After standing before his teammates and baring his soul, Terrelle Pryor went out and played his best game of the season. None of it surprised Head Coach Jim Tressel.

Pryor was named the Buckeyes’ offensive player of the week after his 343-yard day against Minnesota. The sophomore quarterback threw for 239 yards and two long touchdown passes to DeVier Posey. He also ran for 104 yards and a score.

That game came on the heels of growing restlessness among fans. Pryor answered the question about how tough he is mentally, for now.

“Probably nothing that I didn’t already know,” Tressel said. “There were some things affirmed that I did know. It’s very, very important to him to do well for his team. There’s not many guys who feel any worse than he does if he doesn’t provide what the team needs.”

Pryor admitted to being full of himself in the first seven weeks. The 20-year-old was the nation’s top recruit coming out of Jeannette High School in Pennsylvania. His high school football notoriety was similar, but not on the scale, to that of LeBron James’ high school basketball career. But Pryor is learning how to be more than a shotgun, spread offense quarterback who runs the ball.

“Terrelle … knew what the criticism was,” Tressel said. “That’s the position he plays. When you turn it over, you’re going to get criticized. Just like when you don’t win games, the coach is going to get criticized. That’s part of the deal. The longer you’re around it, the more you know that’s just the way it is.”

Pryor turned the ball over four times in one of the worst losses under Tressel two weeks ago at Purdue.

He went to his teammates and apologized three days before the Minnesota game. Before taking on the Gophers, who gift wrapped both long TD passes to Posey with blown coverages, Pryor talked with former Buckeye quarterback Troy Smith.

Before Smith won the Heisman, he had to do more than convince fans he could play the position. He had to convince Tressel, who initially had Smith returning kicks. There was plenty of question about Smith’s ability to become a pocket passer, but no doubts by the time he left.

“Getting the phone calls I got from different people, it helped me,” Pryor said. “Some times you get caught up in the moment of being the guy and you start getting some type of attitude. … It was good to get knocked back down to earth.”

Minnesota has one of the worst pass defenses in the country. New Mexico State, coming to town Saturday, may not be much, but its pass defense is ranked 28th in the country, one spot better than Ohio State’s.

Pryor is ranked 54th in the country in pass efficiency, which is a measure, in part, of decision making. Tressel was pleased with Pryor’s decisions in the win, even his interception that likely took a touchdown off the scoreboard.

Tressel said it was the right read, just not a very good pass.

“Terrelle made a lot of progress (Saturday),” center Mike Brewster said. “I don’t like to hear people say that he hasn’t improved from last year. … He took all the blame for the Purdue loss. … We’re behind him, and we’re here to support him.”

This might be the first time in two years Pryor and his teammates are truly on the same page.