Clark, Pryor Take Different Paths To Big Ten Showdown
Thursday, October 23rd, 2008
They play the same position, and play it similarly, but that doesn’t mean Daryll Clark and Terrelle Pryor are alike.
They aren’t.
That, the kid has done, directing Ohio State to five consecutive victories after a 35-3 smackdown at USC. It has not always been pretty, as it sometimes isn’t when a freshman takes control, but Pryor has committed only two turnovers and has proven every bit the double-threat he was billed, with 653 yards passing and 411 rushing so far.
Until Saturday at MSU, Pryor’s total offense had declined in each of his four previous starts. But he made the Spartans look hopeless, hapless and clueless with 116 passing yards and 72 rushing yards, accounting for a touchdown each way.
Not even close.
The quarterbacks who will start Saturday for third-ranked Penn State (8-0, 4-0) and No. 10 Ohio State (7-1, 4-0) followed dramatically different paths to this first-place showdown in the Big Ten, paths that began in the state of the teams they will oppose Saturday night in Ohio Stadium.
Clark, a junior from Youngstown, Ohio, couldn’t draw much more than a glance from OSU coming out of high school because of questionable skills and borderline grades that forced him to a prep school for a year before he could enroll at State College.
Pryor, a true freshman from Jeannette, Pa., has been Mr. All That since his junior year of high school and was so coveted by every major program that he kept them all waiting six weeks after National Signing Day before making up his mind.
Penn State coach Joe Paterno made a rare in-home visit to lure Pryor to Happy Valley, but not even the Legend’s charms could get Pryor to more than sniff at life as a Nittany Lion.
“Penn State isn’t the place for me,” Pryor said the day he declared for OSU.”It’s just not. I don’t like the area. It’s country-looking. I just don’t like that place.”
You’d think Pryor would be making nicey-nice now, running from that jab as adroitly as he did Michigan State defenders in the Buckeyes’ 45-7 blowout last weekend.
You’d think so, but you’d be wrong.
“I’m in Ohio now,” Pryor said Saturday, when he was really in East Lansing. “Jeannette is still my hometown, but this is where I’m at. I’m not at Penn State, I’m not in Pennsylvania. I’m not here to make Penn State happy; I’m here to make Ohio State happy.”
“Everyone thinks I’m overrated,” Pryor said afterward. “Wait and see. The time will come, and you’ll find out.”
Clark sat and watched Pryor’s recruitment with interest, wondering if he would even get the chance to show what he could do if the phenom showed up on campus.
As Pryor’s decision dragged on, more and more friends approached Clark’s father, asking if his son would transfer and try to play elsewhere in the two seasons he had left.
“That was frustrating to my dad, that was frustrating to me because people would go to my dad about that, and I really didn’t think that was fair,” Clark said.
He then weathered a competition with teammate Pat Devlin to win the job, finally getting his first start after four years of waiting.
Now Clark is in command of the Big Ten’s highest-scoring offense (45.4 ppg.), one that produces 482 yards per game, 160 yards more on average than Ohio State.
“I sat back on Sunday and reminisced on the start of everything,” Clark said. “My mind was blown away with that. We’re doing so well and I’ve been through a lot of things, but I remained patient and quiet through everything…I didn’t really know what to expect. I was a nervous wreck as the season was approaching. I didn’t know what was going to happen.”
As far as Saturday, he knows exactly what to expect.
“It’s everything you dream of when you come to a Big Ten school and you’re from Ohio,” Clark said. “You’re going against a coach that is from your hometown, Jim Tressel, a really good guy. And you’re going down into the Horseshoe, and that’s one of the most hostile places to play in.”
It certainly has been for Penn State, which is 0-7 in Ohio Stadium since joining the Big Ten in 1993.
The Lions have scored just five touchdowns in those seven games, while Ohio State’s defense and special teams alone have scored eight TDs.
Paterno’s worst loss in a 43-year career came at OSU in 2000 (45-6), and his teams have been beaten by an average of 21 points in their last seven trips to Columbus.
Clark gets the chance to end that frustration, while Pryor has an opportunity to extend it.
“We got Daryll; they got Terrelle,” Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley said. “Everybody’s happy.”
Around the Big Ten
Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio is sticking with senior Brian Hoyer at quarterback entering a Saturday game at Michigan (2-5, 1-2), despite Hoyer’s woeful performance in a 45-7 loss to Ohio State. Backup Kirk Cousins directed MSU (6-2, 3-1) to its only touchdown and completed his first 10 passes once Hoyer departed because of a hard tackle by OSU linebacker James Laurinaitis. Medical exams have ruled out a concussion, so Dantonio says, “Brian Hoyer is still our quarterback.”
Purdue (2-5, 0-3) coach Joe Tiller doesn’t have much choice at quarterback now that backup Joey Elliott is likely out for the year with a shoulder separation. Elliott relieved an ineffective Curtis Painter for the second time in three games Saturday at Northwestern. Painter’s senior season has been a major disappointment, given his six touchdown passes and nine interceptions. Last season, he threw for 29 TDs, with only 11 interceptions. Sophomore Justin Siler, a running back who played QB in high school, will be Painter’s backup Saturday against visiting Minnesota (6-1, 2-1).
Everyone wondered how Illinois (4-3, 2-2) would replace Big Ten MVP Rashard Mendenhall at tailback. Turns out, the guy the Illini miss most is middle linebacker J Leman. Illinois enters a Saturday game at Wisconsin (3-4, 0-4) ranked second in the league in rushing (204.9 ypg), but it’s ninth in rushing defense (150.9 ypg). That’s a killer, since Illinois can’t get the ball back for its offense and leaves that unit no margin for error when it does have possession.
Indiana (2-5, 0-4) should have quarterback Kellen Lewis back from a sprained ankle for Northwestern’s (6-1, 2-1) visit to Memorial Stadium. Maybe that will spark an IU offense that went 3-of-16 on third down — with two of the conversions via penalty — in a 55-13 loss to Illinois. IU must win four of its last five to claim a second straight bowl bid.
Michigan faces the same challenge, winning four of its final five, to sustain a 33-year bowl streak. Three of those games are on the road, where the Wolverines are 0-2 so far, and the others are 6-2 Michigan State this week and 6-1 Northwestern on Nov. 15. Quarterback Steven Threat should be ready to start Saturday against MSU after missing several crucial series in the 46-17 loss at Penn State when his triceps tightened to the point where he could not grip the football.
Source — FOX Sports