Multiple WRs 'not a problem'

CHICAGO — Despite an offense with three wide receivers popularly accepted as some of the best the Big Ten will offer, the questions for IU football coach Bill Lynch weren’t about potentially mind-numbing statistics for yards or touchdowns.

Instead, Lynch was asked if having the glut of returning receiving talent could actually prove to backfire when the Hoosiers open play Sept. 2 at Memorial Stadium.

“It’s not a problem,” Lynch said Monday at Big Ten Media Days, a preview event for the conference’s football programs. “It’s an opportunity for us to figure out to get the ball all those guys’ hands.”

Juniors Tandon Doss and Damarlo Belcher and senior Terrance Turner are expected to be the primary targets for fifth-year senior quarterback Ben Chappell. Together, the trio combined for 184 catches, 2,175 yards and 11 touchdowns a year ago as the Hoosiers’ top receivers.

Thanks to the wideout position notoriously fostering players who appear selfish when not getting thrown to — a la the NFL’s Terrell Owens — the concern is that having three quality receivers could create tension if one player or another feels slighted in terms of statistics.

“The one thing they’ve got going is they really respect one another,” Lynch said. “And I think that’s really important with wide receivers who all want the ball. It’s not one of those, ‘Well, I’m better than he is — I ought to be getting the ball.’ They really do have great respect for one another.”

Lynch also credited Chappell’s experience under center as a guiding force in keeping the receivers in check, just in case.

“When he talks, they listen,” Lynch said. “That’s much better than having a really good receiving corps with the freshman quarterback where they’re all in his ear. They’re not going to get in Ben’s ear because he’s in control of the situation, and they know it.”

Turner, one of three players selected by Lynch to attend the Chicago event, echoed that sentiment.

“If we’re winning games, we’re making plays out there,” said Turner. “That’s all we have to look for.”

Turner also noted that this isn’t his first time being a part of a talented IU group of receivers, as the three-time varsity letterman was a part of teams that included James Hardy, Andrew Means and Ray Fisher.

“I think it’s going to be a pleasant problem,” Lynch said.