Donaven McCulley's move to WR paying off for IU: 'Just tell yourself you’re unguardable.'

BLOOMINGTON — Early in the second quarter of Indiana’s 20-14 win over Wisconsin, Brendan Sorsby and Donaven McCulley failed to connect twice in a goal-to-go situation.

On first down, McCulley faded for a back-shoulder route in the back left corner of Memorial Stadium’s north end zone. With one-on-one coverage, McCulley couldn’t track Sorsby’s high-arching pass. Two plays later, Sorsby fired a high throw to McCulley, who got two hands on the ball but failed to squeeze it. The Hoosiers had to settle for a field goal.

Two drives later, Sorsby again called McCulley’s number twice. Indiana had the ball at its 46-yard line when McCulley made a short-yardage grab, rolled over his defender and got back on his feet for a 32-yard gain to Wisconsin’s 22-yard line.

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Then, with Indiana inside Wisconsin’s 10-yard line again, Sorsby threw another fade to McCulley in the left corner of the end zone. This time, the 6-5 McCulley stuck his right hand in the air and outleaped Wisconsin cornerback Alexander Smith for a 7-yard score. The one-handed snag gave IU a 17-7 halftime lead that it hung onto for the win.

The difference between McCulley’s play on both drives encapsulates his growth at wideout.

He enrolled at IU as a four-star quarterback prospect. After four starts at QB as a true freshman in 2021, the Lawrence North grad initiated the switch to wide receiver.

“He's a highly competitive young man and one of the best athletes on our football team, and he wants to be on the field,” Indiana coach Tom Allen said in July 2022. Back then, Allen noted McCulley would have to go through a learning curve.

In McCulley’s first season out wide in 2022, he caught 16 balls for 169 yards and a touchdown. After tallying five receptions and 67 yards Saturday, McCulley has 29 catches, 387 yards and three touchdowns this season with three games left.

“I've always felt like that he was a guy that should have the mindset that, ‘They just can't guard me,’” Allen said after Saturday’s game. Continuing on what McCulley’s mindset should be, Allen said, “If the ball is anywhere near me, I’m going to come down with it. They're going to have to grab me, hold me, interfere with me in order to make a play.”

Plays like the one-handed, back-shoulder catch are becoming more natural to McCulley. Last year, he was a big, athletic player who happened to play wide receiver. Now, McCulley is a legitimate wide receiver who is also big and athletic.

“Just tell yourself you’re unguardable,” McCulley said of his demeanor. “Just try to impose your will. I’m 6-5, 210 (pounds), I feel like I need to impose my will almost every play.”

On IU’s final offensive drive, he drew a pass interference penalty on third down to give the Hoosiers a first down. That flag allowed IU to take more valuable time off the clock and led to Chris Freeman’s 50-yard field goal that cushioned the lead. Drawing the interference flag is another sign of McCulley’s progression, who admitted he did some “acting” on the play.

When Rod Carey took over as offensive coordinator at the start of October, Allen mentioned the coaching staff wanted to get McCulley more involved, citing his “big catch radius.”

McCulley threw a 44-yard touchdown on a trick play in Carey’s debut as OC against Michigan. After not catching a pass against Rutgers two weeks ago, McCulley has logged nine catches for 163 yards and two touchdowns over the past two weeks.

“It's easy to throw it out to a guy that's that big and makes that kind of catch,” Sorsby said about McCulley’s touchdown on Saturday.

Just 24 months ago, McCulley was trying to figure out how to complete passes against staunch Big Ten defenses. Now, he leads the Hoosiers in receptions, yards and touchdowns as a pass-catcher.

Indiana would not have broken its four-game losing streak without McCulley’s momentous plays Saturday. With three games left in the regular season, Indiana (3-6, 1-5 Big Ten) needs to win out to reach bowl eligibility. None of the teams left on IU’s schedule have more than three wins, so there’s a clear path for this program to return to a bowl game.

The continued rise of McCulley could be the reason IU turns its season around.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana football: Donaven McCulley now a big-time WR after QB switch