Indiana football wideout Donaven McCulley leaves season-opener with injury

Indiana football started its season with a 31-7 win over Florida International on Saturday, but didn’t come out unscathed.

Early in the second quarter at the 9:35 mark, Indiana wideout Donaven McCulley was working on the left side of the field when he caught a nine-yard curl route. He dove down towards the first down marker when he took a hard hit to the back of his head and back area. There were no additional details to specific what the injury was, but it definitely appeared to be upper body.

He was clearly shaken up and made his way over to the sideline. He would head to the locker room and did not return in the second half.

McCulley finished with just one catch for nine yards.

“He was getting involved early and got hit and went back in there for a little bit, and then that was it for him,” Indiana football head coach Curt Cignetti said following the win. “So we’ll see what happens. He wasn’t medically cleared to go back in.”

McCulley came into 2024 after a breakout season last year. He finished last season with a team-best 48 receptions for 644 yards and six touchdowns. It was by far his most productive season at Indiana.

He averaged 5.6 receptions for 84 yards in the final five games last year. He also had five of his six touchdowns over that span as well.

McCulley was part of a revamped wide receiver room that was the most productive and experienced groups Indiana has had at the position in a long time.

Related: ’Locked in’ — Donaven McCulley back at Indiana football with lofty goals

After a difficult spring when he was called out publicly by Curt Cignetti, he turned in a terrific fall camp.

“Don has done a really good job in fall camp,” Indiana football offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan said. “He’s locked in in the meeting room, taking notes and asking questions. On the field he’s still developing into a complete receiver. I know he came here as a quarterback and has only been doing it for a couple years now. So some of it is a bit new and some of the ways we are teaching it is a bit new … he’s given great effort on the field. It may not be perfect or exactly how you want it, but I can work with that.

“He continues to get better each and every day.”

McCulley’s Lawrence North teammate, Omar Cooper, led the Indiana wideouts in Saturday’s win with three catches for 45 yards. He had eight targets, a team-high, as well.

Indiana finished with 180 yards through the air, with Kurtis Rourke going 15-of-25 and averaging 12 yards per completion.

Seven different players caught a pass in the win with four finishing with multiple catches.

“I thought early on they made some plays, and (Miles) Cross made a really nice catch. We just wanted them to play fast; and if they played four, five, six plays in a row and all of a sudden they run a deep route, we try to get a new group in there,” Cignetti said of the wideouts. “And sometimes we’ll sub out a whole three-wide group for another three-wide group. We have a lot of capable guys.”

With McCulley’s status up in the air and a short week upcoming, it could be a different rotation for the Indiana football offense next week.

Indiana welcomes Western Illinois to Bloomington on Friday night at 7:00 pm ET.

SEE ALSO: ‘Breaking their will’ and ‘Picked them apart’ — The rushing attack of Indiana football set early tone against FIU, showing great promise moving forward

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