When Urban Meyer first arrived in Columbus he was in dire need of playmakers outside of the artist formerly known as the star quarterback Braxton Miller. Then the combo of Braxton Miller and Carlos Hyde handled the bulk of Ohio State’s offense. At times Philly Brown would make a big splash as well as Devin Smith, but there was something missing from the traditional Urban Meyer offense. Despite the success with the Miller and Hyde show, Meyer still brought up the fact that he lacked a player that could duplicate with Percy Harvin did for his Florida Gators..
Fast-forwarding to last season, the Buckeyes won the National Championship with a steady dose of Ezekiel Elliot, big-time quarterback play by J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones….oh yeah the Slobs and Silver Bullets played a huge role as well.
Meyer had a well-oiled machine on offense, but something was still missing. Jalin Marshall showed flashes of greatness during his freshman season, but he may be better suited to play outside the numbers as a WR/H-Back hybrid. Dontre Wilson scored a few touchdowns here and there, but he didn’t seize the role of the H-Back as was expected when he was recruited to Ohio State. Despite the Buckeyes not having Meyer’s traditional do-it-all H-Back the offense was still one of the top offenses in all of college football. You’d figure how the offense can get better with the addition of an H-Back that’s virtually unstoppable. Well, this past Monday gave us a glimpse of how potent the Buckeyes offense can be with the insertion of Braxton Miller at H-Back.
There were many questions about Miller switching his position. Nobody knew what to expect before Monday, but now we know. With as many weapons on the offensive side of the ball it really doesn’t matter who plays quarterback. The Buckeyes scored 42 points on Monday with two untimely turnovers and three playmakers out due to suspension. It makes it even scarier, because the best running back in the country Ezekiel Elliot was used as a lead blocker and only had 11 carries. Now that the Buckeyes have everyone back in the saddle things should get fun.
Miller had two touchdowns on just 8 touches Monday night. The scary part about that is that was Miller’s first ever game not playing quarterback. Every game for him may not be like Monday night, but if that was his opening performance teams around the country should be frightened. When Miller played quarterback, fans were spoiled to see him with the football in his hands every play, so when he made plays like the run against Penn State in 2012 (see below) we sort of expected to see this happen each and every time he had the ball.
Monday night was probably the first time in Miller’s career where there were doubts and questions about his ability. We can put those assumptions to bed, because he hit the “circle button” on the doubters like he did the Virginia Tech defenders.
The H-Back position is probably just as vital as the quarterback position in Meyer’s offense. The combination of Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin were pretty unstoppable during the Florida days, and it gave the offense the flexibility to change on the fly as well as giving others opportunities to flourish. When elusive players such as Miller and Harvin are lined up against safeties and linebackers it creates havoc for the defense. Defenses automatically hesitate, because they don’t know if a jet sweep is coming, a pitch, or a seam route. The luxury of having a top-tier H-Back keeps the defense of their heels, and it makes everyone else’s job a bit easier
Now that teams know that Braxton Miller is the real deal at H-Back, teams can’t forget about Nick Vannett, Ezekiel Elliot, Mike Thomas, Curtis Samuel, Corey Smith, and Jalin Marshall. Picking your poison will be a tough feat against the Ohio State offense, and opposing teams may have to pick and choose which way they want to lose.
Coach Meyer has finally received what he has been asking for. Like in many instances, he was searching for something that he already had. Meyer had no idea Miller would turn out to be a game-changer at the H-Back position, but now he knows. Now that he has his Percy Harvin clone in Braxton Miller things will get scary in Columbus.
