The Dispatch reported this afternoon that Pryor will start against Minnesota on Saturday. It’s not a surprise, given that no amount of fumbles or interceptions was enough to rent him a place on the bench against Purdue. I really don’t think he should lose the starting spot, given the way Tressel screwed Boeckman over to get Pryor as much experience as possible. Trouble is, Tressel will probably keep right on trying to make a great runner stand.

Let’s have a look at some running back numbers, with the preface that (if I haven’t mentioned it before) Brandon Saine grew up in my native land, Miami County, Ohio. These stats are from ESPN.com, as of 10/20/2009:

Who does Tressel start, unless he’s injured? Herron, who has 140 fewer yards on 4 fewer carries. Herron is the “power back,” as far as Tressel is concerned, despite being shorter and lighter than Saine. He scores touchdowns – because Saine doesn’t get the ball anywhere near the endzone. What is it about Tressel and underclassmen? If he’s a sucker for the next big thing, his offensive play calling sure doesn’t reflect that!

One more specific complaint about the Purdue game, and I’m going to try real hard not to complain about Ohio State’s bungling offensive coaches any more. This is the only mention of Brandon Saine in the play-by-play for the third quarter of the Purdue game -

Terrelle Pryor rush for a loss of 6 yards, fumbled, recovered by OhSt Brandon Saine at the OhSt 32.

Yes, in case you didn’t notice on Saturday, Saine – after breaking off a 20 yard run in the first and getting 40 yards on a terrible pitch most RBs would have dropped – touched the ball once in the entire third quarter. And it took falling on another botched shovel pass to do so. Saine took a single hand-off in the fourth, in the final drive when the game was already over.

There should be no question about Ohio State’s problems on offense: it’s not for lack of talent at receiver, or running back, or even at QB. It’s just that Tressel is apparently clueless as to how the guys should be utilized.