STILLWATER — Derek Leonard lived four houses down from Wes Lunt while the Oklahoma State quarterback of the present and future was growing up in Rochester, Ill.
And yet the head coach of Rochester High School is struggling to answer a simple question: What makes Lunt unique?
A wacky pregame ritual? A go-to touchdown celebration? An interesting hobby outside of football?
Nada.
“I don't got any special stories for you,” Leonard said. “Because for two years, he just is who he is.”
Lunt is about do the extraordinary, quarterbacking the defending Big 12 champions when the No. 19 Cowboys begin their 2012 season at 6 p.m. Saturday against Savannah State at Boone Pickens Stadium.
He's one of two true freshman quarterbacks set to start the season opener for a school from a BCS conference. And he's taking over for the greatest signal-caller in OSU history, Brandon Weeden.
But under all of that fanfare, those closest to Lunt say he's pretty darn ordinary.
“People try to paint certain people like that, but man…” Leonard said. “I know about all there is, and there's nothing extremely special.” Except his right arm, of course.
And, apparently, a level of maturity that's rare in an 18-year-old. Some call it a calm demeanor. It might actually be a personality that's borderline boring. But that even-keeled attitude is perhaps what will most help him as he begins his journey as a Big 12 quarterback.
Even so, Lunt was always skilled athletically but never wildly ahead of the pack.
He often competed against his older brother, Wil, who's now a senior quarterback at Western Illinois. When Wes and his buddies played pickup basketball on the playground, he was usually the first guy picked, his best friend Dakota Greer said.
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