Greg Bartram – US Presswire
It’s now time to throw the Ohio State University Buckeyes quarterback, Braxton Miller, into the Heisman trophy race. I know we are only a quarter of the way through the 2012 college football season, but there is no clear front-runner, and Miller has a potential path to the trophy.
Matt Barkley and his USC Trojans were upset last week as they lost to the Stanford Cardinal, in result, removing their captain signal-caller from the lead in the Heisman trophy race. The door has now opened up, and there are several dark-horse candidates who have a shot at striking the Heisman pose.
Braxton Miller is only a sophomore, but the path to a potential Heisman trophy is clear.
Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes are arguably the best team in the Big Ten, now that we have seen the Michigan State Spartans are beatable as they too suffered a loss last week to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
The Buckeyes have yet to face a formidable opponent, but Miller has had his way through the air, and on the ground.
The 6’2, 210-pound quarterback has a skill-set that Coach Urban Meyer is familiar with. Meyer coached Tim Tebow, and Miller’s skills mirror the former Florida Gators Heisman winner. Timmy too was a sophomore when he shipped the trophy.
Tebow had a ridiculous 32 passing touchdowns and 23 rushing touchdowns in his campaign. He did it against the SEC as well. Regardless, Braxton has the chance to produce a similar stat-line.
Through the first three games, Miller has 7 touchdowns through the air and 5 on the ground. He already has 56 carries for 377 yards, which is 6.7 yards per carry. It will be difficult to keep these numbers up as conference play is approaching, but Urban Meyer is a professor, and he teaches Duel-Threat Quarterbacking 101.
The Buckeyes have four key games remaining as they have to play Michigan State and the Wisconsin Badgers on the road. They do host the Nebraska Cornhuskers and close with a nationally televised game at home against their rivals, the Michigan Wolverines.
If Ohio State can head into the season finally undefeated against the Wolverines, Miller certainly has a shot at having a Heisman moment in the Horseshoe against Brady Hoke and company.
Paul Bentley is a contributor to Rant Sports
Follow Bentley on Twitter at @KKingBentley
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