Pryor saga comes to an end

Sorry about the lack of posting lately but I've come down with some vicious strain of alien flu that had me down for the count the past couple days. Personally I think some angry Pitt fan sent me an Anthrax-laced letter, I have been getting a lot of unmarked letters lately.

Now for the news at hand, we can finally put the Terrelle Pryor saga to an end because the kid chose Ohio State. I'm sure message boards are lighting up with comments ranging from "he wasn't Penn State material anyway" to "our coaching staff has lost it" to "the old man must go." Let's just step back from the ledge and take a couple deep breaths. First, I've been saying from day one that this kid wasn't coming to Penn State even when he delayed his decision on LOI day so it doesn't come as a shock in any shape or form. Penn State has quarterbacks with eligibility remaining for the next three years. Given Paterno's track record with underclassmen, why would any recruit come into Penn State thinking they could usurp the starting quarterback role from someone that already has two years of experience under their belt? Secondly, both Michigan and Ohio State will have openings at quarterback either this year or next so it was a tough sell for Penn State. Lastly, until Paterno decides to finally hang it up or the administration names his successor, look for recruiting to get worse at Penn State. Now more than ever there is a big cloud of uncertainty looming over the PSU program. Everyone knows Paterno only has a couple years left (his choice or otherwise) and until kids know what to expect in the future they'll chose other schools.

That brings us back to Pryor, sure he's from PA and sure he picked a different school but let's not wish ill on the guy, it's his choice to make. Remember the Chad Henne chronicle? How'd that turn out? Everyone thought Penn State let the next Heisman winning quarterback slip through their fingers to a rival Big Ten school. Sure Chad had a decent career at Michigan starting for four years but he'll be forever remembered as the quarterback that lost to Appalachian State. Before angry Michigan fans chime in I'm fully aware that Henne beat PSU three times but a poo-slinging monkey wearing a jelly bean encrusted codpiece could have beat Penn State when they played Michigan so save your breath we all know Henne's career didn't meet the lofty expectations placed on him. In the end Pryor may turn out to be the next best thing since sliced bread or he may end up a big bust, either way Penn State has its own problems to worry about and Pryor is only a concern one week a year.