Pretty high on the list of things I want to see - as long as Arch doesn't barf it up again - is Wingo having a great game against a P4 opponent (esp. one with a good defense).
For those who look at Wingo as a still-young receiver w/ potential, that's fine. But given the hype surrounding his arrival on campus, and some early games against G5s, he has been talked about as an elite receiver. A clear #1 coming into this year, on a team ranked #1. And I don’t think that's merited.
After his 127 yard game against - ahem - UTSA last September, he's not had another 100-yard game. He didn't have a * 50-yard game * until … Sam Houston State. That's a stretch of 16 games. He's never had a 50-yard game against a P4 team. (He came close, but when you come close but miss hurdling a low bar, that just emphasizes the miss, doesn’t it?). He's averaged approx. 19 yards/game, over 14 games, against P4 teams.
Wingo wasn't just described as a fast guy; people emphasized his size. Big, physical guy, with a huge catch radius. Sounds like a great candidate to score TDs.
After his TD against Louisiana Monroe last year, he went 14 games - almost a calendar year - without another TD, until UTEP came along. Entering the UTEP game, who do you think had more TDs - Wingo, after 18 games, or Parker Livingstone, after 2? Wingo has zero TDs versus P4 teams.
Setting aside the numbers, when we watch games with good offense, we usually see receivers … making plays. Stretching, extending, making athletic catches on passes that are far from perfect. They elevate the offense. (Those plays usually come when QBs make difficult throws under duress, not when the QB has time and space but - for some inexplicable reason - flings the pass yards from the stationary receiver, but we digress … ). With Wingo, it's seemed as if he needs perfect passes, to make the catch. I'm sure he's made some good ones, but when he averaged under 2 catches a game ('24), it's tough to recall many. And that's considering his body of work, not just the recent games, when our golden boy QB has been a mess. (For me, catching perfectly placed rainbows when you have yards of separation against overmatched G5 defenses doesn't count for much anymore.)
Again, lots of context. He's still a soph. When Bond went down, yeah, he should have taken advantage of the vacuum, but a really good and experienced guy like Golden was better equipped to do so. Ewers' limitations, and Arch's struggles. So there were contributory factors, and he has time. And the time is now. Starting with this game, over the next few games - assuming Arch gets him the ball - it would be a great time for Wingo to live up to his expectations and potential.