By: Doug Lesmerises (Cleveland.com) —
Phoenix- Texas defensive end Brian Orakpo sounds ready if Ohio State does put quarterbacks Terrelle Pryor and Todd Boeckman on the field together in the Fiesta Bowl and Pryor winds up doing something other than throwing the ball.

“If he wants to catch the ball on a slant, here we come,” Orakpo said with a smile after arriving in Arizona on Monday afternoon. “That’s the name of the game. We’ll see.”

The winner of the Nagurski and Lombardi awards said the Longhorns prepared in bowl practice for both OSU quarterbacks to play individually on Monday, even though Boeckman didn’t complete a pass for six order drugs online games before the Michigan finale.

“Pryor is a running threat, so we have to make sure we contain him, and Boeckman is more of a pocket passer, so we have to get a pass rush on him and get to him,” Orakpo said, correctly reciting the OSU QB primer.

There’s always the chance Boeckman’s potential role in the offense is just talk. A year ago, there was chatter that backup quarterback Antonio Henton would play some role supplementing Boeckman, and Henton didn’t get off the sideline in the BCS National Championship loss to LSU.

“We talked about [using Henton] early in bowl practice,” Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said upon his arrival at the Phoenix airport, where the team charter was greeted by a mariachi band and the customary bushels of chips and salsa. “We didn’t talk about it that much at the end. We’re talking about [Boeckman and Pryor] at the end this year.”

At the very least, it’s one more thing for the Texas defense to think about. The Longhorns’ best first-hand comparison for Pryor is Baylor freshman quarterback Robert Griffin, who threw for 2,091 yards (846 more than Pryor) and ran for 846 yards (293 more than Pryor) this season. One of his four 100-yard rushing games came against the Longhorns, but Griffin was held to 6-of-19 passing for 71 yards in a 45-21 loss.

“We watched a lot of films and he’s very similar to Griffin. We’re very familiar with those types of quarterbacks,” Orakpo said.

Texas didn’t allow any other quarterback to gain more than 26 yards on the ground this season. Pryor gained at least 50 yards rushing in five games.

Away from In-N-Out: Two years ago, Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith’s obsession with local fast-food chain In-N-Out Burger was one of the story lines before Ohio State’s blowout loss to Florida. A company vice president even called Smith a “very observant and excellent food critic.” The story didn’t seem so cute after Smith looked slow and the Buckeyes looked lost against the Gators.

So In-N-Out may be out of vogue for the Buckeyes on this trip.

“We’ve got to stay away from them,” OSU linebacker Marcus Freeman said before leaving for Arizona. “They put extra calories on you that might slow you down versus this offense.

“I tried it once, I think it was two years ago, and it’s addicting but you’ve got to stop before you get addicted to it because that’ll put some weight on you, put some grease in your body you don’t need.”

Travel teams: Both teams arrived in bits and pieces Monday, with players flying in on their own. Tressel said running backs Beanie Wells and Mo Wells, Freeman and receiver DeVier Posey had flights that were delayed, but everyone was expected by today’s first official practice. Asked whether any players would not be making the trip, Tressel said, “Everyone that has been practicing with us and everyone that we are counting on is going to be here. We’re ready to go.” . . . Texas coach Mack Brown said all the Longhorns are ready for the game. “In fact, we are healthier right now than we’ve been throughout the season,” Brown said.



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This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 30th, 2008 at 11:17 pm.
Categories: FOOTBALL.

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