Bucks, Tressel believe Pryor armed, ready

By Doug Lesmerises

Cleveland Plain Dealer

Terrelle Pryor threw it 37 times in Ohio State’s Rose Bowl win over regon. Is there any way that could be the new norm for the Buckeyes’ offense?

Tuesday at the Big Ten meetings, Jim Tressel wasn’t backing away from the idea. In fact, by Tressel’s estimate, Pryor could wind up throwing the ball this season more than any quarterback in Ohio State history.

Tressel said he expects to be a “25 to 35 passing team,” and anything closer to that higher end could be historic. Pryor averaged 23 passes a game last year. Thirty a game would give him 390 for the season and surpass Joe Germaine’s OSU record of 384 passes in 1998.

If Tressel’s interpretation is really not about throws but called passing plays, when Pryor will take off and run several times per game, the pure passing numbers won’t be as high.

But it’s really the sentiment that matters. Fans want to know if the Buckeyes will “open up” the offense, and it sounds like there should be more of that.

The Rose Bowl wasn’t an aberration.

“Terrelle would probably throw a lot more than his sophomore year,” Tressel said. “I think he’ll have a chance to do some things he loves doing, which is throwing the football.”

In his 23 games since he took over the starting job, Pryor has had 25 pass attempts in seven games and topped 30 throws only twice, in the Buckeyes’ failed comeback against Purdue last October and during his MVP performance in Pasadena.

But what seemed new against Oregon wasn’t that strange to the players who’d been practicing that style.

“The guys who had been there every day at practice knew what we were capable of and knew what kind of talent and potential we had on offense,” senior receiver Dane Sanzenbacher said. “As far as the way we performed, it wasn’t surprising to us. It just was nice to put all that work on the field.”

Don’t forget that Pryor’s numbers last year were skewed by the knee and ankle injuries suffered against New Mexico State. With his quarterback limited, Tressel adjusted over the final three game of the regular season, pounding the run as Pryor threw just 17 times in each game. Also backing up the more passing idea, Tressel was dropping the Troy Smith comparison on Tuesday, citing the way the future Heisman winner grew into the offense and gradually took more responsibility. Now Pryor’s on that path.

“Hopefully he’ll progress to being that third-year guy,” Tressel said.