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Home > Blogs > Buckeyes Beat > Archives > 2009 > January > 02
Friday, January 2, 2009
A royal snubbing
During media day interviews Friday, Fiesta Bowl queen Jazmin Medina - she had the smile and the tiara to prove it - and her court circulated among the Longhorn players for a series of meet-and-greets.
The Texas players were more than willing to cooperate, and senior cornerback Ryan Palmer escorted them from table to table for introductions.
By the time the Ohio State players arrived a half-hour later, however …
Nothing.
No queen. No court. No light banter.
“What happened?” one player said.
Someone said something about a previous engagement. Whatever.
It made it difficult to determine the winner of the best-looking player award.
During the Texas session, the court demurred when asked to pick one.
But the foursome did stay to have their picture taken with Texas quarterback Colt McCoy on his way out of the building.
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An Ohio State-ment game
Senior linebacker James Laurinaitis looks at the Fiesta Bowl match against Texas on Monday as a way to throw off the stink of the previous two bowl games, BCS title games losses to Florida and LSU.
“We know we have talent,” said Laurinaitis, whose brother, Joey, is a Dayton police officer.
“We’ve had the talent the last few years, but maybe didn’t have the maturity. Guys sort of losing their heads, personal fouls, penalties. There were a few call-back touchdowns, and things start to unfold. It’s a maturity thing, keep battling.”
Laurinaitis, a three-year starter, has had 121 tackles in each of the last two seasons.
He believes the final minutes of a 20-17 victory over Wisconsin showed this team’s character, when the Buckeyes overcame a Wisconsin touchdown with 6:31 remaining with one of their own with 1:08 left.
“They scored late in the fourth quarter and the team could have thought ‘here we go again,’” Laurinaitis said.
“We were mentally tough and fought through it. We’re really excited about the chance to go out there (Monday) and show what this team is truly capable of.”
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Pryor, Texas-ex Young have a lot in common
The resemblance between Terrelle Pryor and Vince Young starts with the body type and continues between the lines, Texas coach Mack Brown said.
“They are real tall and strong. They can make plays with their feet. They both have strong arms,” said Brown, whose Longhorns won a national championship when Young made several game-changing plays in a 41-38 victory over Southern California in the Rose Bowl following the 2005 season.
Pryor is 6-foot-6, 235 pounds, an inch taller and two pounds heavier than Young, now with the Tennessee Titans.
True freshman Pryor is even ahead of Young in one regard - playing time.
Pryor has seen action in all 12 games Ohio State this season while passing for 1,245 yards and rushing for 563 more.
Young redshirted his first year and was a part-time player in his second, not becoming a full-time starter until his third year with the Longhorns. He was the Heisman Trophy runnerup in 2005, his last year.
“The thing that Vince did is, he continued to grow as a quarterback and then he made everybody around him better. He helps recruiting,” Brown said.
“I think Terrelle had that kind of publicity coming into Ohio State. Terrelle has been very impactful for their program, and he will only help them in the future.
“I see him being a game-changer.”
Pryor is 8-1 as a starter and was named the Big 10 freshman of the year, joining Art Schlichter as the only true freshmen to start at quarterback for the Buckeyes.
Young was 30-2 as a Texas starter.
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Tressel shields Pryor from media day blitz
Ohio State can only hope quarterback Terrelle Pryor is as elusive Monday as he was at Fiesta Bowl media day Friday.
Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel took advantage of the change in the arrangements to keep Pryor away from the media as he prepares for a Fiesta Bowl meeting with Texas on Monday.
Pryor and center Mike Brewster, both freshmen, were the only starters from either team who did not attend after media day parameters changed this season when University of Phoenix Stadium, the game venue, was unavailable due to preparations for the Atlanta-Arizona NFL playoff game Saturday.
Media day was instead held at a meeting room at the Marriott Camelback Inn, not large enough to accommodate all the players.
“We want him doing more homework. That’s what we are here for. I hope he has a very nice visit after the game,” Tressel said of Pryor, who will start.
The BCS championship game mandates all starters attend media day, and the Fiesta Bowl has a similar policy.
“We like having the players accessible. They tell the story of the game. We always want to best promote the game,” Fiesta Bowl president John Junker said.
Junker said he only learned when Ohio State boarded the bus for the Camelback Inn that Pryor would not attend.
“We were asked to bring 30 players and we sent a list of players. I did get one call asking ‘Did you happen to miss any?’” Tressel said.
“And I said you might be talking in terms of Terrelle and Brewster because they are starters. They are freshmen. When we were counting to 30, there were 30 others that were afforded the opportunity to be here.”
Pryor was in meetings with the rest of the players not at media day, Tressel said.
“My feeling is, he probably had something that would be more impactful on our cause and that was to spend time in the meeting room,” Tressel said.
Pryor, who took over for Todd Boeckman as the starter in the third week of the season, spoke to the media after games during the regular season but was not available during the week.
“It is tough to be the starting center (Brewster). It is tough to be the starting quarterback. It is tough to be in your first year of having study hall and tutors and mentors and advisers and all different things,” Tressel said.
“When you can use some time elsewhere, we’ve just felt that that’s the growing process that we would use.”
It is similar to the way Tressel shielded running back Maurice Clarett in his true freshman season.
