Lynch gets animated at officials, jump-starts football team

First, he was agitated by Iowa’s potentially penalty-worthy defense of IU junior wide receiver Damarlo Belcher on a third-down incompletion.

Then, it was a no-call on what looked like a block in the back against junior wideout Tandon Doss after senior quarterback Ben Chappell threw an interception. The play also drew a personal foul on the Hoosiers.

Next, a personal foul called on Doss left IU’s top dog vividly irate during the team’s final drive of the first half — violently gesturing and stepping several yards on to the field, just to make sure the game officials were aware of his staunch opposition to
their calls.

To cap his displeasure with the penalties — as well as the lack thereof — IU coach Bill Lynch clamored for what he and the rest of IU’s sideline thought was a blatant grab of senior running back Trea Burgess’ facemask in the next play.

The Hoosiers, then bogged down and facing a third-and-13, would wind up punting the ball back to Iowa with 50 seconds left to play in the half — but not before Lynch made his aggravation plenty clear to referee John O’Neill.

The transfer of possession seemed to instantly transfer IU’s penalty luck. On Iowa’s second play from scrimmage, the Hawkeyes were flagged for a holding call — eliciting Lynch’s most memorable moment of the day.

With both arms exalted skyward, Lynch celebrated the call in an obviously sarcastic manner. Several times the fourth-year coach pumped his arms.

The moment wasn’t lost on the IU portion of the 42,991 in attendance, who watched IU (4-5, 0-5) eventually lose a 18-13 heartbreaker to No. 15 Iowa (7-2, 4-1).

As Lynch mockingly celebrated, the IU fans stood and loudly cheered both the penalty and Lynch’s dramatics.

Asked afterward, Lynch, with a voice that slightly quivered at times, tinged with the heartbreaking loss in the postgame press conference, said it wasn’t a concerted effort to appear more intense on the sideline.

“That’s my mindset,” Lynch said. “It’s a battle every day, and we just came up short.”

Prior to that, Lynch had been asked why he seemed so enlivened on the sideline. The fourth-year coach’s future at IU — Lynch is now 5-24 in conference play — is a question mark going into the offseason.

“Yeah, I want to win,” Lynch said tersely. “I want to win. The kids deserve for me to be fighting for them. And that’s what we did.”

Lynch, of course, has been dramatic before.

In last week’s home loss to Northwestern, Lynch berated officials during the closing minutes about their clock management while IU tried to get the ball back. A blown holding call just before halftime of last season’s loss at Penn State also had the coach up in arms.

Perhaps Lynch’s most memorable moment, though, came in last season’s narrow 36-33 loss at Michigan.

Incensed about a play ruled an interception during his offense’s last drive with less than three minutes left in the fourth quarter, Lynch sprinted along the sideline in disgust, stopped, whipped a piece of chewing gum from his mouth and hurled it over
his shoulder.

A video version of the moment on YouTube has nearly 18,000 views.

For all his dramatics, Lynch seemed to fuel the fire of his players.

“His emotions are contagious,” senior offensive lineman James Brewer said. “I think it was his way of getting us fired up and letting us know we were in this game.’’

Brewer’s football roommate and the guy who relies on his blocking protection, senior quarterback Ben Chappell, agreed.

“It’s great to have a guy like (Lynch) because he’s fighting for us,” Chappell said. “He’s fighting for his players, and that’s huge.”

When asked if he felt his players responded to his fiery sideline demeanor, Lynch looked at the overall result.

“I think they played really hard. Don’t you?” Lynch asked. “I thought they played hard. I thought they played very, very well.”

Lynch then took on a brief us-versus-them attitude.

“We’re going to come back,” Lynch said. “I thought they played hard and well last week. They came back after everybody writes them off. They keep coming back and battling. We’re going to battle back and go to Madison.”

The Hoosiers play their final three regular season games on the road, starting at No. 6 Wisconsin on Saturday.

“We’re going to battle up there,” Lynch said.