Even though Braxton Miller isn’t the best passing quarterback in NCAA football, he’s good enough on his feet and in putting the ball in the air to be the obvious choice for Ohio State as they dispatched a team that just might be the biggest obstacle they could have had of finishing with an undefeated record for a second straight year.
As if to prove that he can win games with his arm, Braxton Miller finished with 4 touchdown passes as he carried Ohio State to a 31-24 win over Wisconsin, who couldn’t get their notorious running game to get going until the final quarter, in which their furious comeback attempt (they’re always furious, aren’t they?) fell short of the mark, as they couldn’t get anything more than a field goal with two minutes remaining.
Miller missed the last couple of games and it seemed like Kenny Guiton, through some brilliant performances, has finally won himself a place as a starter for the Buckeyes after so many eyes. However, as good as Guiton might be in putting the ball in the air, he simply doesn’t have what it takes in being a dual threat like Miller, who also ran for 83 yards, on a day that proved Ohio State have the defense to handle a power running game like Wisconsin’s, which has been the most productive in the conference up until now.
I really think we showed to the country that we can stop the run and that we’re not anybody to be messing around with. They have a great offensive line, and I feel like our D-line is going to be great also.
Ohio State limited Wisconsin to only 104 yards on 27 carries, as the Badgers were forced to try and catch up through the air, with Joel Stave throwing a couple of touchdown passes and an interception, but also not being able to mimic his counterpart with his ground game, finishing with a -1 on two carries.
Ohio State, in the meantime, had an easy time establishing the play-action, with Miller throwing three touchdowns off run-fakes. In his career, Miller has completed more passes off play-action against Wisconsin (17), than against any other team.
So Ohio State proved they can run the ball against a team that is designed to run and stop it, nothing much else. It doesn’t leave too many complicated challenges on their way to the Big Ten title game, which should be the school’s first, missing out on the first two years of the new way to decide Big Ten titles. Michigan might be an issue, but the Wolverines have looked terrible in recent weeks, which means Ohio State shouldn’t be that worried about their big rivals at this point.
It’s a Big Ten win, against a team that should have been undefeated heading over to play us if it wasn’t for a bad call. To beat a Big Ten team, that says something, especially a ranked team. This was a big win for us.
A huge sigh of relief in Columbus for a team that knows it has to go undefeated (and even then it might not be enough considering their opponents in other conferences) in order to get back into the national title game.