Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza parted through his blockers and the Miami Hurricanes like it was the Red Sea for a game-sealing touchdown in a 27-21 victory for the national championship on Monday.
Mendoza ran the ball 12 yards on fourth down and five yards to go, and he dove over a pair of Hurricanes for the touchdown for a 24-14 lead in the fourth quarter. The Hoosiers held off the Hurricanes for a 16-0 record, the first in major college football history since Yale in 1894.
“I had to go airborne [for the touchdown], and I’ll die for my team,” Mendoza told ESPN afterward. “Whatever they need me to do, they need me to take, you know, shots, in the front and the back. Whatever it is, I’m going to die for my team out there.”
“And I know they’re going to do the same for me. That’s what makes us so close. And that’s what makes this national championship so special,” he added.
A Miami native, Mendoza became the Heisman Trophy winner this season and finished his junior season at champion in his hometown, where he grew up under a mile from the Miami campus. Mendoza went 16-27 for 186 yards, and he finished with -8 yards rushing on seven carries, but he scored the touchdown that made the difference in the end.
Fernando Mendoza Credits Miami Defense
Mendoza and the Hoosiers had to grind this one out after dominating Alabama and Oregon in the previous two games with 94 points combined.
Indiana only led this one 17-7 going into the fourth quarter, and the Hoosiers had only three points for most of the first half. For Mendoza, it was his only game without a touchdown pass this season, except for an anomaly of no touchdown passes against Old Dominion in the season opener.
“I mean, shout out to the Miami defense,” Mendoza told ESPN. “You can see why their two edges are [future] first-round picks. I mean, it was going to be a physical game, and you know, we had to play physical, and we did play physical.”
Fernando Mendoza Reminds Miami What Could Have Been
Mendoza didn’t let the Hurricanes forget the big picture after winning on the team’s home field at Hard Rock Stadium.
“We elevated it, and this … victory is so sweet for everybody, for the entire Hoosier nation,” Mendoza told ESPN. “But also, you know, it’s super sweet … (for) myself. I was a two-star recruit coming out of high school. I got declined a walk-on offer to the University of Miami.”
“Full circle moment here, playing in Miami for all the friends and family,” Mendoza continued. “I can’t thank coach [Curt] Cignetti enough … for taking a chance on me and just give all the glory to God.”
Mendoza once watched Hurricanes games as a youth, but his college career took him to California, where he played for three seasons before he transferred to Indiana. He threw for 4,712 yards and 30 touchdowns in 20 career games for the Golden Bears, but he took things to another level with the Hoosiers this season, with 3,349 yards passing and 41 touchdowns.
“There’s no words,” Mendoza said about the national championship. “This is the most special moment of my life.”
Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza Sends Strong Message After Beating Miami