Buckeyes could have QB Miller this week

Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said he is “fairly optimistic” that injured quarterback Braxton Miller will be able to play Saturday when the fourthranked Buckeyes play at California.

“Yeah, I’m fairly optimistic,” Meyer said Tuesday. “With everything I’ve been told, the improvement made between day 3 and day 4 [after a sprained knee] is very important and it’s usually substantial. I’m fairly optimistic.”

Speaking on the Big Ten coaches teleconference, Meyer said Miller has shown signs that he might be healthy enough to see action after spraining a medial collateral ligament in his left knee last weekend in a 42-7 win against San Diego State.

After several minutes on the turf, Miller limped to the sideline and was taken to the locker room by motorized cart. He returned to the sideline but did not play again.

Meyer said he saw Miller throw a few passes and then would evaluate him after he had practiced.

“We’ll know more [today] on if he’ll be available for the Cal game,” Meyer said.

Miller got treatment on the knee Sunday and Monday.

After watching the junior go through a “limited-capacity” workout Tuesday, Miller might be tested more in the final big practice before the Buckeyes’ third game of the season.

“It’s just, can he plant, can he move, and all of that,” Meyer said.

Hawaii

Special teams and safeties coach Chris Demarest was suspended one game by the Mountain West Conference for inappropriate sideline conduct in a loss Saturday to Oregon State. The conference said in a release that Demarest is prohibited from coaching in Hawaii’s next game Sept. 21 at Nevada. A conference official declined to give details, but the release said Demarest was suspended under a sportsmanship rule that governs obscene gestures and language toward other people during games.

Georgia

Junior Malcolm Mitchell, the team’s leading receiver a year ago, is expected to recover for the start of the 2014 season after having surgery to repair the ACL in his right knee.

Minnesota

Starting cornerback Briean Boddy-Calhoun is out for the season with a torn ACL in his left knee.