All football for McNutt

MIAMI -- It could've been basketball for Marvin McNutt.

"He crosses over to the basketball floor and steps up and hits a shot that's about 6 feet outside the arc in a district championship game, with seconds on the clock, knocks it down to put his team up by one and send them to the state playoffs," said Hazelwood Central football coach Richard Nixon, McNutt's prep football coach.

It could've been baseball for McNutt, a rangy 6-foot-4, 215-pounder with a live arm (80 mph fastball in high school) and strong bat.

"As soon as basketball is over, my man switches over to baseball," Nixon said. "While on the diamond, in what would be the quarterfinals to put the baseball team in the final four, Marvin steps up to the plate with the bases juiced and hits four-run bomb to take a one-run lead and win the game.

"That's just a testament to that kid and his ability. He's truly a blessed young man and has a great attitude."

Good thing for the Iowa Hawkeyes that it's football for McNutt.

In his first season as a full-time wide receiver for the Hawkeyes, McNutt caught 30 passes for 653 yards, a team-high 21.8 yards a catch, and seven touchdowns. He had memorable games against Indiana (four catches for 155 yards and a 92-yard TD) and Ohio State (six catches for 78 yards and two TDs).

It could've been quarterback for McNutt, who began his Iowa career as a skinny redshirt freshman QB in 2007. He made the switch last season and only dipped his toes in the position, catching one pass for 11 yards. Except for a few snaps after quarterback Ricky Stanzi suffered an ankle injury, it's been all wide receiver this year.

The results have shown.

"If we are all in a staff room in the beginning of August and we were going to try to figure out who was going to make the most big plays on the team, Marvin might not have gotten a vote," offensive coordinator Ken O'Keefe said. "Here he is making all of these big plays with his feet. He's a big guy, he has some natural strength, he catches the ball well and he's hard to tackle."

McNutt admits he's not a burner, clocking in with a 40-yard dash time in the neighborhood of 4.7 seconds.

"I think this spring it was a 4.7 but I haven't done it since then," McNutt said. "It's not something that I think much about. A guy like Larry Fitzgerald (Arizona Cardinals all-pro wideout) went to the combine with 4.6 speed, so you don't really pay too much attention to it if you can play."

McNutt can play.

It first started to show up against Arizona. McNutt made a 34-yard grab that set up a TD. Then, after getting blanked at Penn State because of a touch of the flu, McNutt went wild against Arkansas State, four catches for 121 yards and two TDs.

He suffered a thumb injury that has his left hand heavily taped, but he closed strong, including a 74-yard TD against Northwestern.

McNutt's name is the list of Iowa's top 10 longest plays of the season four times, 92 yards, 74, 43 and 41. It wasn't a long play, but the 7-yard TD pass he caught at Michigan State on the game's final play was about as clutch as it gets.

"You never know how early it's going to come," said McNutt, whose voice is a slow, deep baritone. "When you get on the field, you picture yourself doing the unthinkable sometimes. Even if you don't do it, you always want to do it.

"It's something you always try to imagine so you put yourself in that position, so when it does happen, it's not new to you because you've dreamt about it for so long."

McNutt might not have blazing speed, but he's made up a lot of ground at a position that he didn't take up until a few weeks into 2008. Even then, he still had a hand in at the quarterback spot. He made the full switch last spring. Don't discount the QB thing, though. His experience at the position gave him a different feel for Iowa's offense.

"Coach (Erik) Campbell has done a great job of working his technique, teaching him the ins and outs of running routes, releases, the fundamentals of being a wide receiver," O'Keefe said. "Marvin, having played quarterback, understands that from a different viewpoint and sees it a little bit better and that has been a big help."

It really could've been baseball, though.

"You wish you could see a video of what would've happened in your future there," McNutt said with a laugh. "Right now, I'm living a dream. Right now, it's all about football."

The cruel irony is that the Iowa football practice facility sits just across the sidewalk from . . . the baseball field.