Lynch cool with way he stayed calm

DeKALB, Ill. — Northern Illinois quarterback Jordan Lynch wanted to make good decisions against Iowa on Saturday.

Lynch, making his first career start, thought he did exactly that. He had a fumble at the beginning of the third quarter when he was hit from behind, but Lynch didn’t want to go out and make any crazy throws or put anything up into double coverage.

“One of the things going in there, don’t try to be a hero, don’t try to go out there and make some miraculous play,” Lynch said. “Go out there, be yourself and play.”

From the naked eye, Lynch’s final stats throwing the ball aren’t too impressive — 6 of 16 for only 54 yards. However, there were four dropped passes, including one by running back Keith Harris that could have went for a significant gain as the freshman had two lead blockers in front of him.

Most important of threw no interceptions.

Iowa didn’t make it easy on Lynch with its Cover 2 defense. Whenever the junior looked downfield, there was blanket coverage by the Hawkeyes’ secondary. Lynch was able to hit Martel Moore with a 25-yard pass, and the senior receiver also drew a pass-interference penalty near the goal line.

For the most part, Iowa wasn’t going to let the Huskies beat them with the passing game.

“You can just pick them, pick them,” Lynch said. “But, when it comes down to it, they’ll man up.”

Huskies coach Dave Doeren said his offense is one that’s going to take what the defense is willing to give.

Iowa left the box open Saturday and Lynch was able to take advantage of that, running for a teamhigh 119 yards. NIU had success with the quarterback run, utilizing that extra blocker in front of Lynch.

all, Lynch