Indiana wide receiver Elijah Sarratt (13) runs up field after catching a pass during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Iowa, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, in Iowa City, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

During a practice in 2022 while at Saint Francis, wide receiver Elijah Sarratt blew out a cleat to the point that his foot was coming out of the shoe.

Sarratt taped up the cleat and went straight back to work to finish practice.

“We didn’t realize it until practice was almost over,” Red Flash coach Chris Villarrial said. “I was like, ‘This guy is different. This guy is going to be special.’ That’s when we realized his ability and how good he can be.”

The work that Sarratt put on display resulted in a FCS Freshman All-American selection by both Stats Perform and HERO Sports. He was also a Northeast Conference first-team pick as he caught 13 touchdowns that year, which tied a single-season program record.

It was a special year at Saint Francis with the Flash winning the NEC and playing a game in the FCS playoffs.

It’s not much of a surprise to anyone who was at Saint Francis at the time that Sarratt is now in Miami preparing for tonight’s College Football Playoff championship as a key member of the Indiana Hoosiers.

The Hoosiers will culminate a storybook season, one that has turned out a Heisman Trophy winner in quarterback Fernando Mendoza and a Big Ten championship for the first time since 1967 when they shared the title with Minnesota and Purdue.

The Hoosiers might be a de facto visitor to Miami, which is playing the national title game on its home turf.

But that doesn’t seem to matter to anyone in Las Vegas — or anyone who has watched Indiana play this year — as the Hoosiers are 7¢-point favorites against the Hurricanes.

Some of that has been due to Sarratt’s brilliance.

The senior has 802 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns for the season, including seven catches for 72 yards and two TDs against Oregon in the Peach Bowl in the CFP semifinals.

Villarrial and his staff noticed as soon as the second week of training camp of how special of a player Sarratt was, and they had him in Loretto of all places.

Sarratt had no FBS Division I offers out of high school in Virginia, but Saint Francis gave him the shot he needed.

“He just showed up every day and competed,” Villarrial said. “He wasn’t afraid to go down field and block. He was very intelligent. He didn’t make a lot of mistakes, but he always came to work. He never complained.”

The way he went about his business was noticeable among his teammates, as well.

Red Flash placekicker Alex Schmoke, a Bellwood-Antis graduate who is now an industrial arts teacher at his alma mater, was among Sarratt’s believers.

“I think everyone was shocked by what he did as a leader when he came in with us as a freshman,” Schmoke said. “I had a couple roommates that were receivers, and they always talked about how he was always a guy that was able to step up for us. He always tried to take control of the wide receiver room and help in any way he could.”

Sarratt was emerging in Loretto, but there was a desire to play with his brother, Josh, a safety at James Madison. The Colonials had just become a Division I program under Curt Cignetti, who is now the coach at Indiana.

“We were hoping to get two years out of him. After that year he had, and that was such a special year, we knew we weren’t going to see much more of him,” Villarrial said.

“We knew the only way we had the ability to keep him is if James Madison didn’t want him. As soon as I talked to Coach Cignetti, that all changed. We knew he was gone.”

More dominance came and went in two years at JMU, and when the time came for an opportunity to join Cignetti with the Hoosiers in 2024, Sarratt took it.

Nobody in Loretto seems to be surprised at the level Sarratt is at now. He has skyrocketed up NFL Draft boards, with some of the experts having him being picked as early as the second round.

“It just shows what a good work ethic can do,” Schmoke said. “He was always a guy that was always working hard in the weight room and on the field. He never really took any days off.”

There’s been a handful of Saint Francis alumni who have appeared in NFL games. Most of them came before the Super Bowl era.

Sarratt will almost be assured to be the next.

“I can’t wait to watch him on Sundays,” Villarrial said.