Our Long National Nightmare Over: Pryor Picks OSU

By Spencer Hall
Terrelle Pryor ended months of drama with his announcement today that he will be attending THE Ohio State University in the fall. Pryor was this year’s Tim Tebow, the glamour recruit of all glamour recruits that recruitniks everywhere -- the guys who usually split rent in relatives basements with, you know, bloggers -- followed with the intensity of KGB agents on stakeout.
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Pryor’s announcement means a few things:
Troy Smith, redux. More obviously physically talented than Smith was, Pryor’s assumed rise into the QB spot at OSU means you’ll see an offense there much like the one run when the 2006 Heisman winner was there. They’ll work from spread formations, keep defenses off-balance with the run threat from Pryor, and score reckless amounts of points if he develops as many suspect he will.
Michigan must get creative. Without Pryor, the option game Rich Rodriguez prefers to run hits the shelf for a year. Coach Double-R can and has run offenses with less mobile QBs, but they lack the disorienting quality of his best ‘Eers attacks.
Unfortunately for Rodriguez, “less mobile” is all he has right now. What you see for year one in Ann Arbor will not resemble the ideal final product. In fact, it’ll look a lot like the offenses Florida ran in 2005 and 2006 with Chris Leak at QB: rollouts, some zone read, but mostly drop back and basic spread run formations.
Tom Lemming can, finally and officially, go back into hibernation. He’s been up months past his bedtime at this point. The Institute for Seasonal Sports Experts is ready when he is. ↵