Then...thud. A silence cast over Buckeye Nation as Miller, who had injury problems in high school, went down with a right ankle injury from an upfield cut he made. Nothing that I saw would lead me to believe it's too serious of an injury, and the word is that he is questionable for this week. Questionable is good to start the week, much better than doubtful. Some said they even saw him walking around on the sidelines after his injury as if he wasn't really hurt but that he was scared to go back in. I call BS on that as he was tearing it up before the injury. Any competitor wants to get back on the field, especially when they're leading their team toward a big victory like Brax was. We'll see what Brax is made of over the next 3 weeks, but one thing is for sure; they need a plan B.
No matter if Braxton's injury is a bad one, if he continues to have injury issues, or if he's back full force this week; we need to have another plan. There is no way that Bauserman is that plan. NO WAY. The obvious choice is the guy who wears #13 and was getting ready to trot on the field at the end of the game last week before the Cornhuskers ran the clock out. Everyone wants to see Guiton get in the game, especially since we've seen that the coaches don't let players show any bit of how effective their mobility can be in practice. I understand that they don't want players to get hurt, but at some point you have to factor mobility into the mix. Guiton, and even Graham, deserve a shot before Bauserman gets back on the field. I would even take Jordan Hall and Carlos Hyde/Boom Herron in the Wildcat over seeing Joe Bauserman piss away another game.
The guy's stats are disgusting, and he has never made a play in a varsity game. Miami, 2/14 for 13 yds 0 td/0 int; Michigan State, 7/14 for 87 yds 1 td/0 int (against a prevent defense); and Nebraska, 1/10 for 13 yds 0 td/1 int. The only thing he has proven is that somebody else deserves a shot. Even as the coaches had continued to rely on the 'he isn't turning the ball over' line Buckeye fans were screaming for something else, but now he has thrown a pick while also tossing the ball into the stands pass-after-pass. Bollman's excuses for Bauserman have continued, and either Bollman wants to lose these games; or he has a serious man-crush. He gave Bauserman credit for completing mulitple passes which he did, but one was to Nebraska. That pick started their game-winning drive. He said Bauserman got really close on the long ball...yeah, the one that was intercepted. Bollman got pass-happy as soon as Bauserman checked into the game as he let Bauserman throw the ball and game away. What reasoning does Bollman have to abandon the run? It just goes to show how good these mobile QB's (T. Smith, T. Pryor, and B. Miller) are making him look, but it might have also been the result that Fickell needed to finally bring the hammer down on Bauserman's playing time and on Bollman's play-calling. Fickell taking charge? That, like Bauserman playing well, has yet to be seen.
