Fast and Furious – Price Helps Set a Receiving Tone
Pete DiPrimio | IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Speed matters, bragging rights matter, the ability to separate from defensive backs to create open targets for quarterback Kurtis Rourke matters.
The word around Indiana football is that no Hoosier does that better than receiver Myles Price and for confirmation, we go to the source.
“I think I am (the fastest),” Price says with a smile.
Fellow receiver Ke’Shawn Williams agrees, also with a smile, picking receiver Andison Coby as the second fastest.
“Coby can fly,” Price says.
For the record, no official race has been run. It’s all perception and, in Williams’ case, honest self-assessment
“It’s Myles and Coby,” Williams says about who the fast receivers are. “They have a step on me. A little step. I haven’t reached them.”
The next chance to showcase that speed comes Saturday when IU (4-0) hosts Maryland (3-1).
Price’s versatility makes him a threat as a receiver, running back, and returner. He’s rushed three times for 16 yards, returned seven punts for 50 yards, and caught 14 passes for 183 yards. Only Elijah Sarratt, with 15, has caught more passes for the Hoosiers.
This is not surprising. Price had receiving, running and returning (kickoffs and punts) duties during his four seasons at Texas Tech, which came after a do-it-all all-state career at Texas’s The Colony High School.
“All my life, I played all over the field,” Price says. “In high school, I played offense and defense.
“I had quite a few (college) offers for defense. Mostly, I was listed as an ‘athlete’ because I was so little. I was like 5-foot-6 and 140 pounds.”
At 5-foot-9 and 183 pounds, Price still doesn’t overwhelm with size but put a ball in his hands and watch him thrive, especially on special teams.
“I like special teams, especially punt return,” he says. “That’s like backyard football. I get the ball and try to make everybody miss and score a touchdown.”
Beyond that, he adds, “Everybody plays hard on special teams, everybody is straining. We go 13 seconds all out.”
Price has become a student of the game, has learned to embrace the film study crucial for elite success.
“I like to start off watching games,” he says. “I might pick a game to watch. Then, after that, we have a lot of different cut ups that we will put in our folders and click through them and see the explosives, what have (opposing defenses have) been hit on?
“When we get the (play) script, I like to go through it and see formations that are similar to teams they have played, and I like to (ask) okay, how would they line up to this? Okay, they do this, and I can do this. Just finding different ways to gain an edge.”
Price motivates Williams, who has eight catches for 88 yards and a team-leading three receiving touchdowns.
“When you have a guy like Myles Price, who is an extremely talented individual, and you see him make play after play,” Williams says, “it makes me go harder.”
IU’s share-the-receiving-wealth receiving approach (14 players have caught at least one pass) has paid off. It averages 288.3 passing yards per game to rank third in the Big Ten behind Maryland (308.8) and Washington (291.8).
Price says statistics are fine, but “It's about winning at the end of the day.
“When you win, everybody gets looked at. When you look at all those teams that go on to win championships, they have like 15 to 20 players that may get drafted, and that's because they're winning. It's bringing more attention, it's bringing more eyes to everybody. That's how we look at it, we want to just continue to win.”
Maryland has a formidable offense and defense. It has scored at least 38 points against IU in the last three meetings. It is getting elite quarterback (Billy Edwards Jr.) and receiver (Tai Felton) play. Safety Dante Trader Jr. is a defensive difference maker.
“Defensively, no matter who you play, it all starts up front and being able to stop the run and pressure the quarterback,” head coach Curt Cignetti says. “If you can put pressure on the quarterback, that's less time that you have to cover in the defensive backfield and at linebacker.
“I don't think we played our best game (last Saturday against Charlotte). I didn't think the energy level was there. We weren't swarming the football like we've done in the past. We're capable of playing better, and we're going to need to play better.”
Adds Price: “They play hard. It will be about how we execute.”