It is clear the Ohio State coaching staff does not trust its own quarterback.
OSU quarterback Braxton Miller is a true freshman this year, and is playing like one. He will not be perfect. He will not be perfect anytime soon. OSU lost to Michigan State 10-7 on Saturday.
There is absolutely no reason Joe Bauserman should have seen the field against MSU. The fact that he could find a helmet on the sidelines is beyond me.
With OSU down 7-0 in the fourth quarter, head coach Luke Fickell opted to go with red shirt senior quarterback Bauserman. Bauserman, an expert at tossing it into the stands, brings nothing to this football team.
Bauserman will graduate this year and is not the future of this football team. Miller has now been inexplicably yanked from the field twice. Once in Miami, and once on Saturday.
No, he did not perform, but the coaching staff did not give him the tools to succeed. Why should he believe in himself if the staff does not believe in him?
Miller went a lousy 5 of 10 on the day for 56 yards and one interception. He was sacked four times on the day and took a beating on just about every rushing attempt.
MSU did its homework. Watching film is not difficult when 95 percent of the film is an endless loop of rushing attempts. They put eight in the box. They ran flawless run blitzes. They had an answer to anything OSU ran at them.
Without a real threat of passing, OSU will not be able to have a balanced offense. The only way to have a passing threat? Pass the ball.
In the third quarter, the student section began chanting “UR-BAN ME-YER.” But, in head coach Luke Fickell’s defense, it is not his fault.
Fickell does not call the plays, offensive coordinator Jim Bollman does. Bollman needs to open it up, and let his young quarterback play football.
Miller will be the quarterback at OSU for awhile. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Miller is the future of OSU football.
Unfortunately for the Buckeyes, the future is, well, in the future.
Without the vote of confidence from Fickell and offensive coordinator Bollman, he will never develop to a playmaker.
Miller has all the tools, he has the arm and he certainly has the legs, but one thing he is lacking is the mentality.
If the OSU coaching staff continues to call draw plays on third down, continues to run the option, and everything but passing plays, Miller will start to doubt his abilities. When the coaching staff yanked Miller from the game on Saturday, they were throwing away any chance of Miller growing as a young quarterback.
Next week, when OSU travels to Nebraska they will add senior running back Daniel “Boom” Herron, senior wide receiver DeVier Posey, senior defensive end Solomon Thomas and senior offensive lineman Mike Adams to its roster.
Unfortunately for the Scarlet and Gray, without a quarterback, it will not mean anything.
