The Ohio State Buckeyes will face off against the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Sugar Bowl in the first ever College Football Playoff. The winner will go on to the CFB Playoff National Championship Game to square off with the winner of the Rose Bowl Game between the Oregon Ducks and Florida State Seminoles. OSU quarterback Braxton Miller will not be under center for the Buckeyes in the Sugar Bowl, as he suffered a torn labrum before the regular season opener and has sat out the entire 2014 season. Miller watched J.T. Barrett take over and lead the Buckeyes in 2014, only to suffer another brutal injury for the Buckeyes and give way to Cardale Jones, who will start at quarterback for OSU against Alabama on New Year’s night. While Bucks head coach Urban Meyer said that the starting job will be waiting for Miller in 2015, Barrett and Jones will also be back with the team next season. Miller could go to the NFL, although that remains unlikely. He will graduate before the Fall, meaning he could also transfer and play immediately as a graduate transfer. While Miller will not play in the CFB Playoff, there is a chance that Ohio State could play Florida State for the National Championship. If the rumors are true, Miller could be on the sidelines for the Buckeyes in that game, yet start for the Seminoles in 2015.
According to Tom D’Angelo of the Palm Beach Post, Miller “has shown interest” in transferring to Florida State. Of course, this is provided that current starting FSU quarterback Jameis Winston enters the NFL Draft before he screws up yet again and finds himself in hot water with the NCAA.
This is the last time we saw Braxton Miller in game action, as the Ohio State Buckeyes fell to the Clemson Tigers in the 2014 Discover Orange Bowl.
If Winston does leave FSU for the NFL, the ‘Noles would have a glaring hole on offense. Miller would be an excellent replacement. Miller, who is a two-time Big Ten Player of the Year for the Buckeyes, last played in the 2014 Orange Bowl nearly one year ago. And, while he is a very talented player, some wonder about how he would fit into the Seminoles’ offense.
“Braxton is a unique talent,” said ESPN analyst and former Ohio State quarterback Kirk Herbstreit. “I don’t see him choosing to go to Florida State. I could see Oregon, I could see Ole Miss because of his skill set and how he fits in a little bit better with those types of offenses.”
Recent graduate transfer quarterbacks have had a mixed bag of success after departing one major college football program for another. Two have left Florida State for another school, including Clint Trickett, who transferred to play for the West Virginia Mountaineers this past season, and Jacob Coker, who sat behind Blake Sims for Alabama in 2014.
Perhaps known as the most successful graduate transfer, Russell Wilson played for the Wisconsin Badgers for one season after graduating from North Carolina State. Depending on the situation to where Miller transferred, he could find similar success on the field in 2015.
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