It was announced yesterday that Terrelle Pryor has decided to leave Ohio State before the start of his senior season.
Speaking for nearly all of OSU fans, all I can say to him is “don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”
Before this news was reported, there were two ways to look at Pryor. One way would be to see him as one of many players who participated in activities that led to Jim Tressel’s resigning. The other way to look at Pryor involved seeing him as the major reason why Tressel had to go. Either way, Pryor was involved and was a main factor in Tressel’s resignation.
Coming into OSU, Pryor was expected to be the next big thing. He was the top recruit in the nation and chose OSU over that hated team up North. He seemed like a good enough kid who had the body to be a future NFL quarterback, and this gave Buckeye fans a new sense of hope; but many now wish that he would have taken his “talents” to Ann Arbor.
In 2008 the starting QB for OSU was Todd Boeckman, who many wanted out in favor of Pryor. They split time early in the year, but as the year went on Pryor began to see most of the playing time. He was helped by star running back Chris “Beanie” Wells, who took the pressure off of Pryor. Pryor finished 2008 with 12 passing TD’s and a loss to Texas in the Fiesta Bowl. After that tough loss, Buckeye fans could not wait for 2009 to come around.
2009 was a good year for Pryor, but still not a great one. He went 10-2 with a Rose Bowl win over Oregon, but his weaknesses began to be apparent to many OSU fans.
First off, he never seemed to get enough zip on the ball when he threw a pass. He tended to lob passes, even ones into tight spaces. However, this did not matter during his fantastic Rose Bowl. He went 23-37 with 266 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also rushed for 72 yards en route to OSU’s 26-17 win over Oregon. Many analysts said that he would be an early Heisman candidate in 2010, which only made OSU fans forget everything that they didn’t like about Pryor.
2010 came around and OSU had another solid year. It was also Terrelle Pryor’s best year statistically, but maybe his worst mechanically. He finished the year with 27 TD passes and 2772 yards. The downside of his performance is shown by his 11 interceptions. He also threw at least one interception in every Big Ten game except the one against Indiana. The season ended with a win in the Sugar Bowl, but this came after the controversy began.
In reality, Pryor and the other OSU players caught receiving illegal benefits should not have been allowed to play in the Sugar Bowl. I am an OSU fan, but the NCAA made a joke of itself by allowing these players to play. It was clearly all about the money; that goes for the NCAA and the players.
As time went on, things only got worse for the Ohio State program. Pryor and the other players were suspended for the first five games of next season, along with then-coach Tressel. Once Tressel left, it was only a matter of time before Pryor left, which many OSU fans began to call for after he was seen driving around Columbus in a brand new car while he had a suspended license.
Did I mention that the car did not have a license plate on the back? This showed how ignorant Pryor truly is, and this announcement that he is leaving is great news for fans of OSU football.
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* – Terrelle Pryor image source: LifeSource
