Miller time? Ohio State QB derby set to start

buckeyes open camp today

By Doug Lesmerises

Plain Dealer Reporter

COLUMBUS

Braxton Miller moved into the Ohio State team hotel Saturday with the rest of the OSU freshmen. Most OSU fans are hoping ... or assuming ... or praying ... that Miller’s next step is to move into the starting quarterback’s job.

When the Buckeyes open preseason camp today, the QB competition will continue among Miller, senior Joe Bauserman, sophomore Kenny Guiton and redshirt freshman Taylor Graham. But under new head coach Luke Fickell, who didn’t watch the QBs much during spring practice while he was just the linebackers coach, the competition is really beginning again.

Beyond the spring films Fickell has studied, there’s not much to go on. Nine of the 12 Big Ten teams have quarterbacks with at least some starting experience, combining for 146 starts and 29,603 yards. But Ohio State’s quartet doesn’t have a start and has thrown for a combined 325 yards.

Finding an answer in the absence of departed three-year starter Terrelle Pryor won’t be easy, but it’s the most urgent item on Fickell’s checklist. Pryor leaving the Buckeyes in June changed everything, the battle moving from finding someone to fill in during Pryor’s five-game suspension to finding the offensive leader for an entire season.

“It’s a lot more pressure right now, but I’m going to pick the speed up,” Miller said this week. “It’s coming a lot faster than it was six months ago, but I’m taking it day by day.”

Miller has the highest ceiling among the options, ranked as the No. 1 dual-threat quarterback and No. 34 overall player in his recruiting class by Rivals.com. But learning from the bench is the more common path for young quarterbacks. Michigan State senior Kirk Cousins, with 25 career starts, advises sitting for as long as possible, but Ohio State may not have that option.

“Too many people want everything right now and they think they need to play right away,” Cousins said. “The simple truth is that quarterbacks who are able to wait and are able to grow and learn without being thrown into the fire a lot of times end of having much more successful careers.”

A year ago, only five of the top 100 quarterbacks in major college football were true freshmen. They were at Rutgers, BYU, Memphis, Central Florida and Colorado State.

If Miller does win the job, in the next month or at some point later in the season, his life will be a little different in the Big Ten.

“You really improve by playing, but a lot of time it’s not going to happen as a freshman in big-time college football,” said Northwestern senior Dan Persa.