For the first time in almost three decades, Ohio State had a freshman starting at quarterback last fall.

You might have heard of Terrelle Pryor. He led the Buckeyes to the Fiesta Bowl with experience around him. Now, in Year 2, he's going to be expected to help lead the entire team.

"The experiences Terrelle got this past fall were very, very valuable," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. "I think they were tough. When you step in and you take over for a guy like Todd Boeckman who was our captain and who had done a lot of good things. I think that's a difficult assignment, and I thought he handled them well.

"He has a real passion to do well. He wants to make sure he can do all that the team needs, and I thought for a freshman he was pretty careful with the football and grew to learn from every experience he had. There were some tough experiences along the way."

VIDEO: TERRELLE PRYOR TALKS AFTER PENN STATE LOSS

Last year, Pryor had a senior quarterback in Boeckman helping him. He also had a future first-round draft pick in Beanie Wells at running back. This year, in more of a solitary position as a leader due to Ohio State's youth, he has to expand on it.

From the looks of it, people think he'll be able to. Pryor was named the Big Ten's preseason offensive player of the year.

"Terrelle, we recruited him and played against him last year," Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez said. "He's a tremendous athlete. I think a quarterback in any system is going to be a focal point, particularly of your offense, and he's the guy that's certainly the focal point of theirs.

"He can beat you in a lot of different ways."

Pryor completed 100 of 165 passes last season for 1,311 yards and 12 touchdowns. He also ran for 631 yards and six touchdowns.

Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan basketball for annarbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558 or by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com.