Big Picture: Indiana's Fernando Mendoza Reminds Us How Beautiful CFB Can Be

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The fourth-quarter play they’ll remember forever was equal parts simple and complex, an embodiment of the confounding paradox that made this Indiana team irresistible under head coach Curt Cignetti. Facing fourth-and-4 from the 12-yard line, desperately needing a score to quell Miami’s second-half surge, Cignetti eschewed a field goal and decided the ball should never leave Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza’s hands. So the Hoosiers called for a quarterback draw, a designed run by Mendoza up the middle, and leaned on the opponent-specific schematics their staff had outlined in what Cignetti described as a 45-minute discussion regarding how and when to implement this very play. That was the sophisticated part.

The simple part was what Mendoza needed to do next — catch the snap, surge across the line of scrimmage, keep pushing until the first down was secured — even if the skill and will to get there defied comprehension, just like everything else the Hoosiers have accomplished this season. From his perch in the shotgun, Mendoza launched forward and veered right as he approached the line of scrimmage, lurching around the diving block from center Pat Coogan. He slammed into one defender at the 6-yard line and pinballed into another, nary a nanosecond later, steadying himself mid-spin by placing his right hand on the turf. He regained his balance, squeezed the football in both hands and dove backward across the goal line for an all-time touchdown, the small of his back absorbing one final blow from the Hurricanes for good measure. 

And with all due respect to legendary basketball coach Bob Knight, who won three national championships at Indiana, highlighted by an undefeated season in the 1975-76 campaign, this was the greatest sporting moment a Hoosier has ever produced.  

"To watch Heisman-Doza make one of the most magical, legendary plays in college football history," said Mark Cuban, the former principal owner of the Dallas Mavericks and a proud Indiana alum, during an on-field interview amid the post-game celebration, "I’m like, ‘OK, we’re not kicking? We’re going for it? Oh my god. Oh my god!’ 

"That’s what champions do."

(Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)

Somehow, someway, on a chilly night at Hard Rock Stadium, these improbable No. 1 Hoosiers and their inimitable quarterback were immortalized by staving off No. 10 Miami, 27-21, in a College Football Playoff national title game that dragged for hours before accelerating into a thriller, handing Mendoza his grandest stage. That someone like Mendoza will be remembered as any kind of champion at all is a wondrous reminder of how beautiful collegiate athletics can still be, no matter how hard things like treasonous transfer portal tactics and ham-handed power brokers try to kill it. The sport may have sold its soul decades ago for an influx of cash that never truly stopped, but any game involving teenagers and young adults, loyal fan bases and longer family lineages, will always have corners of purity. And Mendoza is as pure as they come. 

What other conclusion can be drawn when a former two-star recruit — a Miami native overlooked by his hometown Hurricanes — commits to Yale, flips to Cal because it’s the only power conference school to offer him a scholarship, and then, three years later, blossoms into the Heisman Trophy winner and the potential No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft, all while elevating a program that had more losses than any other in college football history at the time of his commitment to an unfathomable national championship? What else is there to think when a stadium bursting with Hoosiers, along with more than a few lingering Miami fans, serenades the star player with a full-throated rendition of "Fernando," the popular song by ABBA, as crimson and cream confetti bathes everyone and everything in sight?

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"Support from IU fans and Cane[s] fans alike has been incredible," Mendoza’s father, who is also named Fernando Mendoza, said during a post-game interview alongside the trophy presentation. "Everyone has been congratulating us and the family on the way down here. They’re great fans, it’s a great experience. Congratulations to the Canes on a great game."

So much of the buildup to this year’s national championship game revolved around the homecoming for Mendoza, who attended Christopher Columbus High School on the city’s west side — an alma mater he shares with Miami head coach Mario Cristobal — and grew up cheering for the Hurricanes. He regaled reporters over the weekend with stories about looking up to former Miami quarterbacks Brad Kaaya and Malik Rosier, about watching the Canes erase a 20-point deficit to beat rival Florida State in 2018, about the photos on his phone that capture a youthful Mendoza sporting orange and green face paint during a trip to the same stadium where the Hoosiers emerged victorious on Monday night. He spoke proudly and eloquently about how all four of his grandparents immigrated to Miami from Cuba and what it means to grow up Cuban in this culturally diverse city. He described his family’s path as an accomplishment of "the American dream."

As beautiful as Mendoza's sentiments were, it was fair to wonder how all of that personal pressure — not to mention the weight of what Indiana fans hoped would be college football’s first 16-0 season since Yale achieved that feat in 1894 — might weigh on him when the moment finally arrived. The pregame scene at Hard Rock Stadium only intensified expectations. A star-studded beach party moved indoors to support this revitalization of "The U," which hadn’t appeared in a national championship game in more than 20 years. The rapper Fat Joe mingled with DJ Khaled along the Hurricanes’ sideline. Former Miami greats Michael Irvin and Ed Reed held court with radio and television reporters who were broadcasting live before kickoff. At 6:29 p.m., ex-Hurricane Ray Lewis and former Olympic champion Michael Phelps walked onto the field together. Even the influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul began to roam. It was quintessential Miami in every way. 

But for as badly as this city wanted the Hurricanes to win — and everything around downtown Miami was decked out in Canes paraphernalia — there was still a segment of Miami’s fan base that could accept an alternate outcome because of the Hoosiers' quarterback. In an elevator on Monday afternoon, several hours before the game began, a husband and wife dressed head to toe in Miami gear admitted that they and some of their closest friends were quietly big fans of Mendoza’s. They admired the way he carries himself and everything he represents. 

MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA: Fernando Mendoza celebrates Indiana's national championship with his brother, Alberto Mendoza at Hard Rock Stadium on January 19, 2026.  (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images)

"He's the total package," Cristobal said when asked about Mendoza over the weekend. 

In a football sense, the total package meant overcoming an avalanche of bloodying hits to dice Miami’s secondary with one back-shoulder throw after another down the stretch, calmly extending drives and milking the clock until the Hurricanes were down to their last gasp — which ended on a poorly timed interception from Miami quarterback Carson Beck, whose mouth fell open in disbelief when the gravity of his mistake was realized. And while Mendoza’s numbers were far from impressive — he finished 16-of-27 for 186 yards and one rushing touchdown — he avoided turning the ball over and made every clutch play when it mattered. He played his best "when the chips were down," as Cignetti said in his post-game news conference. 

But the total package means Mendoza is far more than that, with his character extending much further than football ever could. It’s about Mendoza using part of his media day appearance on Saturday to thank the fans at Cal for supporting him even after he exited via the transfer portal. It’s about Mendoza publicly apologizing to wide receiver and roommate Charlie Becker, the recipient of two critical throws in the fourth quarter, for throwing cardboard boxes into a shared living space without picking them up. It’s about Mendoza admitting that the only social media apps on his phone are YouTube, which he uses in part to study videos about public speaking, and LinkedIn, on which he regularly updates his profile amid an ongoing quest to become "a master networker." It’s about Mendoza stating loudly and clear that his younger brother, Alberto Mendoza, who was the Hoosiers’ primary backup this season before entering the transfer portal Tuesday morning, is going to become "the best college football quarterback" one day. 

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Most importantly, it’s about Mendoza sobbing and hugging and melting into the arms of his mother, Elsa Mendoza, on the field following Indiana’s stunning win over Miami. A decades-long battle with multiple sclerosis made her a wheelchair user, whenever she's supporting the Hoosiers and her two sons. But in the biggest moment of his life, after the biggest win Indiana has ever seen, there was no way Fernando Mendoza was going to lift a trophy before sharing a tender embrace with the woman he calls "my light." It was beautiful in every way. 

"He fits the culture, he’s got the mentality, he’s got the heart, he’s got the football IQ, he’s got the leadership qualities," Cuban said. "You don’t see that very often. To have somebody like that, that’s how championships are won."

And that’s how faith in college sports gets restored.  

Michael Cohen covers college football and college basketball for FOX Sports. Follow him at @Michael_Cohen13. 

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