HE WANTS TO start as a freshman. He wants the
offense he runs to be a spread. Picture Pat White, West Virginia's elfin
quarterback. White was the most exciting player in college this season.
White is listed at 6-2, 185.
The one-loss Mountaineers were No. 2 in the polls and BCS standings
when White went to the sideline with a dislocated thumb in a
rivalry game against a so-so Pitt team. The junior's injury
ended West Virginia's dream.
With a healthy White imitating quicksilver rolling downhill
on glare ice, a Mountaineer team I believe is easily the
equal of LSU or Ohio State annihilated heavily favored
Oklahoma in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. Some folks thought the
Sooners were the best team in the land by the time the BCS
roulette wheel stopped spinning. But White and the
dynamic spread attack devised by departed coach Rich
Rodriguez turned Oklahoma into a big bowl of jalapeno
dip.
Now, picture a kid who
towers 6-6, weighs a sculpted 230 pounds, runs
with the power of an 18-wheeler and who posseses
a rocket-launcher arm. Not only that, but,
unlike Titans quarterback Vince Young, his
physical analog, this amazing athlete throws a
football with classic form. His judgment on when
to run, when to pass and when to make decisions
as a play unfolds underline the 3.5 grade-point
average he carries at Jeannette High, out west
in the football mother lode that produced Tony
Dorsett, Joe Namath, Dan Marino, Joe Montana and
enough Hall of Famers to fill a whole wing at
Canton.
I am talking about Terrelle Pryor, of course
. . .
Frankly, I had no prior knowledge of
Pryor until Joe Santoliquito wrote about
his exploits for the
Daily News
last month after he helped dismantle
Dunmore in the PIAA Class AA
championship game. I am always partial
to athletes who leap
over a
defensive back into the end zone, which
Pryor did as a sophomore on the way to
becoming the first quarterback in state
history to run and throw for more than
4,000 yards in each category.
Putting up incredible numbers at the
high school level is one thing. I
wondered how the nation's No.
1-rated prep player would showcase
those skills on national TV last
Saturday afternoon in the
prestigious U.S.
Army All-American Game in San
Antonio's Alamodome. The game is
a coming-out party for the
college-bound elite, BCS stars
of the future on parade. During
breaks in the action, some of
the young stars snap on the hats
of the colleges they will favor
with their presence in 2008.
Eight committed Saturday.
There was this plethora of
Parade
All-Americans,
all-staters and
all-everythings. There
was enough muscle power
on display to lift the
Alamo itself. And
jaw-dropping speed.
And then there was
Terrelle Pryor, a
man trifling with
kids.
If Pryor had
played every
snap for the
victorious East
All-Stars, his
155 yards of
total offense
would have been
impressive.
But he
rotated with
two other
quarterbacks
and the 79
yards he ran
and 76 he
passed, the
TD he scored
and the
sensational
25-yard
scoring pass
he threw off
his back leg
from the
right side
of the field
as he was
getting hit
into the
left end
zone
amounted to
a cameo.
Before the
game, he was
named the
Army
National
Player of
the Year.
After the
game, he was
handed the
MVP trophy.
On Feb.
6,
national
signing
day,
Pryor
could
decide
the next
three
BCS
championships.
I won't
go past
the 2010
season.
Terrelle
probably
will be
playing
on
Sundays
by 2011.
He
could
put
a
national
championship
ring
on
the
finger
of
Rodriguez next season. It is not a stretch to conclude that Pryor's short list of preferred
colleges, which includes Michigan, could have been an underlying factor in Rich's stunning decision to walk on his Mountaineer contract, which had 6 more years to run and an unresolved $4 million buyout clause.
Three Big Ten teams are on Pryor's list of five finalists - Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State. The other two are Florida and Oregon.
He showed up at the game
Saturday wearing a Michigan jersey, apparently to get a rise out of some players with Ohio State commitments. Officials made him take it off. During the game, he had a Buckeye decal on his helmet. I looked hard but didn't see one of those blue Nittany Lion paw prints on his cheek. Not a Gator or Duck hint in sight.
With a full deck of talented
receivers returning next season and a young offensive line that mauled Texas A & M, Terrelle Pryor could make one old man very happy in his final curtain drive to add a third national championship to his 42-year
legacy.
But Joe Paterno has a long and consistent history of not serving quarterbacks before their time. He has, however, veered from Penn State's traditional smash-mouth tradition to accommodate a quarterback with exceptional running skills. But he didn't
install multitalented Michael Robinson as the Lions' clear starter until his senior season. That gifted team came within one blown end-zone coverage at Michigan from a possible national championship.
Anthony Morelli was widely
recruited, chose Penn State and didn't win the job until 2006, his junior season. It is widely held that an offense loaded with skill-position talent underachieved
under his quarterbacking.
Meanwhile, Rich Rodriguez has been busy turning the Wolverines' offense from a Humvee into a Formula One rocket.
If Terrelle Pryor winds up behind the wheel, prepare to be
lavishly entertained. *