NFL Combine notes: McNutt talks O'Keefe leaving, SkyCam falling

INDIANAPOLIS - Two Big Ten receivers. Two different perspectives on a game-deciding catch. Or non-catch, if you're the other receiver.

On Nov. 5, Michigan drove to Iowa's 3-yard line with less than a minute remaining. Trailing 24-16, Michigan receiver Junior Hemingway appeared to haul in a pass one-handed in the back of the end zone for a touchdown. But replays showed the ball slipped through his hands and hit the ground.

Hemingway, who spoke to reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine on Saturday, still disagrees with the ruling.

“I was in bounds, I was in bounds,” he said emphatically. “My foot and knee (were) down in bounds.

“I was so mad after that game. I was just, I was mad. I watched it. I thought I was in, but the referee called something else. Can't argue with that.”

Iowa receiver Marvin McNutt, who tallied 112 receiving yards that day, had a different perspective.

“It was a great catch but, hey, they called it,” McNutt said. “We live with it.

“The Michigan game kind of reminded me a little bit of the ‘09 Michigan State game. Down to the wire, great atmosphere, what you want to be in a college setting except we didn't have the ball, so it was a little scary.”

Tackle down

Iowa tackle Markus Zusevics suffered a torn pectoral muscle during a bench press drill on Friday. He will need surgery and was unable to participate in any other drills, NFL Network reported.

Zusevics was unavailable for interviews on Saturday.

Coaching shuffle

McNutt met with a friendly face when he arrived at the combine. Former Iowa offensive coordinator Ken O'Keefe, now the Miami Dolphins' wide receivers coach, spoke briefly with McNutt before they went their separate ways.

“I saw Coach O'Keefe the other day and gave him a big hug,” McNutt said. “It's one of those things where things happen. You really can't take too much away from it.

“We just talked a little bit, asked me how I was doing, things like that. I had to go to a meeting, so we didn't get to talk too much.”

Curtain raiser

McNutt was asked about the SkyCam diaster during the Insight Bowl, where an ESPN camera crashed on the field near him at the game's end.

“I was wondering how did this happen? What person that works at ESPN tried to kill me?” McNutt said with a laugh.

Michigan's prospects

Hemingway's quarterback at Michigan - Denard Robinson - is back for his senior season. But it's likely Robinson won't play quarterback in the NFL, according to Hemingway.

“He'll probably go to the league as a receiver,” Hemingway said.

Robinson has played receiver during workouts, Hemingway said.

“All I've seen Denard run is go routes. He'll come out, ‘Let me run a go, man.' I'm like ‘Denard, run something else, man. Everybody knows you're going deep.'”