Waves of Cream and Crimson attended No. 22 Indiana football’s final non-conference regular season game against Indiana State University on Friday night at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington.
While a plethora of Hoosier fans in attendance applauded throughout Indiana’s commanding 73-0 victory, members of the crowd sporting blue in support of the in-state Sycamores were quickly let down.
Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti emphasized a higher sense of urgency and mental intensity to his team, sparking a dominant offensive output for the Hoosiers.
“Okay, so the message today to the coaches and the team: Mental intensity and urgency equals energy,” Cignetti said postgame. “And we wanted to play one play at a time like it was a game on the line, regardless of the competitive circumstances. But urgency and mental intensity, and that it would come from the coaches. If it came from the coaches at all times, the players would feed off of it.”
Carrying Cignetti’s message, Indiana struck early with an efficient and urgent offensive tempo and never took its foot off the proverbial gas pedal.
With Indiana State deferring the coin toss, the Hoosiers earned the first possession of the game and took full advantage.
Redshirt junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza orchestrated a seven-play, 66-yard drive, that was capped off by a seven-yard rushing touchdown by the Hoosier signal caller — the second rushing touchdown of his Indiana career.
The Hoosiers’ opening touchdown drive took three and a half minutes, as consistent chunk-gains led to an efficient possession — a trend that continued throughout the game.
Indiana averaged 10.1 yards per play Friday — its highest mark of the season and a step up from a 7.02 yards per play average through its first two games of the season.
After rushing in the first touchdown of the game, Mendoza continued to propel the Hoosiers to a quick 21-0 lead after the first quarter. The University of California, Berkeley transfer found redshirt junior wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. for two 13-yard touchdown completions in the opening frame.
Indiana continued its efficient offense into the second quarter, scoring two touchdowns in possessions that lasted under 40 seconds.
Despite not playing in the second half, Mendoza completed a season-high 95% of his pass attempts — the most by a Hoosier in a single game ever. The redshirt junior recorded 270 yards through the air, with six total touchdowns on the night — placing him in a five-way tie for most touchdowns in a single Indiana football game.
Meanwhile, Cooper Jr. posted the best game of his Indiana career and played a pivotal role in the explosive and efficient Indiana offense. His 207 receiving yards and 10 receptions marked career-highs, while his four receiving touchdowns set a career-high and tied former Indiana wide receiver James Hardy for most touchdowns in a single game in program history.
While Mendoza delivered the ball accurately to Cooper Jr., the wide receiver gained most of his production after-the-catch. Cooper Jr. displayed bursts and quickness, taking an in-route completion from redshirt freshman quarterback Alberto Mendoza 58 yards to the endzone in the third quarter. The redshirt junior finished the game with 136 yards after-the-catch.
“Omar Cooper. 10-for-207, four touchdowns,” Cignetti said. “That's a pretty good day's work. I think they had a hard time out with him on the perimeter obviously, and we got him the ball. There was some space, and he took advantage of it.”
Going into their game against the Sycamores, Indiana held a 36-minute average time of possession across its first two games, which ranked third highest in the nation. Despite a season-high 73 points against the Sycamores, the Hoosiers owned possession for only 33:36, demonstrating the explosiveness and efficiency of the Indiana offense Friday night.
With this refined efficiency, the Hoosiers’ offense has improved upon their scoring output each week of the season so far. After struggling with red zone execution in their season opener against Old Dominion University on Aug. 30, the Cream and Crimson have generated points on all 16 red zone trips since.
The Hoosiers will look to build upon this offensive trend as they begin Big Ten competition against No. 9 Illinois.
After dominating its non-conference schedule, outscoring opponents 156-23 through the first three weeks, Indiana will have an extra day of rest before preparing for the ranked matchup. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Sept. 20 at Memorial Stadium and will be televised on NBC.
Follow reporters Conor Banks (@Conorbanks06 and conbanks@iu.edu) and Dalton James (@DaltonMJames and jamesdm@iu.edu) and columnist Quinn Richards (@Quinn_richa and qmrichar@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana football season.
