Troy to prepare for two Ohio State QBs

TROY — Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel said Tuesday that he anticipates playing quarterback Todd Boeckman and Terrelle Pryor equally in Saturday’s 11 a.m. game with Troy.

However, that doesn’t mean the Trojans (2-0) will bring two different game plans to Columbus for the showdown with the No. 13 Buckeyes (2-1).

“Regardless of what everybody thinks, they don’t have two different offenses,” Troy defensive coordinator Jeremy Rowell said. “They do the same stuff. They’re going to lean more one way when one guy is in.”

Boeckman is the pocket passer, the slow-footed senior who doesn’t make many mistakes. He led OSU to the national title game last year in his first year as a starter.

Pryor is the 6-foot-6, 235-pound true freshmen. He was rated as the top recruit in the country by most services, and he can hurt teams with his arm and feet, but he’s young.

In a recent 35-3 loss to No. 1 USC, the two would rotate sometimes in the middle of series, since Pryor gives that added dimension with his feet that Boeckman doesn’t have.

“You’re not going to change your whole defense for one guy that they’ll swap in at quarterback,” Rowell said. “You’ll make some different calls. They’re both going to do the same things.”

Since leading rusher Beanie Wells has been sidelined with a foot injury in Week 1, Pryor (129 yards) is OSU’s leading rusher. He has hit 11-of-17 passes for 87 yards with no interceptions.

Boeckman threw two interceptions against USC, but has hit 44-of-66 passes for 381 yards and two scores.

“They’re both talented, but with our defense, I don’t look at how good quarterbacks are, just if they come ready to play for that game,” cornerback Jorrick Calvin said.

Beanie questionable: OSU running back Chris “Beanie” Wells is listed as questionable for the game, Tressel said, and that his status for Saturday’s game would depend on how he did in practice this week.

Wells, a 6-foot-1, 237-pound junior who is rated as one of the best backs in the country, ran for 111 yards in a half against Youngstown State in the opener before injuring his foot. He hasn’t played since.

“I would love for him to play,” Troy linebacker Bear Woods said. “He’s arguably the best running back in the nation. As a player in myself, I would love to see where I stand comparing to the nation’s best.”

If Wells doesn’t play, redshirt freshman Dan Herron should start, though he’s a bit smaller at 5-foot-10 and 193 pounds.

“With Beanie, I think we’ve got a good chance,” Troy safety Tavares Williams said. “Without Beanie, I think we’ve got a great chance to win. It takes away what they want to do and that’s come out and power it right at us.”

Trojans confident: Troy players didn’t see much of OSU’s loss to USC, since the Trojans were playing at the same time, but did they see OSU struggle against MAC bottom-feeder Ohio on Sept. 6.

“We feel like we could beat Ohio,” Williams said. “After that game, we were ready to see. If they don’t have Beanie, it’s going to be a long night.

“After that, they’ve got to try to outrun us with those small speedy backs.”

With that being said, does speed kill? Troy players feel like they’ve got the speed to match OSU’s power.

“I think we’re faster than them. I think we can use our speed to our advantage,” Williams said.

“The last couple of years, they’ve gone against speed and they’ve lost.”

He’s referring to blowout losses to Florida and LSU in the BCS title games, as well as Illinois in the regular season where the Illini used the spread offense, which is similar to Troy, to beat the Buckeyes.

Ohio quarterback Boo Jackson kept the Bobcats in the game until OSU pulled away late and won 26-14. Troy quarterback Jamie Hampton had a leg up on the competition because he’s the fastest Troy quarterback.

“I thought (Ohio) had a pretty good passing game and mobile quarterback that kept them off balance,” Troy left tackle Chris Jamison said. “Jamie’s pretty mobile too. That’s one of his underrated qualities. If you let Jamie run on you, he’ll run on you.”