EUGENE, Ore. — During the second quarter of Indiana’s stunning upset over then-No. 3 Oregon earlier this month, quarterback Fernando Mendoza dropped back to attempt the kind of throw that has become a staple under head coach Curt Cignetti: a beautifully timed, expertly drilled, nearly indefensible dart toward the back shoulder of wide receiver Elijah Sarratt, one of the disciples from Cignetti’s tenure at James Madison.
But as Sarratt opened his hips and reached back for the ball, Oregon cornerback Brandon Finney Jr. — who would later intercept Mendoza and return it 35 yards for a game-tying touchdown in the fourth quarter — snagged a considerable chunk of Sarratt’s jersey in his right hand, restricting the offensive player’s movement with a firm grasp near the armpit. It looked, to most folks in attendance that day, and especially those supporting the Hoosiers, like an obvious pass interference penalty that would have given Indiana a first down. Yet nobody had thrown a flag.
“I’ve been getting grabbed a lot this whole season,” Sarratt said during Indiana’s postgame news conference. “But I know it’s going to happen. I’m a bigger receiver. I’m not going to get every single call. But Fernando came to me on the sideline, and he said, ‘I’m coming back to you every single time,’ so that just continues to give me confidence. I know if I just continue to get chances to get the ball, eventually I’m going to make the play. So shout-out to Fernando for believing in me and still allowing me to get that rock.”
He would certainly get the rock again — a few times, in fact — but not before Cignetti lost his mind in response to the missed call. In that moment, amid the realization that no infraction was forthcoming, Cignetti bolted onto the field and across the numbers, nearly reaching the hashmarks while unleashing his verbal fury to anyone within earshot. And when an Indiana staffer finally succeeded in reeling Cignetti back to a more acceptable locale, he responded by marauding down the sideline to continue bellowing at the officials. A slow-motion replay of his tirade, which drew a sideline warning penalty, showed Cignetti cursing up a storm in an outburst so volatile that his white chewing gum was nearly ejected onto a referee’s face.
The outburst was the latest in a long line of reminders that Cignetti, who would soon receive a new eight-year, $93 million contract days after beating the Ducks, always has his players’ backs.
“I’ve always believed that we are where we’re supposed to be,” Sarratt said. “Shout out to the man above. He’s never wrong. He put me in this position to be right here, right now, and I can’t thank him enough. I can’t thank Coach Cig enough and everybody who came over from JMU and allowed me to keep doing what I’m doing.”
In a micro sense, what Sarratt was doing on that overcast Saturday at Autzen Stadium meant saving his eighth and final reception for the 6:22 mark of the fourth quarter, when Mendoza rifled another back-shoulder throw in his direction for what proved to be the game-winning touchdown in a landscape-rattling, trajectory-altering, 30-20 victory. He’d already caught two other passes on that same drive — a 13-yarder that moved the chains on third-and-6; then a 29-yarder that pushed Indiana into scoring range — and would finish with a team-high 121 yards.
In a macro sense, what Sarratt has done over the course of this season is entrench himself as one of the best receivers in the country — even if the college football universe is reticent, or perhaps unwilling, to recognize it given the Hoosiers’ prolonged dalliance with futility before Cignetti arrived. Indiana’s victory over the Ducks marked the second consecutive game-winning touchdown for Sarratt, who turned a short slant against Iowa’s all-out blitz into a 49-yard score with 1:28 remaining in his prior outing, stunning the upset-minded Hawkeyes at Kinnick Stadium.
Sarratt now ranks ninth nationally among players from the power conferences in receptions (43), tied for seventh in receiving yards (603) and first in receiving touchdowns (12) entering Saturday’s showdown with suddenly revitalized UCLA (Noon ET Saturday on FOX). That he’s amassed more receiving yards and more receiving touchdowns than Ohio State standout Jeremiah Smith, whom many consider a Heisman Trophy candidate, underscores just how much respect Sarratt should be commanding.
“Everybody tells me, ‘Yeah, I’m hearing good things from the [NFL] scouts,’ this and that,” Sarratt said at Big Ten Media Days when reflecting on the decision to return to Indiana for his senior season. “You see your little draft profile and stuff sometimes. I feel like I could have been drafted if I went in this past year, but I wanted to improve my stock. My goal is to be a first rounder this year and — god willing — I hope I can do that.”
If Sarratt is successful in that endeavor, it would be the capstone of an improbable rise that began as a zero-star recruit in Stafford, Virginia, roughly an hour southwest of Washington, D.C. He won three varsity letters at Colonial Forge High School from 2017-19 before transferring to football powerhouse St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, which has produced the likes of former Michigan tailback Blake Corum, former Alabama edge rusher Chris Braswell and former Oregon wide receiver Traeshon Holden in recent years. Sarratt shared the field at St. Frances with current Michigan edge rushers Derrick Moore and Jaishawn Barham, among other future Division I players.
But a dearth of high-end recruiting suitors meant Sarratt wound up at FCS-level Saint Francis in the rural heart of Pennsylvania, a school that is now preparing to drop its athletic programs to Division III next year. He earned FCS Freshman All-American honors from multiple outlets after catching 42 passes for 700 yards and a team-high 13 touchdowns in 2022, which was more than enough to catch Cignetti’s eye as the former Alabama assistant shepherded James Madison from perennial FCS championship contender to FBS newcomer in the reconfigured Sun Belt, which also added Marshall, Old Dominion and Southern Miss that same year.
Sarratt quickly exploded onto the national scene with 82 receptions for 1,191 yards and eight scores en route to first-team All-Sun Belt honors and an invitation from Cignetti, then 62 years old, to move with him to Indiana. The shared strain between Cignetti and his former JMU players amid their upward climb has forged an unbreakable, kindred spirituality.
“When a lot of people ask, why do you follow Coach Cignetti, why did you make this decision instead of other schools?” said linebacker Aiden Fisher, another player who made the pilgrimage from JMU to Indiana, following the Hoosiers’ emotional win at Oregon. “This is why. Complete buy-in. Complete trust in what Coach Cig is doing here. And when you do things like that, it leads to games like this and wins like this. There’s no looking back on it. You buy into what he tells you, what he believes in you, his preparation and his process. It’s better than anybody in the country. That’s why people are going to play for him.”
Fisher’s heartfelt praise could have just as easily been uttered by Sarratt, who spent the aftermath of last year’s fairytale run to the College Football Playoff pondering whether to use his final season of eligibility. On a personal level, Sarratt caught 53 passes for 957 yards and eight touchdowns to earn third-team All-Big Ten honors from the coaches and media alike. As a team, Indiana had fallen on the road to seventh-seeded Notre Dame, 27-17, in the first round of the playoff after trailing by 24 points with fewer than five minutes remaining. Nothing about the performance was in keeping with the way Cignetti’s team had played all season, save for a disappointing loss at then-No. 2 Ohio State in late November. The prevailing sentiment was equal parts raw and incomplete.
As Sarratt contemplated his future, oscillating between another year with Cignetti and entering the NFL Draft, he remembered a childhood lesson imparted on him near the outset of his sporting career. Hoisting a trophy, he recalled during an interview at Big Ten Media Days, is the goal he was always taught to chase above anything else — and that meant there was unfinished business for him at Indiana, which is now 7-0 overall and ranked No. 2 in the nation for the first time in program history.
Kahlil Benson #67 of the Indiana Hoosiers lifts Elijah Sarratt #13 after a touchdown during the second half against the Oregon Ducks. (Photo by Soobum Im/Getty Images)
Sarrat knew he could still improve his blocking, his route running and his surehandedness after dropping six passes over the previous two seasons combined. And part of him was hellbent on getting another chance to reach 1,000 yards in a season after falling just 47 yards short in 2024.
Most importantly, though, he vowed to take Indiana even deeper in this year’s playoff.
“We don’t want to go to the College Football Playoff and lose in Round 1 again,” Sarratt said at Big Ten Media Days. “That’s not the goal. The goal is to win a national championship.”
Michael Cohen covers college football and college basketball for FOX Sports. Follow him at @Michael_Cohen13.
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