Since Dec. 3, the talk between Ohio State and Oregon has centered on the matchup of Buckeye quarterback Terrelle Pryor and Duck quarterback Jeremiah Masoli. Both men have fielded a lot of questions on the other and one practice alone over break Masoli answered upwards of ten on his counterpart.
Wednesday at the official Rose Bowl Media Day, both fleet-footed stars were mobbed by media members and at one point Pryor had over 30 people surrounding the table he had to himself. He answered questions from as benign as what he’s been doing this week (chilling’ in his room and going to the mall) to how his hurt PCL ligament in one of his knees was doing (he wouldn’t reveal which knee it was, but he did say he’s fine).
But perhaps the most intriguing string of questions was about him and his almost-commitment to Oregon two years ago. He never made the visit to Eugene—matter of fact, he’s never been to the state of Oregon—but he said Oregon coach Chip Kelly, then as a offensive coordinator, was tenacious in his recruiting of the No. 1 high school prospect.
“I liked him a lot,” Pryor said of Kelly. “I give him props for the way he recruited…
Chip Kelly is a helluva recruiter. He recruits his butt off.”
Pryor said the reason he snubbed Oregon of a visit was because he had already visited Ohio State and made up his mind he was going there. He didn’t want to jeopardize his commitment by a visit to Oregon, where he could have been swayed out of his word to head coach Jim Tressel.
Pryor also gamely answered some interesting questions about how he thought he would fit into the one-minute offense of Oregon. It was a scary thing to think about, how his size and athleticism would match with Kelly’s dynamic run game.
“I’m pretty sure it would be ‘wow,’” Pryor said. “My numbers would be ‘wow, man.’ The way they run their offense, I’m sure my numbers would be off the chart.”
It wasn’t a very modest thing to stay, but that’s just the confidence that Pryor shows at all times. It wasn’t said in a flashy way, it was as simple as him saying that he would crush anyone in the room at a game of one-on-one.
But Oregon’s current quarterback wasn’t as willing to deal in what could have been if Pryor was with Oregon. Two weeks ago he said he didn’t deal in hypotheticals (taken straight from the book of Coach Kelly).
“I’m here and that’s it,” he said.
Masoli has gotten his chance to show he is also a highly talented quarterback and you won’t find a single Duck fan who thinks Pryor would now be a better quarterback for Oregon than Masoli. Not with the way the San Francisco native has led the Ducks the last two years.
And now that he’s the star of the Oregon offense, Masoli is also garnering the silly questions that Pryor has endured. Someone the other day asked if he liked ravioli (due to the viral “I Love My Ducks video”) and today the question of the day was about his hair and whether or not he had the best on the team.
To me, Masoli being on a podium answering these questions means Oregon has arrived on the national scene. They signify the media’s want to get to know a star quarterback of a national power. The athletic department for a lot of years has had the plan in place to build the best facilities in the nation to draw the best athletes to Eugene and it’s working.
In just a few short years we have witnessed the transformation from a team that perennially went to the Sun Bowl, the Las Vegas Bowl and the Seattle Bowl, to one that starts the season ranked in the top 20 and plays on ESPN regularly. It’s been a pleasure to watch the final stage take place this year, and it will be a great honor to witness the final piece this Friday from the press box in Pasadena.
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