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. 

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.

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

Terrelle Pryor: Next Vince Young?

Much has been said about the similarites of Terrelle Pryor and Vince Young. Vince Young led his team to a Rose Bowl win, that got him the National Championship, and Terrelle Pryor got a Rose Bowl win putting his team back to national prominance. They are very similar to the style of play, and both have good size and even better speed. The problem that I worry about frequently is that Pryor will folllow in Young's shadow in the NFL as well, even if he makes it there. The NFL has been known to try "projects" with dual-threat quarterbacks, but the ones that have tried, have failed. See JaMarcus Russell? As for Vince, the verdict is still out, after a medicore season last season, but he has come back a little bit. If he starts becoming sucessful, I could see Pryor doing the same.

Of course, it's always possible that Pryor may become a receiver in the NFL, much like many Buckeye fans were calling for after the Purdue game. I don't think it would be a very smart move, but it's possible. If Pryor does suceed in winning the Heisman or winning a championship before he leaves, will it make him better in the NFL? After all, he has said he wants to be a pro formation QB in the NFL, and that's a big part as to why he came to Ohio State. If he stays his senior season, even after winning awards, or not, then I think he could be ready for the NFL. I don't want to see him in the same situation as VY or JR.

Well, give me your thoughts onto how he might end up.