• The people are a beast. The criticism of Terrelle Pryor in Columbus reached a fever pitch so quickly following Saturday's four-turnover debacle at Purdue that Jim Tressel actually had to spend "a lot of words" defending Pryor as Ohio State's starting quarterback Tuesday at his weekly media session. (He could have gotten by with just seven: "Have you seen our depth at quarterback?") As of this morning, an astonishing 47 percent of respondents in a Columbus Dispatch online poll (unscientific, of course) voted "Yes" to the question "Should Ohio State make a change at quarterback?" despite Pryor's obvious talent and 13-4 record as a starter. And Dispatch reporter Ken Gordon went out of his way to calculate the impact of Pryor's turnovers in each game this season, and doesn't pull any punches for the sophomore's benefit, beginning with the headline:

Pryor TOs the difference between 5-2 and 7-0?
[...]
Pryor has accounted for 11 turnovers: 8 interceptions and 3 lost fumbles (out of 8 fumbles overall). Opponents have converted those turnovers into 30 points.
[...]
... I determined that Pryor’s turnovers prevented OSU from scoring at least 3 points [in the three-point loss to USC], and maybe as many as 18.

Add those together, and you have a total turnover cost of between 33 and 48 points. It could also be argued that his turnovers made the difference in both of OSU’s losses.

Reckless as he may be with the ball, the notion of pulling a wildly hyped athlete with huge upside and a co-Big Ten championship/BCS bid under his belt as a true freshman is fairly insane, even if there was a viable backup. But Pryor is one more upset from becoming officially "embattled," and obviously has a huge portion of the fan base to win back over.

• Bradford speaks. Beleaguered Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford is set to go before the microphones today to discuss his immediate future, an appearance that could broach a wild array of topics, including his potential return this season from a re-aggravated shoulder injury and his intentions regarding the NFL after the season:

Stoops said Bradford would "answer a couple of questions and address that for a few minutes after practice tomorrow," and talk about "what the plan will be" regarding his availability for the rest of the season, whether or not he'll have surgery, and, if he does take the rest of the season off, his concerns about returning in time for next April's NFL Draft, where he's projected as the potential No. 1 overall pick.

Re: the No. 1 overall pick, if Bradford doesn't come back and light it up this season, it seems that ship has sailed. But if he's still a first-rounder, depending on how he feels about his shoulder and the Sooners' offensive prospects in 2010, it might be time to cut his losses and take the Josh Freeman money.

• BCS lobbyin' up. At least one good indicator that the new Congressional playoff lobby has the BCS' attention: The Series is contemplating hiring its own "point man," a full-time position that would take over most of the duties of the current commissioner's role, which has outgrown the time constraints of the conference commissioners who fill it on a rotating basis. His first priority? Justifying the existence of the beast in the face of its increasingly powerful, organized and vocal critics:

"I think there is a sense (among conference commissioners) that the BCS hasn't really done a good job over the years of defending itself," said [new Big East commissioner John] Marinatto, who's been involved in four BCS meetings since taking over for [Mike] Tranghese in the spring.

Defending the BCS certainly has been the primary function of the coordinator. And that coordinator's role has grown in part because of all the attention - much of it negative - college football's postseason system for determining a champion receives.

I hereby declare my candidacy for the position. ... What? Bring the system down from the inside? No, of course not. I love the BCS. I would never intentionally steer it toward a Hindenberg-like finish in a Navy-Fresno State title game. Read the masthead.

• Bierra booked. Terrible story out of Louisiana, where former Georgia safety Terreal Bierria, who went on to play with the Seahawks, was charged with first-degree murder Tuesday in a suspected drug-related killing. A 29-year-old man was found dead with "wounds indicating a violent struggle" in his home, where Bierra's car was spotted and police later found drugs, and Bierra allegedly checked himself into a local hospital with cuts to his hands and arms. He's being held without bond.

Quickly ... Lane Kiffin finally puts his name on the dotted line. ... Steve Spurrier questions the legality of Alabama's tape-wielding field goal kicker in the Tide's win over South Carolina, when he should be questioning the legality of Mark Ingram's existence. ... Bad to worse for winless Ball State: Starting quarterback Kelly Page is out for the season with a broken thumb. ... Wisconsin will be without its leading tackler, freshman linebacker Mike Taylor, for the rest of the season due to a knee injury. ... N.C. State cornerback Rashard Smith, a starter, is out for the season with a knee injury. ... Spindly Michigan quarterback Tate Forcier, who sat out last week's curb-stomping of Delaware State after one series, declared himself "completely healthy" despite a mild concussion against Iowa and ongoing shoulder issues. ... USC's lack of fumble-recovery skills drives Pete Carroll crazy. ... "Matt Barkley for Heisman" sort of baffles Matt Barkley. ... Ralph Friedgen is sticking with quarterback Chris Turner at Maryland, but backup Jamarr Robinson will play against Duke. ... A checklist for Georgia's bye week ahead of the Florida game. ... L.A. Times headline writers pass up the real cliché for a more banal one. ... And Georgia Tech gives its goal posts a proper send-off, "student injuries" be damned.