No. 22 Indiana football closed its nonconference portion of the regular season with a 73-0 victory over Indiana State University on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington.
Redshirt junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza completed his first 14 passes of the contest. His first incompletion came just over three minutes into the second quarter. By then, the Hoosiers were already up 21-0 after Mendoza tossed two touchdowns to redshirt junior receiver Omar Cooper Jr. and ran for another.
That incompletion was Mendoza’s only of the contest as he played just the first half. He went 19 for 20 for 270 yards passing and five touchdowns alongside his rushing score.
Redshirt sophomore kicker Nicolas Radicic added a field goal in the second quarter before the Hoosiers scored three more touchdowns to take a 45-0 lead into halftime. Cooper scored half of Indiana’s six first-half touchdowns.
Conversely, the Sycamores gained just 10 yards in the first half and notched just one first down.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Alberto Mendoza took the reins of the Hoosiers’ offense in the second half. He led the unit to three touchdowns while sixth-year senior quarterback Grant Wilson did so once in the fourth quarter.
Alberto finished 6 for 9 for 104 yards passing and two touchdowns.
Redshirt junior running back Lee Beebe Jr. suffered an injury in the third quarter. He went into the Hoosiers’ locker room favoring his right leg. The Montgomery, Alabama, native later emerged on the sideline with a brace on his right knee.
Cooper finished with four touchdowns, tying James Hardy’s 2006 program record for most receiving touchdowns in a game. Cooper notched 207 yards on 10 receptions.
Indiana now sits at 3-0 ahead of its matchup with No. 9 Illinois. The contest is slated to kick off at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 20 as NBC’s primetime game.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames and jamesdm@iu.edu) and Conor Banks (@Conorbanks06 and conbanks@iu.edu) and columnist Quinn Richards (@Quinn_richa and qmrichar@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana football season.
