IU receiver Doss out with injury for opener

IU senior quarterback Ben Chappell will be down a throwing target for the first game of his final season.

IU football coach Bill Lynch confirmed after Monday’s team practice that junior wide receiver Tandon Doss will sit out Thursday night’s season-opener with a groin injury.

“He’s been day-to-day,” Lynch said. “He’s just not making the progress that he needs to play Thursday night at full speed.”

The Hoosiers kick off their 12-game 2010 schedule Thursday against Towson at
Memorial Stadium.

Doss is part of a receiving corps widely regarded to one of best in Big Ten.

Named to the All-Big Ten preseason team, Doss statistically was the best IU receiver a year ago with 77 catches for 962 yards. The Indianapolis native also scored five touchdowns in 2009.

Lynch noted that preserving Doss for the season was a contributing factor in holding him out against the Towson, an FCS opponent.

“It’s a long year. It’s the type of injury that we don’t want to be a lingering injury throughout the year,” Lynch said. “We made that decision today after the injury report that he won’t play on Thursday.”

Fortunately for Doss, the Hoosiers lone off week of the season follows the Towson contest — meaning he will have 16 days to heal before IU takes on Western Kentucky Sept. 18.

“You always spin your schedule into a positive, however it works out,”Lynch said. “That’s how we’re looking at it this year.”