Rob Oller commentary: Pryor is big part of running game
Saturday, September 25, 2010
By Rob Oller
The Columbus Dispatch
The term "quarterback" originated in European rugby, and it made its way across the pond when American football found its 19th-century niche in eastern U.S. cities.
In those days, pre-forward pass, grinding it out on the ground was the only option. Each backfield consisted of four runners who lined up at varying distances from the thick-necked linemen in front of them. The player farthest, or fully back, from the line was the fullback. The two halfbacks were halfway between the line and the fullback. The quarterback lined up in front of the halfback.
No one second-guessed the quarterback's role. As a "back," his job was to run the ball. And so it is that Ohio State is repeating history this season by making quarterback Terrelle Pryor as important to the Buckeyes' running game as anyone else in the backfield. In a sense, he is the tailback.
Running the QB by choice and not just by necessity isn't exactly a novelty elsewhere in college football. Michigan's Denard Robinson, for example, currently is the nation's leading rusher.
But it is an approach often overlooked by OSU's critics, who have the tendency to judge a running game solely on the merits of the tailbacks and not by the guy handing them the ball.
