Just because he’s that type of coach, Jim Tressel’s not willing to publicly sweep Todd Boeckman under the rug in favor of a true freshman, but he’s not blind, either. No one had a better vantage point of last week’s double-clutching, pick-throwing collapse in the second quarter than Tressel , and no one has more at stake in getting Boeckman off the field, especially when there’s no every-down back behind to keep him out of the trouble spots that have led to a string of fatal mistakes dating back to last November. So while the public line may be “split time” under center, the Buckeyes are all but out of the mythical championship race, have no reliable options on offense until Beanie Wells returns and couldn’t be in a more obvious spot to hand the offense to Terrelle Pryor.

If the double-time humming out of Columbus is any sign, the freshman is probably due for most of the snaps Saturday against Troy, with a chance to make the job his and a much wider margin for error than he had when he outplayed Boeckman last week against USC. But that also means Pryor will have less protection from the coaches: he may have looked more composed than Boeckman, but Pryor saw zero third down snaps against the Trojans until the tail end of the third quarter, with the game already well out of reach, and most of OSU’s ugliest moments – the sack-and-fumble late in the first half, consecutive sacks in the third – came with Boeckman facing third-and-long. When Pryor saw third down action late, he scrambled harmlessly short of the fist down three times and was sacked once.

More than that: can Terrelle Pryor throw? Distance-wise, no doubt, he’s a titan with a heroic, slingshot windup. But at this points, does he a) have any idea what he’s doing with multiple reads, or b) have any accuracy beyond a few yards downfield? Here, courtesy fearless contributor and friend of the blog Holly Anderson, is almost Pryor’s entire passing performance against USC:

By my tally:

• One completed out route at the first down line, from a moving pocket.
  • Two designed swing passes (no read) out of the backfield, behind the line of scrimmage.
  • One designed screen pass at the line of scrimmage.
  • One broken play completion off a fumbled snap.
  • One incomplete pass downfield, into double coverage, from a moving pocket.
  • One incomplete hitch pass at the first down line on second and short.

USC only blitzed once in that sequence (on the fumble drill, plausibly the most promising play because of the instincts and improvisation when something went initially wrong), and there was one thing you didn’t see: an attempt from the pocket that traveled beyond the line of scrimmage. That’s keeping it pretty basic, completely understandable under the circumstances and likely no problem against Troy or the very Sun Belt-esque defense of Minnesota after that, both of which can be plowed into submission a la Ohio U. if all else fails at quarterback.

But on almost every play that the camera allows, you’ll also see Trojan safeties creeping into the picture (pause it at 1:41 and count the red jerseys within six-to-eight yards of the line). In two weeks, OSU goes on the road again, a primetime game at Wisconsin, where drunk and proudly demented Wisconsinites will howl lustily into the night for freshman blood. Wells and the Buckeye offensive line put Boeckman to bed and took over against the Badgers when the chips were down late last year in Columbus, and that seems like a good target for Beanie’s return if his ailing foot isn’t going to go on ailing for the rest of the year. But Wells or no Wells, somebody has to get Wisconsin backing up. If Boeckman can’t be trusted to handle that anymore, Pryor has some growing up to do against Troy and Minnesota, while there’s still a little time.