Ohio State's Pryor under fire before meeting with Penn State

Among football fans with a low tolerance for imperfection, the most popular player on their favorite team always is the backup quarterback. Why? Because whenever the starter goes through a rough stretch - and every incumbent passer does - dissidents always dare to believe that the next guy on the depth chart would do better.

The heat got turned up on Ohio State senior Todd Boeckman in the Buckeyes' third game last season, when he was intercepted twice in a 35-3 loss at Southern California. Boeckman was considered a game-manager, not a difference-maker, and apparently not only by disgruntled boosters. Coach Jim Tressel benched Boeckman in favor of electrifying true freshman Terrelle Pryor the following week, the beginning of what most observers believed would be a long, mutual love affair between hard-to-please members of Buckeye Nation and the 6-6, 235-pound wunderkind who became the nation's most sought-after quarterback prospect after leading Jeannette (Pa.) High to a 16-0 record and the PIAA Class AA football championship in 2007.

The honeymoon appeared to have ended after Pryor was booed following Ohio State's 26-18 upset by Purdue on Oct. 17, when he threw two picks and lost two fumbles. Some fans even suggested that Pryor - who has eight interceptions and three fumbles this season - be replaced by untested redshirt sophomore Joe Bauserman.

The crisis abated somewhat after Ohio State won its next two games by a combined margin of 83-7, but it'll be interesting to see how Pryor is treated by still-skeptical OSU fans and those of jilted Penn State (8-1, 4-1 Big Ten) when the 11th-ranked Nittany Lions host the No. 15 Buckeyes (7-2, 4-1) in a nationally televised contest Saturday afternoon in Beaver Stadium.

It's a pretty safe bet that every Pryor miscue will incite disbelief among Ohio State fans, and smug satisfaction from Penn State supporters who never forgave him for rejecting his home-state school.

Penn State players, at least publicly, are insisting that Pryor has improved upon his reasonably impressive freshman campaign.

"You just try to keep him in the pocket," Penn State safety Drew Astorino said when asked how he and his teammates planned to contain Pryor, a long strider whose running ability is reminiscent of Randall Cunningham and Vince Young. "He's a good passer. He's gotten a lot better at that. But he's also a dangerous runner. When he starts scrambling, he makes things happen."