Mendoza’s 4 TD passes power No. 23 Indiana to a 56-9 rout of Kennesaw State
BLOOMINGTON Ind AP Fernando Mendoza threw for four touchdowns to lead No Indiana to a - rout of Kennesaw State on Saturday Mendoza a transfer from University of California completed of passes for yards He threw scoring passes of and yards to Elijah Sarratt and an -yard strike to E J Williams early in the fourth quarter I was glad to see Sarratt bust out and those guys hook up and several success together Hoosiers coach Curt Cignetti mentioned Cignetti announced the Hoosiers - took a step forward I liked the way our guys kept playing one play at a time he announced I was a little bit of tyrant in the fourth quarter but my job is to make the squad better so that s the way it is The Hoosiers held the Owls - to two field goals in the first half and led - at the break Kennesaw State s Daniel Kinney finished with field goals of and yards Indiana scored on a -yard run by Riley Nowakowski and an -yard run by Lee Beebe Jr in the first half to go with the first of Sarratt s TD catches Beebe finished with a team-best rushing yards on carries The takeaway Kennesaw State The Owls lost to their second consecutive Power opponent after falling - at Wake Forest in the opener This loss was more lopsided as the Owls managed just three field goals Amari Odom completed of passes for yards It was not a good day for us We saw a lot of different areas we have to improve on Owls coach Jerry Mack noted Teams like this hold you accountable for your mistakes They have great football band and great players We saw selected things we can learn from Indiana The Hoosiers who saw their ranking drop three spots to No following a closer-than-expected - domination over Old Dominion should maintain their ranking with a convincing supremacy Indiana didn t commit a turnover and was penalized just three times Indiana held a - edge in total yards Late relief Cignetti was requested if he was relieved during the fourth quarter I m never relieved I m going to be relieved when I go up my office and crack open a beer he mentioned You have to keep the pedal to the metal Cignetti declared the staff is trying to teach prosperous habits I think we have enough guys here that know what we want and understand we weren t happy with the way they played last week and they responded well in the fourth quarter he announced Brotherly sub Fernando Mendoza a redshirt junior was relieved by his younger brother Alberto Mendoza during a fourth quarter drive Alberto a redshirt freshman tossed his first career TD pass a -yarder to Charlie Becker Alberto completed all three of his passes for yards A little trickery Following a fumble recovery Indiana wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr scored on a -yard run on an end-around on the next play Cooper had a key -yard catch on the Hoosiers first TD drive Cooper s reverse was a really big play in the encounter a really good run and a lot of downfield blocking Cignetti revealed Up next Kennesaw State Hosts Merrimack next Saturday Indiana Hosts Indiana State on Friday night Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top throughout the season Sign up here AP college football https apnews com hub ap-top- -college-football-poll and https apnews com hub college-football Source
