Huskies' Lutrus Becoming Easy To Notice
By SHAWN COURCHESNE | Courant Staff Writer
October 24, 2007
STORRS - The recruiting trail in college football is rife with battles between schools trying to gain the services of the next standout for their program.
But when it comes to UConn's starting strongside linebacker, it didn't take much for coach Randy Edsall to convince Brookfield's Scott Lutrus that State U. was the place for him.
If Division I-A football was what Lutrus wanted, there appeared to be no option.
Yet game after game, Lutrus is proving it's not always the big prizes in recruiting victories that produce the most noticeable results on the field.
On Monday, the Big East named Lutrus the defensive player of the week for his effort in UConn's 21-17 victory over Louisville on Friday.
Not too shabby for a redshirt freshman playing in his seventh college game, a kid that went virtually unnoticed by big-time college football programs as a high school player in Brookfield, where he was known more for his talents as a running back.
"He's kind of like an All-American boy so to speak," Edsall said. "Very humble. Not real talkative. Just has a job and does it. He's one of those guys you're never going to yell at because you're always going to get his best effort in whatever he does. He's just a pleasure to coach. As I say that, he's still so wet behind the ears. We don't want to anoint him with anything yet. But if he continues with the same mind-set and work ethic, he's got a chance to be an outstanding football player before it's all said and done."
Lutrus, 6 feet 3 and 220 pounds, made 18 tackles Friday and also intercepted a pass from NFL-bound quarterback Brian Brohm.
After seven games, Lutrus is third on the team in tackles with 55 - 51/2 for losses - and has three interceptions.
At Brookfield High, Lutrus rushed for 2,017 yards in his senior year and led the state with 204 points. He was thinking for much of his senior year that he would end up in the Ivy League at Penn.
But Edsall saw the makings of a linebacker.
"He's not the kind of a guy that is a tailback for us," Edsall said. "Maybe he could have been a fullback. But we really liked his athletic ability. We liked the way he could move. The other thing we liked was his ability, when you sit down and talk to him, of understanding the game and how he processes the game."
Immediately after Brookfield's 2005 Class SS semifinal win over Holy Cross-Waterbury, in which Lutrus had three touchdowns, UConn offered him a scholarship. He accepted three days later.
Lutrus spent last year honing himself in the weight room and as a middle linebacker on the scout team. In the spring, Edsall moved him outside to the position most commonly known on the team as the "Husky Backer."
"He basically wanted to go where he could help the team the most," Edsall said. "You never have a problem with him when it comes to being a team guy."
Said Lutrus: "Coming in here, I wanted to play as soon as I [could], but if I didn't play until my senior year and that's the role I fit, that's how it would be. Being from home, and this the first season I could play, it's a great honor to play. I think it's a great feeling being from home. Everyone is here. The home crowd is, it's just a great feeling to play in this atmosphere right now. This is special."
Lutrus, who had three interceptions in UConn's spring game in April, said his nose for pickoffs, for being in the right place at the right time, comes from long hours of film studying.
"When you study film, you learn things about the other team and what they're going to run," he said. "Learn their routes. It's easier to pick up."
Edsall thinks it's more innate.
"He has a very good knack of getting into the situation and feeling where things are," Edsall said. "He has things that you don't coach. He has a good feel for the game and good instincts. Some guys have it and some guys don't. We're fortunate he does have it."
Contact Shawn Courchesne at
scourchesne@courant.com.
