Ohio State sophomore quarterback Terrelle Pryor’s high school coach doesn’t like the way Jim Tressel is utilizing his former star.

From ESPN.com:

“They need Terrelle to run more,” former Jeannette (Pa.) High School coach Ray Reitz said. “They’ve put the reins on him and they need to let him go free. When I watch Terrelle play right now, I see a robot.”

Reitz, now the coach at Latrobe High, said Pryor was recruited on the premise of a more diverse offense.

“All I know is they promised him that they would teach him a pro-style system with both a shotgun and under center,” Reitz said. “Jim Tressel is a great coach and he’s been running his offense successfully for 30 years. But I’d like to see some zone-read plays where with one mistake [by the defense], he can be gone. With some zone-read plays, they wouldn’t be able to take away all the outside runs because he’d being a threat to go between the tackles.”

Reitz said he believes that Pryor is being affected by criticism — though he would never admit it.

“It’s gotten to the point where I turn the volume down when watching TV now,” Reitz said. “I believe the criticism has seeped into his mind. I’m sure there are some mechanical issues. But all I know is he was accurate when he was in high school.”

Reitz said it would be a mistake to move Pryor to wide receiver — a move which Tressel said does not figure into his plans.

“He would be a great wide receiver or even a great linebacker,” Reitz said. “But that doesn’t mean you should move him from quarterback. In fact, I don’t think he’d agree to a move to wide receiver. Give him time to grow. Put the ball in his hands and if there is a breakdown let him run. It doesn’t look to me like he’s relaxed. It doesn’t look like he has rhythm. It doesn’t look like he’s comfortable.”

Tressel’s questionable game planning and playcalling aside, Pryor hasn’t shown that he can handle even the basic fundamentals of the position yet. His footwork is sloppy, his mechanics aren’t sound and he isn’t accurate. So this notion that Tressel isn’t using him effectively is a moot point right now because Pryor needs to figure out the basics of the position first.

But I agree with Reitz that Pryor shouldn’t be moved to another position yet. If he continues to regress at quarterback, then Tressel can re-assess the situation at the end of the year. But Pryor is only a sophomore and is still learning so at least for the time being, OSU should continue to try to shape him as a quarterback before moving him to another position.

After turning in one of the more pathetic offensive displays in recent memory, No. 7 Ohio State was shocked in West Lafayette on Saturday as Purdue beat the Buckeyes 26-18.

His final numbers (17 of 31, 221 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs) don’t do justice to how bad sophomore quarterback Terrelle Pryor was today. Midway through the third quarter, he was just 7 of 14 passing for 84 yards with interceptions. And his fumble in the second quarter killed a potential scoring drive.

Pryor has all the physical tools to succeed, but Jim Tressel was wrong when he said this summer that the sophomore was developing as a passer. He’s not. His decision-making isn’t very sound and he’s not good enough to overcome turnovers, which was evident today.

That said, Tressel hasn’t helped Pryor in his development. His play calling and in-game decisions are often befuddling and he clearly isn’t the right person to nurture a quarterback as skilled as Pryor. Also, Ohio State’s running game was non-existent on Saturday, which is staggering considering Purdue was allowing over 160 rushing yards per game coming into today.

This was a sad offensive display by the Buckeyes and they deserved to lose with the way they played. But let’s give credit to a Purdue team that took advantage of the opportunities that it was given. They could have opened the door for an Ohio State comeback when the Buckeyes added a field goal early in the fourth to cut the Boilermakers’ lead to 23-10. Instead, Purdue added a field goal of its own to all but put the game out of reach.

This was a nice victory by a Purdue team that many people figured would just play dead today.