Indiana football dominated the second half Saturday to improve to 11-0 with a 31-7 victory over Wisconsin inside Memorial Stadium in Bloomington.
And the Hoosiers did it without a few of their most impactful players.
Here’s an update on Indiana’s plethora of injuries:
DL Mikail Kamara
Sixth-year senior defensive lineman Mikail Kamara exited the contest after the Badgers’ near eight-minute drive to begin the game. He stood on the sideline without his helmet throughout the rest of the contest.
“Mikail Kamara has been dealing with kind of a shoulder nerve stinger issue, which is pretty common for a football player,” Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti said postgame. “Those things tend to show up a lot more this time of year, a culmination of all the banging.”
Kamara still notched three total tackles on his lone possession on the field. The Ashburn, Virginia, native entered Saturday with 18 total tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and one sack.
“We have seven, eight guys in that same boat,” Cignetti said. “But Kamara's had been a lingering issue, and he's another guy that needs rest and needs to get away.”
QB Fernando Mendoza
When redshirt junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza was sacked with just under 12 minutes left in the fourth quarter, he was slow to get up off the turf. It marked the fifth time the Badgers sacked Mendoza.
“The only reason I got up slow is because there were like three guys on top of me,” Mendoza said postgame. “You know, there was a couple of late hits there, but it is what it is.”
Mendoza headed to the Hoosiers’ sideline and underwent testing inside the medical tent. He then jogged to the bench to join his offensive teammates ahead of their ensuing drive. When Mendoza strapped his helmet to return to the field, he gave Cignetti a thumbs up to continue leading Indiana’s offense.
The Miami native said safety is the first priority, especially after Wisconsin redshirt freshman running back Gideon Ituka was carted off the field in the second half. Cignetti rallied his squad and led them through a prayer while Ituka exited the field.
RB Kaelon Black
While Indiana’s offense struggled in the first half, Kaelon Black headed to the sideline. Big Ten Network sideline reporter Brooke Fletcher said the Hoosiers’ medical staff assessed Black for a neck injury.
He returned to the game in the second half, but totaled just 12 yards rushing on six carries. Redshirt senior Roman Hemby led the Hoosiers’ rushing attack with 14 attempts for 58 yards.
WR Elijah Sarratt
Although Elijah Sarratt was dressed in full pads Saturday, he didn’t take to the field due to a hamstring injury after he was pregame.
The senior receiver first suffered the ailment against Maryland on Nov. 1. Cignetti said Nov. 3 that Sarratt had already dealt with a different injury across the prior two weeks.
In Sarratt’s absence, sophomore receiver Charlie Becker has emerged as a true threat on the outside. Across the Hoosiers’ last two games, Becker has totaled 12 receptions for 226 yards and one touchdown.
“Just his (Becker) work ethic and what it’s all accumulated to is so special to see that he’s making huge plays on the field, getting a lot of targets, getting a lot of catches and really contributing to our already elite receiving corps,” Mendoza said.
OL Drew Evans and KOS Brendan Franke
Redshirt junior left guard Drew Evans first missed Indiana’s victory over Maryland with an undisclosed injury. Cignetti said Monday that Evans will “still be a few weeks yet.”
Sixth-year senior kickoff specialist Brendan Franke went down with an apparent lower-body injury against UCLA on Oct. 25. Franke has yet to return.
Bye week upcoming
With Indiana sitting at 11-0 for the first time in program history, it now has its second bye week of the regular season.
“But it will be great to enter an off-week now and get the players some rest,” Cignetti said. “The coaches too, really, the assistant coaches. I may even adjust what I normally do. We don't do much on off weeks, just stay sharp. But we need some rest.”
The Hoosiers will close their regular season against in-state rival Purdue at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 28 at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette with the Old Oaken Bucket on the line. It’ll mark the first matchup between the programs since Boilermakers head coach Barry Odom took over during the offseason.
Although Indiana’s focus is on finishing the regular season with a victory, postseason play is on the horizon — including a likely matchup with Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game Dec. 6 inside Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
“We've got to get some guys back,” Cignetti said. “Got a lot of guys out there playing that are banged up, and we've got to get healed up as good as possible.”
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.
