Ohio State: Terrelle Pryor Working For a Healthy Spring, and Other Buckeye Bits

One of the worst-kept secrets in college football is the health of Ohio State QB Terrelle Pryor following extensive knee surgery in February.

But in a recent interview , OSU coach Jim Tressel said that Pryor should be back to 100 percent in time for Spring practices in early April.

Pryor admitted days before the Rose Bowl he was playing with a partially-torn PCL ligament in his left knee.

But his knee scope revealed he had more issues with the knee than initially thought.

That did not stop him from turning in a Rose Bowl MVP-caliber performance of 266 passing yards and two TDs against Oregon.

The health of OSU's star QB has been a big pre-Spring question for Buckeye fans, as he is among nine returning offensive starters.

Having Pryor back for Spring is critical to continue his development, as he is still far from a finished product.

Though he displayed tremendous growth in the Rose Bowl, he still has so much further he can go.

His passing improved greatly over the 2009 season, and it can still get better into his third year as a starter.

Pryor should have the type of offensive line that will give him plenty of time to make decisions, and great receivers in addition to DeVier Posey to make him shine next season.

In addition, the Buckeyes offense features a very deep stable of running backs led by Brandon Saine and Daniel "Boom" Herron.

The spring will not only be telling of the QB situation, but also positioning behind the two key players at RB.

Despite the talent behind Pryor, it will be on his shoulders once again, as pundits expect him to have a true breakout season as a passer.

It is unclear right now how he will recover from the knee scope earlier in the winter, but what we see in spring should give us a decent picture into the type of season he may have.

A great spring could create Heisman noise directed at the upcoming junior from Jeanette, PA.

We will know more on April 24 at Ohio Stadium.

Other Buckeye Bits:

- Jim Tressel recently signed an extension to his contract to keep him in Columbus until 2014.

The contract will give him the same amount of money he currently receives in his salary, but adds two more years to his deal.

-Around the time that Tressel's contract extension was made official, a total of five high school players committed to Ohio State for the class of 2011, all in the span of about 30 hours.

The most touted of the group include Elyria (OH) OL Chase Farris, who had offers from Cal, Notre Dame, and Boston College among others.

Another big talent is G/C Brian Bobek from Illinois, a fan of Iowa who was swayed after what reportedly was a great visit to OSU.

-AD Gene Smith announced last week that even though Ohio State has games at home against Miami and Penn State, the home opener against Marshall on September 2 will be the only prime time game of 2010.

He said that the costs of night games are doubled because since the Horseshoe does not have permanent lights, the university has to rent lights for the games.

In addition, the Big Ten rule of no kickoffs after 3:30 in November would prevent the Penn State game from being played late.

The game against Marshall will be the first prime time opener for the Buckeyes, and only the tenth night game in the history of the Horseshoe.