Northern Illinois quarterback Jordan Lynch (Chicago, Ill./Mt. Carmel HS) will travel to New York City as a finalist for the 2013 Heisman Trophy. Jordan Lynch is the first Huskie player to be selected as a finalist for the trophy. Florida State QB Jameis Winston is the overwhelming favorite, and he’ll almost certainly win it, but Lynch for 6 is only the third player from the Mid-American Conference to be named a finalist along with Randy Moss (1997) and Chad Pennington (1999), both from Marshall. No MAC player has ever won the Heisman.
The other finalists are Alabama QB AJ McCarron, Texas A&M QB Johnny Manziel, Boston College running back Andre Williams and Auburn RB Tre Mason. Manziel won the award last year, if he wins this year, which he won’t, he would be just the second two-time Heisman winner in college football history. Archie Griffin of Ohio State is the first and only.
Jordan Lynch has never been to New York before, and he’s looking forward to seeing the Big Apple. Lynch is excited about spending time with his family and seeing Rockefeller Center. He called his mom first, but her phone was dead. Jordan Lynch called his dad second, but he didn’t pick up.
“No one picks up their phone these days, there’s no reason to have a cell phone,” Jordan Lynch said at the media conference call this morning.
Obviously, word got out, and got around quickly.
“I was happy to get an invite, but I’m going there to win, I’m not going to get second place,” Jordan Lynch said.
The Heisman Trophy will be awarded Saturday, Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. Central Time during an ESPN national television broadcast. The Heisman trust invited six finalists for the award in 2013. That’s a really high number. It’s never usually that many.
Jordan Lynch ranks fourth nationally in total offense (351.0 yards per game) and is second in both rushing yards (1,881) and points responsible for (276). He is only the fifth player in NCAA history to have 20 rushing and 20 passing touchdowns in a season and has broken the NIU single season record for touchdowns scored.
Jordan Lynch has twice set the NCAA record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 316 and 321-yard outings versus Central and Western Michigan, respectively, and is averaging 6.9 yards per carry on the season. He is completing 63.1 percent of his passes and has thrown for 150 yards or more in 12 games while reaching the 100-yard rushing mark seven times, including in each of NIU’s last six contests.
“It gets us on the stage where we haven’t been and that’s a good thing for the university,” said NIU Coach Rod Carey.
Jordan Lynch is 24-3 as the Huskies’ starting quarterback in two seasons, including a 12-1 mark in 2013. He has one game remaining as he will lead NIU into the 2013 San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl against Utah State on December 26, 2013. He said he’s excited to meet any and all past Heisman winners, I asked him if there’s any one college football legend in particular that he’s excited about meeting on his trip to the capital of the world.
“Bo Jackson,” Jordan Lynch responded.
The Huskies (12-1) are ranked No. 23 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and No. 24 in the Associated Press Poll and will face Utah State in the 2013 San Diego Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl. It is NIU’s sixth straight bowl bid and the Huskies’ eighth bowl bid in the last 10 years. They were in line for a BCS bid until Saturday entering the MAC Title game. Unfortunately, Jordan Lynch doesn’t play defense. And the NIU defense did not show up. Bowling Green put a swift end to their BCS hopes. It didn’t stop Jordan Lynch from getting a Heisman invite though.
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. He’s also an analyst for multiple news talk radio stations across the country; with regular weekly segments on NBC and Fox Sports Radio. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks) and RSS Catch him Tuesdays talking Illini and Northwestern for KOZN 1620 The Zone, Fridays talking Chicago Bears for WAOR 95.7 The Fan