Recap and Celebrate

Oh, what a night! The stars all gathered in Columbus as the Buckeyes changed the course of their season with a monumental win over Wisconsin. A game like last night's deserves some celebration. After what all has happened surrounding the program in the last year, not many things could be sweeter than breaking the Badgers hearts when they were in such a vulnerable position. That win, as many of you already know, has given the Buckeyes a shot at playing in the Big Ten Championship barring NCAA punishment.

Miller's Feet Prove Vital

That championship may be one reason to celebrate, but there are many other reasons for Buckeyes to rejoice after that victory. The young Buckeyes have started to gel which should only continue to build better chemistry, and the consistency of Boom Herron will allow Braxton Miller and the other young offensive players time to get even more comfortable in their own skin as the season matures. It seems that this game should also be a huge confidence boost to the entire team but especially for Braxton. The Buckeyes offense proved that, not only can they move the ball against a solid front seven, but they can rely heavily on their solid running game. The running game picked up with the return of Mike Adams and Boom, but I find it hard to believe that we can't find room for Carlos Hyde to get on the field. The running game is powered by Herron and Jordan Hall, but Braxton has shown that he can be very useful as well.

Miller and the TE's Celebrate One of His Rushing TD's

Terrelle Pryor's coming out party was arguably his freshman year during the game at Wisconsin when he made a big 11 yard touchdown run on an option left which ended up being the game-winning touchdown. Pryor was 13/19 for 144 yards and an interception and rushed 15 times for 20 yards and another score in that game. Miller's stats were much better as he was under far more pressure than Pryor was with the 4-1 record that the Buckeyes had at that time. Miller ended up only 7/12 for 89 yards but threw for a touchdown and no interceptions in a must-win game, and he rushed 19 times for 99 yards and 2 touchdowns. Both of those rushing touchdowns were crucial. The first touchdown came on a 4th and goal where Miller had to juke out a defender in the backfield to find his way into the endzone. Miller made a quick cut, the same cut that caused him an ankle injury at Nebraska, and walked in for six. The second touchdown was on a play that brought back bad memories for Badger fans. Miller took off on an option left and wasn't touched as he outran the Badger defense for a 44 yard touchdown. That rush should have been the game-winner, but the Buckeye secondary broke down multiple times down the stretch and allowed Wisconsin to take the lead again. Then Miller's real heroics came into play on his longest pass of the season. A pass that has given Braxton confidence in himself. A pass that all but finished off the game for the Buckeyes and broke the Badgers hearts for the second week in a row. A pass that Buckeyes will be talking about for a long time. A pass that went a little something like this...

This is a win that the Buckeyes had to earn, and they did earn every bit of it. They deserved to celebrate, and celebrate they did.

Tomorrow, we must go back to business; but today we can celebrate. Enjoy this one Buckeyes, and to all the heart-broken Badgers; all I have to say is...

GO BUCKEYES!!!

Game Highlights: