Colorado State University Athletics
Memorable Moments: Miller Finds Humor in the Record He Holds
10/17/2020 12:00:00 PM | Football
Nose guard sacked UNLV 10 years ago
So you're sitting at the pub with your buds, throwing back a craft brew or two. You're playing Colorado State football trivia – loser buys the next round – and the question is who holds the school record for sacks in a game?
Who you going with?
A Bell brother maybe? How about Joey Porter, Clark Haggans or Brady Smith? Shaq Barrett, possibly?
Get ready to pay up.
Honestly, Guy Miller wonders how many people would get the answer right. If he didn't know better – because the answer is him – he'd think it belonged to one of the program's rush ends or outside linebackers.
Nope, it's a nose guard, which makes it even funnier to him.
"You know it really does. I don't put a lot of credit into that record much," Miller said. "I do like to joke around with my friends that I hold that record. I do think that it's funny the fat guy in the middle now holds the record. That does make it a little funnier in my mind."
UNLV came to Hughes Stadium on Oct. 16, 2010, and by the time the day was finished, Miller had wrapped up Rebel quarterbacks 4.5 times. That broke a record shared by both Mike Bell and Brady Smith, who had each posted four in a game; Bell back in 1977, Smith tied it in 1995.
There are even more layers. Miller came to Colorado State as an offensive lineman. By his redshirt freshman year, the Rams lacked depth on the defensive front and shifted him. He was skeptical at first, because he said his knowledge of playing defense in high school was simply to chase after anybody with the ball. In Kansas, he was a stand-up defensive end.
But he had grown, and all the sudden, he found himself shedding blocks instead of making them.
There's more. The defensive system back then was for the defensive lineman to engage blockers so the linebackers could flow. It wasn't exactly an aggressive front, at least not in the middle. But he did grow to like it. And every game, that's what he geared himself up to do.
"I just went into the game thinking I'm going to hit the center as many times as possible and try to make some tackles and just do my thing," Miller said. "That's what I liked to do was just hit people. It was just I'm the guy who's dumb enough to sit in the middle and hit somebody 60 times a game, and I'm going to do that again this game.
"I mean, that was my job. I'd sit in the middle and battle it out and go as hard as I could. I usually played almost every snap, so that was my mindset – let's just go bang heads. I never thought I'd have a sack record that would still stand 10 years later."
The record – which also stands as the Mountain West record – is one Miller calls "pure luck." His technical breakdown was he had gotten better as a defensive lineman and UNLV didn't have a stout front. No more, no less.
While he wasn't keeping track, he did come to the realization that afternoon he was having one heck of a day. Then the sidelines started keeping tab.
"It's funny how it is. You can almost remember every game you played in. I remember getting one, then another and thinking, holy crap," Miller said. "I'm so out of breath half the time, you almost forget. Did I get another one? How many am I at? My coaches and teammates were keeping me up to date. They were more up on it than I was. I remember coming to the sideline and people are like, 'do you know how many you have?' Honestly, I don't know that I did at that point.
"I remember it. Honestly, I kind of remember each one in some way. One was me and Alex Williams; that was the one I got the half sack on. I had no idea what the record was or that I was going to break it. I was probably oblivious to be honest with you. I knew everybody else knew what was going on."
Thanks to Miller, the game became a rout for the Rams, 43-10. It led to the rare moment when everybody wanted to talk to the nose guard about his record-setting day. It doesn't happen often, so you enjoy it while you can.
Even still to this day. The record is still his, and he'll remind a few people – especially a teammate in particular who was interviewed quite often -- of that when he can.
"I work with Kyle Bell now, and I joke with him all the time nobody remembers the nose guard," Miller said. "That was the one time anybody remembered or even knew who I was.
"I do it all the time. Do you hold the sack record? No, you don't Kyle."
Who you going with?
A Bell brother maybe? How about Joey Porter, Clark Haggans or Brady Smith? Shaq Barrett, possibly?
Get ready to pay up.
Honestly, Guy Miller wonders how many people would get the answer right. If he didn't know better – because the answer is him – he'd think it belonged to one of the program's rush ends or outside linebackers.
Nope, it's a nose guard, which makes it even funnier to him.
"You know it really does. I don't put a lot of credit into that record much," Miller said. "I do like to joke around with my friends that I hold that record. I do think that it's funny the fat guy in the middle now holds the record. That does make it a little funnier in my mind."
UNLV came to Hughes Stadium on Oct. 16, 2010, and by the time the day was finished, Miller had wrapped up Rebel quarterbacks 4.5 times. That broke a record shared by both Mike Bell and Brady Smith, who had each posted four in a game; Bell back in 1977, Smith tied it in 1995.
There are even more layers. Miller came to Colorado State as an offensive lineman. By his redshirt freshman year, the Rams lacked depth on the defensive front and shifted him. He was skeptical at first, because he said his knowledge of playing defense in high school was simply to chase after anybody with the ball. In Kansas, he was a stand-up defensive end.
But he had grown, and all the sudden, he found himself shedding blocks instead of making them.
There's more. The defensive system back then was for the defensive lineman to engage blockers so the linebackers could flow. It wasn't exactly an aggressive front, at least not in the middle. But he did grow to like it. And every game, that's what he geared himself up to do.
"I just went into the game thinking I'm going to hit the center as many times as possible and try to make some tackles and just do my thing," Miller said. "That's what I liked to do was just hit people. It was just I'm the guy who's dumb enough to sit in the middle and hit somebody 60 times a game, and I'm going to do that again this game.
"I mean, that was my job. I'd sit in the middle and battle it out and go as hard as I could. I usually played almost every snap, so that was my mindset – let's just go bang heads. I never thought I'd have a sack record that would still stand 10 years later."
The record – which also stands as the Mountain West record – is one Miller calls "pure luck." His technical breakdown was he had gotten better as a defensive lineman and UNLV didn't have a stout front. No more, no less.
While he wasn't keeping track, he did come to the realization that afternoon he was having one heck of a day. Then the sidelines started keeping tab.
"It's funny how it is. You can almost remember every game you played in. I remember getting one, then another and thinking, holy crap," Miller said. "I'm so out of breath half the time, you almost forget. Did I get another one? How many am I at? My coaches and teammates were keeping me up to date. They were more up on it than I was. I remember coming to the sideline and people are like, 'do you know how many you have?' Honestly, I don't know that I did at that point.
"I remember it. Honestly, I kind of remember each one in some way. One was me and Alex Williams; that was the one I got the half sack on. I had no idea what the record was or that I was going to break it. I was probably oblivious to be honest with you. I knew everybody else knew what was going on."
Thanks to Miller, the game became a rout for the Rams, 43-10. It led to the rare moment when everybody wanted to talk to the nose guard about his record-setting day. It doesn't happen often, so you enjoy it while you can.
Even still to this day. The record is still his, and he'll remind a few people – especially a teammate in particular who was interviewed quite often -- of that when he can.
"I work with Kyle Bell now, and I joke with him all the time nobody remembers the nose guard," Miller said. "That was the one time anybody remembered or even knew who I was.
"I do it all the time. Do you hold the sack record? No, you don't Kyle."
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