Ohio State's Terrelle Pryor the Real Deal

If you haven't seen Ohio State's quarterback Terrelle Pryor play football, you should make a concerted effort.

He is something to watch.

A gifted, athletic specimen standing 6'6" tall, Pryor looks like he would be more comfortable on a basketball court, but the football field is where he belongs.

Pryor did not start the first three games for Ohio State last season but even so, he made favorable impressions against Youngstown State and The University of Southern California, completing a total of 11 out of 15 passes for 87 yards, throwing one touchdown and no interceptions.

In limited action, Pryor showed signs of being able to play at the college level.

By the way, did I mention that he was a freshman last year?

By the fourth game of the 2008 season Terrelle Pryor was the starting quarterback for the Buckeyes, taking over for an ineffective Todd Boeckman.

Although both quarterbacks were approximately the same size, Boeckman was a classic drop-back, pocket passer. Not being very mobile, Boeckman was an easy target for defenses who loaded up the line of scrimmage to rush the quarterback on passing downs.

Pryor on the other hand, was not only mobile but very adept at avoiding the pass rush and making plays downfield while on the run.

When Terrelle Pryor assumed the starting quarterback position for Ohio State he looked like he belonged there.

Whether under center or in the shotgun, Pryor showed a command of the game and his team that belied his youth. He demonstrated a very high comfort level with Ohio State's offense and the college game itself.

Stepping into the starting line up as a freshman quarterback can be difficult. Just ask Jimmy Clausen of Notre Dame.

Clausen had what could be considered a les than spectacular freshman campaign for the Fighting Irish the year before, throwing for 1254 yards with 7 touchdowns but also with 6 interceptions while completing 56% of his passes.

Although his sophomore season was considerably better, Clausen took a beating as a freshman but apparently learned from it.

Terrelle Pryor's freshman production has raised the expectation bar high for his sophomore year. Many experts pick Ohio State to finish atop the Big Ten Conference and a big part of that is Terrelle Pryor.

Ohio State lost some talented players off of last years team including linebacker James Laurinaitis and wide receiver Brian Robiskie but they also return a host of young, experienced players like Pryor and wide out Dane Sanzenbacher, a hometown product from Toledo Central Catholic High School (Toledo, Ohio).

Wherever the Buckeyes finish in the Big Ten race you can be sure that Terrelle Pryor will have a lot to do with it.

There was a lot of speculation on how Terrelle Pryor would perform on the college level after finishing a spectacular high school career.

Well, I'm here to tell you, all speculation should be put to rest because from what we have seen so far, Terrelle Pryor is the real deal.

wikipedia.com http://espndb.go.com/ncf/player/profile?playerId=379070