Will Joe Bauserman Be the End of Luke Fickell at Ohio State?

The Buckeyes' two opening acts finished with disparate results; one dominant blowout against Akron and one nail-biting escape against Toledo.

While Toledo is certainly a much better team than Akron, they are not a better team than Ohio State.

Which leads one to wonder what went wrong in week two. Interim coach Luke Fickell stayed with one of his two co–starting quarterbacks for the entire game, senior Joe Bauserman.

Similar to three seasons ago, a huge road game looms in which the senior quarterback (Todd Boeckman then, Bauserman now) will likely take all the snaps despite the fans beginning to clamor for the younger dual-threat true freshman (Terrelle Pryor then, Braxton Miller now).

Pryor won the job thanks to a 35-3 loss at USC and Buckeye fans hope it will not take that kind of loss to get Miller into the mix again.

Unlike all the other turmoil and problems surrounding the OSU football program, quarterback is one position where Fickell had all four of his options available from spring ball onward.

Fickell has to fill in the gaps at receiver and running back for part of the season while his best options are missing.

The defense is going through a reloading season where inconsistent play will be expected at times.

But Fickell has full control over the quarterback position. By picking what seems to be the safe choice in senior Bauserman, Fickell may be playing himself right out of a job.

Bauserman looked steady against Akron, completing 12-of-16 passes for 163 yards and three touchdowns.

However, he relied heavily on his tight ends, with Jake Stoneburner catching four of those balls and all three touchdowns.

When Miller played against Akron, his throws appeared more crisp than Bauserman. Miller racked up 130 yards on 8-of-12 passing and was able to run a simplified offense with ease.

When Toledo came to town, the Rockets covered Ohio State's receivers long enough for Bauserman to be uncomfortable finding his best option.

His numbers dipped to 16-of-30 for 189 yards and one touchdown, again to Stoneburner.

Bauserman has proven he is solid at his best, but he will likely have more games like he did against Toledo when tougher Big Ten defenses come calling.

Why not go with the freshman who provides a much better running outlet for broken plays and build for the future?

Miller will have higher ups and downs as a freshman, no doubt, but he could likely make a couple of difference plays that turn the tide from a 8-4 season to a 10-2 season.

Fickell could probably win the full-time job with eight or nine wins as long as his team shows improvement and promise for the future with some wins down the stretch, including a win in Ann Arbor.

Playing a senior shows nothing for the future, as it is only playing for now.

The safe and short–sighted view of playing Bauserman may lead to the same record as playing Miller, but that will not be enough to win the job.

Fickell has the tools to win the Ohio State job but as proven against Toledo, he has a long way to go in learning how to use them.