by Jesse Delerno
LSU Sports Information
Trailing the seventh-ranked Florida Gators, 24-21, with just over nine minutes remaining in an SEC battle last season of crucial proportions, the LSU offense lined up at its own 40-yard line, looking at its final opportunity to drive down the field for the go-ahead touchdown.
Center Ryan Miller stood on the sideline, helmet in hand, waiting anxiously for his chance to join his teammates on the field. Offensive line coach Greg Studrawa had reminded his versatile backup to be prepared for anything.
“Coach Studrawa had said, ?Just be ready. I may need you,’” said Miller.
And sure enough, he did.
Starting right guard Lyle Hitt went down with an injury after the offense had reached the Gators’ 35-yard line, and Studrawa turned to Miller to fill the void.
“You just never know,” Miller added. “One minute, you’re just sitting there, and your team is making the winning drive. Then, there’s an injury at the guard position. You hear your name called, and you just go in there, listen to (center) Brett’s (Helms) calls and play football.”
The Tigers didn’t miss a beat.
Following a small gain from tailback Charles Scott, senior Jacob Hester busted it up the middle for 19 yards, utilizing key blocks from Miller and left guard Herman Johnson, and the Tigers were in business. The offense then converted on a critical fourth-down play in the next set of downs to set up 1st and Goal inside the five.
Two plays later, the redshirt junior finally got his chance to be a part of the game-changing moment he had dreamed of since he stepped onto the LSU campus.
The play was a designed run up the middle. At the snap, Miller drove off the line, thrusting one Florida defender aside and powering another into the end zone. Hester followed the path his right guard had cleared for him and burst across the goal line for the go-ahead score.
Miller lay in the end zone, arms extended proudly in the air as the deafening roar of a record crowd of 92,910 reached its peak. The backup lineman felt on top of the world.
“I will always remember how loud it got in Tiger Stadium,” said Miller. “I just remember hearing it erupt. It was a great memory, and I will always remember that game.”
LSU held off the Gators that night in an epic victory, which proved to be vital in the Tigers’ 2007 national championship run. But, for Miller, the victory and the winning drive were the culmination of four long years, characterized by injuries and bad luck, and his fight to work his way back in the direction many envisioned he would take after a stellar prep career.
Playing alongside his brother, Mike, at Barbe High School in Lake Charles, Miller emerged as one the top offensive line recruits in the country and had offers from all over the nation. In his junior season, he chose his father’s alma mater, Texas A&M, over the others, but by his senior year, the blue-chip prospect began having second thoughts.
“I grew up an A&M fan,” Miller said. “My dad and my sister went there, and I had that tie to Texas A&M.
“When I got that call offering me a scholarship, it was like a dream come true. I jumped on it, but as my senior year rolled on, I started to come to some games at LSU, and there were so many people around here that made me feel like home. I realized that this was my home, and Louisiana was the place I loved.”
Miller decommitted from the Aggies and became another piece of Nick Saban’s superb recruiting class in 2004. However, his collegiate career didn’t take off initially like many had expected.
The head coach who had given him the opportunity to play for LSU left for the Miami Dolphins after his freshman season. Then, only six snaps into his first career game against Vanderbilt in 2005, Miller went down with a devastating, season-ending ACL tear, and he has since played in a reserve role.
Despite the setbacks, Miller has no regrets about his time at LSU. Instead, he has taken the time to learn multiple positions on the line and has embraced the role of the consummate team player.
“Anywhere that is going to help the team, I’ll go,” said Miller. “Whenever I get the opportunity to play, I give it 100 percent.”
Entering the season as one of a handful of fifth-year seniors, Miller would love to have another career-defining moment like the one he had in the Florida game, but that’s not what is most important to him.
“I want to have another successful season,” Miller said “That’s what it’s all about. I want to finish my senior season well with all of these offensive linemen I’ve enjoyed playing with.”