Not To Be Boeckman: The Era of Terrelle Pryor Begins (or at Least It Should)

As I sit here and wallow in my beer as Ohio State gets blown off the field by the USC Trojans, I have to ask myself if Todd Boeckmans football career at Ohio State is over.  The grey shirted (I didn't know it existed either) and red shirted 6th year senior looked lost and not up to the task of playing yet another top echelon team.  After his debacle and lets be honest the rest of the Buckeye team in the LSU BCS Title game, and the poor performance of the Buckeyes while Boeckman was in the game last night should signal the end of the his playing days in Columbus.

Some will argue that Boeckman didn't have Beanie Wells in the backfield to take some of the pressure off the USC pass rush and I agree.  Beanie Wells may have helped Boeckman stay on his feet but, it would not of prevented him from making lousy decision on when and where to throw the ball.  Boeckman threw two interceptions and no touchdowns, granted that the touchdown he threw to Brian Robiskie was called back on a blown holding call.  None the less the offense looked more efficient with the true freshman and man child Terrelle Pryor leading them.

Pryor was 7-9 passing for 52 yards, not spectacular by any means but unlike Boeckman he made the correct decisions when throwing the ball.  And, I understand Tressel wasn't opening the play book for Pryor but he didn't open it up for Boeckman either.  Still while Pryor was in the game the offense looked in sync.  USC couldn't send six and seven guys after him like they did when Boeckman was in the game.  Pryor ran the ball 11 time for 40 yards, which left USC defense looking confused and on there heels and in would trot Boeckman and the drives would stall.

All in all the game reminded me of the 2004 Ohio State game against Iowa which marked the end of Justin Zwicks playing career.  Ohio State lost that game 33-7 and Zwick has yanked in the fourth quarter for future Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith.  Smith didn't put up numbers that would have blown peoples mind going 8-12 for 76 yards but what he did do was lead the Buckeyes to there only touchdown and the offense gelled. 

It's time Tressel makes the choice like he did in 2004 and announce Pryor the starter for the rest of the season.  The Buckeyes are unlikely to get a third consecutive chance to play in the BCS title game after the loss but they can still win the Big Ten and go to the Rose Bowl.  And, as I  see it there best chance of doing that is with Terrelle Pryor at the helm of the offense.  The Era of Terrelle Pryor has begun in Columbus whether Coach Tressel or Todd Boeckman like or not.  The fans are ready for the era to begin, but the final decision has to be made by Jim Tressel and hopefully he saw what an impact Pryor had on the game compared to Todd Boeckman.