After having to wait until the second half in Indiana’s opening game to get his first catch, Elijah Sarratt was fired up last weekend. Beating his chest, he wound his arm enthusiastically to the Indiana sideline, as if to say, “Keep feeding me.” Sarratt had not even been targeted in that game until that moment.
Overall, Sarratt would have a decent showing against Old Dominion, catching three passes for 44 yards. Still, heading into week two, he knew he had the opportunity to build off of his performance.
“Just executing stuff that I didn’t do well last week,” Sarratt said following Indiana’s 56-9 win over Kennesaw State on Saturday. “I blocked a little better, my routes, my releases were better with my hands. Overall, I just made more plays.”
That focus on execution would help propel Sarratt to a stellar stat line against KSU.
This weekend he found his groove early in Indiana’s second drive, catching two passes and helping the Hoosiers earn a touchdown. A drive later, Sarratt would hit pay dirt for the first time this season, nabbing his first scoring catch of the year. That was just the start.
Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza found Sarratt two more times in the endzone to help cap off a nine catch, 97-yard, and three touchdown performance.
“I was glad to see him (Sarratt) get going,” Curt Cignetti said on Saturday. “He didn’t have a lot of catches in camp, or in the first game either, so I was glad to see him bust out and those two kind of hook up a bit.”
Sarratt was in no mood to pat himself on the back after he extended his nation-leading consecutive games with a catch streak to 40, had his eighth career multi-receiving touchdown game, and his third career three touchdown game.
“We could’ve had those plays last week,” Sarratt said. “We missed out on some, we missed out on some today too, myself included. It’s just pounding away, finding ways to execute and get better.”
For his part, Mendoza found the coverage directed towards Sarratt more to his liking this week, and he made more than half of his throws towards IU’s leading receiver from a year ago.
“He’s Waffle House (always open),” Mendoza said. “I didn’t target him enough in the first game, and evidently, I think I targeted him enough today. We still have great playmakers around him…everybody that’s always out there because they can give so much stress, that can give Elijah those one-on-one matchups. And when he has those, it’s like they call him Waffle House.”
Poised for a large role in his senior year, Sarratt had no shortage of accolades heading his way before the beginning of the season. Sarratt was tabbed as a preseason All-Big Ten and All-American selection, as well as a pick for the preseason Biletnikoff award, which awards the nation’s best receiver.
Even with all of that attention, Sarratt knows there will be games like week one, when his teammates can take some pressure off of him.
“I always tell all the guys, tight ends, running backs, receivers, if y’all are catching passes, it’s going to make it easier for me,” Sarratt said. “I know and realize now how a defense is going to stop me, so as long as my other guys are eating, it’s going to make it easier for me.”
Week two was much easier.
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