Instant recap: Indiana 73, Indiana State 0

Omar Cooper Jr. catches a touchdown pass.

Quick thoughts on IU football’s 73-0 victory against Indiana State at Memorial Stadium in front of 46,219 fans:

Three key plays in IU’s win

First drive ended in a quick score – As expected, the Indiana offense scored quickly on its first drive, traveling 77 yards in 6 plays for a touchdown.

Quarterback Fernando Mendoza escaped pressure and waltzed in for a 7-yard touchdown rush. It was the first of Indiana’s 10 touchdowns of the evening.

Daley stuffs a fake punt – After an offside penalty on fourth down, Indiana State’s Harry Traum attempted a fake punt, but was met with a big hit from defensive lineman Stephen Daley at the Indiana State 31-yard line.

The excellent field position allowed the Indiana offense to go on a quick, 5-play drive to extend its lead to 21-0.

Mendoza finds Omar Cooper Jr. for the third touchdown – After already linking up twice for touchdowns, Mendoza delivered a perfect 31-yard strike to Cooper Jr. for their third scoring connection of the game. The duo’s chemistry was on full display as Cooper Jr. hauled in the deep ball with ease.

The touchdown gave Indiana a 45-0 lead heading into the halftime break, making the second half academic.

Offensive standouts

Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza had a near-perfect first half. The Hoosier signal caller completed his first 14 passes of the game, including a pair of touchdown passes to Cooper Jr. In addition to his touchdown passes, Mendoza rushed for 19 yards on six carries and a touchdown.

Mendoza finished 19-for-20 for 270 yards and five touchdowns. He finished with a 290.9 passer rating.

Cooper Jr. also put up a career game. The Lawrence North alum tallied 10 catches for 207 yards and four touchdown catches.

Indiana finished with 680 total yards in the victory.

Defensive standouts

In addition to his fourth-down tackle, Daley had a tremendous day. The senior finished with two tackles for loss, with one coming from a first-half sack.

Sophomore tackle Mario Landino recorded a sack in the second half and finished with three tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.

As a team, Indiana finished with five sacks and 16 tackles-for-loss in the victory.

What’s next for the Hoosiers

Indiana will open Big Ten play next Saturday in primetime at Memorial Stadium against Illinois. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

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