One quarterback is a veteran with a steady arm. The other is less experienced, and his scrambling ability gives the offense a different look.
Ohio State’s Todd Boeckman and Terrelle Pryor? Yes, them too.
The No. 12 Buckeyes settled on Pryor weeks ago. But now the defense faces a quarterback question, with Northwestern not saying who will lead its offense Saturday. “I would expect that we would see them both,” Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. “I would expect the (Northwestern) coaches will do the best they can possibly do to utilize both the guys, at whatever mixture they need to have their best opportunity to move the football and score points.”
C.J. Bacher is Northwestern’s starter, a senior who is among the Big Ten leaders in total offense (third, 243 yards per game) and passing yards (fourth, 212.5). He’s led the Wildcats to a 7-2 record, their best in three years.
hamstring injury, Mike Kafka took over and rallied the Wildcats (3-2 Big Ten) to a 24-17 victory at Minnesota, their first against a ranked team since 2005. The junior rushed for 217 yards, a record for a Big Ten quarterback, and threw for another 143 yards directing Northwestern’s spread.
Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said Bacher will start against the Buckeyes (7-2, 4-1) if he’s healthy, and Bacher was upgraded to probable after Thursday’s practice. But the Wildcats need Kafka’s mobility, too, especially after backup running back Omar Conteh was knocked out of this weekend’s game with a knee injury.
Leading rusher Tyrell Sutton is already out for the year with a wrist injury.
So who’s it going to be? Bacher? Kafka? Both?
“Obviously we’ll play to the young men’s strengths,” Fitzgerald said. “C.J. can run the ball better than people give him credit for, and Mike can throw better than people give him credit for. Both young men are very talented, and give us the opportunity to really run the offense the way that we think we can.”
No matter who’s under center, he won’t have an easy task. Ohio State leads the Big Ten in pass defense, and is third against the run. The Buckeyes have one of the best linebackers in the country in James Laurinaitis, and safety Kurt Coleman and cornerback Malcolm Jenkins have three interceptions each.
s a passer, but the running game is strong behind running back Chris “Beanie” Wells.
Pryor is a phenom, a big, mobile quarterback out of the Vince Young mold. But he’s also a freshman, and he was despondent after the Oct. 25 loss to Penn State, saying he cost the Buckeyes the game and, possibly, a fourth straight Big Ten title.
It was Pryor’s fumble that set up Penn State’s go-ahead touchdown, and the Nittany Lions sealed the victory with a last-minute interception.
“This is going to be a great challenge for him. This is part of maturing as a person and as a football player,” tight end Rory Nicol said. “TP is going to be a great player, and we’ve totally got his back. He knows that. It’s time to move forward.
“It’ll be exciting to see how he bounces back,” Nicol added. “In his mind, I’m sure he’s got big things going on. He wants to have a big game.”
Wells hasn’t been as explosive as he was last year, missing three games with a foot injury. But he’s still averaging 112 yards rushing per game, and rumbled for 168 yards against Wisconsin.
He had only 55 yards on 22 carries against Penn State, but Tressel said Wells got in more practice time during Ohio State’s bye last week than he had the three weeks before that.
effective game of the year for us to just compete to have an opportunity.”
That’s not just coach-speak, either.
Ohio State routed the Wildcats the past two seasons, winning by a combined score of 112-17. Actually, the whole “rivalry” has been lopsided, with the Buckeyes winning eight of the last nine meetings and all but 15 since the teams began playing back in 1913. One game was a tie.
There could be one good omen for Northwestern. Its one victory came in 2004, when Ohio State was coming back from its bye. The Buckeyes did not play last week.
Or not.
The Buckeyes still have a slim chance at another outright conference title. But they have to win out and get help from Penn State and Michigan State, who play each other in the season finale.
Even if Penn State keeps winning, it would at least end up in the Rose Bowl. If the Nittany Lions make the BCS title game, Rose Bowl officials could opt to stay with a Big Ten team, as they did last year.
“We saw a little highlight today of the way they reacted to that win. That meant everything to them,” Nicol said of Northwestern’s 2004 victory. “And the way we walked off that field, kind of in embarrassment, just a terrible feeling. Unfortunately, we’ve felt it twice this year so far, and it’s on us to kind of go out with a bang.
“Let’s everybody recommit, and get this thing going the right way.”
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AP Sports Writer Rusty Miller contributed to this report from Columbus, Ohio
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