For his post-game meal on Tuesday night, Jordan Lynch ate his words.
The Northern Illinois junior quarterback created a stir last week with some brash remarks about Florida State, the Huskies’ opponent in Tuesday’s Orange Bowl.
“We plan on wearing them down,” Lynch said, according to The Sporting News. “In the fourth quarter, we plan to have them on their knees — and then just keep pounding away.”
But it was Lynch and the Huskies (12-2) who received the pounding during a 31-10 loss to the 12th-ranked Seminoles (12-2) at Sun Life Stadium.
Lynch didn’t get much accomplished in the fourth quarter or any other part of the game. Third nationally with an average of more than 364 yards of total offense per game, Lynch was held to a combined 220 yards rushing and passing.
Lynch was asked about his comments after the game, but
never got a chance to answer. Instead, NIU coach Rod Carey interrupted, saying his quarterback’s remarks “were taken out of context.”
“He didn’t say it,” Carey said. “I was there. I was at the interview. He did not make those comments.”
Either way, the Seminoles made Lynch and his teammates pay.
Lynch accumulated 1,771 rushing yards and 11 consecutive 100-yard rushing games, both FBS records for a quarterback, during the regular season. But Lynch didn’t find much wiggle room against a Florida State defense ranked fifth nationally against the run. He ended up with a season-low 44 yards on 23 carries.
Lynch didn’t have much success throwing the ball, either. He completed only 15 of 41 attempts for 176 yards and threw a costly interception — only his sixth this season — in the third quarter with the Huskies at FSU’s 23-yard line and driving for a potential game-tying touchdown.
“I was trying to throw it low and away and I missed it inside,” Lynch said of the interception. “It probably wasn’t the smartest thing to throw the ball there. Just take the three points and we still would have been in the game.”
The 10 points scored by Northern Illinois, which was averaging more than 40, were its fewest since a 49-7 loss to Wisconsin last season.
“Definitely the best defense we’ve played all year,” Lynch said of Florida State. “They were always in the right spot at the right time, it seemed like. They were just hungry out there.”
One of the best plays of the night for Lynch was a 52-yard quick punt that NIU downed at the FSU 5-yard line.
“It got frustrating at times,” Lynch said. “There’s a reason they’re a top-five defense in the nation. All the respect goes to them.”
