Some teams struggle with maintaining a high level of intensity after an emotional, hard-fought win. No. 3 Indiana football staved off any threat of a trap game on Homecoming, defeating Michigan State 38-13 and keeping the Old Brass Spittoon in Bloomington. Here’s what stood out:
1. Fernando Mendoza is going to be a Heisman Trophy finalist
The numbers bear it out: Indiana’s signal caller was 24-for-28 passing, throwing for 332 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions versus Michigan State. When your touchdowns match your incompletions, you had a good game. Mendoza has thrown 21 touchdown passes and just two interceptions this season, which is a testament to his decision-making and precision.
Sitting at +270 on FanDuel Sportsbook as of Saturday night, Mendoza is the odds-on Heisman favorite, ahead of Alabama’s Ty Simpson (+320) and Ohio State’s Julian Sayin (+380).
“This was the sharpest we’ve seen him to this point in a game,” Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti said postgame. “He prepares like nobody I’ve ever been around and keeps getting better.”
Mendoza’s timing and rhythm have only progressed as the season has progressed, and his ball placement was second to none against the Spartans. When throwing out routes, he puts the ball where only his receivers can catch it and his ability to rip the ball up the seam is unparalleled. See for yourself.
This pitch and catch to Elijah Sarratt was one of the best offensive plays Indiana has run this season:
The Heisman Trophy will be awarded in a little less than two months and, if he keeps making throws like this, Mendoza will land himself among the four finalists in New York City.
2. Elijah Sarratt can win the Biletnikoff Award
Speaking of Sarratt, “Waffle House” has been as dependable as any wide receiver in the country this season. He’s caught 43 passes for 903 yards and an FBS-best nine touchdowns. Saturday’s game — where he caught four passes for 70 yards and two scores — marked his second multi-TD game in Big Ten play this year, and he and Mendoza have as good of a QB-wideout connection as any tandem in the nation.
“He’s in (the facility) more than me,” Sarratt said of Mendoza. “The reps we continue to get, the more our chemistry continues to get better and I’m looking forward to (continuing) to get better.”
Like Cignetti, Sarratt isn’t one for complacency.
There is a lot of praise given to Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith, and deservedly so, but Sarratt continues to show why he is one of the best pass-catchers in the nation along with Smith.
3. Indiana’s defense dictates its ceiling
Although a 25-point margin of victory is convincing, Indiana’s defense let Michigan State pick up big chunks of yardage on multiple occasions. The Spartans gained 15 or more yards on eight separate passing plays, three of which were on either third or fourth down. After going 0-for-4 on fourth down in its lopsided loss to UCLA last week, Michigan State was 3-for-4 on fourth down against Indiana.
By and large, Michigan State’s receivers found soft spots in the Hoosiers’ secondary and quarterback Aidan Chiles connected with them. This was a key part of why the Spartans were able to sustain back-to-back drives of six minutes or longer to start the game.
Chiles also ripped off the longest rush of his career in the second half, a 64-yard scamper that marked the longest rush allowed by Indiana’s defense since week one.
Indiana’s edge rushers came out of the game worse for wear — Kellan Wyatt was helped off the field by trainers in the second half and Mikail Kamara dealt with a shoulder issue.
“I’m sure our defense will put on the tape tomorrow, and they’ll be displeased with some things early in the game,” Cignetti said. “I thought near the end of the second quarter we really tightened up.”
The concern is not in the overall result, but that Michigan State was able to sustain two laborious drives and dominate time of possession in the first half (20:11-9:49). If Indiana’s defense gets off to a similarly slow start against a team that offers more defensive resistance than Michigan State — which has allowed 39.75 points per game in Big Ten play — it may be difficult to overcome.
Overall, though, Hoosier fans have plenty to be happy about. Indiana will likely rise to an all-time best No. 2 in the AP poll before UCLA visits Bloomington next weekend. Indiana is 7-0 for the second straight season, and that’s never happened before either.
There’s still a long way to go, though.
“We do have a lot of season left,” Mendoza said. “Right now, I’m just focused on UCLA.”
