Pryor Showing He’s Far ahead of Learning Curve – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/10/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Buckeyes QB not playing like freshman
By Rusty Miller – The Associated Press
COLUMBUS – Classes have been in session for a little more than three weeks at Ohio State. One freshman already has learned far more than the others.
Quarterback Terrelle Pryor is way ahead of the learning curve for a rookie playing the most demanding position in football. How else to explain his rapid rise from third-stringer to starter in less than a month? Or his leadership during the most dramatic moments of last Saturday’s victory at Wisconsin?
“The thing that we didn’t know, and I don’t think anybody could know, was how well and how quickly he would learn the offense,” Ohio State quarterbacks coach Joe Daniels said this week as the No. 12 Buckeyes prepared to play Purdue on Saturday. “… We felt he could throw the ball well, but he’s thrown the ball even better than that. But the biggest thing is him learning the offense. It’s amazing.”
Keep in mind that Daniels is in his 39th year of coaching and counts Pro Football Hall of Famer Dan Marino and Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith among his pupils. So when he gushes about the advancement that the 6-foot-6, 235-pound Pryor has made, it carries some weight.
There is also a growing stock of evidence on the field that Pryor is near the head of the class.
Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel echoes Daniels’ sentiment.
“For a guy to come in during August and step up – he’s passionate about learning,” Tressel said of Pryor. “He’s got an innate need for information and some guys don’t have that. Some guys would just rather go out and play, but he wants information because he wants to play as well as he can play.”
Against Wisconsin in his first road test as a starter, Pryor led the Buckeyes on a textbook drive on their first possession in a wild environment at Camp Randall Stadium. The Buckeyes faltered for much of the next three quarters on offense and trailed 17-13 when they regained possession of the ball with just more than 6 minutes to play.
As the offense assembled on the field, junior tailback Chris “Beanie” Wells turned to Pryor.
“I asked him if he was ready to step into manhood,” Wells said. “He told me, ‘Yeah.’ And he showed it.”
Pryor completed passes for 19, 27 and 13 yards and, with the crowd howling, covered the final 11 yards on an option keeper with 1:03 left for a 20-17 OSU victory.
The coolness under pressure Pryor showed on that drive isn’t taught. And it reminds some Buckeyes of the playing style of another OSU quarterback.
Alex Boone, now a senior, blocked for Smith three years ago while he was winning the Heisman and leading the Buckeyes to a 12-0 regular-season record. He feels as if he’s been down this road before.
“I see a Troy Smith emerging in (Pryor),” he said. “I see the toughness and the ‘I can make a play whenever I want to make a play’ and ‘I’ll get in someone’s face if I have to,’ ” he said. “I definitely see that coming.”
