For
the feature I wrote on Oklahoma State quarterback Wes Lunt for Monday’s Tulsa World, I spent a few days in his hometown of Rochester, a small community in central Illinois.
Perhaps the most intriguing part of Lunt's situation is no one knows how he will perform in college, although he fared exceptionally well in high school (more than 6,000 passing yards during two state-championship seasons) and did enough in 15 practices to win the starting job in Stillwater.
His high school coach, Derek Leonard, said he thinks Lunt will go through some growing pains like all freshman quarterbacks but expects him to have success.
“He truly fits their offense to perfection,” Leonard said. “He’s Brandon Weeden – built like him, throws like him. He’s obviously not as good as Brandon Weeden right now, but that’s who he’s like.
“You guys (in Oklahoma) are going to fall in love with him. He’s a great talent, but he’s also not going to make any mistakes (off the field).”
Lunt’s family isn’t overly concerned about how he will cope if things don’t turn out as well as everyone hopes.
“As I’ve seen the process with him, he’s a very quiet kid and he handles himself well, so I’m comfortable and confident with that,” said his mom, Jane Lunt. “We try to keep him as grounded as we can, as we do with all our kids. Don’t take yourself too seriously.”
The Lunts kind of know what to expect after going through a similar situation with their older son, Wil, as a quarterback at Western Illinois. At any moment, the starting role could go to someone else.
"Every year it’s a competition," Andy Lunt said, "and every day is a competition."
