Win or lose, Indiana’s dream season will culminate Monday night as the undefeated Hoosiers (15-0) face Miami (13-2) in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game. This Indiana unit already owns the most wins school history, but it could become the first major college team in the modern era to reach 16 victories (only Yale in 1894 has gone 16-0).
No single play defines a season, but if there’s one that was perhaps a catalyst for IU’s incredible run, it was Omar Cooper Jr.’s toe-tapping, game-winning catch on the road at Penn State on Nov. 8.
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Cooper snagged the pass from eventual Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza in the back of the end zone, tapping his foot just inside the boundary as a defender tried to push him out of bounds. With just 36 seconds remaining, the catch kept Indiana’s perfect season alive and its hopes of playing for a Big Ten championship. The Hoosiers won out in the regular season, then defeated defending national champion Ohio State in the conference championship to earn the No. 1 seed for the College Football Playoff.
“That drive will go down in the annals of Indiana history as one of the most special moments that ever took place,” head coach Curt Cignetti told Hoosiers radio voice Don Fischer after the game. “Penn State was bringing everybody and we went into max protection. Cooper made an unbelievable catch. It’s a game of inches.”
On a team heavily comprised of transfers, especially those who came over from James Madison with Cignetti prior to last season, Cooper is one of the few who has spent his entire college career in Bloomington. The junior from Indianapolis has played in all 15 games this season and leads the Hoosiers in receptions (64) and receiving yards (866), and is second in touchdowns with 13.
In his first two years at IU, Cooper primarily lined up out wide, but he’s found success this season as a slot receiver. He told IUHoosiers.com that he likes the position because it gives him more route-running options.
“It allows my game to be more open and involved,” he said. “At first, I didn’t want to play slot, so I’m actually glad they made that decision.”
His team-high yards mark was aided by a career performance in Indiana’s 73-0 win over Indiana State on Sept. 12: 10 catches for 207 yards and four touchdowns. His next stat-heavy game came in a 38-13 win over Michigan State on Oct. 18, when he caught eight passes for 115 yards and a touchdown.
He’s come a long way since his freshman year, when he caught 18 passes for 267 yards and two touchdowns. Speaking at an event on campus in November, he talked about how his faith played a pivotal role in his career, especially early on.
“Early in my college career, football wasn’t going well for me,” he said. “I just was expecting more and hoping for more. I just was spiraling bad after that.”
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Randomly, Proverbs 3:5-6 popped into his head. The verse says: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
“In that moment, I was scared, but I felt peace,” he said at the on-campus event. “The fact that that just randomly happened — knowing that I wasn’t really living the life that I was supposed to be living, that God had planned for me, and I turned to the worldly things — it just sent a peace over my head and what I was going through. Ever since then, Jesus just truly changed the way that I see life.”
Cooper wears eye black in the shape of a cross as a statement of his faith in God and often uses his social media to proclaim his faith, with his Instagram bio stating that he’s a “Follower of Christ.” Many of his posts include Scripture.
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After his big game against Indiana State, he deflected any praise toward him and instead gave thanks to God.
“First, I just want to give all the glory and praise to God. I wouldn’t have been able to have that without Him,” Cooper said.
Cooper has another year of eligibility after this one, but he’ll have a decision to make following the championship game on whether to return to IU or enter the NFL Draft. With a sprint speed of nearly 22 miles per hour, he’s one of the fastest receivers in the Big Ten. Mendoza said Cooper’s combination of speed and catching skills will earn him a spot on an NFL roster.
Whichever level he chooses to play at, Cooper’s faith will remain at the forefront. Before he takes the field for a game, he recites Colossians 3:23-24: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
“I tell myself that every time I go on the field,” he told IUHoosiers.com. “It helps me push to the next level.”
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