Former Bulldog Miller plays for national title

Former Mississippi Gulf Coast standout Barron Miller will be feeling a lot of emotions Saturday, when his North Alabama team plays for the NCAA Division II title

He showed up in Perkinston without a scholarship and could go out on top in what's likely to be his final game.

"To go from a walk-on to being in a national champion game, it almost brings me to tears just talking about it," he said. "It's a dream and people used laugh because it was so farfetched sounding. To be in this game now, it's amazing."

The seventh-seeded Lions, winners of 11 straight, play top-seeded Northwest Missouri State at 3 p.m. in Kansas City, Kansas. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

Miller, who played at Wesson High School, is in a rotation at middle linebacker and starts on all UNA's special teams. He's got 21 tackles, 16 assists and 2.5 tackles for loss.

At Gulf Coast, he was a guy whose intensity had to be turned down in practice. After earning his way onto the roster, he played middle linebacker in 2012 as a freshman, making 14 tackles and assisting on two others.

Miller redshirted the following season, then piled up 28 tackles and 13 assists as a sophomore, having switched to defensive end. He had six sacks among ten tackles for loss, and recovered a fumble recovery and broke up two passes.

"We had to get on him all the time about going too hard," Gulf Coast defensive coordinator Steve Davis said. "He was hitting when he wasn't supposed to. He played hard every play. If you didn't play hard around him, he made you look bad."

Miller compares the success of the Lions' defense this year with the 2014 MGCCC defense that featured Jeremy Cutrer, Tony Bridges, Justin Evans and Maurice Swain, all of whom went on to play at FBS team, three in the SEC.

North Alabama ranks second in Division II, giving up just 13.3 points per game. The Lions face the No. 1 defense, with the Bearcats allowing only 12.6 points.

Both teams feature quarterbacks who were finalists for the Harlon Hill Trophy, the D-II Heisman. North Alabama is going for its fourth national championship, while defending champ Northwest Missouri is going for its third in the last four years and sixth overall.

Miller understands the ramifications of Saturday's game, from both team and personal perspectives.

"They line up in so many different formations," he said. "If we just get lined up and run to the football and we play physical, I think it will be a close game. If our defense plays the way we can play, we can win this game.

"It's going to be real emotional. It's going to possibly be the last time you ever get to play football. The last time you get to stay in the hotels, all the events. Thinking back from high school to now is amazing."

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