Indiana University Athletics
Timian Runs with Walk-On Royalty
11/9/2018 12:05:00 PM | Football
By: Andy Graham
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Luke Timian's family was willing to buck the odds a bit.
They made the trip from Southlake, Texas, all the way to the Bronx, N.Y., for Indiana's appearance in the 2015 Pinstripe Bowl to support the Hoosiers, but with no guarantee of seeing their son play.
"They came not even knowing I was going to play," fifth-year senior wideout Timian recalled this week, "because I was battling injuries. I had played quite a few snaps in the Maryland game, then none in the Purdue game the following week."
But the Timians were rewarded.
Timian played only four snaps, but one of them provided IU's first touchdown against Duke – and the first TD of Timian's college career – a 27-yard pass from Nate Sudfeld in the second quarter.
"Actually, I thought I had messed up," Timian said, smiling softly at the memory. "I was running a corner route. Normally, you're supposed to take an outside release, but I actually went inside. But, by doing that, it freed me wide open.
"I think that was a special moment for them. And it's something we can always bring back up, in my family, that first touchdown – that made it real, it felt like, that my career was really beginning."
It was a career that started with a redshirt walk-on season at Oklahoma State before Timian took the gamble of coming north to Big Ten country.
With, again, no guarantees. And no scholarship.
But he has found a home away from home in Bloomington and at IU.
"It is a unique place," Timian said after practice Tuesday. "I've actually thought about this. Coming up here not knowing a single person – I just packed all my things and came up here – has turned into a situation that has created a lot of special relationships.
"I think that this place does a really good job of creating a sense of community, especially in the athletic department. You definitely feel that you belong to something worthy, something that is bigger than yourself. That's one reason I love being a football player, the team aspect of it."
And the Hoosiers have loved having Timian on the team.
"Luke Timian is just one of my all-time favorites, just because of his attitude, his mindset and his production," head coach Tom Allen said Thursday. "Coming here as a walk-on. Earning it the old-fashioned way. And just being a great leader, and an amazing person off the field."
The sort of person named a Burlsworth Trophy nominee the past two years.
The Trophy is named for Brandon Burlsworth, who arrived at Arkansas as a walk-on in 1994 but eventually earned first team All-American – and earned his master's before playing his final college game, then being selected as the 63rd overall pick in the 1999 NFL Draft by the Indianapolis Colts.
Burlsworth, projected as a starter during Colts minicamp, was killed in an automobile accident just 11 days after the draft. The award bearing his name is presented annually to the nation's most outstanding college player who began his career as a walk-on.
"To me, it just represents hard work, if you get put on that (Burlsworth) list," Timian said. "We all obviously started from the same position, having to earn everything you get.
"I've followed that award throughout my career. There have been some really good players to win it – a guy who won it went No. 1 in the NFL Draft (Baker Mayfield, the 2017 Heisman winner now starting for the Cleveland Browns). It's a testament to the work put in, overcoming humble beginnings in terms of where you started."
Timian, already named IU's Outstanding Walk-On Player in 2016 after he made 19 catches for 277 yards, followed that up last fall by finishing third in the Big Ten with 68 receptions, good for 589 yards and a pair of TDs.
By that time, Timian was on scholarship, announced by surprise during an Indiana team meeting.
Timian started his senior season strongly but was waylaid by injury before Big Ten play began. He returned to see some snaps and made five catches against Iowa, then six against Penn State, then a season-high seven at Minnesota.
The Hoosiers scored 22 straight points in the fourth quarter to forge a tie in Minneapolis only to ultimately fall, 38-31, and Timian pointed to three first quarter Indiana drives that finished with field goals instead of touchdowns.
"I just think the game of football is such a game of momentum," Timian said. "When you don't make that early play, when you're settling for field goals like we did, you don't really generate momentum."
And now, after falling in four straight league games, the 4-5 Hoosiers hope to reverse that trend against 5-4 Maryland with Saturday's noon kickoff.
"There is no doubt in anyone's minds what we have to do on Saturday," Timian said. "When you only have three left and you have to win two to go to a bowl game, it puts things into very clear perspective.
"You're reminded every day that if you're not putting everything you can into winning this game, you shouldn't be here. That's the reality of it. But I think this team has responded really well this week, in practice today. I saw a lot of good things. Guys were excited to be out there. And I just think the mental break helped with everyone."
That break was the bye week that followed the Oct. 26 Minnesota game, which had constituted the ninth straight game week. IU was the last Big Ten team to get a bye this fall. The Hoosiers availed themselves of it to recharge and reset.
Some got in a visit home. Those from further away stayed on campus and got to hang out more with teammates and friends.
Timian is enamored of the fact Indiana athletes can now congregate at Memorial Stadium for "one-stop shopping," to have all their various needs attended by what the department of athletics deems its "Circle of Excellence."
With the completion of facilities beyond the north and south end zones that fully enclosed the stadium, IU athletes can train, eat meals, get medical treatment, receive academic counseling and engage in a host of other activities, including just hanging out – often together, in keeping with the "24 Sports, 1 Team" philosophy espoused by the department.
"I like sharing those facilities," Timian said. "Being around other people, seeing friends you've met on campus, there is something cool about it. And it's different, because at a lot of Division I football programs, they have their own and they're separate from everyone. I actually like seeing other athletes as I walk around our facilities.
"I like that everything is centered in the stadium. Especially when it's such a big campus, you can kind of have your home base here at the stadium. You can park your car and go from here. You can live close by here for convenience. I actually really like it."
A home away from home, so to speak.
A long way from Southlake. Just like that Pinstripe Bowl.
"It actually does seem a long time ago," Timian said of that first TD pass, "which is crazy. Because looking back on it as a whole, my career seems like it has flown by, to think that I have just three guaranteed weeks left.
"But, yeah, that seems like a while ago. And it's crazy to think where I am now, compared to where I started."
Not crazy, really. Not knowing Timian.
Just well-earned.
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Luke Timian's family was willing to buck the odds a bit.
They made the trip from Southlake, Texas, all the way to the Bronx, N.Y., for Indiana's appearance in the 2015 Pinstripe Bowl to support the Hoosiers, but with no guarantee of seeing their son play.
"They came not even knowing I was going to play," fifth-year senior wideout Timian recalled this week, "because I was battling injuries. I had played quite a few snaps in the Maryland game, then none in the Purdue game the following week."
But the Timians were rewarded.
Timian played only four snaps, but one of them provided IU's first touchdown against Duke – and the first TD of Timian's college career – a 27-yard pass from Nate Sudfeld in the second quarter.
"Actually, I thought I had messed up," Timian said, smiling softly at the memory. "I was running a corner route. Normally, you're supposed to take an outside release, but I actually went inside. But, by doing that, it freed me wide open.
"I think that was a special moment for them. And it's something we can always bring back up, in my family, that first touchdown – that made it real, it felt like, that my career was really beginning."
It was a career that started with a redshirt walk-on season at Oklahoma State before Timian took the gamble of coming north to Big Ten country.
With, again, no guarantees. And no scholarship.
But he has found a home away from home in Bloomington and at IU.
"It is a unique place," Timian said after practice Tuesday. "I've actually thought about this. Coming up here not knowing a single person – I just packed all my things and came up here – has turned into a situation that has created a lot of special relationships.
"I think that this place does a really good job of creating a sense of community, especially in the athletic department. You definitely feel that you belong to something worthy, something that is bigger than yourself. That's one reason I love being a football player, the team aspect of it."
And the Hoosiers have loved having Timian on the team.
"Luke Timian is just one of my all-time favorites, just because of his attitude, his mindset and his production," head coach Tom Allen said Thursday. "Coming here as a walk-on. Earning it the old-fashioned way. And just being a great leader, and an amazing person off the field."
The sort of person named a Burlsworth Trophy nominee the past two years.
The Trophy is named for Brandon Burlsworth, who arrived at Arkansas as a walk-on in 1994 but eventually earned first team All-American – and earned his master's before playing his final college game, then being selected as the 63rd overall pick in the 1999 NFL Draft by the Indianapolis Colts.
Burlsworth, projected as a starter during Colts minicamp, was killed in an automobile accident just 11 days after the draft. The award bearing his name is presented annually to the nation's most outstanding college player who began his career as a walk-on.
"To me, it just represents hard work, if you get put on that (Burlsworth) list," Timian said. "We all obviously started from the same position, having to earn everything you get.
"I've followed that award throughout my career. There have been some really good players to win it – a guy who won it went No. 1 in the NFL Draft (Baker Mayfield, the 2017 Heisman winner now starting for the Cleveland Browns). It's a testament to the work put in, overcoming humble beginnings in terms of where you started."
Timian, already named IU's Outstanding Walk-On Player in 2016 after he made 19 catches for 277 yards, followed that up last fall by finishing third in the Big Ten with 68 receptions, good for 589 yards and a pair of TDs.
By that time, Timian was on scholarship, announced by surprise during an Indiana team meeting.
Timian started his senior season strongly but was waylaid by injury before Big Ten play began. He returned to see some snaps and made five catches against Iowa, then six against Penn State, then a season-high seven at Minnesota.
The Hoosiers scored 22 straight points in the fourth quarter to forge a tie in Minneapolis only to ultimately fall, 38-31, and Timian pointed to three first quarter Indiana drives that finished with field goals instead of touchdowns.
"I just think the game of football is such a game of momentum," Timian said. "When you don't make that early play, when you're settling for field goals like we did, you don't really generate momentum."
And now, after falling in four straight league games, the 4-5 Hoosiers hope to reverse that trend against 5-4 Maryland with Saturday's noon kickoff.
"There is no doubt in anyone's minds what we have to do on Saturday," Timian said. "When you only have three left and you have to win two to go to a bowl game, it puts things into very clear perspective.
"You're reminded every day that if you're not putting everything you can into winning this game, you shouldn't be here. That's the reality of it. But I think this team has responded really well this week, in practice today. I saw a lot of good things. Guys were excited to be out there. And I just think the mental break helped with everyone."
That break was the bye week that followed the Oct. 26 Minnesota game, which had constituted the ninth straight game week. IU was the last Big Ten team to get a bye this fall. The Hoosiers availed themselves of it to recharge and reset.
Some got in a visit home. Those from further away stayed on campus and got to hang out more with teammates and friends.
Timian is enamored of the fact Indiana athletes can now congregate at Memorial Stadium for "one-stop shopping," to have all their various needs attended by what the department of athletics deems its "Circle of Excellence."
With the completion of facilities beyond the north and south end zones that fully enclosed the stadium, IU athletes can train, eat meals, get medical treatment, receive academic counseling and engage in a host of other activities, including just hanging out – often together, in keeping with the "24 Sports, 1 Team" philosophy espoused by the department.
"I like sharing those facilities," Timian said. "Being around other people, seeing friends you've met on campus, there is something cool about it. And it's different, because at a lot of Division I football programs, they have their own and they're separate from everyone. I actually like seeing other athletes as I walk around our facilities.
"I like that everything is centered in the stadium. Especially when it's such a big campus, you can kind of have your home base here at the stadium. You can park your car and go from here. You can live close by here for convenience. I actually really like it."
A home away from home, so to speak.
A long way from Southlake. Just like that Pinstripe Bowl.
"It actually does seem a long time ago," Timian said of that first TD pass, "which is crazy. Because looking back on it as a whole, my career seems like it has flown by, to think that I have just three guaranteed weeks left.
"But, yeah, that seems like a while ago. And it's crazy to think where I am now, compared to where I started."
Not crazy, really. Not knowing Timian.
Just well-earned.
Players Mentioned
WR
/ FootballFB: Charlie Becker - Wisconsin Postgame Press Conference (11/15/25)
Saturday, November 15
FB: Fernando Mendoza - Wisconsin Postgame Press Conference (11/15/25)
Saturday, November 15
FB: Aiden Fisher - Wisconsin Postgame Press Conference (11/15/25)
Saturday, November 15
FB: Stephen Daley - Wisconsin Postgame Press Conference (11/15/25)
Saturday, November 15