‘No Ceiling’ – McCulley a Receiver on the Rise
Pete DiPrimio | IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The media spotlight finds junior Donaven McCulley as a difference-making receiver, a dominating receiver, a receiver who can decide games if given the chance.
More and more, this former Indiana quarterback is getting that chance.
Could he be the deciding factor on Saturday when IU hosts Michigan State at Memorial Stadium?
Stay tuned.
“I hope there is no ceiling on that guy,” offensive coordinator Rod Carey says. “I hope he keeps going because he has done a great job.
“He's a highly skilled athlete who is becoming a wide receiver and doing a really good job. He's big and fast and has great ball skills.”
In the three games since failing to catch a pass against Rutgers, McCulley had four catches for 96 yards and a 69-yard touchdown (Carey joked McCulley was the most-wide open receiver in college football history) against Penn State, five catches for 67 yards (a long of 32 yards) and a touchdown against Wisconsin, and then 11 catches for 137 yards and two touchdowns, with a long of 41 yards, against Illinois.
“The last couple of weeks,” he says, “I’ve been trying to lock in and be there for my guys.”
For the season, McCulley leads IU with 40 catches for 524 yards and five touchdowns. He averages 13.1 yards per catch. His 30 points scored rank second on the team to kicker Chris Freeman’s 49.
“My mentality is to keep getting better every day,” he says. “I keep working on the little things. Try to fix the things I feel I’m not good at. That’s what I focus on every day.”
The 6-5, 200-pound McCulley has become a favorite target of quarterback Brendan Sorsby, in part because he's such a big target. The career-best Illinois performance mostly came through matchups against the Illini’s shorter cornerbacks.
“We took advantage of the height difference,” McCulley says. “Sorsby is just throwing it and I’ve got to go get it.”
Adds Sorsby: “(McCulley) has a really big body with great hands. He obviously uses his body to his advantage."
McCulley’s improvement is much needed given the receiver injuries that include losing Cam Camper for the rest of the season.
“I think it's a testament to him, his talent, his drive,” head coach Tom Allen says. “He keeps getting better all the time. I saw that in him and felt like he could be.”
Adds McCulley: “With Cam being out, somebody had to follow in his footsteps. Take the receiver room to the next level. Keep us on the rise.”
Fellow receivers DeQuece Carter (19 catches, 298 yards, two touchdowns), Omar Cooper Jr. (18 catches, 267 yards, two touchdowns) and E.J. Williams Jr. (11 catches, 136 yards) have elevated their play to sustain that rise.
“In our room, it doesn’t matter who’s out there,” McCulley says. “The position has a standard. You have to play to that standard.”
Allen has long seen McCulley as a potential receiving superstar if he learned to maximize his talent.
“He and I have had a lot of one-on-ones about it,” Allen says, “and the way he played (against Illinois) is the way I envisioned him playing, being a very difficult matchup. He’s very big, strong, and tough to defend.”
McCulley was recruited as a quarterback out of Indianapolis Lawrence North High School, and spent his freshman season playing the position before switching. The transition hasn’t always been easy. It takes time and effort to master receiving nuances.
“He's worked extremely hard,” Allen says. “He's very coachable, very humble to whoever he's with. He doesn't have some big it's-all-about-me ego. It's not that at all. He just works hard. Whoever the quarterback is, it's just, give me the ball, give me a chance to make a play.”
Credit a strong family upbringing as well as his own discipline and determination.
“I love who he is as a person, which is to me a great testament to his family,” Allen says. “He's been well-raised. He understands how to do things the right way on and off the field. He shows up every day and works really hard. He's a competitor.
“I continue to say he's going to keep rising.”
From a team standpoint, IU seeks a trophy game sweep of Michigan State (the Old Brass Spittoon) and Purdue (the Old Oaken Bucket) over the season’s last two weeks.
The fact the Hoosiers can't reach the six victories needed to earn a bowl bid won’t diminish their determination, McCulley says.
“You keep preparing every week. Keep doing the little things right. Not take any moment for granted. We have trophy games coming up, so go get those. Lock in on those games.
“You’ve got to keep going. The season doesn’t stop, so you can’t stop working. Keep going, keep fighting.”