Not even injuries can hurt tight end Miller’s feelings

The season in which Brent Miller was supposed to make a name for himself has, from a personal standpoint, had its bumpy spots.

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Finally Arizona State’s featured tight end after his younger brother, Zach, moved on to the NFL, Miller had uncharacteristic fumbles in each of the first two games, then a knee injury kept him out of three contests.

However, when the senior makes note of the Sun Devils’ nine wins and top-15 ranking, his turbulent ride becomes a smooth comfort cruise. Winning is indeed the best medication for football aches and pains, something that Miller did not realize until this year.

“The last couple of teams that I’ve been on haven’t been very good,” Miller said. “We played in a bowl and everything, but it’s not the same as this season. It’s a lot more fun to be winning the way we have.”

Besides, Miller said that he has performed to the level he expected, even if the 6-foot-5, 237-pounder has not showcased his skills every week.

“He’s a huge key to what we do,” coach Dennis Erickson said. “When he is on the field, it increases our running game because of his ability as a blocker, and our passing game because of his ability as a receiver. But the biggest thing is his experience. He’s played in a lot of big games.”

Former coach Dirk Koetter sometimes said that a Miller brother had the best hands on the team — he just could not decide which one. Brent Miller played quite a bit in Koetter’s two-tight end set, but much of the responsibilities were handled by his brother, who chose to forego his senior season.

Zach Miller was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the second round and starts for them. The arrival of Erickson and his three-receiver system meant a lot more time on the field for Miller at the single tight-end spot.

“It’s been a big difference in going from, say, 30 plays a game to 80,” said Miller, who has 18 catches for 156 yards and a touchdown this season. “A lot of it is playing through fatigue and injuries. I’ve been banged up, and you can get tired quicker when you run so many routes in a row.

“Run blocking, running more routes … over a long drive, that gets to you.”

Erickson challenged Miller to improve his run blocking during the offseason.

“In the past, Zach had most of the run-blocking responsibilities because he is a little bigger,” Miller said. “I gained weight. The coaches said they liked me as a receiver, but they wanted me to improve my blocking. I feel I have.”

And Miller knows that improved facet of his game will make him more noticed by scouts. He will be in an NFL camp in the summer, a big reason that preseason talk of escaping from Zach’s shadow never bothered him.

“I was thinking more about what I wanted to accomplish to get where I wanted to be, not to compare myself to Zach,” Miller said. “Anyway, the better the team is, the more looks that all of us will get from scouts. You’ll see a lot of guys on this team get a chance in the NFL.”

His experience under Koetter at H-back, a second tight end who lines up in the backfield, gives Miller versatility that increases his pro stock. He could get a look at fullback.

However, what his scouting report says is not something that Miller spends a lot of time thinking about.

“If you do that too much, you can mess with your own head,” Miller said. “I think about what I need to do to beat the next team I play. If I focus on who is watching the game and what they think, I won’t get the job done.”

The next team for Miller to focus on is archrival Arizona, which visits ASU on Saturday night. With a victory, the Sun Devils could receive a Bowl Championship Series invitation.

And in a season during which Miller has had his share of pain, that would be the ultimate medication.

“Being hurt has been frustrating for him, but he’s been winning a lot of football games,” Erickson said. “The thing about Brent is that he is a team guy. The thing that is most important to how many wins we get as a team, not what he does individually.”

ARIZONA AT NO. 13 ARIZONA STATE

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6 p.m. Saturday, ESPN