Fernando Mendoza lay in his bed in the days after Indiana football defeated then-No. 1 Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship game Dec. 6.
The redshirt junior quarterback sustained what he described as a “pretty bad” turf burn on his right arm against the Buckeyes inside Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The burn made falling asleep difficult.
So, after Mendoza cemented his Heisman Trophy candidacy with his 222-yard, one-touchdown and one-interception performance, he did some research.
Being an avid college football fan, Mendoza said he has a good recollection of the Heisman winners from his lifetime. But he brushed up on the speeches those players delivered.
“So, I watched, like I would say, around probably 10 Heisman speeches,” Mendoza said in a press conference Tuesday. “And they’re all just so great to hear, whether it’s a Q and A or whether it’s a speech itself to get research on it.”
He’s begun preparing an acceptance speech should he win the award come Saturday night — a duty he feels compelled to do as a finalist. All major sportsbooks have him as the overwhelming favorite.
Mendoza was named a finalist for the Heisman on Monday, which honors the top player in college football, alongside Vanderbilt University quarterback Diego Pavia, University of Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love and Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin.
While Mendoza’s teammates didn’t cast any of the 930 votes for the famed trophy, they do have a resounding opinion on who should take home the award. And while Mendoza’s speech isn’t yet a final product, his teammates expect to hear him deliver it Saturday.
For senior linebacker Aiden Fisher, who led “HeisMendoza” chants on stage after defeating Ohio State, his argument starts with watching Mendoza’s film.
“The throws that he makes, they wow you every time,” Fisher said during his press conference Monday. “The job that he’s been able to do this year has been nothing short of remarkable.”
Mendoza completed 71.5% of his passes — the sixth-best mark nationally. He passed for 2,980 yards and a nation-high 33 touchdowns while tossing just six interceptions.
The Miami native was also effective in the rushing game, accumulating 240 yards and six touchdowns on the ground.
Compared to the other Heisman finalists, Mendoza doesn’t have the upper hand in every statistical category. Both Pavia and Sayin threw for more yards, while Sayin also leads the country in completion percentage at 78.4%. Love accumulated 1,652 yards from scrimmage and 21 total touchdowns.
However, Mendoza didn’t play in the third or fourth quarter in Indiana’s 73-0 victory over Indiana State. He also didn’t play in the fourth quarter against Illinois, UCLA or Purdue. He took just one fourth-quarter snap against Maryland as the Hoosiers already had dominant victories in hand.
Mendoza took just one snap in the final quarter against Maryland on Nov. 1 and
But for the games where Mendoza’s services weren’t needed in the fourth quarter, there were three where he led game-winning drives in the fourth quarter.
Against Iowa on Sept. 27 and then-No. 3 Oregon on Oct. 11, Mendoza connected with senior receiver Elijah Sarratt for the game-winning touchdowns. He also found redshirt junior receiver Omar Cooper Jr. versus Penn State on Nov. 8 for arguably the best catch this season in college football — yet another game-winner.
“When you look at his resume for this award, there’s going to be a lot of games that come down to fourth-quarter clutch drives to win football games,” Fisher said. “He’s done it every time.”
Mendoza led the Hoosiers to their first-ever 12-0 regular season and a Big Ten title. Pavia’s Commodores had two losses, while Sayin’s Buckeyes’ lone loss came to Mendoza.
“I think when you talk about the Heisman and the best football player in the country, winning games has to matter,” Fisher said. “I think he’s won more than anybody in the country. I think there’s one undefeated team left.”
Not only do the statistics and clutch gene factor into Mendoza’s case, but so does his resiliency.
When Mendoza took a punishing hit while running toward the line to gain late in the third quarter against the Hawkeyes, that’s was a “huge” moment in redshirt senior center Pat Coogan’s eyes.
“We knew it, but he showed us, again, with his actions that he’ll do anything,” Coogan said. “He’ll really do anything for us. He’ll put his body on the line just to have a chance to have success.”
Although the Hoosiers’ offensive line has allowed opposing defenses to sack Mendoza 18 times this season — a far cry from the 41 sacks he endured last season at the University of California, Berkeley — he’s always bounced back.
And even on plays where he wasn’t sacked, such as the hit Ohio State senior defensive end Caden Curry delivered, he’s still always risen. He missed the subsequent snap against the Buckeyes before returning.
“The kid is tough as nails,” Coogan said.
And while Mendoza may be the best player on the field, he’s also the ultimate professional and teammate, Coogan said.
For Mendoza’s dominant showings, clutch performances and resilient rallies, the work he puts in behind the scenes is what Sarratt thinks sets the signal caller apart.
Whether it’s the time Mendoza spends inside the facility watching film after practice or staying on the practice field to walk through plays by himself, Sarratt credits Mendoza’s success to those habits.
“Y’all don’t see the unseen hours that he puts in every single day,” Sarratt said. “He really loves this game, and he’s going to do everything he can to be the best player on that field every single Saturday, which he usually is the best player on the field every single Saturday.”
Mendoza encourages others in the locker room and talks with everybody. No matter who he encounters throughout the facility, Sarratt said he’s always greeting everyone.
“Just talking from here, he’s done such a phenomenal job of being a leader for us,” Fisher said. “Somebody that we depend on and can count on every single time. ... He's fantastic at everything he does.”
What’s yet to be seen is if Mendoza is fantastic at crafting a Heisman speech. He's enamored fans across the country with his charismatic and emotional postgame interviews and he’s already done his research on past Heisman speeches.
Now, all that’s left is to deliver his own at 8 p.m. Saturday at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Appel Room in New York City — the site of the Heisman Trophy Ceremony.
“For me, that’s my Heisman,” Fisher said. “I think that should be America’s Heisman. He’s the best football player in the country, and I don’t think it’s close.”
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.
