Junior quarterback Braxton Miller (5) runs down the field for extra yards in a game against Buffalo Aug. 31 at Ohio Stadium. OSU won, 40-20. Credit: Shelby Lum / Photo editor
For the first time since going down with an MCL injury in Week Two against San Diego State, junior quarterback Braxton Miller will be healthy enough to play, coach Urban Meyer said.
“Braxton (Miller) will probably start, he had a good day today,” Meyer said Wednesday. “It looks like he’s pretty close to 100 percent.”
While Miller has been sidelined, redshirt-senior quarterback Kenny Guiton has stepped up for Ohio State, but Meyer said he is not sure if he will use both quarterbacks Saturday against Wisconsin.
“We’re still working through exactly how we’re going to use them to manage the game, but they both look good,” Meyer said.
For the second time in three years, OSU will sport alternate uniforms for a game against Wisconsin in Ohio Stadium. Meyer told media after practice Wednesday his team will don the same “rivalry” uniform Saturday that the Buckeyes wore in 2012’s home victory over Michigan.
“The feedback from the rivalry game last year is incredible. Not just from our players and recruits, but from Buckeye greats of old,” Meyer said.
When asked if he liked how the Buckeyes uniforms looked against Michigan last November Meyer said, “I liked the result of the look; I’m not so much into looks.”
Count redshirt-junior cornerback Bradley Roby in the camp of those who are excited about the apparel decision.
“There’s something about wearing a different uniform that just makes you play a little bit better,” Roby said. “That whole (night game) atmosphere added with that, it’s just going to be crazy.”
Roby added that night games are “electric. Everyone has all day to get drunk.”
Senior offensive lineman Jack Mewhort made it clear his focus will be more on the score after the game than what he dresses in beforehand.
“To me, it doesn’t matter. I want to win. I think it’s kind of cool for these younger guys, these freshmen that just got here that maybe have seen these jerseys the last four of five years on TV,” Mewhort said.
With the showdown airing in prime time nationwide as ABC’s Saturday Night Football game, the uniforms were selected for this weekend for a reason.
“This is one of the showcase games,” Meyer said, adding that Buckeye recruits will be in attendance.
Although Wisconsin is not traditionally known as OSU’s main “rival,” the players and coaching staff alluded to numerous reasons the Badgers are being considered so this week.
“Facts are facts. They’ve been to the Rose Bowl three years in a row, they’re the leaders of the Big Ten right now,” Meyer said. “It’s a challenge, and our players get it. I feel it around here. (This rivalry) comes from mutual respect.”
Roby said this game is one of the reasons he decided to come back to OSU after flirting with possibly entering the 2013 NFL Draft. The Suwanee, Ga., native said it wasn’t easy to watch the Badgers play in the Rose Bowl after he and his teammates went undefeated.
“When somebody takes what’s yours, you’re obviously not going to be happy about it,” Roby said. “Next time you see them, it’s going to be a fight.”
OSU and Wisconsin (3-1, 1-0) are set to kick off at 8 p.m. Saturday in Ohio Stadium.
