MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Indiana football quarterback Fernando Mendoza has made plenty of crucial plays for the Hoosiers this season.
He stood strong in the pocket to lead the Hoosiers on game-winning touchdown drives against Iowa and Penn State. He combined for just five incompletions across Indiana’s previous two College Football Playoff games compared to his eight total touchdown passes.
The signal-caller took a shot to the rib-area on his first snap from the line of scrimmage against Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship Game on Dec. 6. However, Mendoza returned after just one missed play to lead the Hoosiers to a 13-10 victory over the Buckeyes.
Mendoza’s clutch drives and toughness throughout the season earned him the Heisman Trophy and a spot at No. 1 in most 2026 NFL mock drafts.
But perhaps no play in Mendoza’s four-year collegiate career was bigger, or more gutsy, than a 12-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter of the CFP National Championship on Monday night.
During the Hoosiers’ second drive of the game, the redshirt junior took a hit to his chin. After handing the ball off to redshirt senior running back Kaelon Black, Mendoza emerged from the play with a bloodied bottom lip. Despite the high hit, no penalty was called on Miami.
This was just one of the multiple hard hits Mendoza absorbed in the first half Monday — a trend that was to the dismay of head coach Curt Cignetti.
“I'm all for letting them play,” Cignetti said postgame, “but when they cross the line, you've got to call them.”
Yet, Mendoza did not shy away from more contact in the second half. Playing in his hometown, the Miami native took command of the final Indiana touchdown drive at the start of the fourth quarter.
“I’ll die for my team,” Mendoza said postgame.
Facing a 4th and 4 situation at the Miami 12-yard line and holding a three-point lead, Mendoza dropped back as if to pass. But the signal caller quickly squared his shoulders and ran toward the line of scrimmage –– a designed quarterback draw.
Mendoza jumped-cut to his right before bouncing off two tackles. The Heisman Trophy winner twisted, regained his balance inside the 5-yard line and launched himself from the 2-yard line into the body of 6-foot-2, 235-pound Miami linebacker Mohamed Toure in the endzone –– another big hit.
The 12-yard touchdown run extended the Hoosiers’ lead to 10 points with Mendoza continuing to put his body on the line for his “band of brothers.”
“And at that point I took the drop,” Mendoza said. “It wasn’t the perfect coverage for it, but I trust my linemen, and everybody in that entire offense. The entire team had a gritty performance today. And we were all putting our bodies on the line, so it was the least I could do for my brothers.”
A constant throughout Indiana football’s perfect season had been the unit’s camaraderie. Following the Hoosiers’ regular season victory over Iowa on Sept. 27, quarterback Fernando Mendoza described this chemistry as a “band of brothers.”
On College football’s biggest stage –– the National Championship Game –– Mendoza’s message of playing for each other came alive.
“I saw (Mendoza) getting up slow a couple times,” offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan said postgame. “I think it was, you know, our first or second drive –– he took a couple hits while he was delivering the ball. But somehow it never really fazed him.”
When asked about one word he would use to describe Mendoza at Media Day on Saturday, Shanahan said “tough.”
While Mendoza had his least efficient CFP game as a Hoosier on Monday, completing 16 -of 27 passes for 186 yards and zero touchdowns, he still found a way, as he has done throughout the perfect 16-0 season, to guide the program to a National Championship victory.
Mendoza said postgame the one constant this year had been to “bet on ourselves,” regardless of the situation.
“We always figure it out,” Mendoza said.
After hoisting the first CFP National Championship trophy in Indiana football history Monday night, Mendoza jogged off the field for likely the final time in his collegiate career, closing his Indiana chapter.
As the confetti rained down on the field, “Fernando” by Abba played throughout Hard Rock Stadium. A plethora of cream and crimson in the crowd sang along, celebrating their quarterback, who put his body on the line to bring the first National Championship to Bloomington.
Follow reporters Conor Banks (@Conorbanks06 and conbanks@iu.edu) and Dalton James (@DaltonMJames and jamesdm@iu.edu) and columnist Quinn Richards (@Quinn_richa and qmrichar@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana football season.
