Indiana WR Omar Cooper Jr. Tabbed Big Ten Offensive Player of Week After Career Day

Indiana receiver Omar Cooper Jr. set career highs with 10 catches for 207 yards and four touchdowns against Indiana State.
Indiana's Omar Cooper Jr. (3) during the Indiana vs. Indiana State football game Friday, Sept. 12, 2025, at Memorial Stadium.
Indiana's Omar Cooper Jr. (3) during the Indiana vs. Indiana State football game Friday, Sept. 12, 2025, at Memorial Stadium. | Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana football redshirt junior receiver Omar Cooper Jr. turned his career day against Indiana State into his first piece of Big Ten-issued hardware.

Cooper earned Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week after setting career highs with 10 catches for 207 yards and four touchdowns in the No. 19 Hoosiers' 73-0 victory over Indiana State on Sept. 12 at Merchants Bank Field inside Memorial Stadium.

The 6-foot, 201-pound Cooper collected 136 yards after the catch and scored touchdowns from 13, 13, 31 and 58 yards. It marked Cooper's first multi-touchdown game in college and tied the school record for single-game receiving scores, matching James Hardy III's mark against Michigan State in 2006.

Cooper scored 24 points, which is tied for the third most on the Hoosiers' single-game scoring list and is tied for the most in a game since Anthony Thompson notched 32 points against Northwestern in 1989, according to IU Athletics.

Cooper's 207 yards ranks No. 7 on Indiana's all-time single-game list, and it's the most by a Hoosier since Ty Fryfogle logged 218 yards against Ohio State in 2020. Fryfogle also won Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts. Cooper's performance marked the ninth 200-yard receiving game in school history,

Additionally, his 207 receiving yards puts him in a tie for the most by a Power Four pass-catcher this season and is the most by a Big Ten wideout thus far.

Cooper and the Hoosiers return to action at 7:30 p.m. Saturday against No. 9 Illinois inside Memorial Stadium. The game will be broadcast on NBC.


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Daniel Flick
DANIEL FLICK

Daniel Flick is a senior in the Indiana University Media School and previously covered IU football and men's basketball for the Indiana Daily Student. Daniel also contributes NFL Draft articles for Sports Illustrated, and before joining Indiana Hoosiers On SI, he spent three years writing about the Atlanta Falcons and traveling around the NFL landscape for On SI. Daniel is the winner of the Joan Brew Scholarship, and he will cover Indiana sports once more for the 2025-26 season.