NEWARK — Ryan O’Connor’s highlights are fun for him to watch, of course.
But the Delaware quarterback knows that studying the games where he wasn’t as good is what will make him better.
Those performances are the ones that O’Connor tries to spend the most time on.
“Seeing why was this game was more inefficient, why was I getting sacked more this game?” he said about what he studies. “Why were the turnovers bad or whatever it might have been.”
As O’Connor starts his second season looking like the Blue Hens’ top QB, he’s clearly proven that he’s capable of putting up big passing numbers.
Now the 6-foot-3, 215-pound Easton, Md. native wants to show that he’s capable of playing like that most of the time.
A season ago, O’Connor threw 14 of his 19 total touchdown passes in only four games. He also had five contests where he completed at least 19 attempts..
“I just want to make that my baseline,” he said about his top performances. “That’s what it needs to be every single week.
“I’m not interested in going out there and (just) doing well. I want to go out there and dominate every single week. I’m going to do my best to hold myself to that standard. ... It’s great to know that I’ve done it before.”
UD quarterback coach Sean Goldrich agrees that being more consistent is one of O’Connor’s next big steps in his evolution as a QB.
Playing in 10 games last fall, O’Connor completed 55.1 percent of his passes for 210.4 yards per game. He had eight interceptions against his 19 TD passes.
O’Connor, who missed three games with injuries, was also sacked 20 times in his first seven appearances.
Goldrich said O’Connor is clearly a talented passer who works hard and pays attention to detail.
“In his mind, he knows he has a lot of room for growth,” said Goldrich. “He’s got to show the world what he can do consistently.
“Last year was a great time for him to kind of get his feet underneath him and become a leader of this football team and show everyone that he has the potential. .... Now it’s just doing it at a high level every single day.
“He wants to be great at everything that he does,” Goldrich added. “Now it’s just putting it together, stacking days, to get his opportunity to show how good he can be.”
Marker’s back
Delaware’s other veteran quarterback, Ryan Marker, also had his moments last season.
In a win at Towson, the former junior-college transfer from Iowa set a school record by completing his first 16 passes for 307 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He also ran the ball nine times for 44 yards.
But Marker was also injured in that contest and didn't return until the regular-season finale against Villlanova. Then, in that game, he suffered a serious knee injury.
While Marker has been practicing in preseason, there seems to be at least some question about how far along his recovery is from the knee surgery he had last year.
Marker deflected questions about his recovery when asked about it by reporters on Wednesday.
“That’s a Coach Carty question,” he answered.
“I’m better than I was eight months ago,” Marker did add. “I’m really good.”
Marker does have a redshirt season available.
Goldrich did talk about how Marker’s ability to run gives the Hens a different look at quarterback.
“Zach, the way that he does things with his feet, makes him very dynamic, makes him tough to stop,” said Goldrich.
“When he’s in the game, in any situation, we’ll probably do some things which allow him to be athletic and be able to get outside the pocket. He’s one of the fastest players we have on the field.”
Crowded room
Along with O’Connor and Marker, Delaware also has sophomore Nick Minicucci, who led the Hens to a comeback win over Lafayette in the NCAA Division I FCS playoffs last year.
Another second-year QB, Daniel Lipovsky, also saw playing time last season.
Goldrich said how Delaware ends up using all four quarterbacks remains to be seen.
“We don’t want to keep talent on the sidelines,” he said. “But at the end of the day, too, in the quarterback position, it’s a little bit dicey. You’ve got to make sure you find the guy that can control our offense, be a leader and all that stuff.
“Every day, we’re hoping they continue to separate themselves and make it a clear-cut starter. But, right now, they’re pushing each other every single day. They’re making it very competitive.”
Goldrich said how much eligibility a player has remaining probably won’t be a factor in who is behind center.
“I think for us, it’s always going to be the best guy plays,” he said. “I think it has to be that. I think the expectation for the quarterback at the University of Delaware is so high, it doesn’t matter if a kid is a freshman or a senior. You’ve got to continue to prove it every day.”
O’Connor said he hasn’t spent any time thinking about who’s going to start or how playing time at quarterback might be divided up.
He said he’s learned not to worry about things that are beyond his control.
“That’ll take care of itself,” said O’Connor. “We haven’t really talked about that. I’m not worried about that or really thinking about that.
“I’m just going out to practice every day and making the most of every rep I get. I’m just going to go from there.”
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