Playoff Dominance
Mendoza’s performance in the College Football Playoff has been nothing short of masterful. In Indiana’s semifinal victory over Oregon in the Peach Bowl, he completed 17 of 20 passes for 177 yards and five touchdowns in a 55-26 win. Against Alabama in the Rose Bowl quarterfinal, he completed 14 of 16 passes for 192 yards and three touchdowns in a 38-3 blowout.
Through two playoff games, Mendoza completed 31 of 36 passes for 369 yards with eight touchdowns and zero interceptions—a near-perfect performance on college football’s biggest stage. His efficiency rating of 187.96 leads the nation and is the highest by any FBS quarterback since Jayden Daniels in 2023.
Tonight’s championship game brings Mendoza’s journey full circle—returning to his home city of Miami, where he was once ignored by the hometown Hurricanes, now as the face of the most unlikely undefeated team in college football history.
An Unlikely Journey
The fact that Mendoza has become the biggest thing in his sport is a stunning turn of events, considering how little college football wanted to do with him five years ago. He was the No. 134-rated QB in the 2022 class, committed to Yale, with major programs showing little interest.
He recalled crying on his bed over the lack of interest from major programs, with Elsa insisting that something would work out.
Among those who passed: Miami. Mendoza wore green-and-orange face paint to Hurricanes games. He went to Hurricanes football camps. His high school was five minutes from the Miami campus. The U ignored him, not even offering a preferred walk-on spot.
“That kind of pissed him off,” says recruiting analyst John Garcia.
Cal offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave took a chance on Mendoza after a call from a trusted coaching friend. Despite skepticism from head coach Justin Wilcox about flying across the country to recruit a quarterback from Miami, Cal offered and Mendoza signed.
After two seasons at Cal where he threw for 4,712 yards and 30 touchdowns, Mendoza transferred to Indiana. This season with the Hoosiers, he’s thrown for 3,349 yards and 41 touchdowns while working with quarterbacks coach Chandler Whitmer, offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan, and head coach Curt Cignetti to transform from good to great.
Faith as the Foundation
Throughout his journey—from overlooked recruit to Heisman winner to tonight’s championship game—Mendoza has remained grounded in his Catholic faith.
Father Hyde says the flourishing of Fernando Mendoza, proudly and publicly Catholic, has added a deeper layer to Indiana’s remarkable season.
“He’s inspiring young people to make their faith a normal part of their life,” Hyde told First Things. “When I was growing up, being outwardly religious was a threat to your popularity. For young people to see someone with his popularity being outspoken about it, so can they. The authenticity of his faith and his gratitude are really remarkable.”
Mendoza attends Mass weekly and says he prays before every game. “I honestly don’t listen to hype songs because I have to stay cool, calm, and collected,” he explained at a recent press conference. “I actually meditate and pray before the game.”
Mendoza has become the ebullient co-star to Cignetti’s stone-faced leading role—a once-overlooked QB who has transformed his abundant charisma into tangible leadership.
“I saw how one guy could kind of bring a team together,” Cignetti says. “You can have close, tight teams, but this team here is extremely close. He was the glue sealing the open edges and cracks, probably to a degree I had never seen before.”
