Dan O to J-Z: This Is How You Do It
The Story: Freshman quarterback Jack Zergiotis wasn’t good at Indiana last week. Randy Edsall knows it, Zergiotis knows it, and of course, everyone reading the Daily knows it. Zergiotis struggled and was 14-of-28 for 90 yards with one awful pick-six and he missed receivers left and right.
So, what did Edsall do? He called former UConn star and longtime backup NFL QB and now ESPN broadcasting superstar Dan Orlovsky, who gave Zergiotis a pep talk and gave some advice on playing the position in college.
A SMART MOVE: Look, it’s become clear through his media work that Orlovsky knows what it takes for a quarterback to succeed, and he has the added benefit of being the Huskies’ best quarterback in school history (and, before Zergiotis, their first true freshman to make a start). We at the Daily don’t know what the two men spoke about, but hopefully, Orlovsky cued up some of Zergiotis’ tape and gave him a breakdown like he’d do for Patrick Mahomes, Jared Goff or any other NFL quarterback on the rise.
WHAT DID EDSALL SAY? “You’ve got to be careful because you don’t want to give the kid too much too soon, and you don’t want to overload him to make it really hard on him. We can do and I can do a better job of making sure that we help him as much as we can.”
NO SENSE IN SITTING: With the four-game threshold for redshirts passing once UConn plays UCF on Saturday
— and Houston quarterback D’Eriq King deciding to sit out the remainder of the season with the Cougars 1-3 in order to preserve a year of eligibility — it’s fair to wonder whether that’s a tactic Edsall would consider with Zergiotis and some of the Huskies’ other promising underclassmen. The coach said no, however, given he values 12 games of taking lumps more than watching film and practicing, and plus, he thinks the future is bright for the Huskies — which is always a good thing.
Morning Reads
WELCOME BACK: We wish a hearty (wink, wink) return to colleague Jeff Jacobs, who has survived a double bypass and is back to antagonize and enlighten. (Hearst Connecticut Media)
