Column: IU’s wide receiver lineup is one of nation's best

The debate ends here (or maybe this is where it begins): IU has the best group of wide receivers and tight ends in the Big Ten.

Not only that, the Hoosiers have one of the top units in the nation. On a good day, they are top 10. On a bad day, they are top 20.

Reason No. 1: Tandon Doss is a star. With Purdue’s Keith Smith out for the season due to a knee injury, Doss is now the conference’s best receiver. And
easily, at that.

Reason No. 2: Damarlo Belcher could probably be a No. 1 receiver for most teams in
the conference.

Reason No. 3: Terrance Turner is not only experienced, but he’s capable of big things, especially out of the slot position.

Reason No. 4: Duwyce Wilson, while young, is a big-play threat and a star in the making. Have you heard IU coach Bill Lynch talk about the kid? It’s almost as if he’s gushing about his son and how he’s studying to become a brain surgeon (he’s not, by the way). Lynch is that excited about the kid.

Reason No. 5: Kofi Hughes, a freshman who transitioned to wide receiver from quarterback, also has a chance to play this season. He’s still got a cast on his right hand, but it’s looking more and more unlikely that Lynch will redshirt him.

Reason No. 6: Throw in tight ends Max Dedmond and Ted Bolser, and this unit is comparable to almost any unit in the country.

I asked Doss, Turner, Lynch and running back Darius Willis the same question: Is this the best group of receivers IU has had since you’ve been here or since you’ve been following the Hoosiers?

Not one hesitated.

“Yeah, definitely,” said Turner who, according to Lynch, is the unquestioned leader of the wide receivers. “We have everything that you would want in a receiving core. We all make plays so it’s definitely a great group.”

Turner also compared the core with other Big Ten schools.

“I think we’re right up there at the top,” Turner said. “You don’t want to think you’re anywhere else but the top.”

Don’t get me wrong — there are better wide receivers in college football. Notre Dame’s Michael Floyd, Boise State’s Austin Pettis and Titus Young, Iowa’s Marvin McNutt and Alabama’s Julio Jones for example.

All great players, but few have the talent and depth behind them that IU has.
Doss and Belcher provide the best 1-2 punch in the conference, having combined for 138 receptions, 1,732 yards and 10 touchdowns a season ago.

Compare those numbers with the stats of Floyd and Kyle Rudolph from 2009: 77 catches, 1,159 yards and 12 touchdowns. Or McNutt and Derrell Johnson-Koulianos: 79 catches, 1,424 yards and 10 TDs.

Notre Dame’s No. 3 and 4 receivers TJ Jones and Theo Riddick, have a combined 209 career yards — less than half of Turner’s 2009 total. Iowa’s Colin Sandeman and Allen Reisner have comparable numbers.

The stats speak for themselves.

While the receiving group needs to improve in some areas — catching more touchdown passes, for example — IU fans must enjoy these guys while they have them. This type of receiving core doesn’t step into Memorial Stadium every year. Or even every decade.

After this year, Doss and/or Belcher may make the jump to the NFL. Turner will be gone. Quarterback Ben Chappell, too.

If you blink this season, you might miss a passing touchdown. These receivers are
that good.

Stars at the top with plenty of depth behind them — best group in the Big Ten.

WKU PREDICTION
Expect IU to look rusty and out of sync at times against Western Kentucky after not playing for 16 days. After all, the starters saw little action in the team’s 51-17 win against Towson.

The Hoosiers won’t be rusty enough, however, to lose to a WKU team that hasn’t won a game since Sept. 20, 2008. The IU defense will have a difficult time containing dangerous running back Bobby Rainey, but Ben Chappell and the offense will provide more than enough points to give the Hoosiers their second win of the season.

Prediction: IU 48, WKU 21


E-mail jmalbers@indiana.edu