Indiana
Indiana Wide Receivers Put Ego Aside For The Greater Good
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Perhaps more than any other position in football, wide receiver is one that is fueled by ego.
The stereotypical wide receiver wants the ball. He demands the ball. He lets his quarterback know, he lets his coordinator know, he lets his head coach know he’s the guy to move the sticks.
If a team has a talented receiver, he can take them far. One need only look at Maryland, Indiana’s opponent on Saturday.
Terrapin wide receiver Tai Felton gets the ball in ways most receivers would dream of. He has 41 catches for 604 yards and 5 touchdown catches. Per game, that works out to 10.25 catches, 151 yards and 1.25 touchdowns per game. That makes Felton one of the most productive receivers in all of college football.
Accepting that we don’t know about Felton’s ego or how much he demands the ball, his level of production would be the envy of any receiver motivated by such things.
Meanwhile, Indiana does things differently.
In contrast to Maryland, where Felton accounts for 37.2% of the Terrapins’ total receptions, Indiana spreads the wealth.
Elijah Sarratt leads the Hoosiers with 15 receptions, but three other receivers – Myles Price (14), Omar Cooper Jr. (12), Miles Cross (12) – are right behind Sarratt. Two more – Ke’Shawn Williams (8) and tight end Zach Horton (7) have also been frequent targets.
No one Indiana receiver accounts for more than 19.4% of the Hoosiers’ reception total. It’s receiver-by-committee, just as the running backs operate under the same principle of sharing the ball.
It only works if you have buy-in from a position group where the individual players often demand the ball. So far, Indiana has been able to achieve that goal.
“It’s not as difficult when you’re about the team and you want the team to be successful,” Williams said. “We have a group of guys in our room who are extremely talented. Anybody that’s on that field can go out there and start and make plays.”
Price, who came to Indiana after four seasons at Texas Tech, said putting his ego aside isn’t a problem.
“It’s about winning. Everyone wants to win. When you win, everyone gets looked at,” said Price, who peaked at 51 receptions while he was with the Red Raiders.
So suppression of ego for the good of the team can also be good for the individual? Price thinks so.
“You look at those teams that go on to win championships. They have 15-20 players that may get drafted and that’s just because they’re winning,” Price explained. “So it’s bringing more attention, it’s bringing more eyes. That’s how we look at it.”
Williams said he’s used to the dynamic of sharing the ball. He played regularly at Wake Forest from 2021-23. Williams never had less than 27 catches in any of those seasons, but he never ranked higher than third on the Demon Deacons in receptions.
“If you’ve watched over my career, I’ve been in crowded receiving rooms since I’ve been in college. I’ve been surrounded by great receivers,” Williams said.
For Williams, who is a fifth-year receiver getting his last chance to prove himself, he admitted it can be tough to be in sharing mode.
“Being a fifth-year guy, it’s definitely challenging,” Williams admitted. “You know, if I don’t go about it the right way, I only do nothing but hurt myself and hurt the team. Me doing the right thing while waiting for my turn allowed me to be successful and help the team win games once I got out there.”
Price, who led Texas Tech with 43 catches in 2023, believes the high tide of team success raises all boats in the end.
“We just continue to win. If it’s in God’s plan (for individual success), it’s in his plan. So I just kind of let that work itself out,” Price said.
RIPLEY COUNTY, Ind. (WSBT) — A statewide Silver Alert has been issued for two young children in Indiana.
Police in Ripley County, southeast of Indianapolis, are looing for the children who may be siblings.
The first child is 3-year-old Aaliyah Buckingham.
She was last seen wearing a pink cat shirt and tie-dye shorts.
The younger child is 1-year-old Shane Buckingham, last seen in a red shirt and diaper.
Police think both are with 45-year-old Timothy Buckingham, who was last seen driving a brown GMC truck.
Timothy is described as a 6′ 3″ white man weighing 225 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes.
Photo of Timothy Buckingham provided by Indiana State Police
Police have not confirmed the relationship of the three, or why the children are believed to be in danger.
Anyone who sees the three are asked to contact the nearest police department.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A firefighter for the Indianapolis Fire Department was sent to the hospital Wednesday after battling a fire at a vacant house.
According to a Facebook post made by IFD, the fire happened around 10:15 a.m. at a house on Bluff Rd. IFD says that there were several complications, including limited access to fire hydrants and “interior hoarder conditions” that IFD says was due to squatters.
The injured firefighter received “slight injury,” the Facebook post said.
It took over an hour and a half to get the fire under control, according to IFD, and another hour to put out all the remaining hot spots in the building.
According to IFD, the cause of the fire is currently unknown. Their Fire Investigations Unit is working on figuring out what caused the fire.
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