There are few things in college football more prestigious than to be able to wear the scarlet and gray. Some of the biggest legends in the game suited up for the Buckeyes over the years and each gets to be honored in the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame.
On Saturday, Ohio State announced that former quarterback and wide receiver Braxton Miller is going to be immortalized.
Class of 2024 Ohio State Athletics 𝕳𝖆𝖑𝖑 𝖔𝖋 𝕱𝖆𝖒𝖊, @BraxtonMiller5 💥🏅 pic.twitter.com/OtB6xojanB
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) June 15, 2024
Braxton Miller to be Inducted into the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame
From coming to Columbus as a highly-recruited, dynamic player to leaving as one of the most decorated players in program history, Miller left his mark on the program.
Miller was a five-star quarterback recruit out of Huber Heights in Ohio and chose to stay home over attending programs like Alabama, Florida, or Notre Dame. It did not take long for the talented signal caller to take over.
After just three games as QB2, Miller took over as the starting quarterback in Week 4 against Colorado. He never looked back. Despite being overshadowed by quite possibly the worst Ohio State season in generations, Miller was lightning for the Buckeyes. In 12 games, he threw for 1,159 yards and 13 touchdowns. Easily the most impressive on the year was the game-winning 40-yard bomb to Devin Smith against 12th-ranked Wisconsin. It was one of the few high points on the year. On the ground, Miller added 715 yards and seven touchdowns off 159 rushes, establishing himself as a true dual-threat.
Then, Miller took over. He led the Buckeyes to a perfect 12-0 season that ended with a 26-21 win over Michigan. Due to the ridiculous “scandal” that ended the Jim Tressell tenure, the Buckeyes had self-imposed a bowl ban for 2012. Regardless, Miller amassed 2,039 yards and 15 touchdowns through the air and a career-best 1,271 yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground.
It was more of the same in 2013. Miller threw for 2,094 yards and 24 touchdowns while completing 63.5% of his passes. On the ground, he added 1,068 yards and 12 scores. He was a true dynamic player for Ohio State in 2013 but Urban Meyer may have run him into the ground. In the Orange Bowl against Clemson, a game the Buckeyes should have won, Miller was a “hurtin’ buckaroo,” according to one of the commentators for the game, Matt Millen. He was beaten all to Hell and ended up playing on a hurt shoulder which would come back to haunt him.
Then, on August 19, the worst news came down from Columbus. On a routine play in practice, Miller reinjured his shoulder and had to miss the 2014 season. He would go on to watch his team go on an unprecedented run with a redshirt freshman, J.T. Barrett. Then Barrett got hurt, so they had to turn to QB3 “we ain’t come here to play school” Cardale Jones. And the rest is history.
Coming off the first-ever College Football Playoff National Championship, there were questions facing the team. Would Miller come back to quarterback the team? Would it be Barrett? Jones? Well, it was a bit of everything.
Miller made the switch to wide receiver in order to take advantage of his elite athleticism while not having to rely on his twice-inured shoulder. As a result, Miller played the Percy Harvin-esque role and accounted for 68 touches. He hauled in 26 passes for 341 yards and three touchdowns as a receiver. On the ground, Miller ran the ball 42 times for 260 yards and one touchdown. One of those touchdowns will be replayed for decades as he put the Virginia Tech defenders in a spin cycle in what could be considered the nastiest move of the CFP era.
Once it was all said and done, Miller racked up plenty of honors:
- Big Ten Freshman of the Year (2011)
- Second-Team All-American (2012)
- First-Team All-Big Ten (2012, 2013)
- Big Ten Quarterback of the Year (2012, 2013)
- Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year (2012, 2013)
- Big Ten Most Valuable Player (2012, 2013)
He’s one of the top quarterbacks in Ohio State history and was the foundation of the Urban Meyer era at Ohio State. This is a well-deserved honor as Miller was one of the fan-favorite players of the Buckeye faithful growing up at the time.