Tight Lid Remains on
Buckeyes Offensive Plans
Like a CIA operative holding top-secret government
information, Jim Tressel is keeping a tight lid on what he plans to do with
Terrelle Pryor and the Buckeye offense this season.
By Eric Geier
Fall Open Practice
When the Ohio State
practice opens to the public on August 18th, there’s one player
everyone is going to be watching. Do I really have to tell you? Yea, it’s
Terrelle Pryor. Ohio
State is just how I like
my baked potato, loaded. But the X factor this season could be a freshman.
Everyone in the country wants to see what this kid can do, but you may not see
it until September 13th. There is a rumor circulating that Tressel
is going to save Pryor for USC, his ace in the hole. Speculation is that
Tressel, taking a note from USC, will use Pryor as his own Trojan horse, bring
him in quietly and let him explode. There’s really no point in displaying his
talent against low quality teams like Youngstown
State and Ohio University
because it will just give teams more time to prepare for him. I say give him a
trial by fire on a national stage.
Options for Pryor
Another option is to showcase bits
and pieces of his game during the first two matches. Tressel could put Pryor in
for a series in each game and show some different formations to give his
opponent one more element to prepare for. He has the ability to play multiple
positions on the field, but really shouldn’t be used solely as a quarterback
right now as his arm strength cannot beat Boeckman’s.
New Offensive
Formations
After losing two straight title
games (I’m so sick of writing that) Ohio
State has to change, and
it looks like they have. There have been glimpses of the “Pistol” formation as
well as the “Pony backfield,” two formations that just a year ago seemed too
futuristic for the traditionalist Buckeyes. It’s amazing what a couple
nationally televised beatings can do.
Still, the only clues to new
offensive formations come from comments made by players, never from coaches.
Though they just mention it, they never go into detail. This leads me to
believe that this season Buckeye fans are going to see some different formations
and plays that vary from the three yards and a cloud of dust philosophy that
for so long has been associated with Ohio
State. In order to win
the Buckeyes must change as the game changes; look for that progression this
year.