BLOOMINGTON There were a couple of things that stood out about the team running out of the open end tunnel on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.
It wasn just the bright orange on their helmets and part of their jerseys.
For one they were a MAC team that come into Indiana with an offense scoring 37 points a game and two dominating wins under their belt. Cheap Jerseys china Some may have even considered the team from nearby Ohio to have a better squad than the Navy team that left Bloomington with a win over the Hoosiers a week earlier.
Cody Latimer knew all of that as he took the field along with the rest of his Hoosiers teammates on Saturday afternoon and he was the first to express it.
Green is a great team, said the junior receiver. and defensive wise. Latimer, however, that only a minor part of his connection to the Falcon program and why facing them as a member of the Hoosiers took on special meaning for a quickly rising receiver in the Big Ten.
His opponent on Saturday was the team of his father, Colby Latimer, who played for Bowling Green in the mid 1980 He was apart of the Falcons team in 1985 that finished the regular season a perfect 11 0 and won the Mid American Conference championship on their way to a berth in the California Bowl in Fresno.
heard he was a hard worker, said Latimer of what he picked up about his father playing days with his opponent on Saturday and unfortunately that is the perspective Latimer has had over the past eight years.
Colby Latimer died of Colon Cancer when Cody was 12 years old and just beginning to appreciate the game of football. Continuing in the game was a dream Colby had for Coby and since his death the receiver has tried to make that happen.
always wanted me to do my best, said Latimer of his father. I was a kid he always wanted me to play football, that was his dream. you gonna play football.’ Cody did. After appearing in eight games his freshman year, Latimer broke out in 2012 with 51 receptions for 805 yards and six touchdowns in a pass happy Hoosiers offense.
All the while, his father memory remains close.
keeps me going, said Latimer. that he worked hard. that a reason that the junior receiver enjoyed on of his best games in a Hoosiers uniform against his father Alma Mater. Latimer led the Hoosiers in catches (6) and yards (137) and hauled in a 33 yard touchdown pass from Nate Sudfeld in the third quarter of Indiana 42 10 win over Bowling Green.
On top of that, Latimer was named one of the team captains for the game based on his father connection to the school and his teammates even paid tribute to Colby as well.
been a really good leader for us and we all had the number of his dad on our tape today and we said go out there and ball for your dad said receiver Kofi Hughes. his team like he would probably want you to now and that what he did he had a great game. it was a unique moment for Latimer, the receiver tried to see the performance and victory as just a step in the road of his season and career.