iven the time that Danny O'Brien duti- fully spends in the dark — literally, not figuratively — is it fair to say that Wis- consin's starting quarterback views the film room as somewhat of a sanctuary? "A little bit; you can call it that,'' he said. "It's peaceful. You can get into your own zone.'' You can also call it like it is — calling out the dif- ference between a Tampa 2 zone and Cover 4. "You can sit there and watch film for hours,'' O'Brien cautioned, "but if you don't know how to watch film, you're really not getting much better. I watched a lot of film in high school.'' But he really didn't learn the art of watching film — the nuances — until he got to Maryland. "We had to (learn),'' he said of his freshman orien-
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tation with the Terps, "because it was a pretty com- plex, pro-style offense. There were a lot of things to do before the snap at the line of scrimmage.'' Breaking it all down in the film room, he said,
"opened my eyes to the way that the game is played at the next level. You learn what to look for; ten- dencies and how to prepare for an opponent.'' There were advantages to sharing his sanctuary. "When you're with other people, you get their view and how they see things,'' he said. "You might see something you might have otherwise not seen.'' More often than not, he spent countless hours studying film on his own. "There's a positive in being by yourself, and getting locked in,'' he said. "That helps with your confidence.'' Is it possible for a player, especially a quarter-
