Co-Offensive Coordinator Kevin Johns said something Tuesday nobody expected to hear before the season began: the Hoosiers have been lacking depth at wide receiver.
With experienced wide receivers Duwyce Wilson (season-ending injury) and Damarlo Belcher (dismissed from team) out and true freshman Cody Latimer also injured, the offensive coaching staff was looking for someone to help out.
IU fans probably first saw true freshman Nick Stoner's 6-foot-1, 167-pound frame as a defensive back and punt returner earlier this season, but in recent weeks, Johns and Co-Offensive Coordinator Rod Smith tried to utilize Stoner's skills on the offensive side of the ball.
"Nick runs probably as well as anyone we have on our team," Johns said. "He's one of our fastest guys and really is a natural athlete. He hasn't played a lot of receiver throughout his football career, but is just learning a ton and he's growing every day."
Stoner ran track at Center Grove High School in Greenwood, Ind., where he and his teammates won the 2011 IHSAA Boys Track and Field State Championship. Extremely avid Sports Illustrated readers might remember him appearing in the Faces in the Crowd section in the Oct. 18, 2010 edition.
Johns and Smith are impressed not only with his past accomplishments in high school, but with the strides he has taken at his new position.
"We're ecstatic about his future at wideout," Smith said. "He really eats up a lot of grass in a hurry when he pushes the ball vertical."
Stoner's route-running ability gives Johns hope for his future, and after seeing the field in Saturday's loss against Michigan State, he was listed as a backup on this week's depth chart for the Bucket Game against Purdue, which is set to kick off at 3:30.
"He's still learning and growing," Johns said, "but we're going to try and get the ball in his hands however we can"
