Donaven McCulley was not on the field as Indiana’s offense started their first drive of the 2024 season.
That was notable after first-year coach Curt Cignetti made comments during the offseason suggesting he was at times frustrated with the 6-foot-5 senior wideout from Indianapolis.
But McCulley’s absence from the field became permanent against Florida International when he took a hit to the head and neck area in the first half. Cignetti shared after the game McCulley was not medically cleared to return after suffering that blow.
Now Indiana is on a short week, with a Friday night game in Bloomington against Western Illinois.
Cignetti did not say whether McCulley will be back for that game, but did provide a promising update on Monday, indicating he’ll be back soon, and describing his status as day-to-day.
The first-year head coach did like what he saw from McCulley in the nine snaps he was on the field.
“We had him in there and he was playing fast, doing a nice job, took a hit, and was ruled out,” Cignetti said Monday. “He’ll be anxious to get back, and I’ll be anxious to get him back.”
McCulley was a breakout star for IU as the 2023 season progressed. He posted multiple impressive games, including 11 catches for 137 yards at Illinois, 6 catches for 79 yards at Maryland, 5 catches for 67 yards vs. Wisconsin, 4 catches for 96 yards at Penn State, and 5 catches for 48 yards at Purdue. He scored five touchdowns over the last five weeks of the season.
The former Lawrence North H.S. star quarterback had many options in the transfer portal during the offseason, but chose to come back for his final season of eligibility to play for Cignetti and the Hoosiers.
But Cignetti has been critical of McCulley at times during the spring and summer, saying he “needs to pick it up a little bit” in April, and then in July at Big Ten media day Cignetti said “I don’t want him to be a sometime guy. I want him to be an every down, every play guy, that we can count on.”
McCulley’s high school teammate and Omar Cooper, Jr. appeared to pass him on the depth chart. Cooper was on the field for opening series and played 47 snaps on the afternoon against FIU.
