NOTEBOOK: IU Seeks to ‘Get It Right’ Against Illinois
Pete DiPrimio | IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Hard coaching?
Curt Cignetti was all in.
Steady improvement?
The No. 19/17 Hoosiers (3-0) have shown that.
Dominate the non-conference?
You'd better believe it.
Now Indiana, having beaten Old Dominion, Kennesaw State and Indiana State by a combined 156-23, faces its biggest challenge of the season when No. 9/8 Illinois (3-0) comes to Merchants Bank Field at Memorial Stadium Saturday night in a Big Ten opener.
“We had to bring this team along as far as we could,” Cignetti said during Monday’s weekly availability. “Now, we’re ready for Big Ten football. I like the progress we’ve made. We’ve stacked days, meetings, practices and days in preparation for success Saturday night. Now we have to have a good week of prep.”
Saturday night’s game will have major implications in the Big Ten race. Oregon and USC are 1-0 while top-ranked Ohio State and No. 2 Penn State, like Indiana, have yet to open conference play.
Illinois has the Big Ten’s third-stingiest defense, allowing just 7.3 points a game. Ohio State allows 5.3 points. Penn State allows 5.7.
The Illini give up just 74.0 rushing yards per game. They have beaten Western Illinois 52-3, Duke 45-19, and Western Michigan 38-0.
Offensively, Illinois averages 45.0 points. Quarterback Luke Altmyer completes 71.8 percent of his passes for 709 yards, eight touchdowns, and no interceptions. Last year, he threw for 2,717 yards 22 touchdowns and six interceptions. This is his fifth year of college football, including two at Ole Miss.
“They have a veteran quarterback; he’s very accurate, can extend plays,” Cignetti said. “He's won a bunch of games.”
Running back Kaden Feagin has rushed for 222 yards and three touchdowns. Receiver Hank Beatty has 19 catches for 289 yards and a touchdown.
The Illini are coming off a 10-3 season in which they beat South Carolina 21-17 in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl. They finished with a No. 16 ranking.
“They're a really good team,” Cignetti said. “They've got a lot of good players, a lot of veteran players. Coach (Bret) Bielema does a great job, he and his staff in all three phases, offense, defense, special teams.
“One thing about Illinois is they know what it takes with the success they had last year and returning a good nucleus of guys and added some new ones.”
Illinois is second in the nation in turnover margin at plus-6. It has yet to commit a turnover. By comparison, the Hoosiers have five takeaways and committed just one turnover, a fumble in the season opener.
“They've done a nice job protecting the ball, turnovers, takeaways,” Cignetti said. “But we're 5-1 in the turnover ratio, as well. (Running back Lee Beebe Jr.) had a fumble on his first carry. Other than that, we've been pretty clean. We've been able to take the ball away ourselves.”
The Illini’s ranking is their best since 1964, which was All-America linebacker Dick Butkus’s senior season.
“They’re very much like us -- a good core returning that understands what it takes,” Cignetti said. “It ought to be a great match-up.”
Omar Cooper Jr. earned Big Ten offensive-player-of-the-week honors after joining former All-American James Hardy as the only Hoosiers with four receiving touchdowns in the same game. Cooper Jr. also set career highs in receiving yards (207) and receptions (10) against Indiana State. It was IU’s ninth 200-receiving yard game. He caught scoring passes of 13, 13, 31, and 58 yards.
Cooper Jr. credited the offensive line, quarterback Fernando Mendoza, the running backs and other receivers for his success.
“They all did great in a short (preparation) week. To be able to be consistent throughout practice, to stay focused and continue to get ready helped a lot.”
Mendoza, a University of California transfer in his first Hoosier season, can’t wait for his Big Ten debut.
“I want to play in the Big Ten. That’s the reason why I came here, to play great opponents like Illinois.
“I have to take a big step. Our offense has to take a big step to get where we want to be because Illinois is a fantastic team.”
Merchants Bank Field at Memorial Stadium will be sold out. It will energize the Hoosiers, linebacker Kellan Wyatt said.
“It should be fun. We should fire out.”
Added defensive lineman Tyrique Tucker: “We’re looking forward to it being packed, The Rock being packed again, and fans staying all four quarters. We’re going to get it right.”
Playing Indiana State last Friday night gave the Hoosiers an extra day of preparation. Mendoza says they’ll take full advantage.
“We’ll get those good extra reps in practice. We’ll get healthier and get to watch more game tape. It’s great.”
Added Wyatt: “When you get extra time like this, it helps in many ways.”
Indiana is one of four Big Ten teams averaging more than 50 points a game. It averages 52 points. Washington and Oregon average 54.0 points. USC leads with a 55.0 average.
The Hoosiers lead the Big Ten in rushing at 307.7 yards a game.
“We're doing a good job up front and the tight end and receivers are doing a nice job blocking; the backs are running hard,” Cignetti said. “(Offensive line coach Bob Bostad) does a great job with the line. And we've been a little better than the people we've played, too.”
Mendoza’s record-breaking performance against Indiana State -- 19-for-20 for 270 yards and five touchdowns -- was highlighted by his 95.0 completion percentage. Peyton Ramsey had the previous IU single-game record of 92.9 percent (13-for-14) in 2019.
Add his rushing TD and Mendoza matched the program record of six touchdowns in a game set by Bob Hoernschemeyer in 1943 against Nebraska and equaled by Levon Williams in 2001 against Wisconsin, Tre Robertson in 2013 against Purdue and Kurtis Rourke against the Boilermakers last season.
Mendoza leads the Big Ten with nine touchdown passes. He’s one of five starting conference quarterbacks who have yet to throw an interception.
“Our offensive line played great,” Mendoza said. “The running backs, tight end, receivers, everyone played great. They made it easy for me.”
IU’s improving defense reached historic levels against Indiana State. It held the Sycamores to just 77 total yards, the fourth-fewest allowed since at least 1959. The only better efforts came last year against Purdue (67 yards), in 2019 against Rutgers (75), and in 1959 against Nebraska (76).
The Hoosiers’ 16.0 tackles for loss equaled their most since at least 1996, duplicating the performance against Penn State in 2016 and Minnesota in 1998.
It starts with the a “finish” mentality, Wyatt said.
“That’s ingrained in us. We do it every day in practice. (Cignetti) tells us every day ‘finish, finish, finish. Don’t let off the gas.’ We showed the purpose of that.”
Cooper Jr.’s four touchdown catches against Indiana State exceeded the three Elijah Sarratt had the previous week against Kennesaw State. Add E.J. Williams Jr., Jonathan Brady, Charlie Becker, Makai Jackson, and Lebron Bond and you have one of the Big Ten’s deepest group of receivers.
Sarratt leads IU with 15 catches for 164 yards and three TDs. Cooper Jr. has 13 for 299 yards and four touchdowns. Williams Jr. has 10 for 99 yards and one touchdown.
Overall, 12 Hoosiers have caught at least one pass this season.
“I go through my reads and progressions,” Mendoza says about his share-the-wealth success, “and whatever my rules tell me to do is usually who I throw to.
“However, when we have such prominent threats on the outside, it draws a lot of attention. When they double Elijah it gives Coop the 1-on-1, or E.J. the 1-on-1. It opens up the offense.
“To have three targets like that, who are all NFL players, it’s fantastic for a quarterback.”
Cooper Jr.’s 136 yards after the catch against Indiana State and team-leading 23.0 yards-per-catch average reflect game-breaking speed that he says tops 21 mph.
“We’ve connected on a couple of deep shots,” Mendoza says, “and a couple of times I’ve missed Coop on deep shots.
“Having a guy with that speed, all our receivers are fast, being able to stretch the defenses, it helps the run game, the (run-pass-option) game, the quick game a lot.
“To have that speed on the outside is fantastic. I have to get better on getting the ball down the field more.”
Cignetti said Lee Beebe Jr. is out for the season with a non-contact knee injury suffered against Indiana State. He’s the team’s second-leading rusher with 209 yards. He averaged 7.7 yards per carry and scored one touchdown.
Khobie Martin replaced him and ran for 109 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries. He has 115 yards on the season.
Martin will now enter the Hoosiers’ three-back rotation along with Kaelon Black (217 yards, one touchdown) and Roman Hemby (200 yards). Cignetti said Martin will have to be ready for a larger role.
“He's got talent. He'll get more reps. We're going to need him.”