Jordan Lynch breaks record.....again

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GophersInIowa

GophersInIowa

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He set the record for most rushing yards by a QB earlier this season with 316. Tonight he has 321. He may get to 2,000 by the end of the year.
 

I've watched most of the NIU games this year, if they were televised, and Lynch is amazing. Poised, tough, shifty, quick, fast...he's arguably one of the best running backs in college football. He throws pretty well, too.

I was surprised against wisc that after Nelson's 5-6 yard gain on our first play that we didn't really threaten them with his running ability. I assume they did what we would have: take away the run and make us throw to beat them. I think Philip and Leidner have the potential to lead this offense similar to Lynch, but they need to stop missing wide-open receivers. With the experience they've gotten this year, when they are seniors this offensive could be a juggernaut.
 

killme said:
I've watched most of the NIU games this year, if they were televised, and Lynch is amazing. Poised, tough, shifty, quick, fast...he's arguably one of the best running backs in college football. He throws pretty well, too.

I was surprised against wisc that after Nelson's 5-6 yard gain on our first play that we didn't really threaten them with his running ability. I assume they did what we would have: take away the run and make us throw to beat them. I think Philip and Leidner have the potential to lead this offense similar to Lynch, but they need to stop missing wide-open receivers. With the experience they've gotten this year, when they are seniors this offensive could be a juggernaut.
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Why that's criticism. Who's side are you on killme? ;)
 

killme said:
I've watched most of the NIU games this year, if they were televised, and Lynch is amazing. Poised, tough, shifty, quick, fast...he's arguably one of the best running backs in college football. He throws pretty well, too.

I was surprised against wisc that after Nelson's 5-6 yard gain on our first play that we didn't really threaten them with his running ability. I assume they did what we would have: take away the run and make us throw to beat them. I think Philip and Leidner have the potential to lead this offense similar to Lynch, but they need to stop missing wide-open receivers. With the experience they've gotten this year, when they are seniors this offensive could be a juggernaut.
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I agree and started a thread regarding this yesterday. While I have no clue about schemes and strategy, my eyes on Saturday were telling my brain "don't stop running the ball until Wisconsin proves they can stop you". Wisky seemed to be losing the battle and bringing the receiver in motion was freezing their pursuit. We were getting 4 yards or more per pop. Nelson had a 9 yard gain if I recall and Jones did too. Again, just speculation, but I'm guessing that Limey had a game plan and he went with it. I would've put game plan on hold and kept on running. I realize the passing game wasn't great, but I think we were trying to throw the ball too much and too far down field on a cold, windy day. That's not playing to Nelsons strength. On the other hand, maybe our coaches were just as concerned about fumbling if we ran too much. Hard to hang onto that ball when you get smashed and your hands are cold and the ball is slippery. In any event, the weather played a huge role in that game, for better or worse. This is water under the bridge of course, but it's fun to discuss.
 

Im sorry maybe this has been asked but i cant find it. Was Jordan Lynch a Kill recruit when he was at NIU?
 


RochesterGopher said:
Im sorry maybe this has been asked but i cant find it. Was Jordan Lynch a Kill recruit when he was at NIU?
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Yes. Lynch talked about that this morning on The Dan Patrick Show. He said that "Coach Kill was the only coach that offered me the chance to play QB." He said that a couple of other Big Ten schools had told him that they'd give him a scholarship, but wouldn't give him a chance to play QB.
 

RochesterGopher said:
Im sorry maybe this has been asked but i cant find it. Was Jordan Lynch a Kill recruit when he was at NIU?
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http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20121231/jordan-lynch-northern-illinois/

The under-recruited and overachieving career narratives of McNabb and Lynch can be traced back to same Mount Carmel playbook. Both McNabb and Lynch developed under coach Frank Lenti, an old-school triple-option aficionado. Known by those close to him as coach Frank, Lenti has never veered from the veer offense throughout his legendary career.

...

Back in the early '90s, Lenti and Jerry Kill were among the regulars who made presentations on the veer offense in the coaching-clinic circuit. Kill won a national title as the offensive coordinator at Division II Pittsburg State in 1991 -- guess which offense he ran? -- and later landed as the head coach at Southern Illinois. He led the Salukis to five consecutive Division I-AA playoff appearances before taking over at NIU in 2007.

The summer before his senior season, Lynch attended a one-day camp at Northern Illinois. Kill liked what he saw, and he called Lenti for the scoop.

"I would take Jordan Lynch in a heartbeat," Lenti recalled telling Kill. "He can give you everything you need to have in a Division I quarterback. Big Ten schools just want to recruit him as an athlete. But Big Ten schools just wanted to recruit Donovan McNabb as an athlete as well."

...

In 2008, when Northern Illinois offered Jordan, Jim [Lynch, Jordan's father] called Lenti, who praised his old friend Kill. "Coach Kill and his staff were giddy about getting Jordan," Jim said. "The other schools didn't see too much."
 

Iceland12 said:
Why that's criticism. Who's side are you on killme? ;)
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LOL. C'mon, Iceland12. You know me. I know the coaches know more than me, especially Limegrover. This staff has recruited QBs like Lynch, who can threaten defenses with their feet, at every stop on the way to here. Sometimes they've even appeared to lean towards running so much it's predictable with other QBs. I'm guessing Nelson passing success lately made them lean that way and he just didn't have a great day. Not blaming Nelson or criticizing coaches. It just didn't appear to me that they used the dual threat as much as I expected.
BreakTheGopherCurse said:
I think we were trying to throw the ball too much and too far down field on a cold, windy day....This is water under the bridge of course, but it's fun to discuss.
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I don't know that the plays called were "too far downfield" or that we were "throwing too much" based on what wisc likely was trying to take away. I really was just wondering why they didn't call the QB draws and read-option as much because Nelson was throwing better of late and it was the best way to attack them. I bet they run Phillip a bit more this week, especially if the CBs are playing man.
 

Great player, I guess I just can't blame a B1G coach for telling him he can't be a QB in this league. It's a little more physical than his standard CMU competition and while he's developed remarkably as a passer his greatest attribute coming into college (and really still to this day) appears to be his running ability. In B1G play I certainly don't want Nelson or Leidner running the ball consistently 27 and 32 times as Lynch has done in both his record setting performances against Central and Western Michigan. Not only would this potentially be dangerous for their health, even Lynch hasn't proven to be nearly as effective running the ball against B1G defenses (22 for 56 against Iowa and 9 for 35 against Purdue).

Now, had B1G coaches known/believed he would develop into the kind of passer he is they would be dumb not to offer a QB scholarship for him but that's sort of 20/20 hindsight. Additionally, you have to wonder how much his passing skills are bolstered playing against the traditionally weak MAC defenses.

Whatever the case, I've talked myself in circles. He's a great football player now but it's easy to understand why some teams may have overlooked him from the power conferences.
 



maroonedinCA said:
Lynch hasn't proven to be nearly as effective running the ball against B1G defenses (22 for 56 against Iowa and 9 for 35 against Purdue).
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Lynch put up 30 points at Iowa, which has held 7 of it's other 10 opponents to less. He put 55 on the board at Purdue, which gave up 56 to B1G ohio. I think behind a B1G offensive line he might have been the league MVP. I wish he had followed Kill here. Nelson wouldn't have burned his red-shirt last year and we'd be playing next weekend in Indy.
 

Iceland12 said:
Yes. Lynch talked about that this morning on The Dan Patrick Show. He said that "Coach Kill was the only coach that offered me the chance to play QB." He said that a couple of other Big Ten schools had told him that they'd give him a scholarship, but wouldn't give him a chance to play QB.
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I wonder what position other coaches wanted him at? WR? It appears now that if he wasn't a QB, he'd be a RB.
 


GophersInIowa said:
I wonder what position other coaches wanted him at? WR? It appears now that if he wasn't a QB, he'd be a RB.
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Dpodoll could be right about NIU. On the show, Jordan mentioned that some teams wanted him as a RB, but don't recall if it was the Big Ten teams or not.
 



killme said:
Lynch put up 30 points at Iowa, which has held 7 of it's other 10 opponents to less. He put 55 on the board at Purdue, which gave up 56 to B1G ohio. I think behind a B1G offensive line he might have been the league MVP. I wish he had followed Kill here. Nelson wouldn't have burned his red-shirt last year and we'd be playing next weekend in Indy.
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Oh you're absolutely right he put up points, just had some of his poorest rushing performances of the year against those two teams which is what I was getting at. My greater point was that his playing style coming out of HS wasn't exactly conducive to coming into the B1G and being as successful. His threat to run on any given play undoubtedly makes his life passing the football easier. If he goes against a B1G conference schedule each year he'd get punished so badly physically you could never trust he'd make it through a year (see Robinson, Denard) and if they rein in his rushing to keep him healthy I don't think he can so easily exploit offenses through the air. It's sort of circular and I'm sure had just about every team (outside of OSU) had the opportunity to bring in as a QB now they would likely take a shot but at the time I could see why the decisions were made.

Either way, turned out to be a great football player.
 

I was a lurker on some NIU message boards right after the Kill hire, just to get an idea on who we had hired, tendencies, etc.
The funny thing is I remember the fans there being pissed at Lynch because he struggled as a passer right away, basically they called him their "fullback at QB", because he ran into piles alot and was effective, but not dynamic yet. The kid developed a ton since then obviously, but it reminds me to be a bit more patient with players' development, a guy like Leidner or Nelson can put tons of work in over the next 3/4 years and might be a much different player as a senior than they are now.
 

Ole said:
... a guy like Leidner or Nelson can put tons of work in over the next 3/4 years and might be a much different player as a senior than they are now.
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This. On his radio show today Kill talked about recruiting to their style and praised QB coach Jim Zebrowski. I think we'll see something special from this tandem.
 

dpodoll68 said:
I believe Claeys said they seriously considered moving him to S.
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I didn't hear that interview, but it makes sense. For some reason, not a lot of HS QBs move to RB. Usually, it's either WR or to the defensive side of the ball.

Great player. Perfect for what Kill does, so it's easy to see why Kill thought he could play QB in his system. I felt the same way about Harnish.
 

Jordan Lynch: Coach Kill and NIU are the only ones who would give me a shot at QB

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Heisman finalist Jordan Lynch to Jim Rome: "There was only one school who really gave me a shot at QB and that was NIU and coach Jerry Kill"</p>— Marcus R. Fuller (@GophersNow) <a href="https://twitter.com/GophersNow/statuses/411201650502549504">December 12, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Go Gophers!!
 


I've never understood the long passing game unless you have Winston and Decker or equivalent. Mason was always having these long passes to the sideline, which rarely worked.The Bud Grant short passing game (yards after catch), passing to backs and tight ends a lot, always appealed to me. You pass long a few times a game to loosen up the defense, but it's not your bread and butter.
 

Great Plains Gopher said:
I've never understood the long passing game unless you have Winston and Decker or equivalent. Mason was always having these long passes to the sideline, which rarely worked.The Bud Grant short passing game (yards after catch), passing to backs and tight ends a lot, always appealed to me. You pass long a few times a game to loosen up the defense, but it's not your bread and butter.
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Jerry Burns and Bud Grant were the precursors to the West Coast Offense.
 

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