The Indiana Hoosiers shined bright under the lights of Memorial Stadium, routing Indiana State to win a new program-record 11th straight game at home and improve to 3-0 on the campaign. Fernando Mendoza went 19-20 for 270 yards and five passing touchdowns plus one rushing touchdown, all in the first half, as Indiana rolled over the Sycamores in the dominant 73-0 victory. Omar Cooper tied a program record with four receiving touchdowns and ISU was limited to only 10 yards of offense in the first half and just 77 yards overall in the contest. IU racked up 680 yards, going over 500 yards for the third straight game to begin the season and they roll into the showdown next Saturday with #9 Illinois full of confidence after back-to-back impressive performances.
IU began the game with the ball and Fernando Mendoza was sharp from the start, completing passes to Omar Cooper, Elijah Sarratt and E.J. Williams before finishing the opening drive with a running touchdown to put the Hoosiers ahead 7-0. Indiana’s defense quickly forced a 3-and-out as Tyrique Tucker got a sack on third down and the offense quickly marched down the field with a long gain to Charlie Becker and the first passing touchdown of the night as Omar Cooper scored from 14 yards out. Indiana State again had to punt without picking up a first down and their fake punt attempt was foiled by a nice tackle by Stephen Daley.
The offense took advantage of the short field as Fernando Mendoza connected with Omar Cooper Jr. again to increase the lead to 21-0. Stephen Daley ended ISU’s next drive with a sack on third down and the Hoosiers marched into the red zone before settling for a 24-yard field goal from Nico Radicic. The theme of the night for Indiana State’s offense was running three plays and being forced to punt and that continued with IU getting the ball at the 35-yard line and Kaelon Black getting the drive going with a long run before Holden Staes caught his first touchdown pass as a Hoosier to make it 31-0.
Another Sycamores punt gave IU the ball back and Fernando Mendoza threw a beautiful fade pass to Jonathan Brady for his first receiving touchdown of the night and it was 38-0. Indiana State finally got a first down with just four minutes remaining in the first half but they were stymied on fourth down, giving IU’s offense another chance to score and score, they did. Omar Cooper caught a slant pass and took it 31 yards to make 45-0 at the half. Indiana was as dominant as possible in the first 30 minutes, outgaining ISU 383 yards to 10 and racking up 19 first downs to only one for the Sycamores.
The Sycamores had the ball first to begin the second half and it looked a whole lot like the first 30 minutes as ISU went three and out. Alberto Mendoza was inserted at quarterback and he found Omar Cooper for the junior wide receiver’s fourth touchdown of the game, this one from 58 yards out. IU’s defense continued to dominate and the only real negative of the night occurred on the Hoosiers’ next offensive possession as running back Lee Beebe left the game after appearing to injure his knee. His status moving forward will be determined in the days ahead. Alberto Mendoza added another touchdown pass, this one to Jonathan Brady, to make it 59-0 and running back Khobie Martin scored his first career touchdown on a nice burst through the defense to move the score to 66-0 before the end of the third quarter.
Alberto Mendoza gave way to Grant Wilson after going 6-9 for 104 yards with two touchdowns plus 17 yards rushing. The senior transfer led the Hoosiers on a prolonged drive that ended in the second touchdown of the contest for Khobie Martin and the redshirt freshman looked very impressive racking up a team-high 109 yards.
The Hoosiers had standout offensive performances from several individuals including Fernando Mendoza with a 95 percent completion rate, a new program-record and Omar Cooper with his 207 yards and four receiving touchdowns. On the other side of the ball, IU’s defense was suffocating and provided no hope for Indiana State’s offense. It was the largest shutout win for IU football since 1901. The Hoosiers finish the non-conference portion of their schedule at 3-0 and they now have a full week to prepare for the much-anticipated September 20 clash against the #9 Illinois Fighting Illini. Hoosier Huddle will have ongoing coverage of this blowout win.