COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Indiana senior receiver Elijah Sarratt checked a box he’d hoped he never would Saturday in the No. 2 Hoosiers’ 55-10 victory over Maryland at SECU Stadium: Complete a college football game without a reception.

Sarratt entered Saturday with an FBS-best 46-game reception streak, and he’d caught at least one pass in every game he’d played from Saint Francis (Pa.), James Madison University and his first year-and-a-half in Bloomington.

The streak ended Saturday, but with an asterisk. Sarratt suffered a hamstring injury in the first quarter and did not play the remainder of the game. He was on the field for only nine snaps, according to Pro Football Focus.

“Sarratt, hamstring tightened up on him a little bit,” Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said postgame.

Bowling Green State tight end Jyrin Johnson now holds the longest active reception streak at 42 consecutive games.

Without Sarratt, the Hoosiers turned to sophomore receiver Charlie Becker, a budding breakout player and roommate of Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza. Becker caught only pass Saturday, but he made it count.

Leading 7-3 with 13 minutes remaining in the second quarter, Mendoza fired an eight-yard pass to Becker, who turned up field and collected 44 yards after the catch to complete a 52-yard gain. It marked the longest reception of Becker’s career.

“(Becker) showed that real good speed,” Mendoza said postgame, “and I think he went in there and did a good job blocking.”

But Becker’s quality showing doesn’t overshadow the absence of Sarratt, who entered Saturday leading the Hoosiers in catches (45), receiving yards (609) and receiving touchdowns (10), the last of which is also the best mark in the Big Ten.

“Elijah going out, that obviously sucks,” Mendoza said. “He creates a lot of big plays, and also he creates a lot of double teams, which can set up a lot of other guys.”

Redshirt junior Omar Cooper Jr. led the Hoosiers in receiving Saturday, catching seven passes for 86 yards and one touchdown on nine targets. Redshirt senior receiver E.J. Williams Jr. added two catches for 15 yards, while freshman LeBron Bond caught a 14-yard pass and redshirt senior receiver Jonathan Brady notched a six-yard score.

While the Hoosiers can’t afford — and don’t appear likely —to lose Sarratt for an extended period, Saturday offered a glimpse at the depth behind him.

“We have a lot of confidence in all our guys, and the depth, and just the whole Indiana team,” Mendoza said. “It’s next man up, next man mentality, that they’re going to go and do their job. And not just be a filler, but they’re going to excel at their job.”

The 6-foot-2, 213-pound Sarratt is a strong perimeter blocker and an asset to the Hoosiers’ running game, but Indiana still delivered its best performance on the ground this season.

Indiana rushed for 367 yards, and three runners — redshirt seniors Kaelon Black and Roman Hemby and redshirt freshman Khobie Martin — each eclipsed 80 rushing yards. The Hoosiers averaged over seven yards per carry.

Black, who had 14 carries for a game-high 110 yards, said Indiana’s offense had to pivot after Sarratt’s injury.

“Honestly, it was just — things were just happening on the fly,” Black said. “But I feel like our coaches did a great job of just making sure that we were prepared going into it, regardless of the situation. And I feel like we came out and we did what we had to do.”

No. 2 Indiana (9-0, 6-0 Big Ten) has little time to rest and recovery, as it faces Penn State (3-5, 0-5 Big Ten) at noon Saturday, Nov. 8, at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.

The Atlanta Hawks continue their four-game road trip tonight when they face the Indiana Pacers. Atlanta is of course going to be without Trae Young, but the Pacers have their own injury issues to worry about. This team looks nothing like the one that had made back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals and it might be a tough season for Rick Carlisle’s team.

Even without Young, the Hawks are the favorites in tonight’s game and it will be interesting to see how they operate without him. Young is one of the best ball handlers and play makers in the NBA and he takes up a lot of the usage on offense. I look for Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson, Keaton Wallace, and possibly Vit Krejci to take those duties.

The game is about to tip-off and here are the starting lineups for tonight’s game:

G- Nickeil Alexander-Walker

G- Dyson Daniels

F- Zaccharie Risacher

F- Jalen Johnson

C- Kristaps Porzingis

G- Quenton Jackson

G- Aaron Nesmith

F- Jarace Walker

F- Pascal Siakam

C- Isaiah Jackson

How have the Hawks looked in the advanced numbers to start the season? Our own Rohan Raman looked deeper at this team today in a preview of today’s game:

“The Hawks’ offense had a good night against a hapless Brooklyn defense, which is pushing them up the rankings. They’re 23rd in points, 19th in FG%, 19th in 3P%, 21st in FT%, 26th in rebounds (20th in OREB), 8th in assists and 4th in turnovers per game. However, it wouldn’t be surprising if those numbers took a bit of a decline. Young’s floor on offense can’t be easily replaced.

Brooklyn’s heavy reliance on three-pointers leaves them at the mercy of shooting variance and thankfully, it swung in Atlanta’s favor during their matchup and improved their overall numbers. In a per-game basis, Atlanta ranks 20th in points allowed, 28th in FG% allowed, 5th in 3P% allowed, 26th in rebounds allowed, 17th in steals and 15th in blocks.

The injuries have wreaked havoc on a previously strong Pacers offense. They rank 25th in points, 29th in FG%, 26th in 3P%, 30th in FT%, 2nd in rebounds (5th in OREB), 27th in assists and 7th in turnovers per game. Their rebounding numbers have kept them in games, but it’s a far cry from the offensive juggernaut Indiana had last season.

Even though the Pacers have been able to hold up at the point of attack, their defense hasn’t been much better. They’re 22nd in points allowed, 11th in FG% allowed, 2nd in 3P% allowed, 29th in rebounds allowed, 30th in steals and 11th in blocks.”