Fernando Mendoza caps magical run with national title
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Juan Beltran, Contributor
- January 20, 2026
Fernando Mendoza leads Indiana past Miami
Growing up not far from the University of Miami, Fernando Mendoza longed to play football for the Hurricanes. He was even willing to join the Hurricanes without a scholarship, but Miami wouldn’t even take him as a walk-on.
On a glorious Monday night at Hard Rock Stadium, a short drive from his childhood home, Mendoza refused to be denied again by Miami. Mendoza led No. 1 Indiana over Miami to win the Hoosiers’ first football national title.
Indiana 27, Miami 21.
The former 2-star recruit made the defining play of the College Football Playoff National Championship late in the fourth quarter.
“This victory is so sweet for everybody, the entire Hoosier nation,” Mendoza told ESPN immediately after the victory. “But also it’s super sweet for myself. I was a 2-star recruit coming out of high school. I was declined a walk-on offer to the University of Miami.
“Full-circle moment here playing in Miami with all the friends and family.”
After the win, he found his parents, Fernando Mendoza Sr. and Elsa Mendoza, on the field. Fernando Mendoza Jr. hugged his parents as they celebrated.
Gutsy call
On 4th and 5 at the Miami 12-yard line with 9:27 left in the fourth quarter, Indiana coach Curt Cignetti called a timeout. The Hoosiers led 17-14, and many coaches might have opted for a field goal attempt.
Cignetti sent his redshirt junior quarterback back on the field. The 6-foot-5, 225-pounder kept the ball on a quarterback draw. He broke toward the end zone. Indiana’s offensive line cleared the way.
A Miami defender finally made contact with Mendoza at about the 5-yard line. Fernando Mendoza knocked the defender back with ease before diving into the end zone for the touchdown.
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“Let me tell you, Fernando, I know he’s great in interviews and comes off as the All-American guy,” Cignetti said. “But he has the heart of a lion when it comes to competition. That guy competes like a warrior. He got really smacked a few times in this game.
“That one drive we kicked a field goal, there should have been two roughing the quarterbacks and one high hit to the head that weren’t called. I’m all for letting them play, but when they cross the line you’ve got to call them. Can’t say enough about his effort on that play and our team finding a way to get it done.”
The tough run was emblematic of Mendoza’s rise from a 2-star recruit to a Heisman Trophy-winning national champion.
Fernando Mendoza put body on the line
“Whenever Coach Cignetti, Coach (Mike) Shanahan, they called that play, we knew, ‘Hey, we’re going to better ourselves one more time at the biggest stage of the game,’” Mendoza said. “At that point I took the drop. It wasn’t the perfect coverage for it.
“But I trust my linemen. And everybody in that entire offense, that 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.”
Despite an offer to play Ivy League football at Yale, Mendoza accepted his only Division I football scholarship offer to start his career at Cal.
After redshirting as a freshman, Mendoza started for two seasons at Cal before hitting the transfer portal. He graduated from Cal in three years and then began his career at Indiana, leading the Hoosiers to a historic 16-0 run.
Joining Yale
Indiana is the first 16-0 national champion since the 1894 Yale Bulldogs. The Hurricanes answered quickly. Malachi Toney took Carson Beck’s short pass for a 22-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 24-21 with 6:37 to play.
“Yeah, a big constant that we’ve really had on ourselves this year is always bet on ourselves,” Mendoza said. “Whether it’s preseason no one thinks we can make it, whether it’s figuring out in situations like Oregon, Penn State, and Iowa, we always figure it out.”
Indiana added a field goal to go ahead 27-21 with 1:42 to play. There was just enough time left on the clock for Miami to have one last drive. Miami native Jamari Sharpe secured the victory by intercepting Beck’s pass at the Indiana 6-yard line with 44 seconds to play.
“It’s a tough one,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. “Tough one to have to eat, but we will. That’s it.”
Juan Beltran
Contributor
Juan Beltran, who immigrated to the United States from El Salvador at 5 years old, is an experienced broadcast journalist
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