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GOLD & BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 4 41 BY STACY CLARDIE SClardie@GoldandBlack.com A nthony Mahoungou and Domonique Young look the part. They're tall, long and muscular. They're in the 6-foot-4, 200-pound range. They appear to be exactly what Pur- due wants in its outside X receiver, a position the program is desperate to find an immediate impact playmak- er. Which is why the Boilermakers plucked Mahoungou and Young from the junior college ranks. "One of the things we tried to do was we wanted to find some wideouts that outside the numbers could abso- lutely win one-on-one and win those 50-50 balls, whenever you're covered, go up and get it," offensive coordina- tor John Shoop said. "We wanted to get big and longer on the outside." But can Mahoungou and Young de- liver on those traits? Can they be con- sistently physical and explosive, not just pass the look test? Can each be someone who can win against press coverage, who will fight for balls in the air, who can be a trusted, reliable option for the QB? They've yet to prove that at the Big Ten level. But at least two people believe with their beings and all its fibers that they can: Mahoungou and Young. And some of the people who know them best vow that, if nothing less, both receivers will work hard to at- tain their goals. They're men with substance. They may be raw, but they're malleable. They're eager. They offer promise. Purdue needs production. Yet each showed flashes of the latter at their respective first-stop schools in Cali- fornia: Young with nearly 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns in 10 games as a sophomore at Cerritos College and Mahoungou with about 800 and nine TDs in his only JUCO season at West Hills. DOMONIQUE YOUNG In high school, Domonique Young mostly played defense, was actually a safety until his senior year. That's when he moved to receiver, only to break his ankle early in the season and largely miss out on offense. But it was enough to get hooked. So when Young was taking the next step in his career, he had no doubt what position he wanted to play. Not everyone agreed, he said. Still, he ul- timately was given a chance to play JUCO receivers hope to deliver Potent Possibility Domonique Young showed flashes of being an explosive, big-play receiver as a sophomore in junior college. His mission now is to prove he can bring the same at Big Ten level. Daryl Peterson