Two of the last three times that Ohio State
played for the national title (2002 with Craig Krenzel and 2007 with
Todd Boeckman) they had a "game manager" as their quarterback. Game
manager is a euphemism for mediocre signal caller; a field general who
won't win games for you, but he also won't lose any.
In the third instance, 2006, they had a Heisman trophy center under
in Troy Smith. In 2010, Adam Rittenberg of ESPN listed Smith as the "Big
Ten player of the decade."
Smith may have been the best of the three OSU QBs, but in that title
game loss, a 41-14 destruction at the hands of St. Tebow's Florida
Gators, Smith completed just four of 14 passes for 35 yards, and had an
interception, a fumble, and he was sacked 5 times.
The Buckeyes current QB, Terrelle Pryor,
has the potential to succeed where Smith failed and become a much more
complete quarterback than all the Ohio State QBs in the Jim Tressel era.
Yes, Pryor should be better than Smith. But he's not there yet.
Terrelle Pryor hails from Jeanette, Pennsylvania, but he should have
been born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania since his hype is bigger than
Jesus. Yes, I know the savior was born in a different Bethlehem, but you
get the point.
On game day, Pryor's ability to lead can command more larges masses
of people dressed in red than Vladimir Lenin and Nikita Kruschev
combined.
His numbers aren't all that spectacular yet, and they may never get to
be at the level of the Heisman QBs who thrived in more wide open
offenses.
But his numbers don't have to be. There's so much talent around him
that he doesn't have to beat the opponent all by himself. Against
Marshall Thursday night, Pryor was 17-25 for 247 yards, 3 TDs and most
importantly no interceptions. Very efficient and solid, but a far cry
from the flashy numbers of say, the Steve Spurrier "Fun n Gun" era.
In his last few games, Pryor isn't making a whole of mistakes. He
doesn't always take off running for his life when a play dissolves, and
he showed a lot more patience and poise Thursday night than he did
during much of his first two years on campus. He made a big stride from
the Michigan game last season to the Rose Bowl. And he made yet another
similar pace forward tonight.
At the post game presser, the reporter from Bucknuts.com (God I just love to say that domain name. BUCKNUTS! BUCKNUTS! BUCKNUTS!) said this to Coach Jim Tressel.
"It seemed like he (Pryor) stayed with plays longer, did not
anticipate trying to run the football quite as much as we'd seen the
last two years and was that part because he had maybe better protection
than he had? They gave up only one sack tonight.
Tressel's response:
"I think maybe a little bit of both. I think he has a much greater
handle on how the guys up front and the backs are going about their
protection and he's involved in the discussion on the line of scrimmage
as to what the line of protection is going to be, so he has a better
feel for where people are coming from and...growth that he's had. There
were some times where he sat back there and there was a lot of time."
And Terrelle Pryor was again comfortable when the mass of media
members swarmed around him. "I just felt real comfortable, and we're
such a close group that our togetherness is magic, how confident and
comfortable we are together goes a long way," he told us after the game.
If these trends continue, expect even more big plays from #2.
"For me it's a lot of fun any time you get a big play, you get the
crowd going, let them get their money's worth and just have fun with
it," Pryor stated.
After week one, it looks like Buckeye nuts will get certainly get their money's worth in 2010.
Written by Paul M. Banks, president and CEO of The Sports Bank.net , a Midwest-focused webzine. He is also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, the Chicago Tribune's blog network, Walter Football.com, the Washington Times Communities, Yardbarker Network and Fox Sports.com
You can follow him on Twitter @thesportsbank and @bigtenguru
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