Pryor has a coming out party against Troy

How it goes could drastically affect the rest of the Bucks' season.

By Bill Smith

For the first time, Terrelle Pryor got the reps in practice of a starter.  For any QB, reps in practice are very significant.  That is doubly true for a true freshman.  We have seen some flashes of talent that has made him a fan favorite.  However, without the reps at practice and substantial game time, any opinion of his abilities is based on a sample of plays far too small to be trusted.

            There is every indication that Coach Tressel will give Pryor that opportunity today.  In my opinion, this was EXACTLY the right move.  The fans and the coaching staff need to know what they have in Pryor prior to the start of the Big 10 season.  We will not be able to tell how the offense would work with both Pryor and Beanie because the Coach is wisely holding Beanie out.  But we will at least get a feel for Pryor's play behind our offensive line that has been the subject of so much conversation following the loss at USC.

            It is also helps that Troy is a more than respectable opponent.  We would have had a much better picture of Troy had they played the game at LSU.  That game was postponed due to weather.  Troy won at Middle Tennessee St. 31-17.  That might not sound like much of a win but MTS defeated Maryland 24-14 the next week.  This is also the same Troy team that played both at Arkansas (46-26) and at Florida (59-31) close for 3 quarters last year in hostile territory before defeating Oklahoma St. 41-23 in week 3 of the 07 season.

            All in all, we are going to know a lot more about both Pryor and the offense by 4 PM today.  Let's hope we get answers that give us encouragement.

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams and has scouted talent.  He is a senior writer for http://BrutusReport.com.  He has also published several novels on http://ebooks-library.com/index.cfm and edits http://fryingpanpolitics.blog.com