QB Terrelle Pryor (official thread)

[osugrad21]

Zanesville

All's quiet in Madison, thanks to Pryor

Jon Spencer ? Gannett News Service ? October 6, 2008

Ohio State fans will fondly remember Saturday as the day the music died (again), along with one of college football's longest winning streaks and Wisconsin's dreams of a Big Ten championship.

They'll remember how the Buckeyes actually lived up to preseason hype, winning a tough game on the road in front of a nation anticipating another prime-time flop.
Most of all, they'll recall witnessing the birth of a quarterback.
With field position and the clock working against him, and the hallowed walls of a pulsating Camp Randall Stadium caving in around him, true freshman Terrelle Pryor made Wisconsin's defense disappear.
You know, like the school's disgraced marching band.
Pryor sucked the air of invincibility right out of Camp Randall, where the Badgers had won 16 in a row, by marching (pun intended) the Buckeyes 80 yards to a game-winning touchdown in the final 6:31.
Ohio State 20, Wisconsin 17. No strains of "On, Wisconsin" to interfere. Just the crashing of cymbals and blaring of trumpets to announce Pryor's arrival as a big game hero.
"As we said all along with Terrelle, every snap he gets, he learns from," coach Jim Tressel said. "He was under duress. They were going to make him do things with lots of people in his face. Did he come of age? I don't know if anybody's come of age. But he's improving."
Craig Krenzel's coming-of-age moment six years ago came in West Lafayette, where his 37-yard touchdown pass to Michael Jenkins on fourth-and-one lifted the Buckeyes past Purdue 10-6 and kept them on course to a national championship.
For Troy Smith, it came three years ago in Ann Arbor, where he accounted for 337 yards total offense and rallied the Buckeyes to a 25-21 victory over Michigan for a share of the Big Ten championship.

Cont...

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

Bob Hunter commentary: Pryor's biggest challenge may be in handling his success

Monday, October 6, 2008 3:04 AM
By Bob Hunter

After Ohio State's 20-17 win over Wisconsin, there was all kinds of talk about how Terrelle Pryor is growing up. It's funny, but I don't see it. Since the day the Jeannette, Pa., phenom arrived on the Ohio State campus, he seemed like a 30-year-old NFL veteran in a kid's body, or at least the body of a kid who has one-in-a-billion talent. The day he met the media hordes in Ohio Stadium on photo day, Pryor handled it like a guy who was preparing for his third Super Bowl. There was nothing in his demeanor, nothing in his words or facial expressions, nothing in his steely eyes, to indicate that he was anxious or wary in his new surroundings. Yes, he was a 19-year-old freshman sitting on the floor of a cavernous, 105,000-seat stadium that is one of the iconic symbols of college football, but he knew he belonged.
If you think about where this already has taken him in the short time since then, it's a pretty amazing story. A few weeks ago, he was playing a few series against Youngstown State and Ohio. He progressed to sharing time with sixth-year senior Todd Boeckman against then-No. 1 Southern California in Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on national television, then threw four touchdown passes in his first start against Troy. And Saturday, he led a winning touchdown drive in the closing moments of a road game against Wisconsin in a house of doom where the Buckeyes always have had trouble winning.
The spotlight obviously doesn't faze him and history apparently doesn't either. There's growth, yes, but it's not the kind you usually see from a young player, the growth in confidence as he gradually finds his comfort level. Somehow, Pryor already had it.
Cont...

[rocketman]

Don't know if grad21 posted it or not but Gregg Doyel of CBS was on Pryor's nuts! Doyel of all people! Matt Zemek of CFN, who has always been a great writer, wrote a great piece too. I'll link when I get a chance (posting from my phone...).

[Dryden]

Try here:

Scout.com: Instant Analysis: Ohio State-Wisconsin

Instant Analysis: Ohio State-Wisconsin

By Matt Zemek
Staff Columnist
Posted Oct 5, 2008

The long and storied history of Ohio State football has witnessed a parade of icons and images too numerous to count. Saturday night in Madison, Wis., a young man named Terrelle Pryor took one very big step toward earning himself a prized place in a proud program?s pigskin pantheon.

Any longtime observer of college football cannot deny the impression made by Mr. Pryor in his team?s heartstopping 20-17 triumph over a brokenhearted bunch of Badgers in Camp Randall Stadium. The greatest athletes of any age or era possess a magical ability to conquer the most daunting of circumstances, even when the odds seem stacked against them. In one drive that might soon acquire legendary, even mythical, status in the state of Ohio, the teenager wearing jersey No. 2 became a distinct No. 1 in the hearts of Buckeyes from Lisbon to Lima and Dayton to Defiance.

Football might be a 60-minute game, but everything you need to know about this ballyhooed Big Ten backyard brawl occurred in one segment of five minutes and twenty-three seconds, for it was in that length of time that Terrelle Pryor?with his Bucks trailing 17-13 and facing the prospect of a ruined season?staged a rally-round-the-flag fightback for the ages, squarely in the midst of enemy territory.

Cont'd ...

[matcar]

Originally Posted by osugrad21

Dispatch

Handling success...


Each week is obviously a new challenge for the team, but especially so for a young QB. He passed the test of playing in one of the Big 10's toughest environments and having to handle late game pressure. Now comes an expected win against Purdue. Can Pryor stay confident w/o getting too comfortable...that's what I thought shortly after the game. At this point, not much surprises me about this kid...he's got a world of talent and also seems to be fearless. If I was 19, this would definitely go to my head. How will Pryor handle it...should be fun to watch!

[osugrad21]

Scout$--It's Pryor Time for Ohio State

Rundown of how the team has improved with TP at the helm.

[martinss01]

Originally Posted by jmorbitz

The deep ball to Saine was thrown a little short,

a little short yes. but realistically it wouldn't have mattered. the cb jumped it and ran the route at which point saine became the cb. can't remember the kids name but he was very literally running the route before saine was 5 yrds from him. great job of film study there, good int. pryor should have either tried to get saine to break off the route and come short or check down. typically freshman mistake. it wasn't there and he tried to force it.

then later in the game they go back to the deep ball to Robo, and the DB was lucky enough to keep Robo's right hand down without being called for inference, but TP's throw was much improved from the first deep ball. The touch was there, Robo was in stride, and the pass came in right over his shoulder, which, I feel if Robo had control of his other hand that is a catch. But it didn't happen, so we should concetrate on the throw.

yep, that throw was perfect. would have hit him perfectly in stride. cb took the only option to prevent the completion he had. grabbed an arm and prayed the ref wasn't watching . id like to see robo get a little more physical in that situation but im thinking the shoulder is still bothering him.

And the last drive, it was great because he recovered mentally after some of the sacks and dropped passes from earlier. It was just TPoise.

thats what i have been most impressed with. he hasn't let the rush get to him. even after running 15 some odd times for 20 yrds his biggest mistake is "holding the ball too long". while he does stick to receivers a little to long, he definitely goes through his progressions and doesn't run when #1 isn't there. the hostile environment didn't even seem to affect him in a dramatic way. hard to not be impressed at this point.

Originally Posted by Taosman

The WRers didn't have a great game last night and provide help. Robo was all but invisible. That shoulder must be a mess. Hartline dropped several passes. And Small screwed up a sure TD catch by first running out of bounds and then flat dropping a well thrown ball. Posey and Sanz were factors. Maybe Small and Robo need to share more time with Posey and Sanz?

i agree on the shoulder issue for robo. he really hasn't looked the same since he went down on it hard on the td early in the year. but its typical for starting wr's to have difficulty with a new qb. i remember ginn, holmes, gonzo and the rest struggling during the transition from zwick to smith both in 04 then again in 05 coming off the suspension. its a big adjustment to make. but given another couple of games i think those drops will start to disappear.

[tugger5000]

It was good to see Terrelle play a full game. While he had a few mistakes, it's obvious that he has an incredibly bright future ahead of him.

I hope the coaching staff make the best use of his talents during his tenure at Ohio State. Being conservative when you're up on points has to go...

[Pryor2Posey]

Originally Posted by rocketman

Don't know if grad21 posted it or not but Gregg Doyel of CBS was on Pryor's nuts! Doyel of all people! Matt Zemek of CFN, who has always been a great writer, wrote a great piece too. I'll link when I get a chance (posting from my phone...).

Time is on Pryor's side, and soon opponents will run and hide - NCAA Football - CBSSports.com Live Scores, Standings, Stats

Thats Doyel on Pryor..

[Ballard4Heisman]

Rivals now ranks Terrelle in their QB power ranking at position 25. However, behind Daniels, Bradford, McCoy, Harrell, Reesing, Robinson, and Freeman.

College Football Power Rankings

[mross34]

Originally Posted by Ballard4Heisman

Rivals now ranks Terrelle in their QB power ranking at position 25. However, behind Daniels, Bradford, McCoy, Harrell, Reesing, and Freeman.

College Football Power Rankings

If you pointed out those quarterbacks because of the Big 12-Terrelle Discussion, Zac Robinson checked in at number 14.

[mross34]

I was just watching lexco's highlight reel of the Wisconsin game, always amazingly well done I might add.

http://www.buckeyeplanet.com/forum/1283749-post1.html

Check out the throw Pryor made to Small on the final drive at the 3:12 mark. How many QBs in college football would even think of throwing that ball, much less complete the pass.

[Tlangs]

I watched The Drive for the first time since Saturday night.....


i was amazed how much composure TP showed after the fumble, a couple sacks, another fumble. I was a nervous wreck during that final drive and after watching it a second time i walk away about 1,000 times more impressed.

Hopefully he can keep that level of focus for an entire 60 minutes. the QB who fit that ball into Ray Small through traffic is not the same QB that missed a wide open Posey. As Beanie, said......are you going to be a boy or man?

I think TP answered that question

[osugrad21]

Rivals$--Ohio State's Pryor Living up to Sizable Hype

Terry Bowden runs down his list of "wow" moments with TP.

[MililaniBuckeye]

Originally Posted by Pryor2Posey

Time is on Pryor's side, and soon opponents will run and hide - NCAA Football - CBSSports.com Live Scores, Standings, Stats

Thats Doyel on Pryor..

So get them now, people. I'm talking to you, Penn State. And to you, Michigan State. And to you, Illinois. (Not to you, Michigan. You have no chance. Not now. And not until Pryor is gone.)