Biography
• Huskies went 17-12 in games he started and 18-12 in games he played in his three seasons in DeKalb.
• Finished his Huskie career ranked second in career passing yards per game (183.9), third in completions/game (14.5), fifth in completions (439), sixth in passing yards (5,516).
• Ranks in the top 10 on NIU career charts in 10 passing and four total offense categories.
2023
• Returned for his third year at NIU and seventh season overall after receiving a medical redshirt for 2022.
• • Led NIU to a 7-6 record and to its second bowl game in his three seasons.
• Started all 13 games and completed 57.8 percent (189-of-327) passes for 2,274 yards and 11 touchdowns.
• Ranked second on the team in rushing touchdowns with seven on 72 carries for 129 yards.
• Earned the Bart Starr MVP Award of the Camellia Bowl with 221 yards of total offense, a rushing touchdown and one passing.
• Scored two rushing touchdowns and threw for a score against Kent State (11-25) in the Huskies’ bowl-clinching sixth win.
• Ran seven times for a season high 32 yards in NIU win over Western Michigan (11-14).
• Eclipsed 5,000 passing yards in his NIU career against Ball State (11-7), throwing for 141 yards while adding a rushing touchdown.
• Threw for a season-high 298 yards and three touchdowns at CMU (10-31).
• Scored the game-winning touchdown versus Eastern Michigan (10-21) on a one-yard QB sneak with 1:11 to play.
• Completed 21 of 31 passes for 258 yards and two touchdowns at Toledo (9/30), and added a one-yard rushing score.
• Threw for 297 yards and a touchdown against SIU (9-9).
• Scored the game-winning touchdown at Boston College (9-2) on a one-yard quarterback sneak in overtime.
2022
• Saw action in four games on the year due to injury.
• Completed 50-of-75 passes for 645 yards and five touchdowns for a .667 completion percentage.
• Went 14-for-22 passing for 192 yards and a 13-yard touchdown pass in the season-opening win over Eastern Illinois (9-1).
• Threw for a season best 259 yards and three touchdowns at Tulsa (9-10), adding a one-yard rushing touchdown.
• Completed all seven of his pass attempts for 79 yards and a touchdown versus Vanderbilt (9-17) before leaving the game early in the second quarter.
• Was 11-for-15 passing in limited action in NIU’s win at Eastern Michigan (10-15) for 115 yards.
• Selected a permanent team captain for the 2022 season.
• Named to the Unitas Golden Arm Award Watch List prior to the season.
2021
• Earned fourth team All-MAC recognition from Phil Steele after leading NIU to the 2021 MAC Championship while starting 13 games at quarterback.
• Completed 200-of-343 passing attempts (58.3 percent) for 2,597 yards with 15 touchdown passes and eight interceptions.
• Averaged 199.8 passing yards and 236.1 yards of total offense per game and was responsible for 148 total points (11.4 per game) with 15 passing and nine rushing TDs and a pair of two-point conversions.
• Ranked fourth on the team with 473 rushing yards on 94 carries for a 5.0-yard average.
• His 7.03 yards per play average ranked seventh all-time at NIU in a single season and his 3,070 yards of total offense are sixth.
• Directed the NIU offense to eight “late” scoring drives with less than a minute on the at the end of a game or half.
• Broke the NIU record for passing yards in a game by throwing for a career high 532 yards on 33-of-57 passing at Kent State (11-3) with touchdown passes of 36, 75 and 34 yards.
• His 554 yards of total offense in that game rank second at NIU all-time.
• Scored three rushing touchdowns – of one, two and five yards – to lead NIU to a 41-23 win over Kent State in the MAC Championship game (12-4).
• Completed 20-of-33 passes for 181 yards and two touchdowns and added 66 yards on eight carries with a score in the Cure Bowl versus Coastal Carolina (12-17).
• Totaled 197 passing yards at Buffalo (11-17) and had 233 yards on 19-of-36 passing versus Wyoming (9-11).
• Ran for 90 yards on a season-high 12 carries at Toledo to go with 154 passing yards.
• Threw for 264 yards and a touchdown on 23-of-38 passing to lead the Huskies to victory versus Ball State (11-10) and successfully executed a pair of pooch punts to pin the Cardinals inside the 10-yard line.
• Threw for 348 yards on 17-of-27 passing with three TDs in the win at Central Michigan (10-23) to earn MAC West Offensive Player of the Week honors.
• Ran for a season-high 119 yards on 10 carries with three rushing scores versus Maine (9-25), including a career-long 64-yard rush, and added 282 passing yards on 17-of-24 completions with a 22-yard TD pass to collect MAC West Offensive Player of the week honors.
• Rallied NIU from a 21-14 deficit to defeat Georgia Tech, 22-21, in Atlanta (9-4), completing 11-of-17 attempts for 136 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for 23 yards on five carries.
PRIOR TO NIU
at Michigan State (2017-20)
• Three-year letterwinner played in 22 career games with the Spartans, including nine starts.
• Completed 159-of-332 passing for 1,902 yards with 11 TDs and 14 interceptions, while tallying 74 rushing attempts for 166 yards (2.2 ypc) in three seasons.
• Threw for a career-high 1,090 yards on 84-of-157 passing (.535) with eight TDs and nine interceptions in six games played in 2020.
• Rushed for a career-high 65 yards on 10 carries in 29-20 win over Northwestern (11-28-20).
• Named to the Manning Award Stars of the Week, as well as to the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award’s Great 8 list (11-2-20).
• Manning Award National Quarterback of the Week for his performance in the Michigan game.
• Finished 17-of-32 for a career-high 323 yards, with three TDs in a 27-24 win at No. 13 Michigan (10-31-20).
• Established career highs pass completions (31) and passing touchdowns (3), finishing afternoon 31-of-44 with three TDs against Rutgers (10-24-20).
• Named Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week after making his first career start at quarterback vs. Purdue (10-27-18), throwing for 318 yards and completing 26-of-46 passes, including two touchdowns
• Made FBS debut at Arizona State (9-8-18) as team’s emergency punter after starting punter went down with an injury and was pressed into duty.
High School
• Three-year starting quarterback threw for nearly 6,000 yards (5,818) and 66 touchdowns at Valley High School for Coach Gary Swenson.
• Compiled a 30-6 record as the starting quarterback.
• Two-time First Team Iowa Newspaper Association (INA) All-State selection.
• Rushed for nearly 1,000 yards (979) with 17 rushing TDs.
• Named to the INA Class 4A All-State First Team in 2015 and 2016.
• Helped the Tigers to a 10-1 record and a berth in the Class 4A quarterfinals.
accounted for 353 rushing yards on 56 carries (6.4 avg.) with five TDs.
• Selected to the Iowa Eight (top players in the state of Iowa) by the Des Moines Register in 2015 and 2016.
• Participated in the 2016 Elite 11 quarterback finals in Los Angeles.
• Named to the all-state first team his junior year by the Iowa Newspaper Association and The Des Moines Register.
• Four-sport athlete also wrestled, played baseball, and participated in track and field.
• Finished with a 38-2 record as a senior and placed second at 220 pounds in the 2017 Iowa Class 3A state championships.
• Tied a national high school record with a three-second pin over New Hampton’s Jace Cajthaml at the Battle of Waterloo in December 2016.
• Rated as one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the nation by 247Sports (No. 11) and ESPN (No. 12) and also one of the top pro-style quarterbacks in the country by Rivals.com (No. 23)
• Listed as the No. 1 quarterback in the state of Iowa and the No. 4 quarterback prospect in the Midwest by Scout.com
Personal
• Born on July 30 in Ann Arbor, Mich.
• Son of Kari and Tony Lombardi.
• Father, Tony, played college football at Arizona State (1980-82, ‘84) and has more than 30 years of football coaching experience, most recently at UW-Stout.
• Grandfather, Bob, is in the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
• Brother, Beau, is an offensive lineman at Army West Point.
• Working on a graduate degree in sport and exercise psychology.
