "He's bigger than I thought he was."
Illinois closed the first half with an 8-0 run, the last points coming from Brandon Paul's jumper on the break that made the score 34-33.
Much of the run, though, was a direct result of work by Richmond.
He started it with a short basket after grabbing the rebound off Tisdale's miss with 2:24 to play, cutting the Buckeyes' lead 33-28.
On Illinois' next possession, Richmond fed Davis for a dunk that trimmed the deficit to three.
With 54 seconds to play, Richmond buried a short basket over Sullinger, forcing the Buckeyes' freshman to the floor in the process.
"I thought we had them the whole way," a downbeat Richmond said. "We knew at halftime they were going to make a run. They're a good team, but I felt like we had them."
College Hoops Power Rankings January 24, 2011
1 (1) Ohio State (14) 19-0 398 The Buckeyes handled their newfound fame atop the polls with aplomb ... but that was against Penn State and Iowa. Now Ohio State finally starts to feast on the meat of the Big Ten schedule, with a game at Illinois and then home versus Purdue. This week OSU will truly earn its ranking.
2 (2) Kansas (2) 18-0 385 The drubbing the Jayhawks put on Baylor will get them in the No. 1 conversation. If Kansas can do the same to Texas, it may no longer be an argument.
3 (5) Pittsburgh 18-1 365 The home-court advantage is fierce for the Panthers, but the Panthers are pretty fierce themselves. Their smarts (dissecting the zone), shooting ability (6-of-15 beyond from the arc) and depth all played into the win against Syracuse as much as the Petersen Events Center crowd.
4 (4) Duke 17-1 349 Blue Devils fans were gasping in horror early against Virginia when Duke trailed by 10. Then they were exhaling in relief when the Devils' 43-18 run put the Cavaliers to bed. Yes, Duke's mortality is showing. But in a well-below-average ACC, the Devils continue to coast.
5 (3) Syracuse 18-1 336 The Orange might have won more respect with their first loss than with all their victories. Coming back from a 19-0 deficit to go toe to toe with Pittsburgh on the road without Kris Joseph said a lot about the talent of this team. C.J. Fair's play was even more eye-opening.
6 (6) San Diego State 20-0 325 The Aztecs handled the Pit. Can they handle the Cougars? This is show-me time for SDSU. The doubters will either become believers or "I told you so" loudmouths when San Diego State plays at BYU on Wednesday night.
7 (9) Connecticut 15-2 301 The knock on the Huskies is Kemba Walker is their only scoring threat. But until someone finds a way to stop him, it's an irrelevant problem. Walker continues to carry UConn on his back and stuff his player-of-the-year ballot box.
8 (7) Villanova 16-2 273 The Wildcats remain among the elite in the Big East but after losing to Connecticut will have to reclaim their position at Syracuse, where the Orange already sold 33,000 tickets. Villanova needs Corey Stokes in that game and every game. He is the lockdown outside scoring threat that the Cats need to win consistently.
9 (13) Texas 15-3 272 The Longhorns looked impressive in putting a smackdown on a very good, very fundamentally sound Texas A&M team. Freshmen Tristan Thompson and Cory Joseph have been terrific all season. How will they handle Allen Fieldhouse is the next question they must answer.
10 (10) Brigham Young 18-1 260 Jimmer Fredette, apparently, can score from the locker room without breaking a sweat. Along with being a scoring sensation, he's now a video sensation. But the Cougars are climbing the rankings as a team -- Jackson Emery took care of business against TCU -- as they head into The Game with San Diego State.
11 (8) Purdue 16-3 227 Have the Boilermakers hit the wall? Two losses and a near home disaster against Penn State may suggest as much. Two games this week -- against Michigan State and Ohio State -- will go far to answer that question more succinctly.
12 (14) Missouri 16-3 216 The Tigers can make a case to challenge Texas as the second-best team in the Big 12 if they can figure out how to win on the road.
13 (11) Texas A&M 16-2 207 The Aggies were exposed by the buzzsaw that is Texas, ending their 13-game win streak. A visit from Kansas State awaits on Saturday.
14 (12) Kentucky 14-4 181 The young Wildcats have struggled on the road, which doesn't bode well for the future. They play three of their next four away from Rupp Arena. Kentucky needs more out of its post play. JaMychal Green smoked UK with 18 points and 11 boards.
15 (23) Louisville 15-3 146 The Cardinals proved this week they can come from behind (against Marquette) and win going away (against St. John's). In a crowded middle of the Big East pack, Louisville is starting to distinguish itself.
16 (20) Wisconsin 13-4 142 The never-flashy, always-solid Badgers continue to do what Bo Ryan teams do: stay in the hunt. They may turn out to be the second-best team in the Big Ten.
17 (16) Washington 13-4 127 The biggest issue for the Huskies is what happens when they can't score. Stanford held Washington to 56 points and 36 percent shooting in getting an upset. The Huskies remain the best in the Pac-10, though Arizona will make its case Thursday night.
18 (18) Illinois 14-5 125 The roller-coaster ride continues for Illinois, losing to Wisconsin and trying hard to lose to Michigan State at home. The Illini have all the ingredients to be a really good team. Can they mix them up appropriately against Ohio State on Saturday?
19 (15) Notre Dame 15-4 124 Good bounce-back win for the Irish against Cincinnati, but they have to learn how to win away from the Joyce Center to be taken seriously.
20 (32) Minnesota 14-4 101 Team Soap Opera keeps finding ways to win despite drama all around it. Trevor Mbakwe also continues to prove his value to Tubby Smith.
21 (24) Saint Mary's 17-2 92 The Gaels have won 11 in a row since suffering their only two losses of the season to MWC powers BYU and San Diego State. A visit to Vanderbilt awaits.
22 (18) Michigan State 12-6 75 Everyone keeps waiting for the Spartans to get in gear. The reality could be: This is their gear. Michigan State's inexplicable slide continued with a loss to Illinois, a game the Spartans easily could have won.
23 (34) Arizona 15-3 34 The Wildcats are viewed as the second-best team in the Pac-10. They'll make their case for best when they play at W
Washington on Thursday night. Derrick Williams remains one of the most under-the-radar talents in the country.
24 (31) Gonzaga 13-5 32 Quietly, while no one has been paying much attention, the Zags have won nine in a row and barely been challenged in the process. That brutal nonconference schedule could still pay dividends.
25 (28) Georgetown 14-5 26 Road wins over Rutgers and Seton Hall earned the Hoyas consecutive victories for the first time since before Christmas. A more difficult Big East stretch awaits.
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