Redshirt Freshman Omar Cooper Makes His Mark

Written by: TJ Inman

The 2022 season was a highly-frustrating one for Indiana football coaches, fans and players. Among the frustrated individuals was surely Omar Cooper. The former four-star recruit was a freshman that was not seeing the field for an offense that was struggling mightily with quarterback Connor Bazelak and a lackluster offensive line.

The frustration continued during week one of the 2023 season as the offense couldn’t take flight and Omar Cooper stayed on the sideline during IU’s week one loss to Ohio State. Early injuries to E.J. Williams and Cam Camper during week two’s contest against Indiana State opened the door for Omar Cooper to get some targets and he burst through that door, making a statement with a team-leading seven receptions for 101 yards. 

“I didn’t play as much last year and I didn’t believe in myself,” Cooper told the media after the Indiana State game on Friday night. “I have grown this year over fall camp making plays. The coaches believing in me and putting me out there, showing that they believe in me helps me with my confidence. It makes me a better player.”

Confidence is something the offense needed to gain and they surely did against the Sycamores. The Hoosiers racked up 33 first downs, ran for 5.1 yards per carry and threw for 344 yards utilizing both Tayven Jackson and Brendan Sorsby. In total, IU had 558 yards and averaged 7.1 yards per play. The Indiana State defense was overmatched, there is no question about that but those numbers are ones the IU offense did not achieve at any point during the 2022 season. 

Heading into a massive matchup against the Louisville Cardinals, Indiana is going to need all of the firepower they can muster and Omar Cooper believes he is now ready to contribute in a big way. When asked how he felt about playing at Lucas Oil Stadium, Cooper could not contain his excitement.

“Yes, I’m excited. It will be my second time ever playing there, the first time was against our rivals (in high school). Being there again is a dream come true,” Cooper said.

Tom Allen certainly noticed Omar Cooper’s performance and it’s clear the redshirt freshman will be a large part of the Indiana attack moving forward.

“Talking about Omar, really, really pleased. Not surprised,” Allen said on Friday night. “I’ve always felt like he was special. Watched him play in high school many times. And that’s just what he did. He has strong hands, he runs strong, he’s tough. He’s got a great base to him, you know, and he can block. He’s unselfish and he run’s good routes. He made some contested tight window catches, strong-handed catches and then he went and got some yards. So, love his emergence. We need that. We’ll need everybody to help us win.”