EUGENE, Ore. — During the second quarter of Indiana’s stunning upset over then-No. 3 Oregon earlier this month, quarterback Fernando Mendoza dropped back to attempt the kind of throw that has become a staple under head coach Curt Cignetti: a beautifully timed, expertly drilled, nearly indefensible dart toward the back shoulder of wide receiver Elijah Sarratt, one of the disciples from Cignetti’s tenure at James Madison.
But as Sarratt opened his hips and reached back for the ball, Oregon cornerback Brandon Finney Jr. — who would later intercept Mendoza and return it 35 yards for a game-tying touchdown in the fourth quarter — snagged a considerable chunk of Sarratt’s jersey in his right hand, restricting the offensive player’s movement with a firm grasp near the armpit. It looked, to most folks in attendance that day, and especially those supporting the Hoosiers, like an obvious pass interference penalty that would have given Indiana a first down. Yet nobody had thrown a flag.
“I’ve been getting grabbed a lot this whole season,” Sarratt said during Indiana’s postgame news conference. “But I know it’s going to happen. I’m a bigger receiver. I’m not going to get every single call. But Fernando came to me on the sideline, and he said, ‘I’m coming back to you every single time,’ so that just continues to give me confidence. I know if I just continue to get chances to get the ball, eventually I’m going to make the play. So shout-out to Fernando for believing in me and still allowing me to get that rock.”
He would certainly get the rock again — a few times, in fact — but not before Cignetti lost his mind in response to the missed call. In that moment, amid the realization that no infraction was forthcoming, Cignetti bolted onto the field and across the numbers, nearly reaching the hashmarks while unleashing his verbal fury to anyone within earshot. And when an Indiana staffer finally succeeded in reeling Cignetti back to a more acceptable locale, he responded by marauding down the sideline to continue bellowing at the officials. A slow-motion replay of his tirade, which drew a sideline warning penalty, showed Cignetti cursing up a storm in an outburst so volatile that his white chewing gum was nearly ejected onto a referee’s face.
The outburst was the latest in a long line of reminders that Cignetti, who would soon receive a new eight-year, $93 million contract days after beating the Ducks, always has his players’ backs.
“I’ve always believed that we are where we’re supposed to be,” Sarratt said. “Shout out to the man above. He’s never wrong. He put me in this position to be right here, right now, and I can’t thank him enough. I can’t thank Coach Cig enough and everybody who came over from JMU and allowed me to keep doing what I’m doing.”
In a micro sense, what Sarratt was doing on that overcast Saturday at Autzen Stadium meant saving his eighth and final reception for the 6:22 mark of the fourth quarter, when Mendoza rifled another back-shoulder throw in his direction for what proved to be the game-winning touchdown in a landscape-rattling, trajectory-altering, 30-20 victory. He’d already caught two other passes on that same drive — a 13-yarder that moved the chains on third-and-6; then a 29-yarder that pushed Indiana into scoring range — and would finish with a team-high 121 yards.
In a macro sense, what Sarratt has done over the course of this season is entrench himself as one of the best receivers in the country — even if the college football universe is reticent, or perhaps unwilling, to recognize it given the Hoosiers’ prolonged dalliance with futility before Cignetti arrived. Indiana’s victory over the Ducks marked the second consecutive game-winning touchdown for Sarratt, who turned a short slant against Iowa’s all-out blitz into a 49-yard score with 1:28 remaining in his prior outing, stunning the upset-minded Hawkeyes at Kinnick Stadium.
Sarratt now ranks ninth nationally among players from the power conferences in receptions (43), tied for seventh in receiving yards (603) and first in receiving touchdowns (12) entering Saturday’s showdown with suddenly revitalized UCLA (Noon ET Saturday on FOX). That he’s amassed more receiving yards and more receiving touchdowns than Ohio State standout Jeremiah Smith, whom many consider a Heisman Trophy candidate, underscores just how much respect Sarratt should be commanding.
“Everybody tells me, ‘Yeah, I’m hearing good things from the [NFL] scouts,’ this and that,” Sarratt stated at Big Ten Media Days when reflecting on the choice to return to Indiana for his senior season. “You see your little draft profile and stuff typically. I really feel like I may have been drafted if I went on this previous 12 months, however I needed to enhance my inventory. My purpose is to be a primary rounder this 12 months and — god prepared — I hope I can do this.”
If Sarratt is profitable in that endeavor, it might be the capstone of an unbelievable rise that started as a zero-star recruit in Stafford, Virginia, roughly an hour southwest of Washington, D.C. He gained three varsity letters at Colonial Forge Excessive Faculty from 2017-19 earlier than transferring to soccer powerhouse St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, which has produced the likes of former Michigan tailback Blake Corum, former Alabama edge rusher Chris Braswell and former Oregon extensive receiver Traeshon Holden in recent times. Sarratt shared the sector at St. Frances with present Michigan edge rushers Derrick Moore and Jaishawn Barham, amongst different future Division I gamers.
However a dearth of high-end recruiting suitors meant Sarratt wound up at FCS-level Saint Francis within the rural coronary heart of Pennsylvania, a college that’s now making ready to drop its athletic applications to Division III subsequent 12 months. He earned FCS Freshman All-American honors from a number of retailers after catching 42 passes for 700 yards and a team-high 13 touchdowns in 2022, which was greater than sufficient to catch Cignetti’s eye as the previous Alabama assistant shepherded James Madison from perennial FCS championship contender to FBS newcomer within the reconfigured Sun Belt, which additionally added Marshall, Old Dominion and Southern Miss that very same 12 months.
Sarratt shortly exploded onto the nationwide scene with 82 receptions for 1,191 yards and eight scores en path to first-team All-Solar Belt honors and an invite from Cignetti, then 62 years previous, to maneuver with him to Indiana. The shared pressure between Cignetti and his former JMU gamers amid their upward climb has solid an unbreakable, kindred spirituality.
“When lots of people ask, why do you observe Coach Cignetti, why did you make this resolution as an alternative of different faculties?” stated linebacker Aiden Fisher, one other participant who made the pilgrimage from JMU to Indiana, following the Hoosiers’ emotional win at Oregon. “For this reason. Full buy-in. Full belief in what Coach Cig is doing right here. And whenever you do issues like that, it results in video games like this and wins like this. There’s no trying again on it. You purchase into what he tells you, what he believes in you, his preparation and his course of. It’s higher than anyone within the nation. That’s why individuals are going to play for him.”
Fisher’s heartfelt reward may have simply as simply been uttered by Sarratt, who spent the aftermath of final 12 months’s fairytale run to the College Football Playoff pondering whether or not to make use of his closing season of eligibility. On a private stage, Sarratt caught 53 passes for 957 yards and eight touchdowns to earn third-team All-Large Ten honors from the coaches and media alike. As a staff, Indiana had fallen on the road to seventh-seeded Notre Dame, 27-17, in the first round of the playoff after trailing by 24 factors with fewer than 5 minutes remaining. Nothing in regards to the efficiency was consistent with the best way Cignetti’s staff had performed all season, save for a disappointing loss at then-No. 2 Ohio State in late November. The prevailing sentiment was equal components uncooked and incomplete.
As Sarratt contemplated his future, oscillating between one other 12 months with Cignetti and getting into the NFL Draft, he remembered a childhood lesson imparted on him close to the outset of his sporting profession. Hoisting a trophy, he recalled throughout an interview at Large Ten Media Days, is the purpose he was at all times taught to chase above anything — and that meant there was unfinished enterprise for him at Indiana, which is now 7-0 general and ranked No. 2 within the nation for the primary time in program historical past.
Kahlil Benson #67 of the Indiana Hoosiers lifts Elijah Sarratt #13 after a landing throughout the second half towards the Oregon Geese. (Picture by Soobum Im/Getty Photographs)
Sarrat knew he may nonetheless enhance his blocking, his route operating and his surehandedness after dropping six passes over the earlier two seasons mixed. And a part of him was hellbent on getting one other probability to achieve 1,000 yards in a season after falling simply 47 yards quick in 2024.
Most significantly, although, he vowed to take Indiana even deeper on this 12 months’s playoff.
“We don’t wish to go to the Faculty Soccer Playoff and lose in Spherical 1 once more,” Sarratt stated at Large Ten Media Days. “That’s not the purpose. The purpose is to win a nationwide championship.”
Michael Cohen covers faculty soccer and faculty basketball for FOX Sports activities. Observe him at @Michael_Cohen13.
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