Breaking out of oblivion: UConn quarterback Dan Orlovsky, the unknown player most worth knowing, has arrived, His team is a winner, and his NFL stock is high

Sporting News, The, Sept 13, 2004 by Tom Dienhart

GET THE GHOST.

The pursuit consumes Connecticut's Dan Orlovsky. The words tease him from a sign that hangs in his locker. They taunt him from a piece of paper that clings to a bedroom wall in his apartment.

"Quarterbacks coach Rob Ambrose told me there's a ghost out there that's always working when you're not," Orlovsky says. "When you don't want to work out, he is. When you don't want to watch film, he is. When you want to sleep, he's not."

Orlovsky is in full sprint toward his elusive tormentor these days. He knows a season of great possibilities is unfolding.

You say you've never heard of Orlovsky? Shame on you, and here's why. At one time, quarterbacks such as Brett Favre, Chad Pennington, David Carr, Daunte Culpepper and lake Delhomme toiled on the fringes of college football. Now look at them. Orlovsky--the War Room scouts' No. 3-rated senior quarterback pro prospect behind Arizona State's Andrew Walter and Purdue's Kyle Orton--is next.

But before moving to the NFL as a likely early-round draft pick next April, Orlovsky wants to establish basketball-mad Connecticut as a football school.

OK, you can stop laughing now. He's serious. In fact, UConn blew out Murray State, 52-14, in the season opener, and Orlovsky threw for a career-high 382 yards and five touchdowns. Even with key running back Terry Caulley out for the season with a knee injury, UConn is a pretty good team. Still, Orlovsky has to answer questions about Huskymania on the hardcourt.

"Yeah, that happens" he says. "We won the national titles (in men's and women's college basketball last year) and all that stuff. But there's less basketball and more football as time goes on."

That's because of Orlovsky--the most unknown college football player worth knowing. He is carrying the hopes and dreams of a program, school and state along with his own.

To understand Orlovsky and his quest, you need to know where he comes from. Shelton, Conn., is a blue-collar town located in the historic Housatonic River Valley about one hour southwest of Storrs, home of UConn. The locals have a western Pennsylvania-type love for high school football.

Coming out of Shelton High, Orlovsky received scholarship offers from Virginia, Michigan State, Northwestern and Minnesota, among others. So why did he choose UConn? "I liked the coaching staff, the opportunity to take something from scratch and build it up" Orlovsky says.

The progress is tangible. Check out the plans for the gleaming, glassy Burton Family Football Complex and the massive Mark R. Shenkman Training Center. Each is set to open in the summer of 2006. Last year, UConn christened Rentschler Field, a 40,000-seat facility that has posh luxury club seats any bourbon-sipping SEC booster could get comfy in and locker-room stalls big enough for any Big 12 star to lose his gold chains in.

But UConn isn't starting from scratch. Bet you didn't know it has been playing football since 1896. But this is only the school's third season in Division I-A. So far, so good. The Huskies have a combined 15-9 mark the past two seasons, going 9-3 last year, with wins over Indiana, Rutgers and Wake Forest. Hey, it's a start.

With its days in the Yankee Conference and as a Division 1-A independent over, UConn enters the Big East this season. It has been a quantum ascent for a school whose greatest players ever are ... Vin Clements and John Dorsey? Well, that'll change soon.

But Orlovsky says he doesn't care about being the King of UConn football. And he has no time to talk about NFL dreams. If you must, go ahead and ask him about both. But be forewarned: You'll get a lot of "Yes, sir" and "No, sir" jazz, followed by the requisite rehearsed response.

Forget that canned nicey-nicey. Here's what you need to know: Orlovsky has a strong arm, is accurate and, at 6-5, 236 pounds, has the build of a pro passer. Physically, he reminds some of Trent Dilfer.

"We had him in camp when I was coaching in college" says Detroit Lions quarterbacks coach Greg Olson, a former assistant at Purdue. "We weren't sure of his foot speed. He's a great big guy who didn't move well in the pocket. But that's not a prerequisite for success. There are a ton of quarterbacks who haven't been able to move well in the pocket and had pretty good careers. You have to get in the right system. Look at guys like (Kerry) Collins and (Drew) Bledsoe."

According to War Room scouts, Orlovsky has enough athletic ability to create on the run and enough experience and confidence to throw any pass. Plus, he's a leader.

Then there's his famous work ethic that nearly got him in trouble one steamy Storrs night last summer. Orlovsky and his roommate, linebacker Alfred Fincher, decided to go on a late-night stair run at old Memorial Stadium. In between short, choppy steps and huffs and puffs, they argued--loudly--over who could run faster. Soon, the cops showed up.

"There were three officers and a dog" says Orlovsky, still stunned. "We explained the situation to one of the officers, who happens to travel with us during the season and recognized us, and he told us to continue but to keep it down"