Troy Smith Sees Greatness In Ohio State Quarterback Braxton Miller

The sky is the limit for Miller

Since first stepping onto the field in a game against the Akron Zips in the 2011 season, sophomore quarterback Braxton Miller has drawn many comparisons in his style of play. 

It's a common thing college football fans do. Terrelle Pryor was Vince Young, Carlos Hyde is/was Eddie George. When Miller took the reins at quarterback, he instantly was the next Troy Smith. 

Out of many comparisons, I think this one in particular is spot on. Both quarterbacks aren't the tallest in the game (Smith is 6'0" while Braxton stands at 6'3"), but the athletic ability surpasses any type of weakness. Whether it's making plays with their feet or dancing around would-be tacklers to buy time to throw, Troy and Braxton have a lot in common.

Now, Troy Smith himself is calling out the comparison. Only thing is, he's taking it one step even further: 

“I see a lot of myself in him, all of myself,” Smith said. “I solely believe he has a chance to be 10 times better than I was. He’s a lot faster. He’s a much better athlete.

“I’m extremely excited about his future. I want to see him take off.”

Smith said he is impressed with how Miller handles himself off the field, as well, something he learned more about when he said the two quarterbacks met for the first time recently. Smith said Miller and other players today have increased media coverage and social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook, which put standouts such as Miller under more of a microscope than Smith was under during his OSU career.

To not only be compared to Troy Smith by Smith himself, but to also be told that he can be ten times better than what Smith was in college is a pretty damn good compliment. Smith, as you know, won a Heisman trophy in 2006 while on the way to the biggest stage in college football. The Buckeyes hadn't been to the championship game since 2002, when Smith was a freshman (he later red-shirted). The ending wasn't as sweet as anyone wanted it to be, but Troy had led his team to the promised land. 

Former Ohio State Quarterback Troy Smith Looks To Revive Career

Smith had an illustrious career at Ohio State

The Heisman Trophy that Troy Smith won at Ohio State in the 2006 season lays in storage somewhere in Cleveland.

The quarterback is hoping his career avoids the same fate.

Smith is trying to break back into the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who signed him in the offseason as an insurance policy during organized team activities and training camp.

"The 27-year-old who dazzled while leading the Buckeyes to a Big Ten title and a berth in the national title game during his senior season is now a journeyman trying to beat out established veterans Byron Leftwich and Charlie Batch for a spot behind Ben Roethlisberger.

Selected in the fifth round of the 2007 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Ravens, Smith made the team and started two games, including a 27-21 win over the Steelers in the regular season finale.

The victory capped an otherwise miserable 5-11 season for the Ravens, who promptly drafted Joe Flacco the following spring. Smith welcomed the competition, but it was over before it barely began when he developed Lemierre's syndrome.

The illness starts as a sore throat then blossoms into an infection. In Smith's case, the disease attacked the pain receptors in Smith's lungs. A bout with tonsillitis followed and he dropped 45 pounds off his 6-foot frame."

Smith never got a chance to compete with Flacco for the job and when Flacco led the Ravens to the playoffs as a rookie, Smith was rendered a backup. 

Baltimore cut him after the 2009 season and Smith landed a spot in San Francisco.

Can Urban "Put a Fence" around Ohio?

Urban's goal: lock down Ohio recruits

As we wind closer to National Signing Day, it's time to look at how well Coach Meyer has done. Certainly, one can conclude that he has made a significant impact in raising the profile and quality of recruits for Ohio State. Perhaps most importantly, he has reinforced the long-held importance of keeping as many top-shelf Ohio recruits as possible here.

In the words of Gene Smith during the introductory press conference: "We wanted a football coach who..would create the environment here with the aspiration for every single football player in the state of Ohio is to be a Buckeye..and have no other thought."


Did Coach Meyer accomplish that? Of course, we won't know for certain for a couple of days, but let's look at what we know so far, especially in relation to TSUN. We'll also take a look at how Urban's immediate predecessor did in HIS first recruiting season.

What To Do With Braxton Miller And The QB Situation

Miller led his team to a Championship

Braxton Miller. Get used to this name, Buckeye fans. You’ll be hearing it a lot in the near future. A five-star recruit, according to Scout, Braxton Miller is one of the top quarterbacks in the 2011 class. He is rated as one of the top two quarterbacks by Scout, Rivals and ESPN.



If you haven’t heard a lot about this kid before, Miller is a 6’2”, 185 pound quarterback from Huber Heights (Oh.) Wayne. A dual-threat QB, Miller will bring back memories of the Troy Smith era.

Miller is a more polished passer and possibly a more explosive running threat than Terrelle Pryor was when he came in as a freshman.  According to ESPN, Miller “has a big arm and can make every single throw.”

Why Terrelle Pryor Is Not Overrated

Is he really overrated?

All Buckeye fans have heard the same story, over and over. "Terrelle Pryor is a bust, he's not even that great." "If he's so good why haven't the Buckeyes won the past 2 championships, and why hasn't he had a Heisman?" Even some Buckeye fans weren't too thrilled to hear he's coming back for his senior year. We have Braxton Miller, who's apparently much better than having a senior QB in Pryor. I personally don't think it's right to think this way.

When Terrelle Pryor stepped onto the Ohio State campus, people expected him to be like Troy Smith and Vince Young from Day 1. It's been said and repeated many times, but it's true. It's also not realistic for a freshman, no matter what kind of talent the kid has. So we gave the reins to the #1 recruit in the nation after fans were starting to worry that he may not be as good as we thought, since we didn't see him starting against Youngstown State. Yet, we still held on for the ride, and when Todd Boeckman and the offensive line got blown up in Los Angeles, the fans had had enough. Tressel heard the call, and decided to start the freshman QB. His first ever start came against Troy University, and lead to a share of the Big Ten title, a Freshman of the Year award (Thanks to a 60.6 completion %) and a berth in the Fiesta bowl against Texas. Things got ugly as Pryor struggled to find a rhythm against a tight defense from the Longhorns. Eventually Todd Boeckman got in to open up the passing game, and even found Pryor for a score. Fans were not too worried about the loss, Terrelle would only improve from here.

Surprisingly, Pryor remained the same, if not even regressed a little. During the off-season, Pryor claimed he had been working on his throwing motion, his footwork, and his reads, and that he was getting to be where he needed to make this team succeed. Ohio State had an early test against USC again, and this time the game was actually close. Pryor again was ineffective most of the game, sans a couple of good passes to Posey and Sanzenbacher. This time OSU fans blamed Jim Tressel and his play-calling, and also fired a storm for trying to get Jim Bollman fired. Pretty soon, though, things got calmed down, and Pryor was on his way again. After leading his team to 4 straight wins, the Buckeyes were back up to #7 in the country. Then, Purdue Harbor happened. Yes, the infamous day in Terrelle Pryor history which will always be remembered for his 4 turnovers, low completion rating, and just overall terrible performance. People were literally calling for Bauserman to step in. Joe Bauserman. Nothing could be done, our year was over, here comes the Little Ceasers bowl!

Eventually, the Buckeye's bounced back, winning all the games in November (including huge wins against Penn State and Iowa) to move up and take another pair of Gold Pants and another Big Ten title. Oh, and something like a Rose Bowl. Oregon was the opponent, and the sexy pick for national media pundits. Why not, Oregon has the flashy offense, high scoring, high flying, unstoppable. Terrelle Pryor has been average thus far, and the defense is slightly overrated (again, according to media). Then something amazing happens. Jim Tressel finally figures out what makes Terrelle Pryor's abilities click with his type of offense. The Duck's offense gets force fed a lesson about defense and overratedness. Then Pryor earns MVP status, and suddenly the Buckeyes are not only National Championship contenders for next year, but Terrelle is looking to become the school's 7th Heisman, and only the 2nd Big Ten QB ever.

Troy Smith Shines Again, BCS Thoughts

Is there anyone else you would rather see?

Troy Smith got his first start 2 weeks ago in London. Many didn't expect much, because this was Alex Smith's team. With the 1-6 49ers trailing early, Troy Smith started to make his comeback, and not just for that game. He lead his team to a 24-16 victory over the Broncos, while going 12/19 for 196 yards and a Touchdown in running and passing. Also, he had no interceptions. It was a great performance, but everyone thought that it was a one time showing by Smith.

Yesterday, Troy got the start again, this time against the St. Louis Rams (a game filled with Buckeyes). With another outstanding performance, (he went 17/28 for a career high 356 yards and a touchdown), ESPN gave this quote:

"After getting back into the NFC West race with two gutsy performances by their new starting quarterback, the San Francisco 49ers think they've finally found the right Smith for the job."


A starting job? For the man that you said couldn't start, because he was too small and wouldn't be able to see over the offensive line, and that his running ablilty was overrated? How's this possible?


"Coach Mike Singletary wouldn't pick his starter for next week, but it's fairly clear Troy Smith energizes his teammates in ways Alex Smith hasn't mastered."


I think it's obvious who he should go with. Buckeye Nation is proud of Troy Smith, and we're all rooting for the man that brought Ohio State a great season and a Heisman Trophy. He proved he's still got it.

The Downfall of the Wolverines

Lets take a trip back to November 2006, the Big Ten was in the national spot light as No. 1 Ohio State (11-0) prepared to face No. 2 Michigan (11-0). Buckeye QB Troy Smith was at the top of his game and leading the Heisman race and these two bitter rivals were battling for a spot in the BCS National Championship Game. In one of the best games in the rivalry (and one of the best games I've ever seen live) the Buckeyes held on for a trip to Glendale with many pundits clamoring for a re-match for the national championship.

A little over a month later things began to spiral out of control, the No. 3. Wolverines lose in the Rose Bowl to USC 32-18, and the downward spiral began. A week later their bitter rivals, the Buckeyes, lose in a similar embarrassing fashion to Florida 41-14. All of a sudden a conference that was on top of the world immediately had its reputation "tarnished" as a result of these bowl losses. Following the end of the 2006 season, current UM coach Lloyd Carr's hot seat only got hotter and his team needed a great season to save his job.

 

I wasn't smiling for long..... 

The 2007 Wolverines were riddled with injuries all season and limped into a Capitol One Bowl game vs the Florida Tebows (oops I mean Gators). The Wolverines destroyed the 2006 National Champion Gators in their best performance of the season, however the writing was on the wall and that bowl victory was Coach Carr's last game on the sidelines as Michigan head coach. A change needed to be made, however in my opinion, the fact that UM chose to hire Rich Rodriguez from WVU as opposed to one of Carr's assistants or another candidate that would continue to run the UM system set the Wolverine football program back at least a decade.

It was clear that Michigan needed to make a change, however nothing was really "wrong" with their system. I think hiring one of Carr's assistants or maybe a top assistant/coordinator from within the conference would have been the best choice in the long run for the Wolverines. Before the RRod era, UM's system was pretty simple but every effective.

On offense: -Smart, Strong Armed QB -Big, powerful OL -Tough RBs -Big Play WRs They ran pro sets which allowed them to run the ball and set up for the pass and sometimes vice versa.

 On defense: -Big, strong, hole clogging DL -Quick, play making LBs -Smart, Athletic DBs They would concentrate on stopping the run and forcing you to beat them through the air while blitzing their LBs off the edge and trying to force turnovers. When it worked they won (Exhibit 1), when it didn't (Exhibit 2), they lost. Coach Rodriguez came into Ann Arbor in 2008 immediately implementing his "system" and soon after, players who represented what Michigan Football was all about began to leave one way or another. Some declaring early for the draft, others (like freaking HEISMAN CANDIDATE Ryan Mallet and Justin Boren) just outright transferring.

After RRod's first few horrible seasons, I feel it was proven that his "system" will not work in Ann Arbor. Coach Carr's system was similar to what Coach Schembechler used with a few tweaks to keep up with the times and that's all that was needed back in 2007, just a few tweaks, not a full system overhaul. In my opinion, Coach Rodriguez's drastic changes will also continue to hurt the program for years when it comes to recruiting. Today's college recruit isn't just looking at being part of a schools tradition, he's looking to see which coach and program can give him the best opportunity to make it to the next level. A perfect example illustrating my point would be the Terelle Pryor situation.

One of the major reasons Pryor chose the Buckeyes over the Wolverines was due to the fact that Pryor knew Coach Tressel ran more of a pro style offense, which would allow him to develop his skills as a true QB and not a "system guy" (see White, Pat). This is not to say that they wont still recruit good athletes, however the 5-star QBs aren't looking to play 4 years in a option oriented system, which will force them to take their talents elsewhere.

Conclusion (c) SBB As a lifelong Ohio State fan and Alum, I hate the Wolverines as much as the next guy. However it hurts the rivalry and the conference when Michigan is down in the dumps. Michigan needs to make a change and do it very soon, barring a major miracle, I'm sure that RRod will coach his way right out of Ann Arbor this season. When give the opportunity, the Wolverines need to choose a coach that will bring this program back to life which means they need someone that will get UM back to playing tough physical Big Ten Football, none of that namby pamby "spread" crap.

Dear OSU Football Players: Don't be like VY

Hey Guys,

With Spring football well in the rear-view mirror and summer football camp still a ways in the future we have entered a bit of a dead zone. I know you're all still working out, running drills and other things but you've got a lot more time on your hands than you're used to. Have fun! Do things you normally don't have time for but for the love of God, whatever you do don't pull a Vince Young. Now I'm not here to lecture you on the evils of "scrip clubs" because I've been known to partake in the past(been a while, but I've been). All I ask is that you don't get in to trouble. Don't go VY and beat some guy up for throwing up and upside down "hook-em horns" sign, that's just dumb. Don't go Doug Worthington on us either and get pulled over for a DUI a few weeks before the season opener and get suspended for the first game. Also, Don't accept money from boosters, not $20, not $200. None. I don't want Justin Zwick 2.0 starting any games for us. Don't get drunk and try to do a burn-out during scUM week. The easiest way to to learn isn't by experience in this case, it's by example.

I know it's summer, it's time for vacation and fun. Heck, even us bloggers take vacations from our hard work.(I'll be on one of those next week in fact) Just be smart, because we care way too much when something bad happens. There's a lot on the line this year, remember to be smart and DBTH.

-SBB