Indiana football redshirt junior wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. earned Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week, according to the conference’s release Monday.
Cooper notched 10 catches for 207 yards and four touchdowns in the Hoosiers’ 73-0 victory over Indiana State University on Sept. 12. He tied the program record, held by receiver James Hardy, who set the mark in 2006, for the most receiving touchdowns in a single game.
“10 for 207, four touchdowns — that's a pretty good day’s work,” Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti said postgame Sept. 12. “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.”
The Indianapolis native’s 207 yards are the most by a Big Ten receiver in a single game so far this season. The Lawrence North High School product now stands at 13 receptions for 299 yards across Indiana’s first three games of the season.
Due to playing their Week 3 contest on a Friday night, the Hoosiers will have an extra day of preparation ahead of their matchup with No. 9 Illinois at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Bloomington. The match will be televised on NBC. That extra day “is going to be big,” Cooper said, for a game with such magnitude.
The contest between the Hoosiers and Fighting Illini was announced as a sellout July 31. Cignetti is expecting a “great environment,” he said in a press conference Monday.
Indiana played two Group of Five schools — Old Dominion University and Kennesaw State University — and a Football Championship Subdivision school in its nonconference slate. Now, it will now open conference play against one of the four Big Ten teams in The Associated Press’ Top 25 Poll.
“I feel like that game is going to show us what we capable of this year,” Cooper said. “I feel like that’s going to be our first real big test. So, being able to go out there is going to be fun and it’s going to be a great atmosphere, so I’m excited.”
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.
