Terrelle Pryor

Terrelle Pryor, the No. 1 high school football senior in the nation according to most recruiting Web sites, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he "probably" would make an official visit to Penn State the weekend of Jan. 18. The Jeannette High quarterback periodically supplies the newspaper with a diary as he nears his college decision. Pryor said he would visit Michigan the weekend of Feb. 1, just days before National Signing Day, Feb. 6. Pryor also wrote that a trip to Florida was possible.

It's two-minute drill time, as Penn State pursues a few undecided recruits, hoping to improve what is considered a mediocre 2008 recruiting class. Today is national signing day, the first day high school football seniors can sign binding letters of intent, and the Nittany Lions are expected to receive at least 15 signatures. Still, three recruits who have Penn State on their lists have yet to commit, even if Joe Paterno's Lions are likely the underdogs. The most prominent is Terrelle Pryor, a 6-foot-6, 235-pound quarterback from Jeannette High, just outside Pittsburgh.

Bob Murphy couldn't stay off the phone. During a 45-minute span yesterday, Murphy, Jeannette High's athletic director, was trying to talk to a reporter in his office. Instead, he spent the entire time picking up his phone. In every instance, the caller wanted an update on Terrelle Pryor, Jeannette's all-everything quarterback. Everyone wanted to know: Where is Pryor going to college? Will he definitely sign a national letter of intent today? If so, who will be able to attend the signing?

Lights. Cameras. No action! Jeannette High's all-everything quarterback, Terrelle Pryor, strolled to the portable stage in his school's gymnasium a little before noon yesterday, with his mother, Thomasina; his coach, Ray Reitz; and mentor and Pittsburgh Steelers backup quarterback Charlie Batch at his side. Over the next eight minutes, two rows of anxious reporters and television cameras waited as Pryor and his contingent traded the occasional whisper in an otherwise silent gymnasium.

The Terrelle Pryor show came to Villanova last night, and it had almost nothing to do with football. But with the top-ranked high school quarterback nearing his college decision, almost everything everyone wants from Pryor has to do with football. The problem with that was evident last night at the Pavilion, where Pryor and his teammates faced Chester in the PrimeTime Shootout. Yes, the Jeannette (Pa.) High School senior was in town because of basketball, a sport he plays extremely well - it's just not the one that everyone believes he'll play someday as a pro. Football is his ticket, and with less than a week until national signing day and Pryor still undecided, his every move has been tracked with ferocity - by the colleges, the media and the fans.

After leading his team to the Pennsylvania Class AA football state title, Terrelle Pryor tried to navigate his way through a bevy of well-wishers at HersheyPark Stadium. He didn't get very far. Following his five-touchdown performance in Jeannette High's 49-21 win over Dunmore, the star quarterback was in high demand. Some sought out his autograph. Others wanted hugs. And a few just longed for an up-close glimpse of the 6-foot-6, 235-pound sensation. Deep down inside, they all wondered what college coaches and recruiting analysts are wondering: Where will he end up in college?

KENTUCKY DERBY-winning trainer Doug O'Neill could face a suspension in California after one of his horses was found to have an elevated level of total carbon dioxide, an infraction for which he previously has been punished. The California Horse Racing Board is considering the case, which involves "milkshaking," the illegal practice of giving a horse a blend of bicarbonate of soda, sugar and electrolytes. The mixture is designed to reduce fatigue and enhance performance. O'Neill faces his third total carbon dioxide violation in California and fourth in a career that has spanned 25 years.

Tomorrow is T-day. Terrelle Pryor, the nation's top-ranked football recruit, will announce his college decision at noon during a news conference at Jeannette High in Westmoreland County, Pa. Yesterday, the 6-foot-6, 235-pound quarterback pared his list of schools to three after eliminating Oregon: Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State. Pryor had considered pushing back his decision so he could make official visits to Oregon and Penn State. He said yesterday, however, that the Ducks were out and that he would settle for the many unofficial visits he had made to State College.

Done with college football and through with talking to the NCAA, former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor will now focus on the NFL. Pryor's attorney, Larry James , said Thursday that his client turned down a chance to play in the Canadian Football League to concentrate on the NFL's supplemental draft. James said Pryor, because he's no longer a student, felt no compunction to speak with NCAA investigators looking into allegations that players traded autographs and memorabilia for cash, discounted tattoos, and free use of cars.

Connecticut swept the men's and women's team titles yesterday at the Big East Indoor Track and Field Championships in New York. Villanova's Bobby Curtis won the 3,000 meters in 8:02.91, earning an NCAA provisional mark. Curtis anchored the distance med-ley relay team that set a meet record of 9 minutes, 32.89 seconds. Also, Villanova had a record-setting performance of 7:26.24 in the 4x800 relay. The team of Michael Kerrigan, Carl MacKenzie, Mark Korich and Sean Tully beat the previous mark of 7:26.

KENTUCKY DERBY-winning trainer Doug O'Neill could face a suspension in California after one of his horses was found to have an elevated level of total carbon dioxide, an infraction for which he previously has been punished. The California Horse Racing Board is considering the case, which involves "milkshaking," the illegal practice of giving a horse a blend of bicarbonate of soda, sugar and electrolytes. The mixture is designed to reduce fatigue and enhance performance. O'Neill faces his third total carbon dioxide violation in California and fourth in a career that has spanned 25 years.

MOBILE, Ala. - The tattoos that cover DeVier Posey's arms tell a story, but Posey feels it isn't just the one about the entitled big-time college athlete who ended up in the middle of a huge scandal. Posey, a wide receiver from Ohio State, is at the Senior Bowl trying to give NFL scouts the look they didn't really get during the 2011 season, when he was suspended for the first 10 games of his senior year - five games for trading memorabilia for tattoos, the NCAA violations that took down Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel, and five games for accepting what the NCAA deemed excessive remuneration from a part-time job provided by a Cleveland-area booster.

Here on the other side of the looking glass, the truth is always strange, apparently. Joe Paterno was fired by Penn State. Once that takes place, it is difficult to rule out anything else. So, it was just another windblown bit of news that swept by this week when interim football coach Tom Bradley casually let it slip that he had exchanged text messages recently with former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor, who was at the center of the recent payola scandal that cost Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel his job. It's difficult to find the proper context for that piece of information, particularly as Penn State takes its traveling circus on the road for the first time . . . to play in the great horseshoe of Ohio Stadium.

THIS HAS been a strange season for Penn State and Ohio State, and it could get stranger still when the 21st-ranked Nittany Lions and Buckeyes tangle tomorrow afternoon in a key Big Ten Conference Leaders Division matchup in Ohio Stadium. If you put aside the fact that both tradition-rich programs have been beset with scandals - OK, you probably can't do that - what might happen on the field could prove nearly as surprising as the idea that this game could be played with neither Penn State's Joe Paterno nor Ohio State's Jim Tressel coaching in it. What if the outcome hinges on the play of two wide receivers, one for each team, who between them have caught three passes this season?

OK folks, it's Week 7 of the NFL season, which means it's time for America's favorite game show: Wheel . . . of . . . Quarterbacks! You know that the Washington Redskins have decided that John Beck (he of the 0-4 record as a Dolphins starter) is an upgrade over Rex Grossman (he of the four picks against the Eagles and Kurt Coleman 's new best friend). Good luck with that! And that Tim Tebow will be descending from the clouds on a ray of light to take the snaps for the Denver Broncos against Miami (on the day the Dolphins honor Tebow's 2008 national championship Florida team)

The Oakland Raiders made the off-field equivalent of a Hail Mary pass on Tuesday, sending a first-round draft pick to Cincinnati for holdout quarterback Carson Palmer in a bold move to replace injured starter Jason Campbell. The Bengals had been adamant that they would not trade Palmer, who was holding out to force a deal. But owner Mike Brown reversed course when the Raiders offered a 2012 first-round pick and a conditional pick in the 2013 draft - one that might become another first rounder - for Palmer.

Kevin Kolb is disgusted with the way his Arizona career has started. He knows that the Cardinals paid him big money to be the franchise quarterback for years to come. So the former Eagle said he is looking in the mirror to find the leader to bring the team out of its four-game losing streak, that his postgame comments after Sunday's 34-10 loss at Minnesota were not meant to blame his teammates, as some had interpreted them. Kolb said Sunday that the players "have to get more detail-oriented.

Michigan has banned Dennis Talbott from photographing its teams on campus. Talbott has been linked to ex-Ohio State star Terrelle Pryor in the Buckeyes' memorabilia-for-cash scandal. The NCAA outlined three potentially major violations in its letter of allegations sent to South Carolina on Monday. The NCAA says South Carolina athletes received $55,000 in impermissible benefits or staying at a hotel for a reduced rate and for dealings with a Delaware-based mentoring group.

MINNESOTA authorities filed felony charges yesterday against the wife of a former Minnesota Viking in a fatal hit-and-run crash. Amy Senser, 45, of Edina, is charged with criminal vehicular operation in the Aug. 23 death of Anousone Phanthavong of Roseville. The 38-year-old Thai restaurant chef had run out of gas and was walking along an Interstate 94 exit ramp in Minneapolis when he was struck and killed. Amy Senser is the wife of former West Chester University and Minnesota Viking tight end Joe Senser, who owns the Mercedes SUV that the Minnesota State Patrol identified as striking Phanthavong.

Like his players, Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator Dick Jauron was caught unaware Sunday when the Cincinnati Bengals rushed to the line and quickly snapped the ball for a 41-yard touchdown pass. At the time, Jauron was concentrating on his play sheet. "I have to pick it up," Jauron said Thursday. "I have to see it, and I didn't see it. I missed it. " During the fourth quarter, Bengals quarterback Bruce Gradkowski alertly hurried his team to the line, took the snap, and lofted a touchdown pass to rookie A.J. Green , a game-changing play in Cincinnati's 27-17 win. Jauron didn't offer any excuses for the blunder, accepted blame, and made changes.