OSU's Boeckman takes high road about QB situation

COLUMBUS - James Laurinaitis liked his vote when he cast it and likes it even more now.

His vote for the captains of Ohio State's football team, that is.

Laurinatis revisited his vote earlier this week when he was talking about how quarterback Todd Boeckman, one of OSU's captains, has handled losing his starting job to freshman Terrelle Pryor.

"He's really showed why we voted him captain," Laurinaitis said.

"A lot of guys around the country would go into the coach's office and be complaining. Todd wants to see the team succeed, he wants to see Terrelle succeed.

"I'm not just saying it, he's truly a guy who, when he's on the sidelines, if someone throws a pick or gets sacked, he's not like, ‘Oh yes, maybe I'll get in.' The way he has handled the situation is just first class and really made a lot of guys on the team have even more respect for him."

Maybe Laurinaitis was thinking of Clemson quarterback Cullen Harper, who lost his starting job, then ripped coach Tommy Bowden after he was fired earlier this week.

Boeckman has been the anti-Harper and continues to be. He has been the dutiful team player even though his dream job now belongs to someone else.

Tuesday, during the first interview when he spoke at length about his demotion in favor of Pryor four games ago, the St. Henry High School graduate continued to take the high road and insisted winning is the most important thing.

"It hasn't worked out the way I planned it to be, but if we're still winning, I'm all for it," Boeckman said.

Boeckman threw for 2,379 yards and 25 touchdowns last season when Ohio State got to the BCS national championship game.

After throwing two touchdown passes and two interceptions in OSU's first three games this season, he was replaced by Pryor. Since then, Boeckman has taken only 15 snaps and hasn't played at all in the last two games.

For a guy who called starting at quarterback for Ohio State "pretty much a dream come true" when he got the job last season, being a senior and watching someone else play can't be easy.

"When you're on the sidelines, you always want to play, you always want to be that guy out there. You never go in (to a season) thinking you're not going to be playing. He's 4-0 as a starter, so I guess you can't complain about that."

Boeckman said he and Tressel did not talk about the quarterback change until around two weeks after it was made.

"A couple weeks ago we sat down and talked for a little bit. I was a little frustrated with everything. Who wouldn't be frustrated with what happened?" Boeckman said. "But he just kind of said it hadn't worked out the way I wanted, the way he wanted and that he felt a change was needed."

That change has had mixed results. No. 12 Ohio State (6-1, 3-0 Big Ten) is 4-0 with Pryor as a starter, heading into Saturday's game at No. 20 Michigan State (6-1, 3-0 Big Ten).  But it has scored only 16 offensive touchdowns in seven games, compared to 28 offensive TDs in its first seven games last season.

After Pryor threw for only 97 yards and the offense did not score a touchdown in a 16-3 win over Purdue last Saturday, there were some who suggested Boeckman get more playing time. So, has he heard anything like that inside the team?

"Some guys here and there will say, ‘You could have done this, you could have done that.' But I keep on telling them we're 4-0 with Terrelle, you can't complain about that."

Tressel said during his weekly press conference Tuesday that he has no plans to play Boeckman more but didn't say he wouldn't play at all, either.