BY: JON SPENCER (NewarkAdvocate.com) –

COLUMBUS — Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor didn’t look any different, standing at attention with some 100 other scarlet-clad Buckeyes.
But trust coach Jim Tressel. The No. 2 in the team photo snapped Thursday inside Ohio Stadium is nothing like the No. 2 who posed for the camera this past August.

“This year, it’s like night and day,” Tressel said of his sophomore signal-caller as media day activities wrapped up. “I sat down the other day with (quarterbacks coach) Nick Siciliano and said, ‘Man, what a difference between Day One last year and Day One this year.’

“I saw a lot of progress from Terrelle in bowl practice (before the Fiesta Bowl in January), and I saw a lot this spring. I’d like to think 29 (preseason) practices will be huge. I’d like to think we’ll grow and grow and grow.”

Pryor sounded like someone ready to live up to billing as the Big Ten’s Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. In a surprise move, the media voted for him over 2008’s first- and second-team quarterbacks — Penn State’s Daryll Clark and Illinois’ Juice Williams, respectively.

“Right now, things are becoming second nature,” said Pryor, who started the last 10 games as a freshman, leading the Buckeyes to eight wins and a share of their fourth-straight Big Ten title. “The film room makes a big difference.

“In high school, you just go out and ball. You have fun, score as many touchdowns as you can, throw the ball as high and far as you can and let the other athletes go get it. But in college you have great coaches all around and different techniques to learn. It’s a lot different in college.”

Right now, Pryor is more dangerous with his feet than his arm. The same was true of former OSU quarterback Troy Smith before he became a proficient passer and won the 2006 Heisman Trophy.

“I think he’ll evolve, not unlike Smith,” Tressel said. “He’s gotten more experience, knows more about coverages, knows more about when to check out (to another play). Terrelle has a lot more experience than Troy had at this point in his career.”

Pryor brushed off talk about possibly being voted a captain at the end of camp by his teammates, calling it a “senior thing.”

That limits the options on offense to tight end Jake Ballard and tackle Jim Cordle, but the latter smiled and said it would be premature to call him Captain Cordle.

“If you look at the way it’s been, it’s been two seniors on…..

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