DeKalb | Don’t rush to assume redshirt senior quarterback Jordan Lynch will be the Huskies’ (1-0) leading rusher every game.

In the season opener against the Iowa Hawkeyes (0-1), Lynch rushed the ball a team-high 22 times for team-leading 56 yards.

Compared to Lynch, the rest of the Huskies only rushed the ball 19 times but gained a total of 118 yards; the team had one rush for (-11) yards on a fumbled snap.

Redshirt junior running back Cameron Stingily rushed 12 times for 42 yards, junior punter Tyler Wedel rushed once on a fake punt for 42 yards, sophomore running back Keith Harris Jr. took five handoffs for 30 yards, and junior wide receiver Tommylee Lewis rushed for four yards on one carry.

Concerning the possibility of Lynch continuing to be the team’s leading rusher going forward, head coach Rod Carey said “we’ll just have to see how it goes.” On the other hand, offensive coordinator Bob Cole, who calls the plays on offense for the Huskies, expects Lynch’s carries to decrease and the running backs’ carries to increase.

“That’ll probably go the other way going forward,” Cole said. “I would say that the running backs will have more carries than him [Lynch] for probably 90 percent of our remaining games.”

Lynch looked impressive in the passing game, finishing his day 25-of-41 for 275 yards, and had three touchdowns through the air. His contributions on the ground were effective in the first half, as he carried the ball 10 times for 42 yards. He continued with the runs in the second half, but the Hawkeyes placed more emphasis on him, containing him to only 14 rushing yards on 12 carries.

“I think he [Lynch] can still be effective in the run game,” Cole said. “But I think you’re going to see what happened [last] Saturday happen again, because [the Hawkeyes] pretty much committed so many guys to stopping the run that he ended up throwing for something like 300 yards and three touchdowns.

“So, with him it’s pretty much pick your poison. You’re gonna stop him from running the ball, but then you’re going to loosen things up in the passing game. And if they commit the other way, then, you know, he’ll probably run the ball for a lot of yards.”

With Lynch under center, the Huskies have a dual-threat quarterback who can wreak havoc in both the air and ground games. However, with talent in the backfield and the possible return of senior running back Akeem Daniels in the coming weeks, the running backs will be able to relieve Lynch of some of his rushing duties, balancing out the offense.

“We usually go into every game looking to be balanced, you know, run and pass,” Cole said. “As the game gets going, you find a couple things that work and stick with it — whether it’s a running play or a passing play. You try to find what their weaknesses are and go after them.”

If it’s the running game that gets going, look for players not named Lynch to start racking up the carries.