BLOOMINGTON — The Old Brass Spittoon is staying in Bloomington.
Indiana football beat Michigan State 38-13 on Saturday for its first back-to-back victories in the rivalry series since winning three straight over the Spartans from 1967-69.
The No. 3 Hoosiers (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten) got off to a wobbly start on defense and briefly trailed in the second quarter, but scored 31 straight points to turn the game against Michigan State (3-4, 0-4) into a blowout just as it did last year.
Indiana has now won three of four games in the Battle for the Old Brass Spittoon.
Here are three things that stood out.
Indiana football QB Fernando Mendoza returns to form against Michigan State
Fernando Mendoza reentered the Heisman discussion in a big way.
He was unstoppable against Michigan State with 332 yards on 24-of-28 passing with four touchdowns. He had four of his six completions of 20 or more yards while leading IU down the field on five straight scoring drives of 65 yards or more to open the game.
The Hoosiers averaged 10.1 yards per play during that stretch and only faced four third downs (only one third-and-long situation).
Mendoza was at the center of that success — making quick decisions on RPOs, hitting guys right in the numbers from sideline to sideline and breaking out a beautiful deep ball when the opportunity presented itself.
A perfect example of that came on a go-route down the sideline to Elijah Sarratt for a 27-yard touchdown that gave IU a 35-10 lead with 3:55 to go in the third quarter.
Michigan State tries to shorten game against Indiana football
Michigan State took a page from Iowa’s playbook by methodically working down the field on its opening two possessions in hopes of shortening the game.
The Spartans’ 15-play, 75-yard drive bled 8:22 of the clock, making it the longest sustained drive in time of possession IU has allowed all season. The Spartans extended both those drives with fourth-down conversions in IU territory.
Michigan State found success with quick screens into the direction of IU’s pass rush. Aidan Chiles threw for 178 of his 243 yards and lone touchdown in the first half. He completed passes to seven different targets on MSU’s opening two drives but only had one completion go for more than 20 yards.
The strategy might have worked a bit better if not for MSU’s inability to stop Mendoza and IU’s offense.
Indiana football has the best receiving duo in Big Ten
Indiana receiver Omar Cooper Jr. (eight catches, 115 yards and a touchdown) and Sarratt (four catches, 70 yards and two touchdowns) continued to dominate the competition even though opposing defenses know the ball is going their way.
They came into the game accounting for 57.1% of the team’s targets (89 of 156) with both ranked among the Big Ten’s top 10 receivers in receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns.
This was Cooper’s first 100-yard receiving game of his career against a Big Ten opponent, while Sarratt has now put up 70 or more receiving yards with a touchdown in four straight games. They combined for 13 targets on 28 attempts.
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana football beats Michigan State, Fernando Mendoza, wide receivers
