Fernando Mendoza led Indiana to beat Miami 27-21 to win the College Football Playoff national championship on Monday. With the win on Monday night at Hard Rock Stadium, the Hoosiers capped one of the greatest seasons in college football history, becoming the first 16-0 team in the modern era.
Fernando Mendoza’s Passion-Fueled Postgame Interview Goes Viral After Title Win
In the championship game, Mendoza took a magnificent quarterback draw straight up the middle on fourth-and-5 from the 12-yard line late in the fourth quarter. He burst past two defenders to reach the first-down marker and kept pushing forward, colliding with two more defenders and even one of his own linemen.
However, Mendoza kept spinning back toward the end zone and launched himself forward with the ball stretched out. As he crossed the goal line, he absorbed another hit from a Miami defender but never lost control, crashing to the ground for a crucial touchdown. The score extended Indiana’s lead to 24-14, which provided just enough breathing room to hold off a late Miami rally.
Following the win, Mendoza delivered a powerful reaction to his unforgettable fourth-down rushing score.
“I had to go airborne,” Mendoza said. “I’ll die for my team. If they need me to take shots – the front or the back, whatever it is — I’ll die for my team out there.”
Mendoza capped off the national title game by completing 16 of 27 passes for 186 yards while adding the rushing touchdown.
After being named offensive MVP, Mendoza addressed his teammates with a smile. “I love you guys. Great job. Let’s go!”
Mendoza’s transfer to Indiana proved to be a perfect move, as he collected multiple major honors this season, including the Heisman Trophy, Davey O’Brien Award, and Maxwell Award. Besides individual accolades, he led Indiana to historic milestones: its first-ever No. 1 ranking, its first Big Ten championship in 58 years, and its first undefeated season in 80 years.
Those accomplishments were even more remarkable given that Indiana, ranked No. 1 in the PFSN College Football Offense Metric, entered the 2025 season as the losingest program in college football history.
“I think it really shows the power of God and the power of bonding with one another and having the power of belief,” Mendoza told Scott Van Pelt following the win. “If you were to go beginning of the year and say all those opponents would be like Indiana beat those guys, I love you, but even you would say no in a row.
“But the way that we believe in each other, the way that we game plan, we prepped, we never stayed complacent throughout the entire year when we won the Big Ten chip, when our team won the Heisman, when we won the first or second round, our team never stayed complacent. And we knew that if we had that self-belief in each other, we’re able to elevate to this point.”
Mendoza attended Christopher Columbus High School in Miami and was rated as a two-star recruit. He was even turned down for a walk-on opportunity at Miami. He called the championship a “full-circle moment,” as he won the title in Miami in front of his friends and family.
