Sarratt, Hoosiers Using Spring Practice to ‘Keep Building’
Pete DiPrimio | IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Elijah Sarratt has no time for status quo, no time to think he has hit his college-performance peak after an All-Big Ten Indiana debut. A final college season remains and the senior receiver has much to do, in skill building, in physical training, in film watching.
Oh, and one other thing.
“I want to get faster,” he says. “That’s the main thing.”
Faster in, say, the 40-yard dash?
“Faster in football,” he says. “You always want to get faster. Improve your quickness.”
Sarratt has had plenty of speed to burn defenses and defensive backs. He’s coming off a season in which he led IU in catches (53), receiving yards (957) and receiving touchdowns (eight) to help the Hoosiers go 11-2 and reach the playoffs for the first time in school history.
He wants more.
“I want to improve in everything. Run my routes better. Getting my depth. Little nick knacks like working my hands and my routes. Fine tuning all the stuff I’m good at and get better.”
Once a lightly recruited high school all-purpose player out of Virginia, Sarratt has become very good at getting better. He was a key member in perhaps the most prolific offense in school history. IU led the Big Ten in scoring (41.3 points) and thrived via the run (165.1 yards per game, 37 touchdowns) and the pass (261.3 yards per game, 33 touchdowns). There’s no reason why the Hoosiers can’t match if not surpass those numbers, he says. Spring practice backs him up.
“We’re keeping things the same and building on it. We didn’t turn the ball over a lot. Keep that the same. In the run game and the pass game, we want to be balanced there. We’ll make a few minor tweaks, but nothing crazy. Just keep clicking and building.”
IU only had nine turnovers all season -- six interceptions, three lost fumbles. Can it do better this season? Why not, Sarratt asks.
“We did well, but we want to improve that. If we had three turnovers last year, we want to have two this year. If we get better by one, that’s an improvement.”
Improvement comes from familiarity. This is head coach Curt Cignetti’s second Hoosier spring practice and returning veterans such as Sarratt are well versed in what needs to be done.
“We’re a lot further ahead than we were last year at this time. Last year, we didn’t do a lot of 7-on-7 because we were all new and not everyone was on the same page. Now we have guys who are familiar. It’s a lot smoother.”
Smoothness includes a reunion. Sarratt is joined by receiver and former Saint Francis of Pennsylvania teammate Makai Jackson, who transferred from Appalachian State after beginning his college career at Saint Francis.
Jackson earned FCS freshman All-America honors at Saint Francis after catching 85 passes for 991 yards and nine touchdowns. Sarratt also earned FCS freshman All-America status at Saint Francis by totaling 42 catches for 700 yards.
Cignetti, then the James Madison head coach, offered both of them after that season. Sarratt accepted the offer and made first-team All-Sun Belt Conference while totaling 82 catches for 1,191 yards and eight touchdowns. Jackson went to Appalachian State for two years and totaled 73 catches for 1,163 yards and seven touchdowns in 25 games before entering the transfer portal.
“He’s one of my best friends,” Sarratt says. “This offseason, I mentioned something to (offensive coordinator Mike) Shanahan, and he said if he enters (the transfer portal), we'd like him. He eventually entered, came up on a visit and things went well.
“He's a great player. He can play inside and outside. He is going to make a lot of contributions for us.”
As far as their time at Saint Francis, Sarratt says, “We were there to work. His stats were better than mine. It was a great time. Outside of football, we hung out every day. We had a great time together, and I’m glad we are reunited.”
Sarratt and Jackson join returning veterans Omar Cooper Jr. (28 catches, 594 yards, seven touchdowns) and E.J. Williams Jr. (two catches, 49 yards), plus a couple of promising freshmen in Lebron Bond out of Virginia and Myles Kendrick out of Florida.
“Lebron looks really good,” Sarratt says. “He will be good. As a freshman, he makes minor mistakes, but I tell him to play fast. If he does, everything else will fall into place. He’ll pick it up soon.
“(With Kendrick) it’s the little flashes he shows; the way he jumps up and catches a pass. The way he runs routes. He looks good on contested passes. You’ll have those high-school mistakes, but he looks good for sure.”
Here’s another thing for sure – so does Sarratt.