One practice in, O'Brien off to strong start
It’s not unusual for true freshmen to be a bit wide-eyed and nervous when they take the field for their first college practice, but that certainly wasn’t the case for Nebraska’s heralded rookie quarterback Patrick O’Brien.
Though the Huskers were only in helmets, jerseys and shorts for Saturday’s opening spring practice, it didn’t take long for the former four-star standout from San Juan (Calif.) Hills to make an immediate impression on his coaches and teammates.
Even head coach Mike Riley was impressed with what he saw in his first glimpse of his quarterback of the future.
“You know, I don’t think so,” Riley said when asked if O’Brien showed any freshman jitters on Saturday. “I talked to him throughout the beginning of practice, and I thought he was pretty calm and pretty easy to talk to. I thought he handled the day pretty well. He looked good throwing the ball.”
At 6-4, 230, with an arm good enough to earn him the No. 7 quarterback ranking in the 2015 class, O’Brien definitely didn’t look like an overwhelmed freshman in his Husker debut. While he’s well ahead of most first-year players physically, the fact that he enrolled early for the spring will provide a major head start mentally as he enters his freshman season.
“The first thing that Patrick O’Brien will get is just more knowledge of what we are doing, and that includes just the plays themselves, but also what we expect out of each play,” Riley said. “The earlier you get into the process, the better you should be able to learn it by the time you are asked to perform. So it gives him an extra half a year to do that. It can be a bonus.
“Most of the guys that can come in early, in my lifetime, have been quarterbacks. One of the reasons they like to do that is they can get a jump on all that part of the learning. Physically he gets to play with our team and our receivers and he also gets to train during that time. You can have a kid from a really good high school with really good coaches, but they can get the best training in their life here.”
With a player surrounded by as much hype as O’Brien, there has already been plenty of speculation over whether he could potentially unseat senior and three-year starter Tommy Armstrong as the Huskers’ No. 1 quarterback at some point this season.
For the rest of the Huskers, any of that talk will have to wait at least until they put the pads on for the first time and O’Brien shows what he’s made of against a live Big Ten defense for the first time.
“I mean obviously he throws the ball very well, but it is always different with the defense out in front of you, so I’m anxious to see how he does in spring ball,” senior wide receiver Brandon Reilly said. “He definitely looks the part, so I am expecting him to do well.”
Riley added that while there is obviously palpable buzz surrounding O’Brien right now, he’s going to have to earn everything he gets this year and beyond, just like every other player on the roster.
“We will not be able to control the attention that gets,” Riley said. “I think it is somewhat natural for (media) interest, for the fans’ interest - but as far as inside (the locker room) he’s going to get the normal attention that all of our guys get. It doesn’t play a big part in our day to day way of how we function.
“He is going to be in the room. He is going to be learning. He is going to be expected to go out and practice and perform. That’s no different. He can get that extra hype from everybody else, but he won’t get any extra from us.”