Hilltoppers vs. Chippewas Position Battle: Wide Receivers

Its the age old question in the sport of football – who makes whom look better? Is it the quarterback that makes his receivers look good? Or is it the other way around – do a QBs receiving corps, since they’re the one’s actually making the catches, help out the passer? Well, either way, we are going to see a lot of passes tomorrow, especially with Central Michigan without their number one back Thomas Rawls due to academic issues.

Lets start, of course, with our Hilltoppers. Brandon Doughty set records a plenty this year through the passing game, but he had a ton of help, as eight Hilltopper receivers finished the regular season with over 200 yards receiving and five finished with more than 400. Even though just about everyone at the position for WKU is valuable, Doughty has a couple of guys he prefers above the rest. Jared Dangerfield was the recipient of more passes than anyone (64 catches) and found the endzone more often than anyone (10 touchdowns). However, Dangerfield’s 738 yards receiving is second on the team, a yard away from Taywan Taylor’s 739 yards on just 44 catches and seven scores. Talk about efficiency.

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While its Dangerfield and Taylor as the top-tier targets for Doughty, the second level of receivers are a bit muddled. But, make no mistake about it, are better than some team’s first options.

Mitchell Henry

(442),

Antwane Grant

(479) and

Willie McNeal

(511)

are all separated by less than 70 yards and have proven to be key and clutch targets this season. Really, you can’t go wrong with anyone the Tops trot at receiver, and I don’t know about you guys, but I’m looking for another huge day for Doughty and his guys.

Now, onto the Chippewas. Much like the Hilltoppers, they too have a pretty clear upper-echelon to their receiving corps, and are lead by 54 catches, 843 yards and nine touchdowns from Titus Davis. The second-tier of CMU receivers isn’t as muddled as WKU, but still consists of a few bodies. Jesse Kroll (32 catches, 473 yards, four touchdowns), Deon Butler (26 receptions, 355 yards, one touchdown) and Anthony Rice (27 catches, 298 yards, one touchdown) consist of this level, and Cooper Rush feels confident going to any of these three as his second option.

Outside of these four guys, and Ben McCord in the redzone (three of his 10 receptions for touchdowns), its really a guessing game at who CMU will go to or will want to go to in a winner-take-all game. I think its safe to say the Tops have the clear edge in this category as well, and if things go the way we think they will with Rawls sitting out, CMU will pass – a lot – and it doesn’t seem they’re very comfortable doing it.

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