One of the strange differences between college football and the NFL is that, for the most part, in college, quarterbacks have to produce instantly. Whereas in the NFL, most quarterbacks - especially high draft picks - are afforded some leniency in learning how to the play the game despite making mistakes on the field. Some pro quarterbacks get as many as three full years - or in Eli Manning's case, four - to prove themselves.

There's also probably another reason for this discrepancy as well. Fans, and boosters, of major college football programs don't like watching their team suffer through a 5-7 season while breaking in a new quarterback.

The only problem with that rationale though is that it may seriously hurt a program in the long run.

The reason why I bring this up is because on Saturday, Ohio State plans on splitting snaps between Terrelle Pryor and Todd Boeckman in their game against Troy and that who will start down the line is up in the air.

Anyone who follows college football knows that not only has Boeckman been less than awesome for a while now, but that Pryor is clearly Ohio State's future.

So here's my take. Just start Pryor now, and leave him in as the starter for the rest of the season.

Now, some of you may say, that's absurd, Ohio State should at least ease him to the starting job, and splitting snaps is a good way to do that.

Really? When was the last time you saw an NFL team have their rookie quarterback split snaps with a veteran backup during a single series to ease the rookie in? I don't remember having seen the Ravens do this with Joe Flacco in their first game of the NFL season.

If Ohio State is as committed to Pryor as they seem to be (just like an NFL team to a high draft pick), then it makes sense to just insert him as the starter now - especially against a team like Troy - and let him learn how to play the college game on the field, complete with all the bumps and bruises. And then keep starting him for the rest of the season. Does this mean that Ohio State will lose a few games in the process of Pryor's education? Certainly. But let's be honest here. Ohio State won't be winning the national championship this year. So why not run Pryor through the ringer right now so that by his sophomore year you can be fully confident that he's up to speed with the college game?

To me, if you had an NFL head coach at Ohio State, who wasn't paying attention to fans or boosters, there's no question you'd see Pryor starting this weekend. But unfortunately, Tressel isn't that gutsy. Instead he'll play by the old college rules, which admittedly make no sense.

Sure, I understand Tressel doesn't want to go 8-4 or 7-5 this season, but would one less than stellar season be better for his team and Pryor in the long run? I certainly think so.

Pryor, Boeckman to split snaps [Scout.com]