Mendoza Leads Indiana Into CFP Title Game

Fernando Mendoza is on a roll. The Hoosier quarterback became Indiana’s first Heisman winner last month in runaway fashion after leading IU to a perfect season, a Big Ten title and the top seed in the 12-team College Football Playoff.

Since then, the 2025 Heisman winner has led Indiana to dominant CFP quarterfinal and semifinal victories over Alabama and Oregon, respectively. He will next lead the Hoosiers into the national championship game against No. 10 seed Miami on Jan. 19 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, not far from where Mendoza grew up.

The Offensive MVP of the semifinal game, Mendoza became just the third Heisman winner to win two postseason games, joining Joe Burrow (2019) and DeVonta Smith (2020), whose respective LSU and Alabama teams won the four-team CFP those years.

Of course, a Hoosier victory over Miami will break that mark and Indiana will become the first modern-era team with 16 wins.

But there’s time for that. Let’s enjoy Mendoza’s joy following the semifinal win, here.

Mendoza is the first Heisman winner to reach the CFP finale since Bryce Young directed Alabama to the 2021 season title game in the four-team format, which the Crimson Tide lost to Georgia.

If the Hoosiers win, Mendoza will join Burrow, Smith and 2015 winner Derrick Henry among Heisman winners to capture CFP title. He would also become just the 18th Heisman winner on a national title team, albeit the eighth in the last 22 seasons.

As has been noted widely, Mendoza has been masterful in his first two CFP games, completing 31-of-37 passes for 369 yards and eight touchdowns without an interception, including a Hoosier-record five against Oregon. He has two more touchdown passes than incompletions and has also rushed for 44 yards.

Mendoza now has 41 TD passes on the season, becoming just the fourth Big Ten QB with at least 40 scoring tosses. He has 3,349 passing yards and a national-best passer rating of 187.96.