In 1997, the Cyclone receiving corps was superb. Ty Watley and Ed Williams combined to form one of the most explosive receiving tandems in Iowa State history, totaling 1,361 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns.

Williams ended his career at Iowa State with 132 receptions (second, all-time) for 1,850 yards (also second, all-time) and 15 touchdowns (tied for first, all-time).

Watley, who earned unanimous first-team all-Big 12 honors last year, picked up 827 yards on 50 catches with eight touchdowns, all statistics that led the conference.

Unfortunately for the 1998 Cyclones, Watley and Williams are gone. Also gone are Daman Green’s 21 catches for 366 yards and Gerrick Bivins’ six receptions for 112 yards.

So what’s left?

Three catches for 21 yards.

Nineteen of Michael Brantley’s team-leading 21 yards came last season on a pair of catches. The other reception (for two yards) came in 1996.

Brantley is the only wide receiver for the Cyclones with even a single catch.

“To the man on the street, it looks like we’re in a lot of trouble,” assistant head coach and receivers specialist Nick Quartaro conceded.

“However, we feel very confident that we have the talent to win football games. We’ve come a long way since last winter and we have several players with some real ability.”

One of those players is Brantley, a junior out of Long Island, New York. Brantley was not playing behind the likes of a Watley or Williams in high school when he exploded for 1,894 yards on 108 catches and 19 touchdowns. He’ll try to replicate those numbers this season when he moves back into the spotlight.

The most pleasant surprise out of two-a-day practices was Chris Anthony. Quartaro feels the second-year player out of Bettendorf will have a major impact this season.

“Chris is in a tough battle with Brantley for the starting spot. If we were to play a game today, Anthony would be the guy that plays.”

Anthony, who was an all-state defensive back in high school, walked onto the team last year and stepped in right away on special teams.

“We have a tight group here,” Anthony explained. “We get along really well and there’s going to be some good competition for the spots. We have 14 guys coming in and on September 5th, the best group will take the field.”

Opposite Brantley and Anthony will be Damien Groce, a junior college transfer who emerged from two-a-days having climbed from a backup role into the starting lineup.

Coach Quartaro was very impressed with the transfer during last week’s practices and scrimmages.

“He’s got exceptionally quick feet,” Quartaro said. “He’s explosive to the ball; he closes that last few feet in a hurry. He’s also willing to do what it takes to make the difficult catches. We get at least one big play out of Damien every scrimmage.”

Groce finished his sophomore season at San Bernadino Valley Community College with first-team all-state and all-conference honors. He managed over 1,200 combined yards last season on the ground, through the air and on special teams.

Competing with Groce for a starting spot will be Senior Kevin Wilson. Wilson was primarily a special teams player last season, although he spent quite a bit of time in the defensive backfield. Concerning his switch to the offensive side of the ball, Kevin seems pleased.

“I played a lot of running back and wide receiver in high school,” Wilson said. “I think it’s a good move for me. I’m very comfortable with it.”

Quartaro isn’t worried, either.

“Kevin can’t learn everything that it takes to be a wide receiver right away. It’s going to take some time, but he’s doing great. He has a lot of heart and he’s one of those guys that will always give you 100%.”

On his untested supporting cast, Wilson is more optimistic than most.

“I think we may surprise some people. Our returners have been taking a lot of reps in practice and Spring ball and we have a good crop of JUCO people coming in. None of the positions are locked, so we’ll be seeing some good hard competition.”

A teammate of Groce at San Bernadino, Robert Brown has also made a good impression as a Cyclone receiver. Considered one of the top 10 JUCO receivers on the West Coast, Brown led his conference as both a freshman and sophomore in yards per reception. He piled up 1159 receiving yards over the last two years on 49 catches.

Also competing for playing time at wide receiver will be redshirt Freshman Darryl Taylor.

Taylor, an all-conference recruit from Los Angeles, is eager to contribute.

“They still want to throw the ball, so we have to have some people to catch it,” Taylor said. “Despite what everybody’s saying, this receiving team has some skills.”

Without any receivers who have real Division 1A experience, the Cyclone corps will have to prove themselves to fans and opponents alike. The raw talent seems to be there and the coaching staff feels that experience will come in a hurry.

At the tight end position, though, there are no question marks.

Damian Gibson and Andy Stensrud combine to form one of the most potent tight end one-two punches in recent memory.

Gibson caught 15 passes for 162 yards last season, but his primary asset to the team is his blocking ability. Gibson has been opening holes for Cyclone backs for four years now and he’s a proven contributor.

The 6-foot-7, 283-pound Stensrud is another huge blocker at tight end, but Andy may actually be better with the ball in his own hands. He pulled in 17 catches last year for 277 yards and three touchdowns.

Coach Dan McCarney is big on the massive true freshman from Lake Mills, Iowa.

“This kid has some of the best hands for a big man that I’ve ever seen. He will definitely be catching some balls this year.”

So the tight ends are in place to help power the running game and jump-start the short passing game, but an unproven team of receivers will be looked upon to take the pressure off the likes of Darren Davis. Only time will tell if they can do the job.