IOWA CITY, Iowa — In one of the most bizarre endings to a football game you’ll ever see, Indiana’s redshirt junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza snapped the ball, turned around and sprinted 40 yards toward his own endzone. Iowa’s senior cornerback TJ Hall chased him down, causing Mendoza to routinely look over his shoulder in terror as the substantially-quicker defender grew closer with every step.
I can only attempt to depict the sight by drawing a comparison to a mother chasing her recently-learned-to-walk child down the street. The only difference is that Hall tackled Mendoza in the endzone for a safety. While I can’t confirm, I would have to assume a mother would avoid tackling her toddler.
Had it been any other circumstance, the play would’ve been a staple on sports blooper reels for years to come — this wasn’t any other circumstance. Leading by seven with three seconds left in the fourth quarter, Mendoza’s unconventional dash backward sealed Indiana’s 20-15 win over Iowa Saturday at Kinnick Stadium.
The play gave the Hawkeyes two points. It gave the Hoosiers a win.
“I probably cooked people's spreads and stuff like that,” Mendoza said in his postgame press conference, generating laughter from the media. “I really apologize for that. However, in that moment, my goal was to win the game.”
The spread opened at -6.5 in favor of Indiana, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
Gambler’s regret aside, I can’t imagine a more fitting ending. Indiana didn’t deserve to win. Neither did Iowa, sure, but the Hoosiers shot themselves in the foot time after time and — if not for a missed 42-yard field goal — would’ve trailed with just two minutes left in the game.
Here’s a quick summary of Indiana’s assortment of errors.
Late in the first half, the Hoosiers’ defense earned a chance to get off the field by forcing a fourth-and-1 on their own 30-yard line. Iowa’s graduate student quarterback Mark Gronowski then used his 235-pound frame to — rather convincingly — pick up enough yardage to move the chains.
Regardless, a few Indiana players half-heartedly motioned that the Hawkeyes’ signal caller was short before dejectedly returning to their positions. Their body language told the story. Two plays later Iowa took a 10-7 lead.
On two separate occasions — in both the second and fourth quarter — the Hoosiers’ offense ran the ball on fourth-and-1 despite having fewer players in the box and every receiver in single coverage. Both plays unsurprisingly resulted in turnovers on downs.
“They came after us and we couldn't gain a yard,” head coach Curt Cignetti said, when asked about the play calling.
The icing on the cake was Mendoza’s backfooted heave to redshirt sophomore cornerback Zach Lutmer with three minutes to go in the game. I’ll take a bold risk and say Lutmer wasn’t the intended target, but considering the pass sailed both above and behind redshirt junior wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. — the closest Hoosier — who really knows.
“It was a tough game, and I did not play my best,” Mendoza said. “I just gotta be more accurate with the ball and make better decisions.”
Lutmer returned the interception 38 yards, setting up the aforementioned potential go-ahead 42-yard field goal.
These are just a few of the examples I found most egregious, but believe me, there were plenty more. Just ask Cignetti.
“You would much rather win decisively than put this on tape,” he said. “Because let me tell you, we left a lot of plays out there in the pass game, and there's some bad stuff on that tape.”
This was, without a doubt, Indiana’s worst performance this season.
The Hoosiers still won.
Mendoza’s 49-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Elijah Sarratt late in the fourth quarter propelled the Cream and Crimson to a win in front of a hostile sold-out Hawkeye crowd — even if it wasn’t pretty. “C’s get degrees” would be an appropriate expression for Indiana’s first road test of the season.
“They presented a great challenge for us,” redshirt senior center Pat Coogan said. “It shows what we're made of. We hit adversity, and we responded. And it truly shows the character of this football team.”
For the first time all year, Indiana had to figure out how to win a close game. On the road, in a tough environment, that’s exactly what the Hoosiers did.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t still concerns. The Hawkeyes forced Indiana to play their style of football — something no college football fan wants to see. Iowa chewed through the clock, switched the field with quality special teams plays and limited the explosiveness of the Hoosiers’ offense.
Indiana didn’t control the game. Moving forward, that can’t happen against the talent of the Big Ten’s elite. Oregon — who the Hoosiers will visit next on Oct. 11 — isn’t like Iowa. The Ducks won’t make the same mistakes that yielded Cignetti’s team multiple chances to redeem itself.
The Hoosiers need to be better.
With all that being said, it’s still important to have perspective. Indiana won a chaotic back-and-forth game against a conference opponent. It was ugly, but I was on the edge of my seat, nonetheless. And finally, when it mattered most, Mendoza and Sarratt — the Hoosiers’ biggest stars — stepped up.
“Obviously, you wanna win by a ton of points like we did in Illinois,” Mendoza said. “But when it’s a game down to the wire, and I'm able to throw a game-winning touchdown to my guy, Elijah, that's what college football is all about.”
Mendoza’s center shared a similar — though more simplified — sentiment.
“It's college football at its finest,” Coogan said.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames and jamesdm@iu.edu) and Conor Banks (@Conorbanks06 and conbanks@iu.edu) and columnist Quinn Richards (@Quinn_richa and qmrichar@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana football season.
