With the Big Ten Championship just around the corner, we are re-living all six appearances Ohio State has had in the Indy. Walk with us.
When Ohio State faces off with Northwestern in the Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis, it will be its sixth time since the game started in 2011. That’s right, the Buckeyes have appeared in the title game more than half of the years since it started back in 2011. OSU is tied with Wisconsin for the most appearances (6), but the Buckeyes own the record for the most wins, with four (going for five).
Since we’re on the doorstep of a pretty remarkable run, we thought it’d be fun to walk down memory lane and reminisce about each Ohio State appearance in the Big Ten Championship Game. So, here’s a brief history of all five (going on six) times the game in Lucas Oil Stadium had some scarlet and gray flair to it, beginning with the first appearance in 2013.
Urban Meyer was asked about former Ohio State star Braxton Miller’s success in 2014. He said it’s one of the reasons why he coaches.
Yesterday (September 7), was the five-year anniversary of the Braxton Miller spin move. What should not be lost in that one moment, however, is that it was Miller’s first game back after one and a half years out of the game. He tore up his throwing shoulder twice trying to get back on the field. The setback actually caused the former Ohio State star to switch positions to H-back.
Don’t let anyone tell you switching positions — especially your senior year — is anything to sneeze at. It takes hard work, film-study, and honing of a new craft to be effective, but Miller and his coach Urban Meyer felt it was the right move.
Meyer was asked about watching Miller pull off that spin move against Virginia Tech and what was going through his mind as it unfolded. And the former Ohio State head coach went deeper with it. He said watching Miller have success after being out and fighting through adversity is one of the reasons he got into coaching.
“Well, to this day, the worst part of coaching to me is when a player gets hurt,” Meyer told host Rob Stone. “You know, the injury factor, and Braxton — people don’t realize that was the first game he played in a year and a half. He was with us seven games before the first game in ’14, the year we won the national championship. His labrum pops the second time, and he’s done.
“And Braxton’s like a family member — I love Braxton Miller. I always will and that’s my guy … When I see a player do what he did — the selflessness — he changed positions, and to have him rewarded. You know, at the end of the day, why do you coach? That’s why I coach.”
"It was probably one of the best moments in my life."
So while the spin move was an iconic moment during Miller’s career, it was much more than that for Meyer. It’s clear the satisfaction he gets out of his players working through tough times and coming out the other end a better person and player is one of the things that drove him as a head coach.
Former Ohio State football superstar Braxton Miller said spin move he put on against Virginia Tech was one of the best moments in his life.
If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you are an Ohio State football fan. If so, the Braxton Miller spin move against Virginia Tech needs no introduction. It’s a replay that plays over and over in video cut-ups and GIFs everywhere.
Oh, and by the way, today (Monday), Septemeber 7 just so happens to be the five-year anniversary of jaws dropping nationally at what a former quarterback did switching to H-back in Blacksburg, Virginia.
Miller and his former head coach Urban Meyer discussed that play with FOX College Football’s Rob Stone in the latest edition of Ring Chronicles, and we got to find out how much that moment meant to B-Miller.
“It was probably one of the best moments of my life — honestly,” Miller told Stone. “Without that, I don’t know if I went as high as I did in the draft as a receiver or athlete.”
But what went into the play? What did Miller see as it unfolded? He alluded to it being all about instincts.
“I remember we were coming out of the huddle, and it was a sweep. It was an H-back sweep, but who knows what to expect, man,” Miller said. “I was supposed to go to the C gap, and I went way out there to the Z gap. I just turned it on, man. It was like a moment in my life that slowed down for me. Honestly, I did see those two guys coming and something just told me to spin.”
"It was probably one of the best moments in my life."
You hear that a lot from superstar athletes. A lot of time moves aren’t premeditated but something takes over in the moment. For someone as dynamic as what Miller was out in open space, being creative and making something happen like a generational spin move just came naturally.
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Five years ago today, former Ohio State star Braxton Miller put his own spin on college football against Virginia Tech.
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We may not have any Ohio State football to observe so far this year, but that won’t stop us from looking back.
And on that note, in case you didn’t know what today was, we’re here to remind you. Exactly five years ago on September 7, the Buckeyes traveled to Blacksburg, Virginia to take on a Hokie team that had upset the apple cart just a year earlier in Columbus. It was a revenge game even though that loss ended up being just a road bump on the way to a national title at the end of the 2014 campaign.
If you remember that season, all eyes and interests were on which quarterback would grab the starting reigns of the program and who would get the bulk of the minutes in-game between Cardale Jones and J.T. Barrett. One of the other combatants in the hotly contested three-headed quarterback race was Braxton Miller, who shocked everyone and switched to wide receiver because of a lingering injury to his throwing shoulder.
As Ohio State and Virginia Tech began to take the field, nobody could have imagined what would transpire and become an iconic highlight played over and over in video cut-ups and GIFs.
The No. 1 Buckeyes won the game easily, but the game will be more known for what happened on 1st and 10 from the OSU 47-yard line late in the 3rd quarter.
We don’t have to tell you what happened when Braxton Miller took the ball, but just for a reminder, this played out.
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Miller putting the entire Hokie defense in a spin cycle and took it all the way to the house. And we’ve re-lived it ever since, and will for a long time to come.
I remember watching the game live, and it’s one of the rare times when my jaw literally dropped at watching that iconic moment. It was just a reflex reaction to something you just couldn’t believe your eyes witnessed.
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Former Ohio State QB Braxton Miller is selling t-shirts to support the Big Ten protest. Proceeds benefit the Inside Out Youth Organization.
We’ve seen a ton of guys weigh on on the Big Ten’s decision to postpone the fall football season. From Justin Fields’ petition, to various parent groups sending letters to commissioner Kevin Warren, to open records requests from attorney Tom Mars, the avalanche of criticism has been persistent.
Now, you can count former Ohio State star Braxton Miller in the camp throwing his weight behind players having the opportunity to play.
Miller has been sharing tweets to ask for support at the planned parent rally at the Horseshoe, and to offer you the opportunity to purchase some limited time t-shirts that ask the Big Ten for answers, but where the proceeds benefit a good cause. The money raised goes to the Inside Out Youth Orgainization.
From Miller on the Charg!ng the B1G webiste that sells the shirts.
“If I didn’t have the opportunity to play my 5th year after switching positions and the season was cancelled..I wouldn’t have experienced some of the best moments of my life. I had the opportunity to show I was able to play wide receiver and get drafted. The way the B1G TEN Conference has handled the postponement of the season lacked transparency, communication, and unprofessionalism. The student-athletes worked too hard for this to be taken away from them!! #WeWantToPlay”
Remember, Miller went down before the 2014 season with a shoulder injury. He then got the one year after rehabbing where he changed positions to wide receiver and was drafted by the Houston Texans in the 2016 NFL Draft. Without that season, he likely never becomes a third round draft pick.
Click on the below and get a tee for this worthy cause benefitting youth.
The @fpaos_board is sponsoring a rally at Ohio Stadium at 11 AM EST today to urge the @BIGTEN to share more transparency about its decision to cancel the fall football season. @OhioStateFB
The Ohio State football program has dominated the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year award over the last decade, winning it five times.
Ohio State has dominated Big Ten football over the last decade or so. With that usually comes the awards to prove the point even further, and there’s one graphic FOX College Football shared that hammers that point home.
You may already know this, but the Buckeyes have absolutely dominated the Big Ten’s Offensive Player of the Year. In fact, over the last ten years, Ohio State has taken the award home five of those ten years. Braxton Miller won it in 2012 and 2013, Ezekiel Elliott in 2015, Dwayne Haskins in 2018, and of course Justin Fields in 2018.
They say offense wins games and defense wins championships, but that has changed just a wee-bit over the last decade or so. Yeah, the defense still has to be serviceable and good, but you now have to have a dynamic offense or you simply can’t keep up with all the offensive firepower many teams have in today’s day and age. To do that, you better have a dynamic playmaker on that side of the ball, and Ohio State has done well in that department.
All you have to do is take a look at the graphic below.
5 of the last 10 @bigten offensive player of the year awards have gone to @OhioStateFB 💪🌰
There’s probably some domination coming in the near future too. With Justin Fields back for this coming season, some elite wide-receivers suiting up next year and beyond, and four and five-star quarterbacks on campus already to rise up in the upcoming years, the line is forming.
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The Big Ten Network is continuing through its journey of identifying Big Ten All-Decade Teams for both hoops and football, and it’s nearly coming to an end. Ohio State has been well represented in both basketball, and now football. The latest …
The Big Ten Network is continuing through its journey of identifying Big Ten All-Decade Teams for both hoops and football, and it’s nearly coming to an end. Ohio State has been well represented in both basketball, and now football.
The latest announcement resulted in former Ohio State quarterbacks both being included on the All-Decade Team. Quarterback J.T. Barrett was named the QB of the Decade, and Braxton Miller received the All-Purpose Player of the Decade.
When it comes to Barrett, he rewrote so many Big Ten career quarterback records that it’s hard to count how many he now holds. He took over for an injured Braxton Miller during 2014 and never really looked back, aside from a blip in 2015 when he and Cardale Jones split time through half of the season. He wasn’t flashy, but he was the consummate leader and great distributor of the ball who had the ability to get tough yards on the ground. He was named the Big Ten’s Griese-Brees Quarterback of the Year three times (2014, 2016, and 2017), and won the Chicago Tribune’s Silver Football for best player in the conference in 2016.
Miller was another dynamic player under center, but he was forced to switch to wide receiver during his senior year in 2015 because of an injury to his throwing shoulder. He was twice the Big Ten’s MVP, Offensive Player of the Year, and Griese-Brees QB of the Year. He could make a two-yard gain exciting, and still owns the most famous spin move in the history of college football.
Well done by both of these talented guys.
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Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion.
We have a forum and message board now. Get in on the conversation about Ohio State athletics by joining the Buckeyes Wire Forum.
We’re continuing with our jersey series. The guys debate on which Ohio State player was the best to wear the number five.
We’ve been going through a series of debating what Ohio State football player is the best to wear specific jersey numbers. We started with jersey No. 1, moved on to jersey No. 2, continued with jersey No. 3, touched on jersey No. 4, and now we are on jersey No. 5,
We’re doing this because we know you’re bored of looking at every square inch of your home. We’re all getting a little stir crazy from being cooped up due to the measures put in place to help mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, and there are only so many classic games I can dial-up and watch.
In the long, illustrious history of Ohio State football, there is sure to be some disagreement, but that only makes it more fun. We might just sling some mud at each other, but it’s all being done virtually like everything else.
We will continue to go as high as makes sense, or until we win an all-expenses-paid trip to the grocery store to get toilet paper.
There are a ton of memorable plays over the last decade of Ohio State football, but we’ve picked out the ten we believe stand out.
There’s a slew of big-time games over the last decade for a program like Ohio State. With all the high-stakes on the line seemingly every year for one of the best programs of all time, that means there’s plenty of memorable plays that define every year.
Take that out further, and you can rewind on the entire decade that just passed and remember where you were when certain moments took place that defined the period from 2000-2019. From the tail-end of the Jim Tressel era, to the year in purgatory under Luke Fickell, through the dominant run of Urban Meyer at the helm, to the ushering in of the Ryan Day tenure, there’s plays that will live on in the hearts of Buckeye fans, coaches, and players during this time.
Here’s our stab at the ten most memorable plays of the decade that just flashed by us as we now embark on a new ten-year period.
The three quarterbacks are back together again. This time Braxton Miller, J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones are delivering Chipotle together.
This might make you laugh. Chipotle is offering up free delivery during the bowl season in Columbus, and it has some special delivery guys to brave the cold and traffic to knock on the door of hungry Buckeye fans.
Braxton Miller, J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones are all teaming up to deliver Chipotle to select fans. But the promo video put together for it is a pretty good one.
If we flash back to the 2014 season, Braxton Miller was supposed to be the starter but injured his shoulder. In came J.T. Barrett and all he did was launch a Heisman trophy campaign before he got injured in the Michigan game. So, — you know the story well — Cardale Jones stepped in and led Ohio State to the Big Ten Championship, a semifinal win over Alabama in the College Football Playoff, and then the national title game against Oregon.
Three quarterbacks, all with a part in a storybook season.
Each went on his own way, but now they are back together. As the promo goes, Braxton Miller “might show up at your door.” And “if he needs a backup, I got him,” says Barrett. Lastly “If they both need a backup, I got it covered,” Jones says.
Click on the below and watch the three champions get the gang back together again for “bowl season.”
