Rennie working to be a more complete QB

MATTHEW PUTNEY Northern Iowa quarterback Tirrell Rennie runs in a touchdown as Lehigh's Colin Newton, right, defends in the first half of a first round FCS playoff football game at the UNI-Dome Saturday, Nov. 27, 2010, in Cedar Falls, Iowa. (MATTHEW PUTNEY / Courier Photo Editor)

CEDAR FALLS - Tirrell Rennie tells it like it is, even if it hurts.
"For my part, it wasn't as good as my last (spring game)," said the University of Northern Iowa's senior quarterback after Friday's 90-minute scrimmage in the UNI-Dome.
"It was rough."
Rennie's first pass attempt Friday was intercepted by Tre'Darrius Canady. With the quarterbacks protected from contact, a quick whistle saved him from another pick later in the opening half. When he left the game for good midway through the second quarter, he had completed 2 of 4 passes for 18 yards and was "sacked" three times.
In the ground game and as a scrambler, Rennie is one of the most exciting quarterbacks to ever wear the purple and gold. He ran for 1,291 yards and 15 touchdowns last season, averaging 5.6 yards per carry. But through the air, he connected on 56 percent of his passes for 1,526 yards with 11 interceptions to just eight touchdowns.
"Before next season, I'm trying to improve in the pass game," said Rennie. "My coaches know it and I know it and a lot of fans know it. When it comes to the run game, it's natural. I don't really need to tweak that much.
"The only thing I need to do now is execute in the passing game. Like Coach (Mark) Farley says, we can't be a one-dimensional team like last year, and I feel like if I improve my pass game we'll be a solid team."
On the other hand, UNI has two promising young quarterbacks in redshirt freshmen Jared Lanpher of Blue Springs, Mo., and Will Roth of Marion.
Lanpher showed a strong, accurate arm Friday when he connected on 13 of 23 passes for 129 yards and a pair of touchdowns - a 45-yarder to redshirt freshman receiver Brett LeMaster and a 5-yard bullet to tight end Steven Figueroa on a third-and-goal play.
Another big-gainer to LeMaster down the sideline was inches out of bounds.
"I enjoyed watching Lanpher throw the ball around," said Rennie. He does it real well. I've seen it all during practice, and I knew coming into spring ball he was a born natural."
Lanpher did throw a pair of interceptions. He underthrew Montari Leonard on a deep ball that was grabbed by Jaz Granderson and was later picked off by linebacker L.J. Fort.
"It seems like I haven't played football in so long, sitting on the sidelines and charting and everything," said the 6-foot-1, 190-pounder. "I feel like in the one year that I redshirted I learned a lot from Tirrell and Zach (Davis) and Caleb (Walter)."
Lanpher is nearly the polar opposite of Rennie.
"I've never really been a running quarterback," he noted. "I've always been one to be in the pocket and throw it, and then if I need to I can get a couple of yards. I'm not a Tirrell Rennie who can get on the edge for a touchdown."
But Lanpher can throw it, and he's got a stable of young receivers who can get open and catch it.
"I think we've got a great receiving corps," he said. "I can always count on them to be in their spots. Even if I'm not looking at them, they're in the spots where they need to be. They have a great work ethic, too, which means a lot."
UNI needs a backup for Rennie after Davis and Walter graduated early and gave up their final seasons. Farley was encouraged Friday.
"You saw Lanpher grow up," he noted. "I said it early: This is the first time I've actually seen a spring game pay off for a quarterback and for coaching kids.
"The player you saw grow up tonight was Lanpher, from the start of the game when he was nervous and didn't know what he was playing with to the calmness that he was playing with in the third and fourth quarter when he was throwing nice balls and throwing it on time and hitting the strike points.
"And then you saw LeMaster and his calmness and his poise. Those two stood out."
So, Farley walked off the UNI-Dome turf Friday encouraged by most of what he saw. Now it's up to all of his players to take it upon themselves to get themselves ready for fall camp.
"What we do between now and Aug. 3 is probably more important than what we do from Aug. 3 to whenever that first game is (Sept. 3 at Iowa State)," said Farley.
"The time that they put in will make the difference in how much they develop in the 13 weeks before we come to camp. In those 13 weeks, their individual time outside what we tell them to do is what's going to make us the team that we become."

Posted in Uni, Uni, Missouri-valley-football on Monday, May 2, 2011 9:45 am | Tags: University Of Northern Iowa, Tirrell Rennie, Jared Lanpher, Brett Lemaster, Darrius Canady

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