Randle El attended Indiana University from 1998 to 2001, playing college football primarily as a quarterback. Due to a low SAT score, he sat out his first full technical year at Indiana as a partial academic qualifier. Playing for the first time in Indiana's 1998 season opener against the Western Michigan Broncos, Randle El completed 22-of-29 passing attempts for 385 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions, as well as rushing for 82 yards on 23 carries for three touchdowns. The Hoosiers would go on to win the game, 45–30, with Randle El's 467 yards breaking the NCAA freshman total offense record in his first collegiate game. His performance was also the third all-time highest passing yards in a single game for Indiana, and would earn Randle El the co-Big Ten Player of the Week award. In the same season, Randle El would lead the team to victory over the Iowa Hawkeyes on October 17, 1998, with a rushing touchdown in the final seconds of the game. The win came after a 62–0 loss to Iowa the previous season, making Indiana the first team in the history of the Big Ten Conference to lose to a team by more than 60 points in one season, and beat them the following year. Randle El would win the Big Ten Player of the Week award for a second time for his performance. On December 1, 1998, Randle El was announced as the winner of the 1998 Big Ten Freshman of the Year award, voted for by both Conference coaches and the media. The award was later re-titled the "Thompson-Randle El Freshman of the Year" award, partly in honor of Randle El's successful college career. Over the course of the 1998 season, Randle El tallied four 100-yard rushing games, against the Minnesota Golden Gophers, the Michigan Wolverines, the Michigan State Spartans, and the Cincinnati Bearcats. He finished the season and his freshman year with 1,745 passing yards and six touchdowns, as well as 873 yards rushing as a quarterback, breaking the Indiana University season record.
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