By: Stewart Mandel (SI.com) –
The marriage between Ohio State and Terrelle Pryor began with such promise. The nation’s most gifted high school quarterback joining forces with the reigning powerhouse of the Big Ten? What could possibly go wrong?

It turns out, just about everything.

It’s been a rough week for the Buckeyes’ presumed savior. Ohio State fans are apoplectic following the sophomore’s nightmarish four-turnover performance in a 26-18 loss at 1-5 Purdue last weekend. Many are ready to throw in the towel and declare the former all-everything recruit a bust. Some want him moved to receiver. Others are directing their venom toward Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel and his staff for failing to properly utilize and develop such an elite athlete.

Adding to the fury came two particularly damning news stories this week. In attempting to defend his embattled teammate from critics, receiver DeVier Posey let slip a highly unflattering assessment. “He’s going to get better,” said Posey. “He really can’t do much worse.”

Meanwhile, Pryor’s former high school coach, Ray Reitz, vented to an ESPN reporter what many of us already believed: That Tressel’s old-school offensive schemes aren’t doing the dual-threat QB any favors. “They need Terrelle to run more,” said Reitz. “… When I watch Terrelle play right now, I see a robot.”

Adding perhaps the ultimate insult to any self-respecting Buckeye fan, Reitz said, “There is no question that Rich Rodriguez’s [Michigan] offense, for example, would be more apt to suit Terrelle’s skills.”

Pryor is hardly the first ballyhooed quarterback recruit to come under public fire. Just ask Chris Simms. Or Chris Rix. Or Chris Leak.

However, the level of angst over Pryor is unlike any I’ve previously seen, particularly at such an early stage in the player’s career. Posey is pleading for critics to be “patient,” but patience is no longer part of the college football lexicon. Not when Ohio State fans have already watched this year’s quarterback phenom, USC freshman Matt Barkley, beat their team in its own stadium. Not when Barkley online drugs without prescription went to Notre Dame last week and threw for 380 yards in just his fifth career start.

But not all quarterback situations are created equal. Barkley and USC happen to go together like Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly. The SoCal native is a classic pro-style drop-back passer at a program that churns out pro-caliber passers. His cheery disposition and confident, borderline-brash personality almost eerily mirror that of his coach, Pete Carroll. And Barkley was handed the keys to an offense already brimming with veteran linemen, running backs and receivers.

The coupling of Pryor and Tressel, on the other hand, feels more forced with each passing week.

Tressel seems intent on running an offense built more for someone like Barkley than Pryor. The zone-read apparently isn’t part of his playbook. Meanwhile, part of Ohio State fans’ frustration is the appearance that Pryor (who’s completing just 56 percent of his passes, with 10 touchdowns and eight interceptions) has regressed from his freshman season, when he actually performed fairly well (60.6 percent completions, 12 TDs, four INTs). But remember, last season Pryor had future first-rounder Beanie Wells in his backfield and two other current NFLers, Brian Robiskie and Brian Hartline, as his primary receivers. Pryor is now the undisputed focal point of OSU’s offense and, by most accounts, he hasn’t handled the pressure particularly well.

“It doesn’t look to me like he’s relaxed,” said Reitz. “It doesn’t look like he has rhythm. It doesn’t look like he’s comfortable.”

In any troubled relationship, each party bears part of the burden. In Pryor’s case, his primary issue appears to be maturity.

There were warning signs as far back as the recruiting process, when the Jeannette, Pa., native delayed his final decision for a full six weeks after Signing Day. Recruiting followers were quick to dub Pryor a prima donna; however, those closest to him insisted he was simply overwhelmed by the hoopla.

Perhaps in hindsight the episode should have raised red flags about Pryor’s ability to deal with the intense scrutiny that comes with being a star college quarterback. He certainly didn’t help his cause with those bizarre comments last month regarding his adoration of Michael Vick. (“Everyone kills people, murders people, steals from you, steals from me, whatever.”) Tressel has continually shielded….

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