Terrelle Pryor was named in ESPN's top 10 blue chip battles of all time.
Pryor chose Ohio State over Michigan. Pryor would go on to win a ton of games for ohio state posting a crazy record. Including Rose Bowl and Sugar bowl wins. Pryor would also be a major part of a scandal that tarnished his legacy in scarlet and gray. Leading to Scholarship reductions, wins vacated, and a bowl ban that ultimately cost Ohio State a shot to play in the BCS National Championship.
Michigan would also sign a quarterback in that recruiting class. Denard Robinson, would go down as one of the most popular wolverines ever. Despite being flat-out overrated as a passer and quarterback, he would go on to become the NCAA's all time leading rusher at his position. He would also deliver Michigan a BCS bowl win over Virginia Tech. How Va. Tech and Michigan even got in the BCS is a different story, so i wont share my thoughts on that BS.
Buckeyenation, who WON this recruiting battle? Michigan signing Denard? or Ohio State signing Pryor?
Dont just look at being a pro prospect.
I still say Ohio State. If you look past the scandal, Ohio State was simply dominant with Pryor under center. No, it did not lead to a national championship (although if he had 1 more year with posey, boom, and the bucks it might have been different) but they went to 3 BCS games in Pryor's 3 years. He was in the Heisman race his soph. and Jr. campaigns. Ohio State was always in the either the top-10 or top-5. Michigan? it was rare they were in the top 20. They only spent one week in the top 10. And that was week 1 right before they got blasted by bama. Denard has 2 signature wins. His BCS victory, and his escape at home to the worst ohio state team in 15 years, with an interim coach coming off the scandal. This is an easy call, Ohio State.
the rest of the top 10 blue chip battles were:
10. Fred Rouse- FSU over bama and texas
9. Vontaze Burfict- Arizona State over USC
8. Percy Harvin- Florida over USC (URBAN CLOSES AGAIN, NO SURPRISE)
7. Reggie Bush- USC ( and some money) over ND and Standford
6. Ryan Perriloux- LSU over Texas
5. Manti Teo- ND over USC
4. Pryor- OSU OVER MICHIGAN
3. Jadeveon Clowney- South Carolina over Clemson and Alabama
2. Julio Jones- Alabama over Oklahoma and Florida State
1. Adrian Peterson- Oklahoma over Texas, and Texas A&M
Pretty nice list of battles, however what it doesn't reflect is the winning school's proximity to the player's home (Teo being the exception), and also how scandelous some of these teams were in paying players to come to their schools.
"Get him a body bag, Yeah!"
Given that Denard isn't really a QB, even though that is the position he played at TTUN, I have to go with OSU won that battle in signing TP. I hate TTUN, but I think Shoelace graduating will be a good thing for their offense. I don't give a damn what kind of stats he had running the ball while there.
Denard, minus his spoon feeding, seems like a likeable kid for a TTUN player, but he sucks/sucked as a QB, IMHO. TTUN didn't win too many games that they were underdogs, with him as QB. To be a good QB, your team needs to win a few games it's expected to lose. They would mostly blow out the Eastern Michelins of the world, and lose to OSU/PSU/Wisc., etc.
For all of the unecessary drama, I'm still glad we had TP for a while.
"Here officer, hold my beer while I find my license."
First, you should probably clarify that Denard is NOT the NCAAs all time leading rusher as you say. He is the all time leading rusher for a QB and we know even that is a little controversial.
Second, not even considering what TP did on and off the field, it was still awesome to get such a big time recruit in a highly publicized battle with TSUN.
Lastly, we didn't want denard so I don't consider that as TSUN winning a recruiting battle with us but rather just them getting a consolation prize after losing a recruiting battle to us. Also remember that Tate Forcier was the QB of the future in that recruiting class for *ichigan
he did say that Denard was the all time leading rusher at his position, which he stated previously was quarterback
not an actual recruiting battle. But, who was better for the program. Was denard better for michigan? or was terrelle better for ohio state?
i believe terrelle was better for ohio state, but just an interesting thing to think about
"limitations, like fears are often just illusions"
-Michael Jordan, the greatest athlete of all time
Denard got scum some hype and into the early conversation for a couple years, Pryor definately had more and bigger wins---
Pryor's actions led to the bowl ban and a very mediocre season so that's a negative...soo that ties it up...
But continued on Pryor's action's also got us Coach Meyer....
Pryor wins!!
The interesting question would be how would Denard have performed with the talent around him that Pryor had and an established coaching staff, etc? How well would Pryor have done under RichRod in year 2 with a bad defense and no supporting cast?
TP was a better QB, but something to think about.
Those who stay will be CHAMPIONS!
~Bo Schembechler
I don't think TP would have been a good fit in rich rods system. Denard was perfect because he was a quick strike athlete. He had great juke moves, vision and change of direction burst.
At the same time, Denard wouldn't have been a good fit for OSU. Not really adept at being a good passer and the run game was sufficient without him.
I think in this case it is a legitimate tie. Both schools got the player that they not only wanted but needed for what they wanted to do at the position.
Ohio State did win the recruiting battle with Michigan for the service of TP.
But, I think there is some confusion in this post. Pryor was in OSU's 2008 recruiting class. Denard was in UM's 2009 recruiting class. The OP said "Michigan would also sign a quarterback in that recruiting class. Denard Robinson, would go down as one of the most popular wolverines ever."
Denard was not a "consolation prize" in 2008 as Killer implied. If anything, the "consolation prize" was Rodriguez signing Justin Feagin at the tail end of the 2008 recruiting cycle, who was later kicked off the team for drug issues. He was the fallback after Ohio State won the Pryor battle. If Killer means Michigan signed a 2009 QB as a consolation for missing on a 2008 QB, I don't agree. Each year, you try to get the best QB available for your system for depth. I think Michigan would have recruited Denard and/or Forcier even if they had won the Pryor battle.
But, if Denard and Pryor were on the same roster at the same time, I don't think Denard would have won the starting job until Pryor left.
Denard Robinson PERIOD and yes I am just saying this because of the scandal.
I got to watch Adrian Peterson destroy Gilmer ISD in one of our games. Our guys couldn't tackle him all night! Watching that kid was a thing of beauty! He was like watching Michael Jordan on a football field! I wish Ohio State would recruit the East Texas area. There are just so many great athletes in that area. Espescially playing for Gilmer ISD.