Indiana football starting quarterback Kurtis Rourke has played extremely well with his receivers, showcasing a very deep room of targets. Through just two weeks of play, Indiana receivers have scored four touchdowns and totaled 558 receiving yards.
Heading into week three of college football, PFF, a football analysis company, released a ranking of the top ten highest graded receivers in the power five conferences.
This list showcased two of Indiana’s receivers.
Let’s take a look at who these receivers are and the impact they have brought to Indiana’s program thus far:
#1 on the ranking: Omar Cooper Jr: Grade of 93.6
Omar Cooper Jr sits at the top of the ranking after an incredible performance in week two. Cooper Jr, who only had four receptions against Western Illinois, made the most of his opportunities, taking four receptions for 131 receiving yards and a touchdown. Cooper Jr’s longest reception, a 69 yard play, was returned for a touchdown.
Cooper Jr returned to Indiana for his sophomore season after a serviceable freshman year with the program. Cooper Jr saw 18 receptions in his freshman year, totaling 267 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Despite Indiana football having a receiver room with a lot of depth, Cooper Jr spoke on the benefit of a large receiver group.
“I think it helps us actually cause we can all stay fresh and continue to rotate and help us be better at our game. I think it’ll be really good for our offense and help us be really successful.”
#3 on the ranking: Elijah Sarratt: Grade of 90.0
Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images
Following a quiet performance in week one, Elijah Sarratt balled out in week two, collecting six receptions for 137 receiving yards and a touchdown.
After the phenomenal outing, Sarratt was cheerful about the results from the win against Western Illinois.
“It felt great, I always like being involved early. Once again, shoutout my coach for now putting me in position to give me the ball and gotta thank him.”
Sarratt’s performance in the win over Western Illinois played a huge role in Indiana setting program records in points scored in a game and total yardage in a game.
Sarratt reflected on the opportunity he had to help etch his team in school history.
“It was one of the most fun games I’ve been a part of. Not just for me having a good game, just seeing all my other guys go out there and being able to score was a great atmosphere out there and I hope we can keep that rolling.”
This is nothing new for the JMU transfer, who had nearly 1,200 receiving yards last season while finding the endzone eight times.
Prior to his lone season at JMU, Sarratt shined as a freshman at St. Francis, scoring 13 touchdowns while totalling 700 reception yards.
The two receivers will try to stay hot as Indiana hits the road for the first time this season, facing one of the newest Big Ten teams, UCLA, Saturday night.
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