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| Roman Namdar has more
receptions this year than he had completions the last year he
played quarterback. Photos by Dan Poel, d3photography.com |
By Brian Lester
D3sports.com
Roman Namdar came to Mount Union to play quarterback. He never envisioned he would make an impact at wide receiver instead.
But after seeing only limited playing time at the signal caller position because of the way Kevin Burke’s career took off, Namdar was determined to make sure he still got on the field.
“I didn’t play a lot my first few years, but I wanted to be on the field," Namdar said. "When they asked me to play wide receiver, I was all for it. It gave me a chance to make plays. I'm having fun with it."
The receiver position wasn’t entirely new to Namdar, who wasn’t in the program last year and saw his most time under center in 2012, when he completed 48 of his 56 passes for 540 yards and five scores.
Namdar spent part of his senior season of high school at receiver, but playing at the college level was a different story.
“It definitely took a lot of hard work to make the change,” Namdar said. “Even now, I’m still working hard at running my routes better and making blocks. One thing that helped me was my track background. I have good speed.”
Namdar has used his talents to his advantage this season for the Purple Raiders (12-0), who feature one of the deepest and most talented receiving corps in the nation.
Namdar ranks second on the team with 54 catches. He has racked up 983 yards and 16 touchdowns as well. Not bad for a former signal caller. The junior from Texas loves being part of a passing attack that is cranking out 306.8 yards per game.
“There are a lot of talented guys in this group, and we all push each other to be the best,” Namdar said. “Mount Union has a tradition of having great receivers, and to be a part of a group that helps uphold that standard means a lot.”
Junior Taurice Scott, who also has experience at quarterback, leads the team in catches (58) and has rolled up 807 yards while scoring nine touchdowns. Luc Meacham, one of two seniors in the group, has made 36 catches for 542 yards and five scores.
Senior Sherman Wilkinson and sophomore Tim Kennedy have come up with 33 and 18 catches, respectively. Wilkinson has tallied 571 yards and four touchdowns. Kennedy has racked up 293 yards and has scored four touchdowns as well.
One thing is for sure. The Purple Raiders have no shortage of options when it comes to creating headaches for opponents.
“We have an offense where we like to spread the ball around and having the receivers we do forces opponents to defend the entire width and length of the field,” Mount Union coach Vince Kehres said. “Defenses have to respect our receivers because they can all make plays. I’ve been pleased with the development of the group. They’ve played a big part in our success.”
It doesn’t hurt that Burke is the one throwing the football. The senior and reigning Gagliardi Trophy winner, is the fourth quarterback in program history to throw for more than 10,000 yards, including 3,377 this season. He has thrown 38 touchdown passes this year and has only been picked off four times.
“The receivers know Kevin is going to put the ball where they can get their hands on it,” Kehres said. “What is even more important is that he puts them in a position to do something with it after the catch.”
Meacham said the fact that defenses have to respect the running attack of the Purple Raiders --- it averages 303.5 yards per game --- leaves the receivers in an even better position to make plays.
“We are blessed to have so many weapons at receiver,” Meacham said. “We know that if we are on top of our game, we’re going to make it tough on a defense to slow us down. The coaching staff does a great job of preparing us and Kevin always makes the right throws. It makes our jobs a lot easier.”
Meacham said practices are highly competitive, which only aids the receivers in their quest to be at their best on Saturdays. Going up against a defense that ranks first in the nation in yards allowed (203.5) makes a difference as well.
“We’re going up against the No. 1 defense every day in practice. It helps prepare us to be ready for any defense and it also helps us grow as a group,” Meacham said. “Because of the preparation we go through, we feel confident going into every game.”
The depth the Purple Raiders have at receiver also allows players to stay fresh.
“We have the ability to rotate guys in and out, and we know that no matter who is in there, they are going to execute at a high level,” Kehres said. “I love the competitiveness of the group. Each one of them brings something different to the team.”
Mount Union’s talented cast of receivers will be challenged this week as the Purple Raiders battle John Carroll (11-1) in a national quarterfinal in Alliance.
The two teams just met a few weeks ago in a regular season finale where the Ohio Athletic Conference championship was on the line. Mount Union prevailed 31-24.
It’s not often teams will meet twice in the same season in college football.
“It’s kind of like professional football where you face a division team twice during a season,” Kehres said. “We are very familiar with each other and the game plan is still fresh in our minds from the last game. We’ll go back and tweak it a bit and prepare like we do for every opponent. It’s a great coaching opportunity for me and I think it says a lot about the OAC and the strength of the conference.”
The game against the Blue Streaks is the next step on the journey to a national title, something the Purple Raiders fell short of a season ago in a crushing 52-14 loss to UW-Whitewater in the Stagg Bowl.
For a team accustomed to winning national titles, the blowout loss stung and only fueled the fire to be even better this season. In its first two playoff games, Mount Union outscored its two opponents (Adrian, Washington and Jefferson) 130-3.
“No one wants to lose a championship game the way we did,” Meacham said. “We used it as motivation for the offseason, working even harder this year, and we feel like we are peaking at the right time. But we respect John Carroll. They are a great team and we know we have to play our best to win.”