back, to watch too much film? "You have to be smart about it,'' O'Brien said.
"You could out-think yourself. But at the same time if you do it the right way, it can really help you. So I don't think you can watch too much.'' A year ago, there were probably times when he couldn't bear to watch any film. A year ago, O'Brien had to feel like he was in the dark — figuratively — with Gary Crowton's spread offense. "It was a very different scheme, a very differ- ent way to play the game,'' O'Brien acknowledged. "I'm not saying it was better or worse (than any other offense), it was just different "There were a lot of different skills sets that we
used in that system that we didn't use the year before. The pro-style West Coast offense had a
lot more things on the quarterback, which I pre- ferred.''
The Wisconsin offense, he said, has different terminology "but a lot of the same reads.'' Plus, it offers a running game; the No. 1 rushing attack in the Big Ten last season. "I'm really excited to get back into this kind of an offense,'' O'Brien said, "It's why I came to play col- lege football. So I'm looking forward to this oppor- tunity to build off two years ago and last year, too.'' Did he get better as a quarterback last season at Maryland? Measuring his response, O'Brien re- plied, "That's a real tough question. In ways (he did).'' Better how? "Mental toughness,'' he said.
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