OK, occasionally I have a moment of clarity and see things as they are. Not as I'd like them to be as a fan. But "stark reality" as it hits you in the face. Let me say that I put a lot of trust in Coach Wilson to run his team. I think he's intelligent (more than myself and also than most of this forum). I certainly think he knows more about football than myself or our average poster. (Realizing that your average poster doesn't post on Peegs)
Coach Wilson made a comment yesterday about Dominique Booth that really struck me. He noted how good a summer Dominique had and how he was "in the mix". I was glad to see that given the amount of "ink" Dominique had gotten when he'd signed at IU. I actually read once where he was being compared (yep by me) to Anquan Bolden. That wasn't the dumbest comparison EVER on Peegs. Someone (not me) once compared Marco Killingsworth to heaven forbid, George McGinnis.
I was smart enough not to say he WAS Anquan Bolden, but I said he was a big, physical guy in the style of Bolden. Not the dumbest thing I've ever said, (that was "I Do" in 1973) but not my best observation.
(You can read stupid things on the internet daily but that's nothing new).
Anyway, Dominique played a lot as a freshman out of necessity. And results were mixed at best. In his first game against ISU, he failed to finish his pattern, drifted a bit off line and when Nate Sudfeld threw to where he was supposed to go, the resulting PICK SIX caused Peegs posters to scream that Sudfeld couldn't read defenses. Booth's moment in the sun came when he couldn't really separate from the DB in his pattern and managed to keep the chains moving; not with a clutch catch, but by drawing a pass interference penalty at Missouri that changed the game around and allowed IU to keep the ball and run Tevin Coleman's screen pass down inside the ten.
Even though he'd arrived early with big expectations, Dominique was not Anquan Bolden right out of the chute. And I was an idiot to think he would be. There's a difference between playing against OSU, MSU and even ISU and Warren Central, Ben Davis, or even Decatur Central. I'd forgotten how it is to be 18 or 19 yrs old.
The finest wide receiver that I've ever seen at IU was Ernie Jones of Elkhart. There were guys who caught more passes in a season than Ernie Jones. In recent times when a "bubble screen" constitutes a pass or teams threw 50 times a game because they couldn't run and they were behind. Stats are inflated these days. When Ernie Jones played, IU ran the ball. Anthony Thompson ran the ball. A lot. But Ernie Jones made BIG catches. He made big catches in BIG GAMES and in BIG MOMENTS. Ernie Jones was a terrific NFL player for several seasons. Ernie Jones made catches that moved the chains. Ernie Jones made catches that helped beat Ohio State, and Michigan. Ernie Jones beat Missouri because in the fourth quarter and trailing on FOURTH AND 27 he dove and caught a pass from Dave Schnell for 27 yards.
Like Booth, Ernie played as a freshman. I believe Ernie started some and his career stats showed he caught ZERO passes as a freshman. HIS moment in the sun came when IU was driving to beat Wisconsin for what would have been their only win of the year. Iu called for a reverse that pictures seemed to indicate would have scored in a walk in to win the game. Wisconsin was completely out of position and the entire team was ready to block. Had Jones not fumbled the handoff. The resulting fumble was lost as was the game.
Ernie caught a handful of passes as a soph, a bunch as a Junior and well over 70 as a Sr. Ernie scored and scored as a Sr. But not as a freshman.
IU has a lot of good looking freshman receivers. One of them may eventually be as good as Ernie Jones.
They may be better. Dominique Booth may become the greatest receiver in IU history. Or maybe someone else will. But it's a process getting there. And fun to watch. As fans, we need to understand and remember that seasons and careers aren't made or broken at the first 3 and out.
Go IU football.
Coach Wilson made a comment yesterday about Dominique Booth that really struck me. He noted how good a summer Dominique had and how he was "in the mix". I was glad to see that given the amount of "ink" Dominique had gotten when he'd signed at IU. I actually read once where he was being compared (yep by me) to Anquan Bolden. That wasn't the dumbest comparison EVER on Peegs. Someone (not me) once compared Marco Killingsworth to heaven forbid, George McGinnis.
I was smart enough not to say he WAS Anquan Bolden, but I said he was a big, physical guy in the style of Bolden. Not the dumbest thing I've ever said, (that was "I Do" in 1973) but not my best observation.
(You can read stupid things on the internet daily but that's nothing new).
Anyway, Dominique played a lot as a freshman out of necessity. And results were mixed at best. In his first game against ISU, he failed to finish his pattern, drifted a bit off line and when Nate Sudfeld threw to where he was supposed to go, the resulting PICK SIX caused Peegs posters to scream that Sudfeld couldn't read defenses. Booth's moment in the sun came when he couldn't really separate from the DB in his pattern and managed to keep the chains moving; not with a clutch catch, but by drawing a pass interference penalty at Missouri that changed the game around and allowed IU to keep the ball and run Tevin Coleman's screen pass down inside the ten.
Even though he'd arrived early with big expectations, Dominique was not Anquan Bolden right out of the chute. And I was an idiot to think he would be. There's a difference between playing against OSU, MSU and even ISU and Warren Central, Ben Davis, or even Decatur Central. I'd forgotten how it is to be 18 or 19 yrs old.
The finest wide receiver that I've ever seen at IU was Ernie Jones of Elkhart. There were guys who caught more passes in a season than Ernie Jones. In recent times when a "bubble screen" constitutes a pass or teams threw 50 times a game because they couldn't run and they were behind. Stats are inflated these days. When Ernie Jones played, IU ran the ball. Anthony Thompson ran the ball. A lot. But Ernie Jones made BIG catches. He made big catches in BIG GAMES and in BIG MOMENTS. Ernie Jones was a terrific NFL player for several seasons. Ernie Jones made catches that moved the chains. Ernie Jones made catches that helped beat Ohio State, and Michigan. Ernie Jones beat Missouri because in the fourth quarter and trailing on FOURTH AND 27 he dove and caught a pass from Dave Schnell for 27 yards.
Like Booth, Ernie played as a freshman. I believe Ernie started some and his career stats showed he caught ZERO passes as a freshman. HIS moment in the sun came when IU was driving to beat Wisconsin for what would have been their only win of the year. Iu called for a reverse that pictures seemed to indicate would have scored in a walk in to win the game. Wisconsin was completely out of position and the entire team was ready to block. Had Jones not fumbled the handoff. The resulting fumble was lost as was the game.
Ernie caught a handful of passes as a soph, a bunch as a Junior and well over 70 as a Sr. Ernie scored and scored as a Sr. But not as a freshman.
IU has a lot of good looking freshman receivers. One of them may eventually be as good as Ernie Jones.
They may be better. Dominique Booth may become the greatest receiver in IU history. Or maybe someone else will. But it's a process getting there. And fun to watch. As fans, we need to understand and remember that seasons and careers aren't made or broken at the first 3 and out.
Go IU football.
