Fiesta Bowl Will Be Last Chapter in Braxton Miller's Complicated Legacy

When Braxton Miller takes the field for Friday's Fiesta Bowl, he'll do so with nearly 9,000 yards and 88 trips to the end zone already to his credit in his college career. In a matchup between two of college football's most storied programs, neither Ohio State nor Notre Dame have seen many players as productive as Miller, the Buckeyes' all-time leader in total offense and career touchdowns.

Yet despite all that the Huber Heights, Ohio, native has accomplished since arriving on campus five years ago, there's always seemed to be a sense of "what could have been?" when it comes to his time at Ohio State. Perhaps that's most evidenced by the circumstances surrounding what will be the final game of his college career, which will double as his final opportunity to add a postseason win to his resume.

Eye-popping box scores, even more breathtaking highlight-reel plays, but a lack of signature victories for a player who spent the first three years of his college career as a quarterback.

As Braxton Miller's final game as a Buckeye approaches, what will his legacy be?

Much like his college career, it will likely be complicated.

Catching a Break

In fairness to Miller, the final game—and to a larger degree, season—of his college career shouldn't be considered the defining one. After serving as a quarterback for three seasons, Miller went from throwing passes to catching them, converting to a full-time wide receiver just prior to the start of the 2015 campaign.

Through the 6'2", 215-pounder's first 12 games at his new position, the reviews have been mixed.

After starting his senior season off with a bang, totaling 140 yards of total offense and two touchdowns in a 42-24 win over Virginia Tech, the remainder of Miller's season was inconsistent at best. Used primarily as a wide receiver, but also as a Wildcat quarterback, he totaled 563 yards of offense (328 receiving, 235 rushing) and four touchdowns (three receiving, one rushing) on 64 touches (23 receptions, 41 rushes), showing flashes of his playmaking ability—just not on a week-to-week basis.

Joe Robbins/Getty Images

''He's learning the game,'' Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer said after Miller caught just six passes in his first four games at his new position. ''He's learning how to be a perimeter blocker for the first time in his life. He can't play receiver here and not be great at it. That's the transition he's going through. It takes time.''

Barring a breakout game against the Fighting Irish, however, Miller's senior season will likely be remembered for arguably the most exciting play of his college career—although he ranked his jaw-dropping spin move against the Hokies second—and the loyalty he showed in staying at Ohio State after rumors of an offseason transfer ran rampant.

But while Friday will mark his final chance to make a real impact as a pass-catcher for the Buckeyes, the bulk of his legacy in Columbus was written long before his switch to his new position.

"You start your head coaching career at Ohio State with a .500 [record]"

The season that most encompasses what Miller's meant to the Ohio State program came in 2012, when he was just a sophomore learning a new system under his fourth head coach in a three-year span.

After serving as the Buckeyes' lone bright spot, earning Big Ten Freshman of the Year in an otherwise tumultuous 2011 campaign, Miller found himself not just the centerpiece, but at times, the only piece of Meyer's first offense at Ohio State.

While the rest of the Buckeyes roster was recruited for Jim Tressel's more run-oriented offense, Miller proved to be an instant match for Meyer's spread system, totaling 3,310 total yards of total offense and 28 touchdowns en route to being named the Big Ten's Most Outstanding Player.

Those numbers, however, only tell a part of the story when it comes to how vital Miller was to Ohio State's success in its first season under Meyer. Leading the bowl-ineligible Buckeyes to a perfect 12-0 record, he totaled 20 or more carries in half of Ohio State's games, with Meyer joking that his offensive options were essentially "Braxton left or Braxton right."

Or maybe Meyer wasn't joking at all. Either way, what is clear is that the Buckeyes offense—and perhaps, season—would have been a mess three years ago if not for Miller.

Sam Riche/Associated Press

"If you don't have that kid, you start your head coaching career at Ohio State with a .500 [record]," Meyer said in November. "Braxton was an ultimate competitor and is an ultimate competitor."

Miller continued to mean plenty to Meyer's offense in 2013, earning Big Ten MVP honors for the second straight season as the Buckeyes extended their winning streak to 24 games. But Ohio State's national championship bid would ultimately fall short with a loss to Michigan State in the Big Ten title game, which it then followed with a defeat at the hands of Clemson in the Orange Bowl.

After losing to the Tigers in Miami in a game played nearly two years prior to Friday's Fiesta Bowl, Miller had intentions of testing the waters of the draft and potentially turning pro.

Instead, a shoulder injury suffered against Clemson would change the course of his football career.

"People were saying they forgot about me"

If 2012 was the banner season in Miller's college career, then 2014 was where it gets complicated.

After a Vic Beasley sack in the Orange Bowl led to offseason shoulder surgery, Miller's injury became much more serious when he tore the labrum in his throwing shoulder during a preseason practice two weeks prior to the start of the 2014 campaign.

"It was devastating," Meyer said of the injury at the time. "I didn’t see exactly what happened, because I thought someone hit him. I went berserk."

Miller wasn't hit, making the shoulder injury all the more concerning. Ranked fifth in the preseason AP Top 25 before the loss of their star player, the Buckeyes' national title hopes appeared to be all but dead as Miller would take a medical redshirt and with hopes of returning for one last run as a quarterback in 2015.

Jay LaPrete/Associated Press

But despite suffering a loss to Virginia Tech in the second week of the season, Miller's replacement, J.T. Barrett, would prove to flourish under Meyer. The eventual Big Ten Quarterback of the Year, Barrett led Ohio State to an 11-1 regular-season record before an injury of his own opened the door for Cardale Jones to quarterback the Buckeyes to three postseason wins and the first-ever College Football Playoff championship.

As his season on the sideline continued, Miller appeared more distant from the team, eventually watching games from the coaches booth in the press box.

The Meyer era in Columbus had arrived, and arguably ahead of schedule, as Miller went from big man on campus to afterthought on a national title team.

"It was hard times," Miller admitted to Sports Illustrated's Pete Thamel. "J.T. was doing well, and people were saying they forgot about me. Then J.T. got hurt, and Cardale was doing good. Then they forgot about J.T. ..."

The Final Chapter

That was until this past offseason, when a three-man quarterback controversy between Miller, Barrett and Jones captured the imagination of the college football world. All three had legitimate claims to the Buckeyes' starting job, but only one could play the most important position in Meyer's offense.

Only Miller never made it there, announcing his switch to H-back/wide receiver a few weeks before the start of fall camp. And while the results haven't been what many imagined they'd be at the time, he's shown enough promise to make himself an intriguing NFL prospect at his new position, having already accepted an invitation to play in next month's Senior Bowl.

And while Miller's move to wideout may have been motivated by self-interest, the grace in which he's handled his transition should not go unnoticed. Despite not receiving the touches he's used to, Miller has not once complained publicly, only doing so privately in the competitive manner that Meyer admires in his players.

Jamie Sabau/Getty Images

"I'm not ashamed to say that we owe Braxton Miller," Meyer said during an October appearance on his weekly call-in show.

Because while the Buckeyes may have won last year's championship without Miller on the field, Meyer also knows that doing so wouldn't have been possible without all that he already accomplished in the years prior. Not only did he keep Ohio State in the win column its first two years under Meyer, but he helped make the Buckeyes the "flavor of the month" on the recruiting trail, helping attract key talent to Columbus for their national title run.

Without that, the success that Meyer has found, including a 49-4 start to his Ohio State coaching career, may have never been found. And perhaps that—in addition to the records broken and hours of YouTube-worthy highlights—is what Miller will be most remembered for during his time with the Buckeyes.

"If you don't get momentum, then those other great things just don't happen," Meyer said. "It certainly doesn't happen in that kind of time frame.

"He just means a lot to us."

Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten lead writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.