If bitterness crept in through Daryll Clark's words Tuesday morning, it could have been an understandable feeling.

After all, there was healthy debate as to whether Clark, and not Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor, should have been named the conference's preseason offensive player of the year.

Both are quarterbacks. Both led their teams to BCS bowls last season and both became better players as the season wore on.

But instead of harboring anger, Clark said he reached out to Pryor to offer congratulations.

"People told me about it and I was like 'Wow, you know,'" Clark said. "I congratulated him the second I got a chance to. He deserved it. Ohio State was voted No. 1 in the Big Ten and when it's all set and done, you just have to go out and play the games, you know.

"All those predictions could be changed in the course of one football game."

The football game he might be referencing is Nov. 7 in State College, Pa., when Ohio State and Penn State play.

Clark completed 192 of 321 passes last season for 2,592 yards, 19 touchdowns and six interceptions. He also gained 282 yards rushing and scored 10 touchdowns on the ground in the Spread HD offense.

Yet despite those accomplishments, Clark still praised Pryor.

"He's an explosive player, very exciting player to watch," Clark said. "I'm not really surprised about that. He's a really good player and he helped out Ohio State a ton last year.

"Obviously, those are preseason things and you're just working toward it and you don't really pay no attention to it, don't feed into it as much. I'm not going to say, not going to sit here and say I'm upset about it."

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