"You lost it for yourself"
(Note: Most of this entry is based on reports that are founded in speculation and unidentified "insiders," proceed with caution. But, if the ESPN era has taught us anything, if there's smoke...)
Terrelle Pryor, the grail after which most top-tier programs are questing, continues to create suspense in the weeks leading up to his supposed announcement date (tenitavly the Army All-American game on Jan. 5th but there are whisperings that he might break the news before the end of the year). As referenced in yesterday's "Silver Bullet Points," this headline and subsequent article suggest that Pryor isn't the lock Buckeye fans once assumed.
The free article here, like that posted on Rivals, is...terrifying. Included are Pryor quotes like "Oregon is now on my list...I really like the offense"
juxtaposed with"that concerns me about Ohio State because they’ve never run an offense like the one we run at my high school or that they run at West Virginia, Florida, Oregon or other places."
Either Pryor is acting as a one-man hype machine to create some authentic surprise when he puts on his Block-O fitted at half time on Jan. 5th, or he's subconsciously speaking to Buckeye Nation's latent fear that highly talented skill players simply can't justify squandering their abilities in a traditional Big Ten offense.
Not to linger on this pseudo-story any longer, but if Pryor does indeed choose Oregon over Ohio State than it could be labeled as a "tipping point" for that program. Couple this potential steal for the Ducks with the Pac-10/BCS Championship season that should-have-been and consider the media-proclaimed end of an era for USC—is Oregon ready to step us as the class of the West? A long-time “bridesmaid” team , the Duck’s have the ingredients (money, facilities, media exposure and possible future-NFL stars Dennis Dixon and Jonathan Stewart) to take the next step. Add in a nationally televised verbal from a consensus top recruit and we may be hearing a lot more of this in the coming years…
As I allow myself to become further caught-up in all this Pryor chatter along with feelings of nostalgia for one of the finer sports trilogies ever made, the mind begins to paint this picture…Pryor ends up playing at Penn State for the evil, yet methodical Nittany Lions under vaunted coach Paterno. With Dixon playing on Sundays, the Ducks mirror the team they were at the end of November (a rag-tag group of players in kooky uniforms who can’t pass or receive). Midway through the season, the young(er) Mike Bellotti brings a shocking clerical error to the attention of Paterno: Pryor accidentally signed a LOI to the Ducks!
T.P. hesitantly transfers to Oregon where, after a series of comical and heartfelt follies, he learns to play with this lovable band of losers and leads them to the Rose bowl, only to meet…Penn State!
Pryor’s Ducks win in overtime after a Penn State QB, in the tradition of (almost) every quarterback to play for JoPa in recent memory, fails to live up to his potential and throws a fourth-down interception. The following conversation between Paterno and said underachieving QB ensues:
Other items of note:
- Pyror, as portrayed here by Charlie Conway, justly beats Penn St. QB’s (Gun
nar Stahl) ass after being told “Good work, captain Duck." - “Let’s gogh shake their ‘aands”
- How quickly we forgive the once-vapid head coach Gordon Bombay for his former life of admitted indulgence, alcoholism and moral side-stepping. Just like in real life.
But I digress.
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