Iowa receivers growing legs, adding bullets

When Derrell Johnson-Koulianos sat out against Arizona last week, Iowa's receivers grew another leg.

Colin Sandeman, a junior from Bettendorf, came out of nowhere and led the Hawkeyes with five receptions for 47 yards in Iowa's 27-17 victory. The “out of nowhere” part comes because Sandeman missed nearly all of training camp with a hamstring injury. He suited up for Northern Iowa and saw action against Iowa State.

With Johnson-Koulianos out and sophomore Marvin McNutt suffering from the flu, Sandeman showed up.

“He was definitely on the milk cartons,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said. “We definitely hadn't seen him for quite some time. Hopefully he's getting back in shape a little bit. It was good to see him step up and make some plays.”

Also, going into last week, Sandeman had a grand total of 10 receptions in his career. He had six all of last season.

“We have a lot of depth,” said senior wideout Trey Stross, who caught four passes for 37 yards last week. “Getting Colin back is just adding another bullet.”

Iowa's top four receivers going into tonight's game at Penn State are Sandeman, Stross, McNutt and Paul Chaney Jr. All are in some sort of career rehabilitation.

Stross lost huge chunks of the last couple seasons with hamstring problems. Three games in, he leads Iowa with 11 receptions for 167 yards. He's just five off his season-best of 16 as a sophomore in 2007.

McNutt made the switch from quarterback early last season and caught one pass. He has eight receptions for 121 yards this year.

After catching 19 passes as a freshman, Chaney caught just two last year. He's caught five passes for 38 yards and has rushed four times for 44 so far.

Freshman Keenan Davis is probably No. 6 if or when Johnson-Koulianos returns tonight. Davis didn't see action against Arizona, but he caught two passes for 21 yards and a TD against Iowa State.

Johnson-Koulianos, who has four grabs for 61 yards and a TD, was on track to return from the hamstring injury that's slowed him throughout the fall, Ferentz said. Depth cushioned losing DJK last week, but it'd be easier with the player who has led the Hawkeyes in receiving the last two seasons.

“We have some other guys stepping up,” Ferentz said, “but, I'd be more than happy to get Derrell back out there. We're better with Derrell, I know that.”