By: JON SPENCER (NewarkAdvocate.com) -

If I’m reading this week’s Big Ten football statistics correctly, quarterbacks Terrelle Pryor and Juice Williams are not only dual threats, but two-faced as well.
Crunching their numbers reminds me of the “Seinfeld” episode where his girlfriend looks pretty one moment and pretty ugly the next.

It’s like sizing yourself in the mirror at home compared to the bright lights of the department store changing room.

What are you supposed to believe?

Good Terrelle leads the Big Ten in pass efficiency. Bad Terrelle is at the control of the Big Ten’s worst pass offense — although that is more an indictment of Ohio State coach Jim Tressel’s constrictive game plan than his freshman’s inability to read defenses (he’s gotten better) or tendency to float passes (also better).

Good Juice leads the Big Ten in passing yardage (2,769) and touchdown passes (20) and is second to Pryor in pass efficiency. Bad Juice has thrown a league-high 14 interceptions as Illinois has slumped to 5-5 off a Rose Bowl season.

Who has the upper hand heading into Saturday’s game in Champaign? Maybe we should start by looking at their feet.

Williams, who needs 92 yards rushing for 2,000 in his Illini career, threw four touchdown passes in last year’s 28-21 upset of the No. 1 Buckeyes. It was his ability to convert crucial third downs with his feet that ultimately doomed Ohio State.

Because he can go toe-to-toe and eye-to-eye with Vince Young, the 6-foot-6 Pryor is most often compared to the former Texas Longhorn great. But there’s plenty of Juice flowing through his veins as well.

Second to Williams in rushing among Big Ten quarterbacks, Pryor had two third-and-long runs that led to a touchdown in last week’s 45-10 rout of Northwestern. Most encouraging was the way he used his legs to keep plays alive downfield for his receivers en route to a season-high three touchdown passes.

Watching Pryor’s latest coming-of-age performance was strikingly similar to the number Juice did on the Buckeyes last year. Pryor only attempted 14 passes, but he averaged 22 yards on his nine completions, which is a big reason he has vaulted to the top of the efficiency rankings.

For the season, Pryor is averaging 12.8 yards per completion, which trails only Williams (16.2), Michigan State’s Brian Hoyer (14.1) and Penn State’s Daryll Clark (12.9) in the Big Ten.

Playing turnover-free ball is another hallmark of efficiency. Not that Tressel, in his cloying way, would ever let his playmakers forget it. Pryor didn’t throw any interceptions Saturday and has been picked only three times all season, proving he has caretaker instincts to go with a gamebreaker mentality.

“His feet are always under control when he’s moving,” Tressel said. “Out on the run, when you’re forced to move toward your target, he’s always been able to flick it pretty good and with little wasted motion. You’ll see some guys out on the perimeter and their motion has so much time in it and it’s not real efficient, but his motion is pretty efficient.

“Where we thought we needed his feet to be better is when he’s in the pocket and he has to step forward. He was so used (in high school) to having enough arm that he didn’t have to have the feet.”

There was enough zip on Pryor’s passes Saturday to cut through the angry winds off Lake Michigan. Once it becomes second nature on pass plays for him to use his 235 pounds as leverage, we may start asking for radar gun readings.

Juice has grown into his body that way.

“He’s throwing with a lot more confidence and velocity on the football,” Tressel said. “I think he’s made the significant improvement you’d like to have when a youngster is going into his third year.”

It’s not reflected in Illinois’ record. The Illini are only 3-4 against BCS conference teams and are coming off a 23-17 loss to mid-major Western Michigan after finishing 9-4 last season and going to the Rose Bowl as a replacement for BCS title game participant Ohio State.

In back-to-back weeks, Williams set stadium records for total offense. In a 45-20 win at Michigan, he totaled 431 yards, dwarfing Troy Smith’s 2005 play day (337 yards) in Ann Arbor. The next week, Williams returned home to Memorial Stadium to post a record 503 yards against Minnesota. But he was sacked five times, threw an interception and saw his fumble returned for the decisive touchdown in a 27-20 loss.

Williams has already thrown more picks than he had his first two seasons, probably trying too hard to compensate for the loss of star tailback Rashard Mendenhall to the NFL.

Let Illinois’ backslide this season serve as a cautionary tale for OSU. If the Buckeyes are entertaining thoughts of being a national contender in 2009 and 2010, they’d better have a big-time back ready to replace Beanie Wells. (He’s outta here, folks.) Even virtuosos like Pryor and Juice can’t go it alone.

“I’d tell (Pryor) to keep fighting, no matter what. He’s going to be a great player,” Williams said. “I’ve tried to compare some of the things he’s doing now to what I did my freshman year.”

There’s no comparison.

Juice completed 39.5 percent of his passes as a freshman; Pryor is at 65.1 percent. Juice averaged 3.7 yards rushing and scored twice; Pryor is at 4.4 with five TDs. Juice’s TD-to-interception ratio was 9-to-9; Pryor’s is 9-to-3. Juice’s team won two games; Pryor is 6-1 as a starter.

Can you imagine what Pryor will look like in two years? Forget two-faced. With the right pieces around him, he should be the face of college football.

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