a recap of some outstanding performances by our guys this past weekend:
River Cracraft (sophomore, Washington State) - 11 catches, 172 yards, and 3 touchdowns. the "possession" receiver had an 86-yard touchdown catch-and-run and two clutch 4th down catches that converted first downs. of course, any so-called journalist who profiles this all-around excellent wideout obediently marches to the tune of disparaging him for lack of talent. hell, even his coach downplays his ability.
Exhibit 1,000,000 of Caste System stereotyping.
an excerpt:
just imagine what kind of numbers this Biletnikoff Award nominee could put up if he actually had talent!
Mike Dudek (freshman, Illinois) - 8 catches for 200 yards. here is a
profile piece on Dudek, but it insists his lack of recruiting interest was due to his "lack of size." at 5-foot-11, 180-pounds, Dudek is a literal giant to many highly-recruited black wideouts. of course, they have "dat upside." additionally, Dudek's position coach admits that Mikey was the fastest player of the 3,000 potential recruits that Illinois evaluated. i guess he didn't have enough "hip wiggle" for the other "talent" "evaluators."
as reported in that profile piece, even before his monster 200-yard game, Mikey had an FBS-leading 212 receiving yards in the 4th quarter. he's clutch. and talented. and he is the best wideout on the Illinois roster.
Danny Anthrop (junior, Purdue) - 3 catches for 99 yards, including a beautiful 80-yard sprint down the sideline for a score
Curry Sexton (senior, Kansas State) - 9 catches for 128 yards and 2 touchdowns. yet another "possession" receiver, Sexton
"deceptively" outran the entire Texas Tech secondary for a 46-yard touchdown catch-and-run. later on, he had a Catch-of-the-Year nominee:
[video=youtube;kBjnQzDad_M]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBjnQzDad_M[/video]
does it surprise anyone at all that A) Sexton is a former walk-on? or B) that the announcers spent the entire game either ignoring his play or condescendingly mentioning how it was his "hunger" that made him able to do all those things. never once was he credited for athletic ability, explosiveness, talent, or any other positive attribute. and i watched the replay of the game to be sure.
Jordan Westerkamp (sophomore, Nebraska) - 9 catches for 158 yards against a talented Michigan State defense. no one else on the team had more than 3 catches, and his yardage was more than the rest of the team combined.
Sam Martin (freshman, Miami (Ohio) - 8 catches for 111 yards and
4 touchdowns! Martin's performance helped the Redhawks snap the nation's longest active losing streak.
a 2-star prospect as a skinny 6-foot-3 wideout with reported 4.4 speed in the 40 (according to Rivals), Martin's only FBS scholarship offers were from the Redhawks and Rutgers. i guess he didn't have enough "upside" or some such nonsense.
in high school, he played in Colorado's largest classification. as a junior, Martin led the state of Colorado in receiving yards (1,289), catches (76), and receiving touchdowns (14). as a senior in 2013, he trumped those numbers with 112 receptions for 1,860 yards and 16 more touchdowns. he also carried the ball for 77 yards and four additional scores.
one "wonders" what numbers he need to have put up to get recruiting interest from the good programs around the country?
Jordan Taylor (senior, Rice) - 5 catches for 103 yards and 1 touchdown. the tall, rangy playmaker appears to finally be healthy this season.
Cooper Kupp (sophomore, Eastern Washington) - 8 catches for 132 yards and 3 touchdowns in a shootout with Idaho State. he may be the best wide receiver in collegiate football, regardless of level. of course, no one in the media would ever even consider that possibility.
Tyler McCulloch (senior, Colorado) had a game-high 76 yards and 2 touchdowns on 4 catches in the Buffs narrow loss to Oregon State. McCulloch did a good job emerging as a threat, since the Beavers double-teamed the stellar
Nelson Spruce virtually the entire game in order to limit his production. Spruce finished with 6 catches but for only 35 yards.
Brian Wetzel (senior, Fordham) - 6 catches for 115 yards and 1 touchdown
Madison Mangum (sophomore, Idaho State) - 7 catches for 132 yards and 2 touchdowns