Paterno holds no grudges on Pryor

He said the quarterback needed to make a life for himself — at Ohio State.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — The loser in the Terrelle Pryor recruiting sweepstakes gets his first up-close look at Ohio State’s freshman phenom.

Penn State coach Joe Paterno doesn’t have any regrets or hold any grudges.

“No, no. Everybody’s got to do what they got to do. You’re dealing with a kid who’s got to make a life for himself,” Paterno said Tuesday outside Beaver Stadium. “You’re dealing with people’s lives.

“It’s working out for him fine. I hope we beat him, but you know how that goes,” Paterno said.

As if Saturday’s game at the Horseshoe between the unbeaten No. 3 Nittany Lions (8-0, 4-0 Big Ten) and the No. 10 Buckeyes (7-1, 4-0) needed another storyline.

A year ago, the 6-foot-6 Pryor was the hot high school recruit, a freakish blend of size, speed and strength who made college coaches drool. The native of the Pittsburgh suburb of Jeannette was the only player in Pennsylvania high school history to rush for more than 4,000 yards and throw for more than 4,000 in a career.

Pryor’s reputation was burnished by his western Pennsylvania pedigree, hailing from a region nicknamed the “Cradle of Quarterbacks” for producing the likes of Dan Marino, Joe Montana and Johnny Unitas, among others.

Suitors lined up outside the front door of his high school. Rich Rodriguez had called, first at West Virginia, then from Michigan. Oregon was one of the finalists.

Adding to the drama was his last-minute and unusual decision to delay committing on national signing day, Feb. 6, after his father wanted him to take more time to consider Happy Valley.

Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley and quarterback coach Jay Paterno put on a full-court press, crossing paths with Ohio State coach Jim Tressel and his staff.

Joe Paterno was mistaken if he thought Pryor was locked up to Ohio State as a junior in high school, Tressel said.

“I guess we tricked him, because I’m not sure that was true,” Tressel said Tuesday.

During his deliberations, Pryor continued to give signs — unintentional or not — that he was leaning toward Ohio State.

Tressel said his confidence never wavered, though he did not take Pryor’s signing for granted.

“So for me to sit back and make the assumption that, well, I’m confident because this is the best place for him, that’s a little shortsighted, but I felt that he felt that way and if he continued to feel that way it would go our way,” Tressel said this week.

On March 15, Pryor had the opportunity to put a storybook ending on his recruiting when he won a state high school basketball championship at the Bryce Jordan Center, on Penn State’s campus.

Instead, clutching the trophy in his hand, Pryor didn’t sound too thrilled with the State College area, though he called Penn State a good school with good coaches.

Four days later, he signed with Ohio State.

“He’s going to be a great player. Good kid with a lot of poise. Handles pressure, knows what’s going on,” Paterno said Tuesday at his weekly news conference. “He’ll be one of the really good quarterbacks we’ve had coming out of this state.”

Pryor is off to an encouraging start for a freshman quarterback leading a team with BCS aspirations, though there have been struggles.

“To tell you the truth we have our own great quarterbacks,” said Nittany Lions cornerback Tony Davis, the senior from Howland. “[Pryor] chose to go to Ohio State.”