By: Brandon Castel (Rivals.com) –
As the nation’s top-rated prospect in the Class of 2008 ? not to mention one of the most highly sought-after recruits in recent history ? Pryor literally had his pick of any program in college football, the majority of which were ready to put their present and future in the hands of a freshman.

The 6-foot-6 quarterback would have stepped in from day one as the savior of the program. He would have started every game over the next four years.

Pryor could have taken the easy road.

Except Pryor has never been about doing what is easiest, which is why he opted to sign with Ohio State last spring despite the fact the Buckeyes already had quarterback Todd Boeckman in place.
Many expected the pressure to start Pryor would be too high for coach Jim Tressel; after all, it was the first time he had landed the nation’s top high school prospect. But instead of demanding a chance to compete with Boeckman for the starting job, Pryor told his new coach to make him earn everything he got.

“Terrelle’s the kind of guy who wouldn’t ask for anything he doesn’t deserve,” Tressel said. “Now he’s a competitive kind of guy that he’s going to try to deserve to play.”

And play he did. After coming off the bench as a change-of-pace option in the first three games, Pryor took over as Ohio State’s starting quarterback in Week 4 of the 2008 season after a 35-3 drubbing at the hands of USC. The former five-star prospect out of Jeannette, Pa., went on to earn Freshman of the Year honors in the Big Ten while leading the Buckeyes to the Fiesta Bowl, but his success hasn’t slowed his drive in the least bit.

“He’s done the extra work; he’s watched extra film; he’s studied the playbook more; he’s watched the tapes; he understands where to go with the football,” newly appointed quarterbacks coach Nick Siciliano said during the spring. “Now it’s just making it all happen.”

Although he threw for 12 touchdowns and only four interceptions last season, while completing more than 60 percent of his passes, Pryor’s performances against both Penn State and Texas proved the young quarterback still has a long way to go as a passer. It’s this reality that has driven Pryor to round up his receivers in the offseason for some extra work.

“A lot of times through winter and the whole offseason, it comes down to the little things that you do,” junior wideout Dane Sanzenbacher said. “It’s all polishing up everything during the season because you can’t really do that much work, but when you get the little timing routes down.”

Sanzenbacher said if Pryor couldn’t get any of the veteran wideouts to catch passes with him, he would grab the walk-ons and hit the practice field.

“The fact that Terrelle always wanted to go out there and do it shows me that he really wants to get better,” Sanzenbacher said.

Getting online pharmacy prescription extra reps is nice, but Siciliano said he believes that gaining more confidence and a better understand of where the receivers will be and what the defense is trying to do will be the biggest way for Pryor to improve his passing.

“Once he becomes more knowledgeable with what’s going on, the other stuff will start to come together,” he said. “When you’re sure of what you’re doing, you play faster and the ball comes out quicker.”

He certainly seemed to be throwing the ball with more accuracy and velocity in practice this spring ? not to mention the spring game ? but Siciliano admits the true test of his improvement will come Sept. 5 when he faces his first live pass rush since the Fiesta Bowl.

“You ask him in the classroom, ‘What do you need to do? What are we doing against this, what are we doing against this,’ and he knows it now,” Siciliano said. “It’s a little different when bodies start moving on you. When you’ve got those 300-plus guys moving past your head, it’s a little different. It’s all about the adjustment of being able to see it on the field.”

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