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Now it's official. Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller's father told the Columbus Dispatch this evening that Miller would indeed be returning to school for his senior season and not long after, the university confirmed the news as well.
This seemed likely ever since Pete Thamel of Sports Illustrated released an article Saturday night stating Miller was expected to return. However, Bill Rabinowitz of the Columbus Dispatch and Doug Lesmerises of the Cleveland Plain Dealer refuted the report, saying Braxton had not yet made a decision on his future with the Buckeyes, leaving a little bit of uncertainty surrounding his status going into the 2014 football season.
I have it on very good authority that Braxton Miller has NOT made a decision on whether to enter the NFL draft.
— Bill Rabinowitz (@brdispatch) January 5, 2014
Miller has been Ohio State's starting quarterback for three seasons, going 26-8 as a starter. He has won both the Big Ten offensive player of the year and the Chicago Tribune's Silver Football award (Big Ten MVP, voted on by the coaches) two straight times. He could become the only player to be named Big Ten offensive player of the year three times if he's able to win the award again next season. The only other player with two is former Purdue quarterback Drew Brees, who won in 1998 and 2000.
His return is big for the Bucks as they're losing backup quarterback Kenny Gution to graduation. If he had decided not to come back to school, the Buckeyes would've been faced with starting either a redshirt freshman or redshirt sophomore at the position.
He threw for 2,094 yards and tossed 24 touchdowns to go along with 7 interceptions, while rushing for 1,068 yards to go along with 12 scores.