Iowa had been in Fernando Mendoza’s face all day, tallying 16 total quarterback pressures and harassing the Heisman hopeful into an uneven performance.
So it came as no surprise with the everything on the line — tie game, less than two minutes left, 3rd and 10 for IU at the Iowa 49 — the Hawkeyes brought the house.
There was no doubt Iowa’s pressure was having an impact. Mendoza threw his first interception of the season on the prior drive, and he had as many incompletions in the game (10) as he had in the three prior games combined.
Desperately in need of a stop, the Hawkeyes went all in on trying to get to Mendoza with the game clock nearing 1:30.
“They had house blitzed the play before, meaning they’re bringing one more than you can block. So we went to our seven-man protection,” IU coach Curt Cignetti said.
Seven-man protection means what it sounds like — five linemen, a tight end and a running back are all protecting the quarterback. With a house blitz, in this case eight defenders are at the line coming for the quarterback. That leaves three receivers against three defensive backs in one-on-one matchups. It’s the same defensive scheme that led to Mendoza’s interception on the prior drive.
But because it was 3rd-and-7, Iowa had their defensive backs off the line of scrimmage about nine yards, creating an enticing opportunity for IU wideout Elijah Sarratt to run a slant route back to the middle of the field before his man could bridge the gap.
“I saw the safety come up to blitz and I just knew I had to speed up my route and flatten it out a little bit,” Sarratt said.
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The Hoosiers come out of Kinnick with a big W 😥
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Mendoza found Sarratt over the middle about five yards beyond the line scrimmage.
At 6-foot-2 and 213 pounds, Sarratt is difficult to bring down in space. If he didn’t break his man’s attempted tackle, IU would have faced a tricky 4th and short at around the Iowa 40. Indiana was 0 of 3 on 4th downs in the game, and they struggled in several short yardage situations — often again because Iowa had some many defenders stacked at the line of scrimmage.
But Sarratt broke the diving tackle, and all that stood in front of him and a 5-0 start for Indiana was 40 yards of green field turf.
“I was hype,” Sarratt said of his feeling when he turned up field. “I was ready to yell when I was running. Fernando put it in a perfect spot. It was a great moment for sure.”
There will be even tougher challenges down the road, when IU travels to Oregon and Penn State.
But the Hoosiers hadn’t won in Iowa City in 18 years, and after losing two tough road games a year ago at Ohio State and Notre Dame, this felt like a signature road win for Curt Cignetti at Indiana, irrespective of the performance.
It took the right play call from offensive coordinator, and the proper reads from every player on the field to make the right blocks, run the right route, and make the right throw.
If the day was far from perfect, everything came together with the game on the line.
“When we needed the play to be made, Mendoza made the throw and Sarratt made the catch,” Cignetti said. “It was a great road win. I’m very proud of the team and players.”
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