Then-junior quarterback Braxton Miller (5) rushes the ball during a game against Iowa Oct. 19 at Ohio Stadium. OSU won, 34-24. Credit: Lantern file photo

Then-junior quarterback Braxton Miller (5) rushes the ball during a game against Iowa Oct. 19 at Ohio Stadium. OSU won, 34-24. Miller announced Thursday that he would be returning to OSU for his fifth season.
Credit: Lantern file photo

Braxton Miller will remain at Ohio State for his fifth and final year of eligibility, the redshirt senior quarterback announced Thursday via an article from The Columbus Dispatch.

The announcement puts to rest the steady flow of rumors about the two-time Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year transferring from OSU.

“I’m from Ohio, this is my home state,” Miller told The Dispatch. “This is where I started and this is where I’m going to finish it.”

Miller missed the entire 2014 campaign after injuring his right shoulder in late August, just 10 days before the Buckeyes’ season began.

Redshirt freshman QB J.T. Barrett started all 12 of the Scarlet and Gray’s regular season games in place of Miller, setting 19 school and Big Ten records along the way. His season ended early after he injured his ankle against Michigan on Nov. 29.

Redshirt sophomore Cardale Jones took over the reins for Barrett and led the Buckeyes’ on a historic three-game run to capture the program’s eighth national championship.

Both Barrett and Jones will be back in Columbus in the fall to compete for OSU’s starting quarterback job.

Miller’s announcement today also included his plans to continue playing quarterback and compete with Barrett and Jones for the vacancy.

Miller, who boasts a 28-8 record as OSU’s starting QB, said he will welcome the competition for the starting job but he knows that he is “the best athlete in college football,” and if he encounters a competition, he plans to “be smart about things” and “stay looking forward.”

As for the health of his recovering shoulder, Miller said the only reason the doctors say he is not 100 percent yet is due to the rotation in his throwing arm.

However, the Huber Heights, Ohio, native added that he is doing all the same exercises that his teammates are doing and that he does not have “any pain, or aches, or anything like that.”

The anticipated three-way competition will be in full swing come early August, when the Buckeyes begin preseason practice.

OSU coach Urban Meyer will have to name his starter by Sept. 7, as the Scarlet and Gray are scheduled to take on Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., at 8:00 p.m. in the 2015 season opener.