What to do?

OSU Football

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Law Buckeye over at the Rivalry, Esq. asks “What to Do With Terrelle the Terrible“? It’s worth the time to read.

At this point, many of us are wondering that exact same thing. What to do? I think it was clear to everyone except Jim Tressel that Bauserman should have been given at least a chance to come in and see what he could do against Purdue. He couldn’t have done much worse, right? Instead, Pryor comes back in and subsequently drops back to pass. Again. The Terrelle Pryor Project has, thus far, been stymied. It’s not time to give up, but it’s time to try something new.

This goes beyond his mechanical issues, his mental weaknesses and his overall psyche. No one is doubting his athletic abilities. It is clear the boy (and please, people, let us remember that he is a young man. Show the kid some respect) has been blessed physically. But they aren’t being used to the fullest. He needs to be put in situations where his athleticism is what matters, not his decision making. His maturity and growth has been nonexistent as a passing quarterback. For now, let it go. If it really loves you, it will find its way back to you.

Let him become a run first QB. Run only, even. It’s the wildcat with a back that is still a threat to throw the ball. When Pryor commits to the run, he does amazing things. The shimmy-shake with the hips. The long strides. He appears to be avoiding contact because I think he’s been told to do so. His golden shoulder isn’t so shiny now, so let him put his shoulder into someone’s chest and make them think twice of taking him on.

Split him out wide and let his speed and size abuse opposing corner backs. How quickly people forget how effortless his catch against Texas in last year’s Fiesta Bowl was. He could be doing this on a regular basis. As an excellent basketball player, we know Pryor should be able to jump out of The Horseshoe. Let’s see what happens there.

Heck, do what Law Buckeye suggests with the simplified version Vince Young’s primitive responsibilities. He’s already staring down Posey, so it can’t be that hard to tell him “Pick a man. If he isn’t open, RUN.” And make sure he sticks to it. There is no room for running east and west. Head up field, young man.

These are not new, original ideas. I doubt anything will ever come of this line of thinking. Who knows what the coaches are thinking at this point. I certainly don’t know what’s going to happen (actually, I do, but the optimist in me still hopes something will change). Something has to change.

Comments

  1. chocochuck says

    Not everybody is the perfect quarterback in the world, everyone does — throws interceptions, fumbles the ball, steals from you, steals from me. I just feel that people have to give him a chance.

  2. Another reason or two that Pryor has not had success throwing the ball this year compared to last year:

    1. The Ohio State running game is terrible. That means PA passing is totally ineffective. No reason for the secondary to peak into the OSU backfield. They can hang back and cover the young OSU WR’s. LBers don’t have to worry about the TE’s because they go unused. Jake Stoneburner has gone totally unused and he is a freak of an athlete.

    Last year, OSU had Chris Wells and a veteran offensive line. This year, it’s been a gaggle of ineffective running backs and a mishmash of linemen. Bottom line…last year playaction worked. This year it doesn’t.

    2. Terrelle Pryor is not a feared ball carrier. He is averaging 4.3 yards per carry. Again, when the defense can assign a defender or two to spy Pryor, the secondary doesn’t have to worry about accounting for Pryor running the ball.

    The problems on the offense run far and wide…

    From coaching, to scheme, to young players making mistakes…

    There is a lot to fix…not just Pryor.

    PS. He looked pretty good in the 4th quarter…

  3. el Kaiser certainly echos what a lot of us are thinking but we certainly heard tonight what the coach says. “No changes, not a chance Pryor won’t start or sit out any series” according to Jim Tressel. Wow… Bauserman, probably a more polished QB coming into the program that TP will be leaving, what Joe must be thinking… what does it take? Compare that to how Cincinnati Bearcats coach Kelly handled the recent re-injury of his star QB. “It’s going to fall on the offensive play-calling,” Kelly said. “It’s going to fall on making sure we get the right kind of calls for whoever the quarterback is.” Notice the difference, with Tressel it sounds like it’s all on the kids and that’s exactly how Cooper sounded in his final years. A sordid tale indeed.

  4. Joe Bauserman is not better than Terrelle Pryor.

    Cincinnati is not better than Ohio State.

    PS. How many national title, league championships and wins vs rivals does Kelly have?

  5. …and, the problems surrounding OSU’s offense goes far deeper than Terrelle Pryor…and it starts up front.

  6. Kade – all good points… I respectfully disagree on a few things:

    >>The Ohio State running game is terrible. That means PA passing is totally ineffective.<< Not so - the OSU running game has been quite consistent and effective... OSU is #5 in the Big Ten in rushing offense (a stat that includes the past two weeks of rushing fail). The problem isn't that they can't rush, but that Tressel isn't doing it. Last week, Saine was averaging 6 yards per carry, and only carried the ball once in the second half. Once. That's why PA wasn't working. >>Last year, OSU had… a veteran offensive line. This year, it’s been… a mishmash of linemen.<< OSU's line this year is heads and tails better than last... last week was the first game this season where the line had problems. In fact, graduating that last class of senior linemen was the best thing to happen to OSU in years. The last of that bad batch that we are still stuck with is Browning - and you saw the pile of fail that he was last weekend. OSU's offensive fail is _entirely_ on the coaches' shoulders. They have the tools, but have never utilized them properly. It's like they're befuddled - they have yet to come to grips with how to utilize the weapons at their disposal. How can they develop Pryor properly when they can't even be decisive about their own offensive approach? The poor kid has been asked to run FIVE different offensive schemes since his arrival here: - Boeckman's pro set (first few games of 2008 season) - abandoned - Pistol (middle few games 2008) - abandoned - Truncated pro set customized from Smith's era (last half 2008) - End of season - Complete Smith playbook - (First few games 2009) - abandoned - Shotgun spread zone-read option (current) When the coaches aren't sure about the team's identity, is it really a shock that Pryor isn't either? It's very unusual for Tressel to be as confused as he appears to be now.

  7. Thanks for the response. I will have to return the favor and respectfully disagree with you disagreeing with me….or something.
    Correct, OSU is ranked 5th in the Big Ten in rushing, which is good for 48th in the country overall. They are also averaging 4.2 yards per carry this year and that is good for 55th in the country. I would agree with your point if I saw that OSU was averaging more yards than that, but they aren’t. The running game has struggled this year aside from a couple games.
    Ohio State also ranks 4th in the Big Ten and 25th overall in number of rushing attempts. The bottom line is that Ohio State IS running the ball…they just aren’t having success with it like last year.
    Last year, Ohio State was 3rd in the Big Ten and 28th in the country in yards per game. They were also 4th in the Big Ten and 14th in the country in rushing yards per carry. Both categories are down this year for OSU.
    Tressel continues to run the ball…it’s just not working.
    I also respectfully disagree with this year’s offensive line being head and shoulders above last years. The problems for this offensive line started vs. Navy. That’s right…Navy. Pryor had pressure all day and OSU averaged only 4 yards per carry….terrible. The problems continued vs. USC. Ohio State then got 3 big wins and all seemed well…until Wisconsin and Purdue…were again the line struggled. Now I don’t know which line is better or worse, this year’s or last…but I do know that this line continues to struggle and that is a fact.
    I do however agree with you on scheme. I’d love to see this offense used the same way the defense is used. Attack…attack…attack. All the time, every time. They don’t seem to have any fun out there and it shows. There is little to no creativity and it shows.
    The problem with each and every scheme they have run is the fact that they are very vanilla and basic forms of each offense. Rarely have they let the offense build on itself and evolve. It drives me insane.
    I’d love for them to hire a real offensive coordinator in the off season.

  8. I believe I mentioned the Pryor problems in an earlier post after the Wisconsin game. I never thought it would get as bad as it did vs. Purdue.
    Hang in there Buckeye fans. Better days HAVE to be ahead.
    Thanks.
    Al

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