Close Menu
    Trending
    Friday, January 2

    Pat Coogan, one of Curt Cignetti’s “ultimate team guys,” wins Rose Bowl offensive MVP

    Mike SchumannBy IU Football No Comments
    Photo via The Rose Bowl

    How rare is it for an offensive lineman to win the offensive most valuable player award in a game the magnitude of the Rose Bowl?

    Indiana’s winner suspects it has never happened.

    As ESPN’s Rece Davis was about to announce the offensive MVP on the field after IU’s 38-6 destruction of Alabama, Indiana wide receiver Elijah Sarratt started pointing at quarterback Fernando Mendoza while jumping up and down.  Sarratt was genuinely excited for what was a worthy performance by Mendoza, who had more touchdown passes than incompletions on the day.

    It’s so rare that the winner, IU center Pat Coogan, told Sirius XM in a postgame interview he thought maybe the vote was rigged.

    “I’m sure Fernando snuck in there and told them to give it to me because that’s the kind of guy he is,” Coogan said.

    Coogan was equally modest, telling Yogi Roth of the Big Ten Network the award should have gone to Mendoza rather than an offensive lineman.

    As per Rose Bowl tradition, ESPN broadcasters Kirk Herbstreit and Chris Fowler decided to give the offensive MVP honors to Coogan and Indiana line. And the unit deserved it as much as anyone else.

    Indiana ran for 215 yards on the ground against an Alabama defense giving up just 121 a game.  And after the Hoosiers gave up two sacks on their first drive, the offensive line steadied, allowing Mendoza to complete 15 of 17 passes for 192 yards and three scores.

    With the game still tied 0-0, Indiana went on a 16-play, 84-yard drive that consumed 8:55 of the first quarter.  On one play in the drive, Kaelon Black appeared to be stopped after a four-yard gain before Coogan and his convoy of linemen pushed Black for another six yards.

    The IU players and crowd were fired up.  And the tone was set. Indiana scored a field goal on that drive, and then touchdowns on five of their next six possessions.

    Soon thereafter, Coogan was named MVP, and Sarratt, Mendoza and several other Indiana players mobbed the senior center.

    “It’s pretty great. It’s probably the first, if I had to guess, offensive lineman MVP, but it’s all a credit to my teammates and my coaching staff for, first of all, just believing in me and the ability to make my calls and diagnose a defense and fully entrusting in me and my abilities,” Coogan said.

    “And a credit to all my teammates. These guys are unbelievable. The belief that we have in each other, the ability to bounce off of each other and say, hey, what are you thinking, or do you see that. It’s just been, kind of like I said before, never-ending growth, never ending improvement.”

    Offensive MVP awards are won almost exclusively by quarterbacks, so Sarratt was right to expect that outcome.

    But Mendoza’s genuine excitement was unmistakable when he heard Coogan’s named called.

    Indiana coach Curt Cignetti was asked about Mendoza’s reaction to learning Coogan had won the honor.

    “Fernando’s a very special guy. He’s very unique. He’s selfless. He’s the ultimate team guy,” Cignetti said.  “And then we’ve got some other guys, like Coogan, who is really the same way; he’s the ultimate team guy.

    “We’ve got a lot of other guys on the team that played last year, like (Aiden) Fisher, Carter Smith, just to name two. I could name a lot more that are ultimate team guys. I think that’s one of the reasons that we’re so consistent and efficient. We are efficient, is how I would label us, is because we have good players with very high character. They’re great team guys and really good leaders, and they listen and they buy in.”

    For complete coverage of IU football, GO HERE.

    The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”

    Keep Reading