Terrelle Pryor battled through injuries to his ankle and knee this season, but it’s his arm that will likely be sore for a while after airing out a career-high 37 passes in Ohio State’s Rose Bowl victory.

It was a coming out party of sorts for the sophomore quarterback, who earlier in the week broadcasted that he holds hope that every week will be his emergence onto the national scene.

“I hope for that every game,” Pryor said. “But I just want to get a ‘W.’ Whatever the team needs me to do, I want to do it.”

Pryor tweaked his ankle in Ohio State’s 45-0 win over New Mexico State on Oct. 31. He never used the injury as an excuse, but his production over the Bucks’ final three games diminished.

He attempted just 17 passes in each of OSU’s three games during its gauntlet of a November schedule. Coach Jim Tressel’s preferred style of offense, a run-heavy, mistake-free attack, proved successful, as Pryor guided a methodical, controlled offense to three consecutive wins.

Tressel altered the gameplan for Oregon, though, and Pryor was the major beneficiary.
The quarterback threw for a career-best 266 yards, completing 23 passes with a pair of touchdowns.

“We felt like we really needed to come in flinging it around and being as balanced as we could,” Tressel said. “We felt like as long as we were doing it well, we’d have a chance to keep doing it.”

Tressel informed his sophomore quarterback prior to kickoff that the gameplan would initially focus on his passing. That sort of news is the best a quarterback can hear, Pryor said.

“I was very excited when Tressel said we were coming out to wing it,” he said.

A conservative offensive scheme sprung the Buckeyes through a perfect November slate and a more aggressive attack allowed OSU to leap past the Ducks. Though Pryor maintained that, as a quarterback, nothing is sweeter than passing his team to victory, he’ll do whatever is necessary for a win, he said.

“As a quarterback you don’t like running the ball. It’s kind of like being selfish, but you know, that’s not what we need. This is a big-time organization, and if you have to run the ball to win the game, that’s what you do. We have great running backs and they want the ball, too. Whatever we need, I’ll take it for a ‘W.'”

Buckeye Nation has waited two seasons for Pryor to bust out that one, signature game that defines a career. Pryor said that he, too, has been in search of that defining performance.

“I thought I could have a game like this any time,” he said. “We have a great defense that causes turnovers and causes the points on defense, and then our offense, we end up scoring, giving the ball to [running back Brandon Saine] or running down the field and we break another touchdown run or something like that. Sometimes we don’t need to throw the ball.”

Now, however, Pryor has proven to his team that he can elevate the passing game when called upon. The trust he has garnered from his coaches and teammates instilled the confidence in him to do so, he said.

“I think you need to earn the head coach’s trust and even your teammates’ trust in throwing the ball. Throwing the ball is a big thing. I had 10 turnovers this year, but it was somewhat of forcing stuff. You know, you think you’re at a certain level and you can just sit in the pocket and throw the ball, but I was waiting a little bit too long, going through four or five reads, and that’s where my picks were coming from.

“I had a meeting with Coach Tressel and he calmed me down, and he knew what I was going through because I was trying to force too many throws trying to prove to everybody that I’m a quarterback and I wasn’t taking off when I could run and stuff like that. I need to use what I have, my feet, and try and throw the ball, so I need to use both.”

After proving to himself what he can do on one of college football’s grandest stage, Pryor now knows the limits, or lack thereof surrounding his potential.

“You know, really for myself, it’s probably the sky is the limit.”