All the good articles from the Buckeyes Win
An Impressive Return Was an Emotional Night for Braxton Miller
The win over Virginia Tech on the road was a fantastic way to start the season for the Buckeyes, a great way to avenge last season’s loss, but it wasn’t what was so touching after the game.
“I would like to say this, that I love Braxton Miller,” OSU head coach Urban Meyer said without prompt after the 42-24 trouncing of the Hokies.
“I love that kid, man.”
It is not the first time Meyer has praised Miller voluntarily. At his introductory press conference, Meyer expressed his excitement to coach Miller. Nothing has changed, but it had been a while since Meyer talked of his love and appreciation for his star player.
“This kid’s all about the right stuff,” Meyer said of Miller. “I got to coach him again for the fourth year and I love this guy.”
After suffering a shoulder injury at the end of the 2013 season, Miller had surgery that was supposed to have him ready to quarterback the Buckeyes last season. Another shoulder injury just days before the start of 2014 ruled him out for the season and some feared would end his career at Ohio State.
“I was just very emotional,” a red-eyed Miller said after the game. “I overcame something so tragic and fought and fought and believed in myself and had faith. The time came today and God put every effort into me and it showed on the field.”
After J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones announced themselves as the Buckeyes’ quarterbacks with their play last year, Miller made the decision to not only return to Columbus for a fifth year, but move to wide receiver in order to be a weapon for his team.
“When you have selflessness, you make a lot of decisions, as young people have to and he did it for the best interest of his team and Ohio State and when I think about that, it makes you feel good,” Meyer said. “I love that kid, man.”
It had been 615 days since Miller last took the field for OSU. If college football fans forgot how good the two-time Big Ten Player of the Year was, Monday night’s performance reminded them. With Ohio State needing momentum after trailing 17-14 at halftime, Miller streaked by a Hokie defender and caught a pass from Jones that he carried into the end zone despite almost losing his balance.
On the next drive, Miller lined up in his more familiar position behind center, taking the direct snap and rushing to his left. He looked like Braxton Miller of old, waiting for a hole before speeding up field. On this play, Miller showed off a new juke as he hit the spin move button to avoid a defender on his way to the score.
After the win was complete, Miller was the last player to walk off the field at Lane Stadium. He took everything in, from the band playing Carmen Ohio to the fans chanting his name.
“It’s lovely, man,” he said of the immediate postgame. “Just happy to be back out there with the guys and just playing the game again. I’m blessed.”
Miller has been on a long journey since arriving in Columbus. From quarterbacking OSU during a difficult 6-7 2011 season, to an undefeated, but incomplete year under Urban Meyer, to finally watching his team win the national championship while he stood on the sideline.
Now he’s back for the Scarlet and Gray and if the first game is any indication, a year off and a position change haven’t hurt him. Miller, who was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week for his 140 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns, attempted to speak to his teammates after the win, encapsulating everything that has gone on for the fifth-year senior.
“I was just emotional, man,” Miller described. “Tears ran in my eyes, I couldn’t really talk. My eyes just got super red. I was just thanking God and I just love my teammates man. They believed in me and they raised me up since I was injured. So just happy to be out there.”
Buckeye Nation is happy to have you back, Braxton.
“I would like to say this, that I love Braxton Miller,” OSU head coach Urban Meyer said without prompt after the 42-24 trouncing of the Hokies.
“I love that kid, man.”
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“This kid’s all about the right stuff,” Meyer said of Miller. “I got to coach him again for the fourth year and I love this guy.”
After suffering a shoulder injury at the end of the 2013 season, Miller had surgery that was supposed to have him ready to quarterback the Buckeyes last season. Another shoulder injury just days before the start of 2014 ruled him out for the season and some feared would end his career at Ohio State.
“I was just very emotional,” a red-eyed Miller said after the game. “I overcame something so tragic and fought and fought and believed in myself and had faith. The time came today and God put every effort into me and it showed on the field.”
After J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones announced themselves as the Buckeyes’ quarterbacks with their play last year, Miller made the decision to not only return to Columbus for a fifth year, but move to wide receiver in order to be a weapon for his team.
“When you have selflessness, you make a lot of decisions, as young people have to and he did it for the best interest of his team and Ohio State and when I think about that, it makes you feel good,” Meyer said. “I love that kid, man.”
It had been 615 days since Miller last took the field for OSU. If college football fans forgot how good the two-time Big Ten Player of the Year was, Monday night’s performance reminded them. With Ohio State needing momentum after trailing 17-14 at halftime, Miller streaked by a Hokie defender and caught a pass from Jones that he carried into the end zone despite almost losing his balance.
On the next drive, Miller lined up in his more familiar position behind center, taking the direct snap and rushing to his left. He looked like Braxton Miller of old, waiting for a hole before speeding up field. On this play, Miller showed off a new juke as he hit the spin move button to avoid a defender on his way to the score.
After the win was complete, Miller was the last player to walk off the field at Lane Stadium. He took everything in, from the band playing Carmen Ohio to the fans chanting his name.
“It’s lovely, man,” he said of the immediate postgame. “Just happy to be back out there with the guys and just playing the game again. I’m blessed.”
Miller has been on a long journey since arriving in Columbus. From quarterbacking OSU during a difficult 6-7 2011 season, to an undefeated, but incomplete year under Urban Meyer, to finally watching his team win the national championship while he stood on the sideline.
Now he’s back for the Scarlet and Gray and if the first game is any indication, a year off and a position change haven’t hurt him. Miller, who was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week for his 140 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns, attempted to speak to his teammates after the win, encapsulating everything that has gone on for the fifth-year senior.
“I was just emotional, man,” Miller described. “Tears ran in my eyes, I couldn’t really talk. My eyes just got super red. I was just thanking God and I just love my teammates man. They believed in me and they raised me up since I was injured. So just happy to be out there.”
Buckeye Nation is happy to have you back, Braxton.
Scary part is Ohio State's just getting started
BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Braxton Miller unleashed a spin move here. Cardale Jones trucked a herd of defenders there. Just about everywhere, save for a few drives, Ohio State did what it wanted, when it wanted, how it wanted.
In Week 1.
Against the lunch-pail defense that has become a Virginia Tech institution.
What happened in Lane Stadium on Monday night qualifies as a veritable warning to college football. The Buckeyes throttled Virginia Tech for 42 points, 360 yards rushing and 572 total yards -- averaging a whopping 10.2 yards per play.
Ohio State dominated when the season ended last year, definitively earning its national championship. But it took the Buckeyes a while to get there. This opener showed so much more, if only because the options on offense have mushroomed.
The Buckeyes can trot out two starting quarterbacks. Scratch that. The Buckeyes will trot out two starting quarterbacks from here on out: Jones and J.T. Barrett will both play. WithEzekiel Elliott. With Miller. With so much more now than they had back in January, when they crushed Oregon.
Ohio State scored 42 on the Ducks, its peak performance in a season filled with them. Eight months later, the Buckeyes came back and started with 42.
"We're missing a guy like Noah Brown," Jones said afterward. "It might have been more on the scoreboard."
Let that register. Brown is out for the season, and Jalin Marshall, Dontre Wilson and Corey Smithall sat out the opener serving a suspension. Ohio State had two turnovers and a few busts on the offensive line early in the game. Elliott had only 11 carries. Jones hit just 50 percent of his passes.
And the Buckeyes still scored 42.
"It's kind of scary," Elliott said. "We were missing guys and we still just had so many weapons on the field today. We get some guys back next week and I know we can all improve on our play. We're very raw right now. First game of the season, that's what you expect but we have so much we can improve on. That's a scary thing. We could be very dominant."
Raw? Not the description most who watched would use. Urban Meyer also nitpicked his team, saying Jones played "OK," his offensive line was not its best and two turnovers are unacceptable.
All true. His challenge, given the dizzying options, talent and depth on offense, is to keep his players grinding for more. Week 1 cannot be the pinnacle. Five hundred yards? Great. Fewer mistakes, more perfection, please.
Still, this qualifies as a monumental starting point given what we saw out of Miller in particular. His presence adds a dimension that Ohio State simply did not have last season. He is a new and improved version of Percy Harvin, if only because he is bigger and more versatile (hello former quarterback!).
Harvin made some incredible plays under Meyer at Florida, but nowhere on his résumé does he have the spin move Miller made on his 53-yard touchdown run, cutting through two Virginia Tech defenders as if they were ghosts.
To reiterate, Miller played in his first game ever at receiver.
VIRGINIA TECH DEBRIEFING:BRAXTON BACK AS BUCKEYES AVENGE ONLY 2014 LOSS
The off-season championship celebration is over and the long-awaited 2015 season is here. The Buckeyes opened their title defense on the road in Blacksburg against the only team that beat them last year, as I’m sure you’ve heard a million times.
Overall, it went well. The Buckeyes opened the game like they were going to rip Tech apart and nothing seemed to change that until Jack Willoughby’s missed field goal sparked a 17-0 run by the Hokies to close the first half. But the Buckeyes countered to regain the lead just after the break and never looked back—aided in part by Michael Brewer’s injury, but avoiding turnovers was just as important—winning 42-24.
Virginia Tech had every reason in the world to enter this game just oozing with confidence. The Hokies put it on the 2014 Buckeyes in Columbus, handing Urban Meyer his first ever home loss as Ohio State’s head coach. They turned the Buckeye offensive line inside out, stymied a guy who would go on to rush for more than 600 postseason yards and made J.T. Barrett look like…well, a freshman. They returned a lot of players from that team.
The Buckeyes had to have a few doubts. They had problems with the Hokies in all phases of the game a year ago. They spent an off-season doing interviews, throwing out first pitches and being filmed for BTN documentary specials. They lost key pieces of the team at all levels of the defense, a starting right tackle and tight end, and arguably their two most valuable wide receivers.
Would the Buckeyes handle the moment, as well as the hostile atmosphere of Lane Stadium? Could the defense be able to disrupt the Virginia Tech passing game? Would Ohio State’s quarterback fare better against the Hokies than Barrett did in 2014 (and who would it be?)? Could the Buckeyes exact their revenge?
Yes, meh, yes (it was Jones), and yes. Ohio State quickly quieted Lane Stadium with two touchdown drives and then shut up Blacksburg again just after halftime. Brewer was 11/16 for 156 yards and two touchdowns, but much of the yardage came on two plays. Jones was 9/18 for 186 yards and two touchdowns and ran 13 times for 99 yards and a score—not great, but solid. It was a dominating performance put in jeopardy only as long as Ohio State mistakes kept the Hokies in the game.
Here are your talking points for the 2015 opener at Virginia Tech:
WATER COOLER PREP (EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW…IN ONE PARAGRAPH)
Ohio State raced out to a 14-0 lead and it could have been more if not for a missed field goal after an incorrectly called incompletion should have set up an opportunity where Meyer may have gone for a fourth-and-2. Virginia Tech scored 17 straight to lead at the half, helped by a tipped interception that probably hit the ground and a muffed punt by Ezekiel Elliott. Braxton Miller scored two highlight-reel touchdowns in the second half as the Buckeyes rolled and Tech fell apart a bit after Brewer was injured. Zeke went for 122 yards and an 80-yard score on just 11 carries.
TALK BEFORE THE GAME
Some ex-Buckeyes were just looking for friends to watch the game with.
Was focus going to be a problem?
OK, but let’s get to what’s important. How was the tailgating scene?
TALK IN THE AFTERMATH
Former players were understandably pumped.
A lot of people were talking about Braxton’s return.
There were celebrity sightings in Blacksburg after the game.
Some things you just can't argue.
GIVE THAT MAN A BUCKEYE LEAF (PLAYER OF THE GAME)
Welcome back, Braxton Miller. In his first game as an H-back/receiver, the two-time B1G Player of the Year looked every bit the part. His first reception of the game was a diving snare of a low pass down the field. He caught two passes for 78 yards and a touchdown and carried six times for 62 yards and another score (more on that later). Miller averaged 17.5 yards per touch and was electrifying in his return.
DID YOU SEE THAT?! (PLAY OF THE GAME)
Miller’s 53-yard run late in the third quarter was one of those plays that you can’t even duplicate on your xBox or Playstation. My words can’t do this justice, so here it is for you:
Honorable mention here goes to the opening touchdown of the season, where Cardale Jones whipped a pass about 40 yards in the air off his back foot and Curtis Samuel fought off pass interference to make a diving catch in the end zone.
SLOBBER KNOCKER OF THE GAME
Ohio State had just regained the lead, 21-17 to start the third quarter and Michael Brewer led Virginia Tech down to the Buckeyes’ 43. On third-and-4, Brewer dropped back and looked for tight end Ryan Malleck. Just as he released the ball, Adolphus Washington unleashed his full fury on Tech’s quarterback. It was a clean but crushing hit and Brewer landed on his shoulder, breaking his collarbone. It was unfortunate to see a kid who was balling out like that go down with a nasty injury. Diesel is a big man and when you get hit by him, well, sometimes things like bones just aren’t capable of absorbing that kind of punishment.
JIM TRESSEL'S LEAST FAVORITE MOMENT OF THE GAME
Tressel was polishing his rock collection while he watched his beloved Buckeyes open the season on the road at Virginia Tech. Not many know that he’s a big fan of granite and owns the state’s third-largest collection of granite rocks (in the under-one-pound division).
When Ezekiel Elliott looked to have room to run on a late second-quarter punt return but coughed it right back to the Hokies, you know where Tressel’s granite ended up? No, not embedded in the television. It went through the huge bay window across the room. Tress wanted to watch the second half, after all. He knew the Buckeyes would win. Plus, how many TVs did the Vest destroy last year during his least favorite moments?
WHEN YOU SANK INTO YOUR CHAIR (THE MOMENT BUCKEYE FOOTBALL DISGRACED YOUR FAMILY)
There must be someone who can kick a field goal against Virginia Tech. Teams do it all the time. The missed field goal by Jack Willoughby, who won the starting job over Sean Nuernberger, gave Virginia Tech hope. The Hokies clung to that hope, got a few breaks and reeled off 17 straight points to take a halftime lead. Missing field goals is anti-Tressel and that must not stand.
WHAT YOU TEXTED YOUR FRIEND AT THE END OF EACH QUARTER
First: “80 yards through the heart of Virginia.”
Second: “What the hell was that quarter? I’m going to start drinking now.”
Third: “OMG Braxton wut?”
Fourth: “Revenge!”
IT WAS OVER WHEN
With the Buckeyes up 21-17 and Brewer already out, Jalyn Holmes forced J.C. Coleman to fumble and Eli Apple recovered at the 47. On the next play, Miller went around the left end, made a spin move that stripped the soul from every Hokies fan in attendance, and took it 53 yards to the house. The Buckeyes were up 28-17 and without Brewer there was never much danger of a Tech comeback.
Next up is Hawaii (1-0) out of the Mountain West Conference, which opened the season with a 28-20 "upset" of PAC-12 Colorado. The Buckeyes will be on short rest, but at least they'll have Joey Bosa, Corey Smith, Jalin Marshall and Dontre Wilson available. Remember, the best thing about being 1-0 is the chance to go 2-0.
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