Braxton Miller makes Buckeyes so scary only they can screw this up
Talk entering the game was whether Cardale Jones or J.T. Barrett would start at quarterback. In the end, Braxton Miller reminded everyone Ohio State is the only one that can stand in its own way.
By
Jon Solomon
•
6 min read
BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Cardale Jones claimed he didn’t know whether he or J.T. Barrett won the great Ohio State quarterback derby until standing in the offensive huddle seconds before taking the field Monday night.
Yeah, it doesn’t sound believable. Reporters incredulously asked him to tell the truth -- Urban Meyer had already conducted his news conference so there was no way to verify -- but Jones swore he wasn't making this up.
“I didn’t know anything. We didn’t know,” Jones said. “If you guys check and see, both of us had our freaking helmets on and our mouthpieces in looking each other. Do I take a step to the sideline, take a step to the field? Coach Meyer was like, ‘Go Cardale.’”
Whether that’s actually what happened or a figment of Jones’ creative imagination, it sounds like a narrative straight from a video game so it feels appropriate. Because this Ohio State offense, it’s not fair. As expected, it’s something out of an Xbox video game. Players can be interchanged with ease and Meyer can hit the turbo button -- that would be No. 1, Braxton Miller, on your joystick -- when it’s time to pull away.
While everyone focused on Jones vs. Barrett this offseason, Miller quietly morphed himself into possibly the Buckeyes’ most dangerous weapon. If there was any doubt that the two-time Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year could quickly transform from a quarterback into a version of Percy Harvin, Miller brushed that aside with a 54-yard touchdown catch and a ridiculous 53-yard spin-and-run that served as the knockout punch in a 42-24 win over Virginia Tech.
Hokies defensive tackle Corey Marshall may still be grasping for air after the spin move by Miller. “I set him up,” Miller said, smiling. “I saw him out of the corner of my eye and then I hit the -- what is it -- circle B button?”
Something like that.
This college football season is one week old and it feels like Ohio State’s playground. The Buckeyes have scored 42 points or more in 12 of their past 14 games since losing to Virginia Tech last season. If the Buckeyes are healthy and clicking, it’s hard to see how they lose, even though we know upsets, injuries and all kinds of stuff always happen to change the course of a season.
Ohio State faced some tense moments at an electric Lane Stadium with some poor execution in the second quarter, but they still turned this into a runaway even missing four suspended players, including All-American defensive end Joey Bosa. They have so much versatility and too many playmakers on offense.
“We were missing three other guys on offense that can change the game,” Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott said, referring to three suspended wide receivers. “It’s just kind of crazy thinking that. … We have so much to improve on and I think that’s just a scary, scary thing because we can be very dominant.”
You know your team is scary when Miller, in his first game as a hybrid ball-carrier/receiver, produced 140 yards on eight touches. Ohio State got the ball in Miller’s hands almost every way imaginable, with Meyer using his controller to call direct snaps, handoffs and passes. There was even a ridiculous diving catch by Miller, the first of his career.
Meyer’s mind must be kicking into overdrive on how he can use Miller in the weeks to come. Jet sweeps? Option runs? Deep balls? Might he even be able to throw at some point with that recovering separated shoulder?
How good was that spin move by Miller? “It was sick,” said Jones, who pantomimed the spin move on the sideline with teammates. “I see him spin and I’m like, ‘Holy, he’s back.’ I still think my spin was better.”
Offensive lineman Taylor Decker described Monday as Miller’s “coming out party.” It was impossible to argue otherwise with Miller's six carries for 62 yards and two catches for 78 yards.
“It’s been a long time since Braxton’s been on the field with us,” Decker said. “I think maybe we don’t necessarily forget, but it’s just been a while since we’ve seen those wow plays out of him.”
You know your team is scary when Elliott, the running back who ended 2014 with three straight 200-yard games, carried only 11 times for 122 yards. Hokies defensive coordinator Bud Foster’s “Bear” defense, with defenders crowding the line of scrimmage, made Meyer hesitant from running Elliott more. "We need to get him 20 touches," Meyer said, lamenting how little Elliott was used.
Your know your team is scary when Barrett, last year’s No. 5 finisher in the Heisman Trophy voting, entered Monday’s game as the mop-up quarterback with 10 minutes remaining. Barrett promptly ran for 40 yards and threw a 26-yard touchdown.
So about that quarterback decision. There was no wrong answer for Meyer between Jones and Barrett, but it’s still an incredibly fine balance to keep a team on the same page when you can only start one.
“It was real close and Cardale finished the season and he was the starter, and I started thinking for him not to take the first snap he had to get beat out and he wasn’t beat out,” Meyer said. “It was very close. But we have two very good players. I almost put J.T. in earlier but there was such a pressure game (with Virginia Tech’s defense), and with Cardale’s size, I thought he could get over the top with that defensive front.”
Meyer had said he was going to tell the quarterbacks last Saturday who would start. Jones insisted that never happened, adding that quarterbacks coach Tim Beck “kept coming to me (during pregame) and said, ‘Did coach talk to you?’ I’m like, ‘About what?’ He’s like, ‘What do you think?’ ‘Nah, he didn’t say nothing yet.’”
It’s a good story. Regardless if it's true or not, the quarterback situation symbolizes the luxury and peril of two great players when you can only start one.
Let’s be honest: Complacency and keeping quarterbacks happy and confident may be the only hurdles for the Buckeyes until November. Before playing Michigan State on Nov. 21, this is Ohio State’s upcoming schedule: Hawaii, Northern Illinois, Western Michigan, Indiana, Maryland, Penn State, Rutgers, Minnesota, Illinois.
Meyer said there’s no formula to decide how to use the quarterbacks other than whatever his opinion is at the moment. He seems genuinely conflicted about this quarterback question. Down 17-14 at halftime, Meyer told ESPN he might have to get Barrett ready, meaning there could be a time he pulls Jones and possibly hurts his confidence or has him looking over his shoulder.
“I’m going to have constant conversation with him -- I have -- and I think he would know that’s not (the case),” Meyer said. “There might come a time we have to do that. This journey’s going to be interesting. We’ve got to make sure I’m not screwing it up.”
Self-inflicted wounds seem like the only way to lose in this video game Ohio State's playing.
