“He’s not gonna ask you to do something that he’s not doing himself,” Elijah Sarratt aims to leave a championship mark in Bloomington
- Josh Pos
- 1h ago
Before the 2024 season, his first at Indiana, Elijah Sarratt climbed into an Uber bound for Indianapolis International Airport.
During the 50-minute drive from Bloomington to the west side of Indianapolis, he talked football with the driver and shared his excitement about a new era under head coach Curt Cignetti. Sarratt wasn’t yet a household name and expectations around the program were modest. But somewhere along Interstate 69, he made a quiet promise to himself and his teammates to give more than asked of them for the Bloomington community.
“It’s been nothing but love and support from Hoosier Nation,” Sarratt said Saturday. “I consider this a home for myself.”
Love and support weren’t guaranteed. The Stafford, Virginia, native had to earn it, on the field and beyond it.
A Google search for ‘Elijah Sarratt high school recruitment’ returns almost no results. The zero-star recruit wasn’t on anybody’s radar, starting his college career at FCS Saint Francis (PA).
His 35 receptions for 504 yards and 11 touchdowns on the field for the Red Flash kindled the flame that eventually led the 6-foot-2 wide receiver to James Madison a year later.
Sarratt’s play on the field in the lone season in Harrisonburg left quite the impression on Cignetti.
“The guy’s a gamer,” Cignetti said following an October 2023 game against Georgia Southern, where Sarratt hauled in five catches for 105 yards and a touchdown.
When Cignetti left JMU for Indiana in late November, he had no choice but to bring his top receiver along with him. Cignetti needed an offensive weapon on the field and a leader off the field; that’s what Sarratt provided immediately.
Sarratt flourished in his new role on college football’s biggest stage. He finished his junior season with 53 catches, 957 yards and eight touchdowns as Kurtis Rourke’s most trusted target. Two years removed from being undervalued by every FBS coach in the country, Sarratt earned second-team all-Big Ten honors in 2024.
Preseason accolades accumulated on Sarratt’s resume ahead of the 2025 campaign, but his work ethic and demeanor in every facet went unchanged.
While his teammates were on the verge of tapping out of a workout during the summer, Sarratt did an extra rep in hopes his teammates would follow suit. When they did, he had the entire team doing sets of 10, then added an 11th, a calculated move to demand more from them.
“I always tell them, do that one championship rep,” Sarratt said. “Now all my receivers do it every single day, so I don’t have to tell them now. They are beside me, I do my one extra rep, they’re doing it with me.
“It’s great to see.”
Like many of his receiving mates, tight end Riley Nowakowski doesn’t hesitate to mirror what its leader does in the weight room and the practice field. Sarratt’s energy and drive for his team’s success aren’t manufactured. Everything Sarratt does comes the hard way and as a group.
“He’s just always trying to push everybody around him, but doing it from a point of leadership,” tight end Riley Nowakowski said. “He’s not gonna ask you to do something that he’s not doing himself.”
Extra reps away from the spotlight and an underappreciated mentality fuel Sarratt on Saturdays, including his spectacular game-winning touchdowns against Iowa and Oregon this season. The self-dubbed “Waffle House” always seems to be in the right place at the right time. But whether it’s the first snap or the final play, his mindset never changes.
“I pride myself on making plays when the pressure comes,” he said. “But I put a lot of hard work in behind the scenes that allows me to be ready for those moments.”
Until a hamstring injury in Week 11, Sarratt caught at least one pass in a nation-best 46 consecutive games. Even so, the senior has left his fingerprints on the most significant turnaround in college football history, serving as the lead receiver in both of his seasons at Indiana.
In two years in cream and crimson, Sarratt has totaled 104 receptions for 1,644 yards and 20 touchdowns. Those numbers cement his place among the best receivers in program history.
Sarratt’s rapport with fans in Bloomington matches the strong connection he shares with quarterback Fernando Mendoza.
His constant promotion of “Sarrattcha Sauce” at Mother Bear’s has taken over social media. He stars in the restaurant’s TikTok posts and chats with fans of all ages around town. One thing is constant: his infectious personality has made the Bloomington import a fan favorite.
Sarratt will help lead No. 1 Indiana against No. 9 Alabama in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day, the program’s first appearance in Pasadena in 58 years, a moment that once felt possible only in a College Football video game, where Sarratt carries a 93 overall rating.
Whether the season ends Thursday in Pasadena or beneath confetti in Miami on January 19, Sarratt has unwavering faith that what he and his teammates built will endure. His belief in Cignetti — the coach who empowered him to shine — fuels his confidence that Indiana has arrived as a heavyweight.
“I 100 percent think it’s going to continue while we’re gone,” Sarratt said. “Coach Cig, the whole coaching staff, they do a great job of putting that work in, recruiting.
“I expect no drop-off next year in the years to come from Indiana football.”
As he has throughout his career, Sarratt and Indiana have defied the expectations of an Uber driver, Bloomington and the rest of the country.
Now, with his two-year residency in Bloomington drawing to an end, Sarratt is chasing one final promise. He hopes to bring a national championship to the place he will forever call home.
“I want to continue to go out there and win these games for Hoosier Nation.”
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