If Paul Petrino was crazy, he would initiate a full-scale lockdown of Northern Illinois’ stud quarterback and the Idaho Vandals wouldn’t let Jordan Lynch out of his bed Saturday morning.
The simple idea of it seems crazy enough, considering that the last time the Vandals saw Lynch, he was sitting on a bench somewhere as a redshirt, watching Idaho escape DeKalb, Ill., with a 34-31 victory in 2009.
Four years later, Lynch has an opportunity to do some demolition work of his own, on a Vandal squad that’s yet to learn how to cope with high-octane quarterbacks. But if the Vandals did anything right during this week’s practice, it better have been perfecting the plan of shutting down the Huskies’ Heisman candidate.
Prior to Idaho’s season-opener against North Texas, Petrino shrugged off questions about the threat of Mean Green wide receiver Brelan Chancellor. The coach’s nonchalance with the media seemed to translate onto the field in Denton, Texas, where Chancellor hurt the Vandals for 255 all-purpose yards in a 40-6 loss.
Either Petrino learned from his mistake or Lynch brings with him the kind of threat most mid-major teams see once every few years. The Kibbie Dome has seen few players of that caliber in recent memory, but on rare occasion, the Vandals have been sucker punched by nationally-recognized quarterbacks — Colin Kaepernick and Kellen Moore just to name a couple.
Lynch, in his current form, may be at that same level, or better than those before him. As a first-year starter, he totaled 44 touchdowns in 2012 while leading the Huskies to a Discover Orange Bowl appearance.
But look beyond Lynch’s statistics and you’ll find that the rest of the NIU cast has been able to bask in the shadow of its superstar. That may especially be the case this weekend, when two of the Huskies’ top producers appear questionable. NIU’s second-leading rusher from 2012, Akeem Daniels, looks to be a no-go for the Idaho game, while the team’s top returning receiver Tommylee Lewis left the Iowa game with an ankle injury and is easing his way back into practice. Lewis may get some reps, but surely won’t be at full strength.
The team graduated 2012 leading receiver Martel Moore (13 TD receptions) and Lewis (5 TD receptions) was the only other receiver to total more than two touchdown receptions a season ago.
Not to mention that Lynch was the only NIU player to account for more than 500 total rushing yards on the season.
The NFL scouts that have been lurking around the Kibbie Dome these past few days probably aren’t in Moscow for any player wearing the Idaho’s silver and gold. Nor are they here for any of Lynch’s teammates.
Saturday’s home opener will ultimately be judged a success if those scouts leave the Dome dissatisfied with what they saw from the quarterback who’s surely near the top of their shortlists.
As far as game preparation goes, he better be at the top of Idaho’s.
Theo Lawson can be reached at [email protected]