Marcell Ateman Steps up to Save the Day Against Iowa State

Marcell Ateman didn’t make the game-winning catch against Iowa State on Saturday.

At least not in the stat sheet.

But unofficially, Ateman may have saved OSU’s season. The 6-foot-4 receiver stepped up with leading receiver James Washington gimpy in Ames, reeling in four passes for 97 yards on the day — including two big boy scores that kept OSU within striking distance.

With Ateman’s ability to high-point the ball and create mismatches on the outside, OSU turned to him on an improbable 3rd-and-22 needing an answer, and he came through like those quizlets I used in college.

This tweet from Carson perfectly encapsulated my thoughts on Ateman’s day. Just uber-clutch, reliable and effortlessly excellent in the game’s biggest moments.

Marcell Ateman: 4 catches, 97 yards 2 TD. 10 years from now I️ will say he had: 12 catches, 157 yards, 4 TD. That’s what it felt like. #okstate

— Carson Cunningham (@KOCOCarson) November 11, 2017

It went mostly unnoticed (because OSU lost), but Ateman was equally huge last week in Bedlam, too, with some similarly large catches in the clutch.

Ateman’s worth talking about, because this isn’t your run-of-the-mill tall college football receiver. How many 6-foot-4 receivers are in college football? A lot, probably. But how many can move with the ease he does and reel in balls the way he can? My guess is only a handful. Maybe only a few.

Ateman’s statistics aren’t going to jump off the page. He’s 35th in receiving yards in the country and 39th in receiving touchdowns, after all. Plus, James Washington being on the same team happens to take up a ton of production.

But if not for No. 28 on the opposite side of him, Ateman could very well be a top-3 finisher in the Biletnikoff Award voting this season.

Heck, with play like today, he might be a finalist regardless.