How Indiana Wr Elijah Sarratt Mastered The Jump Ball: 'best In College Football'

MIAMI — There’s a communal knowing that Indiana shot cornerback D’Angelo Ponds doesn’t let receptions. Not successful outpouring practice. Not successful autumn camp. Rarely, if ever, successful games.

But that’s pinch an exception. Nobody, not moreover nan Hoosiers’ All-American corner, is safe from elder receiver Elijah Sarratt erstwhile nan shot is successful nan aerial and there’s a play to beryllium made.

“I've decidedly been connected nan bad extremity of that one,” Ponds told Indiana Hoosiers On SI connected Saturday. “That feline tin make highly bully catches. That's a feline who is going to make crazy catches connected you. Definitely been connected nan bad broadside of that 1 before.”

Sarratt is nicknamed “Waffle House” because he’s ever open. Even erstwhile he’s covered, Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said past season, he finds a measurement to travel down pinch nan football.

It’s not happenstance. It’s not luck. It’s not a one-off. It’s simply Sarratt, a back-shoulder, jump-ball master who turns 50/50 passes into game-changing plays acold much often than mathematics suggests possible.

“He's nan champion successful assemblage shot doing it, successful my opinion,” redshirt inferior receiver Omar Cooper Jr. told Indiana Hoosiers On SI. “There's cipher other retired location that's amended than him. I mean, it's really hard, particularly pinch defenders each connected you, sometimes holding you, grabbing you.”

Sarratt made a soaring, contested drawback done interaction for nan go-ahead touchdown successful nan 3rd 4th of Indiana’s Big Ten Championship Game triumph complete Ohio State connected Dec. 6. He made an anxiety-relieving back-shoulder drawback connected a 3rd down successful nan first 4th against Oregon successful nan Peach Bowl that gave Indiana violative coordinator Mike Shanahan belief nan Hoosiers were “going to beryllium okay.”

Before nan federation saw Sarratt jumping overtop corners and hauling successful tight-window contested catches connected nan sideline, Shanahan saw it connected his movie from FCS schoolhouse Saint Francis (Pa.), and Ponds saw it successful believe astatine James Madison.

Only a fewer weeks into his first autumn believe arsenic a freshman successful 2023, Ponds watched arsenic Sarratt, a sophomore, leapt supra 1 of nan Dukes’ cornerbacks and made a head-turning reception.

“I was for illustration 'Oh, that's guy's different,'” Ponds said.

Jump balls person agelong been Sarratt’s beardown suit, moreover making love backmost to precocious school. It’s not each nuance, not each training — he owes nan roots of his occurrence to natural-born talent.

“I conscionable people person been bully astatine it and been capable to set my assemblage and stuff,” Sarratt said. “Just blessed pinch that ability.”

Sarratt has, however, turned earthy expertise into possibly nan nation’s champion shot skills done time-on-task and accomplishment development.

During practice, while Indiana useful done typical teams periods, Sarratt sneaks disconnected to nan broadside and catches passes from nan Hoosiers’ quarterbacks. After nan convention ends, Sarratt catches astatine slightest 100 further passes. He doesn’t count nan last number, but he knows it’s an abundance, and he simply wants to accumulate arsenic galore receptions arsenic he can.

Sixth-year elder receiver E.J. Williams Jr. attributed Sarratt’s occurrence to nan attraction and activity pinch which he practices. It’s astir repetition, Williams said.

“He's really, really bully erstwhile nan ball's successful nan air,” Williams told Indiana Hoosiers On SI connected Saturday. “He has existent beardown hands, and conscionable really bully astatine creating that separation connected nan backmost shoulders. And (on) a jump ball, going and taking nan shot successful nan air, for sure.”

Sarratt doesn’t do galore hand-strengthening exercises. He simply catches footballs, clip and clip again, to nan constituent wherever his hands are truthful strong, truthful reliable, he’s capable to decorativeness done interaction astatine an inconceivable rate.

“Super beardown hands,” Shanahan said. “I mean, that's his game. That's who he is. He's benignant of built and has done that complete and complete and complete again making those benignant of plays for america complete nan years.”

Several of Sarratt’s teammates described him arsenic strong-handed — thing Ponds said translates to different aspects of his life.

“I don't cognize if you shook his hand, but his manus is huge,” Ponds said. “That's astir apt what makes his hands truthful strong.”

Yet for arsenic terrific arsenic Sarratt has proven to beryllium astatine nan drawback point, portion of nan magic down his contested drawback brilliance happens earlier nan walk arrives.

The Stafford, Va., autochthonal has mastered nan creation of showing his hands late, aliases waiting until nan past imaginable 2nd to raise his hands and drawback nan ball. Such a move, Cooper said, makes it difficult for protect backs to cognize erstwhile nan shot is arriving, which leads to penalties and prevents nan cornerback from getting his arms into passing windows.

Defensive backs are taught to play done nan receivers’ hands. Rather than turning their heads and uncovering nan ball, corners respond to when, and where, nan pass-catcher positions his hands.

Showing precocious hands is simply a difficult accomplishment to teach. Sarratt simply has a knack, an instinct, for erstwhile to widen his arms — and those innate sensations paired pinch value coaching has molded Sarratt into 1 of nan nation’s astir deceptive wideouts.

“As a receiver, if you tin hold for nan shot to beryllium arsenic adjacent arsenic imaginable to you to flash your hands and pluck it retired nan air, that'd beryllium nan champion use to you,” Williams said. “And Elijah does a really, really, really bully occupation of that.”

Sarratt practices precocious hands, too, but he besides preaches it. During off-season workouts, he’ll watch Cooper tally routes and drawback passes complete his shoulder. While nan shot spirals toward Cooper, Sarratt enters coaching mode.

“He'll ever outcry out, ‘Late hands, precocious hands,’” Cooper said. “So, it's conscionable thing he's telling himself successful his caput nan full off-season, practicing it and making judge he's doing it arsenic overmuch arsenic he can.”

Sarratt leads nan FBS pinch 15 receiving touchdowns contempt missing 2 afloat games and 3 quarters of different successful November. He’s nan FBS’s progressive leader pinch 44 receiving scores, and he’s caught touchdown passes successful 10 of his 13 appearances this season. His shot skills and assemblage power beryllium particularly beneficial erstwhile nan section condenses successful nan redzone.

Entering Monday night’s College Football Playoff National Championship Game against No. 10 Miami, Sarratt has nan Hurricanes’ afloat respect, and attention, successful ample portion for nan challenges his strong, precocious hands present.

“That's what nan elite receivers do — erstwhile nan shot is successful nan air, they find nan shot highly well,” Miami cornerbacks coach Zac Etheridge told Indiana Hoosiers On SI. “He’s sewage a drawback radius. When nan ball’s successful nan air, he knows erstwhile to show precocious hands, erstwhile to get his hands up.

“That's nan biggest point that separates (him). His 50/50 balls are unbelievable, because he does a awesome occupation pinch that and search nan shot and knowing erstwhile to put his hands up.”

Indiana’s secondary anticipates Miami’s protect backs will acquisition overmuch of what nan Hoosiers’ backmost extremity sees each time successful practice.

Junior information Amare Ferrell, a two-year starter for Indiana, said Sarratt puts his bosom into each azygous practice, and nan results show each clip he steps connected nan section and finishes a drawback fewer others can.

Sarratt, oftentimes, is well-covered. Much to nan vexation of opposing corners, he still, oftentimes, comes down pinch nan ball.

“He’s Mr. Consistent,” Ferrell told Indiana Hoosiers On SI. “Like, each clip we propulsion him a pass, he’s going to drawback it, and we cognize that, and he knows that. I would decidedly opportunity he's a pro. He wants to beryllium great. He wants nan shot successful those large moments.

“He wants nan shot erstwhile a corner's draped each complete him, because he trusts his abilities to make that drawback each azygous time.”

Indiana quarterbacks coach Chandler Whitmer, who earned a rookie minicamp induce from nan Philadelphia Eagles successful 2015 and spent clip arsenic an NFL adjunct coach from 2021–24, validated Ferrell’s belief that Sarratt has a master future.

Whitmer noted he doesn’t emotion comparisons, because each subordinate is unsocial and shouldn’t beryllium put into a box. But Whitmer sees similarities betwixt Sarratt and Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans, a six-time Pro Bowl selection, successful really they ever put themselves successful advantageous positions for back-shoulder throws and maneuver to a spot betwixt nan defender and nan ball.

“He's a quarterback's champion friend,” Whitmer told Indiana Hoosiers On SI. “He knows really to get open.”

And Indiana backmost Fernando Mendoza knows really to find him. There’s school required to propulsion back-shoulder passes, said Whitmer, who smiled and said he’d alternatively not stock what that contains. But overmuch of it comes down to reps, chemistry and 2 high-level players making high-level plays.

Now, arsenic nan Hoosiers fresh for nan first nationalist title crippled successful programme history, they expect Sarratt to proceed rising to nan occasion. They expect him to people touchdowns. They expect him to make a “crazy catch,” Whitmer said, because it’s what he does successful practice, what he does successful games, and who he is arsenic a player.

When Sarratt made a contested drawback against Oregon that drew gasps from fans wrong Mercedes-Benz Stadium, he returned to nan sideline to a warm, nickname-filled greeting from teammates who were happy, but unsurprised — aft all, Williams said, they spot him do crazier things each time successful practice.

“We'll beryllium like, ‘Waffle House, it’s easy money,’” Williams said of nan sideline’s guidance to Sarratt’s large plays.
“He ever does this.”

Sarratt will beryllium 1 of Indiana’s 4 crippled captains Monday night, which marks nan culmination of a four-year assemblage travel that started successful nan FCS, transitioned to nan Sun Belt and will extremity connected nan sport’s biggest stage.

Sarratt has lived up to his Waffle House moniker. There’s different adage factoring into Monday night’s equation: Big clip players make large clip plays successful large clip games.

Indiana has nary uncertainty Sarratt, beardown hands, elite instincts and all, will unrecorded up to that moniker, too, erstwhile rubber meets nan roadworthy successful Miami Gardens.

“He's nan man,” Whitmer said.