Tag: Terrelle Pryor (Page 10 of 15)

      2009 College Football Week 10 Point Spreads & Odds

      November 3, 2009 /

      Along with a complete list of point spreads and odds for Week 10’s action in college football, here is a quick-hit look at some of the marquee matchups:

      No. 9 LSU at No. 3 Alabama, Saturday, 3:30PM ET
      After losing to Florida in Baton Rouge three weeks ago, LSU has rattled off two wins in impressive fashion. While Auburn and Tulane aren’t powerhouse opponents, the Tigers combined to score 73 points in those games and showed an offensive pulse. But can they do the same against a worthy defensive opponent like Alabama? The Tigers only mustered three points against the Gators and will certainly have their hands full trying to move the ball against a Tide defense that ranks No. 4 in the nation and should be well rested coming off a bye.
      Odds: Alabama –7.5.

      No. 8 Oregon at Stanford, Saturday, 3:30PM ET
      Oregon is one of the hottest teams in the nation right now, but will they suffer a letdown after beating No. 5 USC last week? Stanford has been solid at home this year, beating previously ranked Washington 34-14, UCLA 24-16 and a decent Arizona State team 33-14. They had defensive troubles in road losses to Oregon State and Arizona this season (and also lost to a pesky Wake Forest team earlier in the year), but otherwise the Cardinal has been competitive. The Ducks’ offensive attack is firing on all cylinders right now, but the game this week in Stanford is far from a gimmie.
      Odds: Oregon -6.

      No. 16 Ohio State at No. 11 Penn State, Saturday, 3:30PM ET
      If either of these teams wants to keep Iowa in their sites in the Big Ten, a win is a must this Saturday in University Park. Since his brutal display in Purdue three weeks ago, Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor has looked better the past two weeks. But Minnesota and New Mexico State don’t have the kind of defensive prowess that Penn State has and Pryor could be in for a long day on Saturday. The Lions have been outstanding since their loss to Iowa in late September, rattling off five straight wins while beating opponents by a 176-43 margin. The Buckeyes’ defense should be up for the challenge, but will Pryor?
      Odds: Penn State –4.

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      College Football

      Pryor rebounds as Ohio State beats Minnesota

      October 24, 2009 /

      After his dismal effort last week in a loss at Purdue, Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor rebounded as the Buckeyes trounced Minnesota 38-7 on Saturday.

      Outside of his 62-yard touchdown pass to DeVier Posey early in the second quarter, Pryor looked as bad in the first half as he did against Purdue. He underthrew open receivers, forced passes into coverage and threw an interception right before half that killed a potential scoring drive for the Buckeyes.

      But in the second half, Pryor used his legs to move the chains and his decision-making was much better. On one play in particular, he escaped a potential sack and once he scrambled towards the sideline, he threw the ball away instead of forcing it to a covered receiver. He finished 13-of-25 for 239 yards, two touchdowns and the one interception, while also rushing for 104 yards on 15 carries.

      This performance certainly doesn’t erase how bad Pryor has looked at times this season, but maybe the game will give him confidence going forward. Maybe he did learn something from the loss to Purdue last week.

      Minnesota gave Ohio State so many opportunities in this game. They turned the ball over four times, which included fumbling the opening kickoff of the second half. Without receiver Eric Decker, the Golden Gophers are absolutely hapless offensively.

      College Football

      LeBron reaches out to Terrelle Pryor

      October 22, 2009 /

      Cleveland Cavs’ star LeBron James has recently started reaching out to Ohio State sophomore quarterback Terrelle Pryor, who has come under criticism lately after his poor performance in the Buckeyes’ loss to Purdue last Saturday.

      From ESPN.com:

      “[I’m] trying to mentor him and get him through ‘life in the spotlight,’ which I’ve been through,” James said after a preseason game in Columbus on Wednesday night.

      James said he has been speaking to Pryor on the phone in recent weeks to try to help him deal with celebrity at a young age. James knows something about that, since he appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated under the headline “The Chosen One” while he was still in high school in Akron, Ohio.

      “Being that No. 1 guy, how do you adjust to it and how do you get through it and still perform at a high level?” James said. “Sometimes it can be very difficult on [a young athlete]. I’m trying to be that guy who can really help him get through a lot of situations which he’s never seen before but now he’s seeing and understanding.”

      Pryor said the bad game at Purdue had helped open his eyes.

      “That opened me up to the world and opened me up to myself and who I am as a person,” Pryor said. “I think maybe that was the best thing to happen to us last week. Maybe we’ll learn from it. We’re having real good practices, and we’re just trying to get the fans back on our side.”

      Pryor seems to have a good head on his shoulders and generally wants to excel at the collegiate level. Hopefully he doesn’t succumb to the pressure and criticism of the media and tanks the rest of his career because he has plenty of athletic talent.

      This is when Jim Tressel needs to step up and do everything he can throughout the week and on Saturdays to ensure that Pryor succeeds. If that means scaling back the playbook and giving Pryor only 10 plays to master, then so be it. Spreading out the offense and trying to fit a round peg in a square hole won’t work and Pryor will only continue to struggle.

      It’s great that a star like LeBron is willing to help a student athlete out. But he isn’t going to be around Pryor all the time like Tressel is. Maybe Tressel’s future at Ohio State should be tied to how Pryor develops over the next couple years. (If it isn’t already, that is.)

      College Football

      Terrelle Pryor’s HS coach: Tressel should let him run more

      October 21, 2009 /

      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.

      College Football

      Should Ohio State bench Terrelle Pryor?

      October 20, 2009 /

      Gerardo Orlando of Cleveland Scores wonders whether or not Ohio State should bench highly touted sophomore quarterback Terrelle Pryor.

      As an Ohio State fan, it’s hard to imagine watching Pryor play quarterback for two more seasons. The Buckeyes are loaded on defense, and they have a solid offense as well, even with a mediocre offensive line. All they need right now to compete is a quarterback who can hit open receivers and avoid turnovers. They don’t need a Vince Young or even a Troy Smith. Put Craig Krenzel on this team and the Buckeyes are competing for a national championship. Instead, we have the Terrelle Pryor train wreck, and an excellent defense is being wasted.

      Pryor chose Ohio State because he wanted a program that could help him develop as a future NFL quarterback. That seems like a pipe dream now. The kid needs to focus on just being a competent college quarterback.

      What should Tressel do? Would sitting Pryor help? Tressel needs to consider this if Pryor continues to turn over the football. He owes it to the other players on the team.

      In the meantime, short of benching Pryor, Tressel needs to rethink what he’s trying to do on offense (the issue of Tressel calling the plays will be addressed another time). We can see he’s already tried to incorporate the option more into the offense, but we’re seeing that Pryor’s instincts aren’t much better there. Perhaps with practice he’ll get better, as the option at least plays to his running ability. Tressel should toss aside a good chunk of the playbook and go to a much simpler offense. Focus on running the football, the option, and other Wildcat-type plays, and have Pryor make much simpler throws that play off the running game. Dig up old tape from Oklahoma and Nebraska from the 1970’s, or even most of the Woody Hayes years. Keep it simple until the kid shows he can handle more.

      Buckeye fans often get frustrated with Tressel’s conservative play-calling, but opening up the offense is not the solution here. He has to pull things back and start over. And, if Pryor can’t cut it in a simpler offense, then Tressel will have to make a change.

      Well said. I could get into all of the things Pryor is currently struggling with, but the article does a nice job going into detail about the sophomore quarterback’s issues with arm strength, accuracy, mechanics, pocket presence, decision-making and leadership.

      I find it interesting that Pryor was between Ohio State and Michigan two years ago and he might have been a better fit for Rich Rodriguez’s offense than Tressel’s. Not that Pryor has run the option well at OSU, but at least Rich Rod could have exploited Pryor’s running abilities.

      That said, hindsight is always 20/20. If Pryor isn’t cut out to be a collegiate quarterback, then Ann Arbor wasn’t going to solve his issues.

      College Football

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