A Resurrection Moment
Hyde, who has been at Indiana for a decade witnessing a lot of losing football, calls the last two seasons under Cignetti “one kind of catharsis after another, a total renewal of school spirit.”
Beating Ohio State for the Big Ten title was a breakthrough few could have imagined. Following that up with the beatdown of Alabama in Pasadena—a dizzying combination of opponent and setting—strained the limits of belief.
“The Rose Bowl,” he says, “was a resurrection moment.”
Tonight, as Hyde sits in Hard Rock Stadium in his white Dominican habit, he’ll watch the quarterback he has befriended wearing cream and crimson one final time—a young man who brought the Heisman Trophy to church on Christmas Eve and credits his priests for helping him along the journey.
“He came over and we walked outside, and there, in an Amazon box, there was the Heisman Trophy,” Hyde told local news. “It was just so surreal because it was so normal just sharing in the joy and the glory of an accomplishment of one of our people. But then also, holding the Heisman Trophy and being like, ‘Whoa.'”
During that Christmas Eve visit, Mendoza told the priests: “This Church and you all are a major reason why this happened.”
“It’s nearly impossible to do better than he has,” says Whitmer. “He won the Heisman and he’s still asking, ‘Help me get better.'”
For church leaders watching Mendoza’s story unfold tonight, there’s a powerful reminder: authentic relationships, consistent spiritual investment, and genuine community can shape not just a student’s college experience, but their entire trajectory. Sometimes the greatest victories happen not just on the field, but in the hearts of young people who find a spiritual home away from home.
As Indiana takes the field against Miami tonight, Mendoza’s improbable journey—from overlooked Miami-area recruit to Heisman winner leading an undefeated team back to his hometown for college football’s biggest prize—stands as a testament to perseverance, faith, and the power of a church community that invested in one student-athlete’s spiritual life.
