Miller's back

Source: The Lima News, OhioSept.自存倉 29--COLUMBUS -- He's back.Braxton Miller returned to the lineup after a three-game absence to allow a sprained medial collateral ligament to heal and took every snap for No. 4 Ohio State when it beat Wisconsin 31-24 in its first big test of the football season on Saturday night.Miller was 17 of 25 passing for 198 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 83 yards on 22 carries when the Buckeyes knocked off the No. 23 Badgers for the sixth time in the last seven times the two teams have played each other.OhioState (5-0, 1-0 Big Ten) took the lead for good when it went up 14-7 in the final minute of the first quarter on a 26-yard touchdown pass from Miller to Devin Smith.But while Wisconsin (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten) never caught up, the Buckeyes could never quite put them away, either.Miller's playing time was a clear statement that he is OhioState's No.1 quarterback, no matter what Kenny Guiton did in his absence.But the statement OhioState made, or tried to make, with the way it played was less clear."First of all, I want to say I'm proud of Kenny the way he stepped in and led this team while I was out. No controversy there," Miller said after the game. "That didn't bother me at all."I felt good energy-wise. I wasn't out of shape," he said. "I love playing in big games."The big thing, of course, was that OSU remained unbeaten and extended its winning streak to 17 games. But the Buckeyes probably didn't do themselves any favors with the poll voters with a close win that became a lot more interesting than it appeared it would be.OSU led 31-14 after three quarters, but watched Wisconsin climb back into the game at 31-24 with just over two minutes to play, when the Buckeyes' offense managed only 37 yards in the fourth quarter.OhioState's defense came into the game with Goal No. 1 being slowing down Wisconsin's rushing game, which was averaging 349 yards a game. The Buckeyes succeeded on that account, holding the Badgers to 104 yards on the ground.But quarterback Joel Stave hit 20 of 34 passes for 295 yards and two touchdowns. Receiver Jared Abbrederis caught 10 of those passes for 207 yards. Overall, Wisconsin outgained Ohio State 399 yards to 390.Carlos Hyde rushed for 85 yards on 17 carries for OhioState.OhioState made it look easy on its first possession of the night, scoring on a 25-yard pass from Miller to Evan Spencer at the end of a four-play, 55-yard drive thamini storage took only one minute, seven seconds.All of the Buckeyes' other scoring in the first half also came on big plays -- a 26-yard pass from Miller to Devin Smith, a 45-yard field goal by Drew Basil, and a 40-yard pass from Miller to Corey Brown with one second left before halftime.But there was nothing particularly easy after that opening drive.After OSU jumped out to its 7-0 lead, Wisconsin marched 90 yards in eight plays, the final 36 yards on a Stave pass to Abbrederis.to tie the game at 7-7 with 3:52 left in the first quarter.OhioState regained the lead at 14-7 on its next possession when Smith caught a 26-yard TD throw from Miller to finish a 6-play, 73-yard drive with 44 seconds left in the first quarter.The lead grew to 17-7 when Drew Basil hit a 45-yard field goal with 4:33 left in the first half.Wisconsin marched 76 yards in seven plays, the biggest a 33-yard catch by Abbrederis, to score on an 11-yard touchdown pass by Sam Arneson to cut the lead to 17-14 with 1:30 left in the first half.In the era before Meyer became OSU's coach, that probably would have meant the Buckeyes would have run out the clock and started anew in the second half when they were going to receive the kickoff.But not with Meyer in charge. Faced with a 4th and 7 at Wisconsin's 40-yard line, Miller launched a pass to the endzone, Corey Brown gathered it in with one second on the clock and OSU was up 24-14 at halftime.That play wasn't the only thing in the first two quarters that kept Wisconsin from getting even closer.A personal foul penalty against Wisconsin nullified what appeared to be a fumble by Miller deep in OSU territory and an illegal formation call wiped out a muffed punt by Brown, also in OhioState territory.OhioState pushed its lead to 31-14 late in the third quarter on a 1-yard touchdown pass from Miller to Brown. That score was set up by a Bradley Roby interception at Wisconsin's 47-yard line.Wisconsin narrowed the lead to 31-21 with 13:47 to play on a 17-yard run by James White, then made it 31-24.on a 42-yard field goal by Kyle French with 2:05 left in the game.The Badgers got the ball back once more. But after a 55-yard punt by Cameron Johnston pinned them deep in their own territory, OSU's defense stopped them without a first down to close out the win.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The Lima News (Lima, Ohio) Visit The Lima News (Lima, Ohio) at .limaohio.com Distributed by MCT Information Services儲存