MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — While Northern Illinois quarterback Jordan Lynch managed to stir up some of the locals with his confident remarks about facing Florida State, Seminoles quarterback E.J. Manuel is taking a more modest approach.
“From their defense, I see a lot of speed,” Manuel said Friday. “Some of the coverages we have seen (on film) we are familiar with from teams we have played this year and had some success. … I see a lot of (NIU) guys running to the ball with great effort.
“They are well coached and they seem very disciplined on film. We will have to )be the same).”
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In an interview with the Sporting News, Lynch was quoted as saying: “We plan on wearing them down. In the fourth quarter, we plan to have them on their knees — and then just keep pounding away. They’re just like us. They’re human, too. If you cut them, they bleed.”
Meanwhile, Manuel said on Thursday” “We’ve been practicing great. The guys are upbeat. Everybody is feeling good about this game and happy about the opportunity to be down here in Miami and play for this Orange Bowl.”
Getting advice: Lynch is a Mt. Carmel alum who once received advice from former Caravan quarterback Donovan McNabb.
“It was a while ago, so bear with me,” Lynch said. “He was pretty much talking about the recruiting process. I think it was my sophomore or junior year. I was talking to him. He said: ‘A lot of schools won’t look at you for quarterback because you’re pretty much an athlete in a system. Just stick in there. Do what you have to do and be a team player and everything else should take care of itself.’ That’s pretty much what he said.”
Savor the moment: NIU coach Rod Carey says he wants his players to appreciate being the first Mid-American Conference team to play in a BCS bowl.
“Someone said: ‘Do you want to be the next Boise State or TCU?’ and those are great programs and they’ve been down a similar road that we’re going. But I don’t want to be either of them. I want to be the next NIU.
“So what will it do for us in recruiting? It’ll give us a boost. It gets our name out there more, it gets our university’s name out there more — NIU. It’ll help, but we’re not going to necessarily change who we are because of what game we’re in right now. It’s just going to kind of plod along and take care of itself.”
Dealing with pressure: Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher was asked about the pressure on his heavily-favored team to dispatch Northern Illinois.
“You put that pressure on yourself, then you get tight,” Fisher said. “We just have to play, We have to play loose, we have to play fast, we have to execute.
“Knowing what to do is one thing, but executing is another. And we have to be sound in what we’re doing. We have to do a great job in preparing our kids and how we’re going to call the game. … If we play fast and play well things will take care of themselves.”
Sleep deprivation: Carey says he hasn’t been getting much sleep in anticipation of Tuesday night’s Orange Bowl.
“I don’t sleep much now,” he said. “You can tell my voice is going because of it. So it is what it is.”