Ohio State Football: 5 Reasons Why Buckeyes Will Be OK with Kenny Guiton at QB

The Ohio State Buckeyes proved that they can still win games with Kenny Guiton at quarterback instead of Braxton Miller against the Purdue Boilermakers.

The Buckeyes, who found themselves trailing the Boilermakers at home throughout most of the game, lost Miller late in the third quarter to an apparent head/neck injury. Miller was later taken to the hospital to have his injury examined.

Guiton stepped up big time for the Buckeyes, leading the team to a come-from-behind victory behind his 6-of-11 and 77-yard performance.

While there hasn't been an update on Miller's status as of yet, it would appear that he could very well spend some time recovering from his injury. With Miller on the shelf, the Buckeyes will need to make some adjustments to the offense, but as Guiton showed, they can still find ways to win.

Here's why Ohio State will be just fine without their Heisman-candidate quarterback.

Update 11:35 ET: Paul Myerberg of USA Today reports:

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After he was examined by the staff at Wexner Medical Center, Ohio State found that Miller was "symptom free of all ailments" and was "doing fine."

"He is in the process of being released from the hospital," university spokesman Jerry Emig said.

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Urban Meyer

Simply put, Urban Meyer knows how to coach quarterbacks.

In Meyer's entire coaching career, there hasn't been a single quarterback that hasn't been successful running his offense. While much has been made of Braxton Miller's season—and rightfully so, he's been phenomenal—the fact is much of Miller's success can be attributed to Meyer's ability to put his quarterback in the right positions.

Kenny Guiton is a different quarterback than Miller. Even in the relatively small portion of the game he played in against Purdue, the offense was different. While Miller had 12 rushing attempts through three quarters, Guiton only registered two rushing attempts, and the Buckeyes completely abandoned any designed runs for the quarterback.

Miller's dynamic running skills will be missed, but remember, Meyer's offense was run just as successfully with Chris Leak and Alex Smith as it was by Tim Tebow.

Meyer will put Guiton in a position to succeed moving forward.

Kenny Guiton

For all of Urban Meyer's quarterback wizardry, Kenny Guiton isn't a bad quarterback in his own merit.

It helps that Meyer is an offensive guru, but the presence of Guiton shouldn't severely limit the Buckeyes offense. In fact, an argument could be made that Guiton is a better pure passer. As a junior, Guiton has gained plenty of experience as a backup and showed in the spring game that he is capable of making the throws that he'll be called upon to make as the starter.

Guiton came to Ohio State as a 3-star recruit out of Houston, Texas, and has patiently waited behind Terrelle Pryor and now Braxton Miller.

As a career backup, Guiton understands that this may be his only time to shine in his career. Combine that with his talent and he should give the Buckeyes what they need in the passing game to finish the season strong.

Carlos Hyde

Kenny Guiton got the credit for coming in and managing the come-from-behind win in overtime, but it was Carlos Hyde who really made the difference.

Hyde has come on strong as of late after a slow start to the season and should be a focal point of this offense for as long as Miller is out.

At 6'1", 235 pounds, Hyde is the type of back who can carry the load and pace this Buckeyes offense. When Meyer has made it a point to feed Hyde the ball consistently, the results have been highly successful.

Against Nebraska, Hyde carried the ball 28 times for 140 yards and four touchdowns on a day that Miller only completed half of his 14 passes for 127 yards. Hyde's ability to earn the tough yards between the tackles will be even more important for an offense that might lack some of the big-play ability it has relied on all year.

The Defense Is Improving

Despite the undefeated record, the Ohio State defense has been a big concern for the Buckeyes all season.

For a team with a traditionally elite defense, the Buckeyes have struggled to stop opponents, preferring to outscore teams with an explosive offense. Fortunately, that trend seems to have slowed against Purdue. The Buckeyes held a team that is averaging 32.8 points per game this season to 22 points and came up with key stops in the fourth quarter and overtime.

Throw in the fact that Purdue scored nine points off special teams and defense (a kickoff return for a touchdown and safety), and this was arguably the Buckeyes best defensive performance of the season.

This unit won't be confused for Alabama or LSU anytime soon, but the defense showed that it can be counted on to come up with stops when the offense is off to a slow start or struggling to put points on the board.

The Schedule

Even without Braxton Miller, the Buckeyes still look like the team to beat in the Big Ten.

The schedule simply doesn't look scary for Ohio State the rest of the way. With the exception of a season finale against Michigan at home, the Buckeyes should be favored in every game for the rest of the season.

A trip to Penn State next week probably offers the toughest challenge, but the Nittany Lions have only beaten one team this season with a winning record and are largely unproven. After that, the Buckeyes essentially get a bye week when they play an Illinois team that has struggled all season and has yet to notch a win in the Big Ten.

This gives the Buckeyes two games to really get the new-look offense in sync for games against the inconsistent Wisconsin Badgers and the rivalry game with Michigan.