By PAUL GOTHAM
So much for needing time to get into game shape.
Twenty months after he last stepped on the field, Braxton Miller filled a new role for the Ohio State Buckeyes and looked like he had been there all along. The hybrid back went to to the turf to corral a 24-yard slant pass from Cardale Jones for the first reception of his career. By game’s end he amassed 140 all-purpose yards on eight touches and scored a pair of touchdowns. The effort earned the two-time Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and Quarterback of the Year the conference’s Player of the Week.
OSU head coach Urban Meyer knows Miller is just scratching the surface.
“I don’t see the ceiling,” Meyer said during the Big Ten’s weekly tele-conference.
The fourth-year coach compared Miller’s current position to his development at quarterback.
“It’s funny with Braxton, the first year and half as quarterback I never saw the ceiling,” Meyer commented. “His workmanlike approach that’s what’s different with Braxton Miller. He went from being I don’t want to disrespect him and say he wasn’t a hard worker. He just wasn’t an elite worker. He’s turned into that. That’s why I say that he has a ceiling that I don’t know if you’ll see for a couple of years.”
Trailing by three at the half, Miller and Jones connected for a 54-yard strike. Two possessions later, the former quarterback rambled 53 yards for another score and the top-ranked Buckeyes never looked back en route to a 42-24 win on the road at Virginia Tech.
“I saw in pre-game that look,” Meyer told Columbus-Dispatch’s Tim May during the tele-conference. “I’ve been around now several years, and he’s a competitive guy now. I saw that fire in his eye, and we just had a lot fun during the course of the game. It was like that when he was playing quarterback too. The thrill of competition – he thrives on that.”
Emotions poured out after the game as Meyer explained that Miller, who suffered a shoulder injury in the final game of the 2013 season, broke down in the locker room in front of his teammates.
“We called him up in front of the team and say a few words and he lost it. A bunch of players up there hugged him. That was a special moment. A lot of times egos get in the way and you don’t see those show of emotion with his teammates. That was really incredible.”
Miller collected two catches for 78 yards and six rushes for 62 yards. Scoring two touchdowns, Miller broke a school record with 86 touchdowns responsible for. Art Schlichter (78-81) set the record with 85.
The Paul Hornung Award, awarded annually to the most versatile player in major college football, named Miller to its initial weekly honor roll of the season. Four players were honored for their versatility this week with Miller the only offensive player selected.
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