Next Monday’s national championship game in Miami will carry special meaning for Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza.
The Heisman Trophy winner said the game will mark his first time playing inside Hard Rock Stadium, but the setting and the opponent are both familiar. Indiana will face the Miami Hurricanes, a program Mendoza knows well from his time living near the university.
“If you open Google Maps and put my address and the university, Miami campus, it’s under a mile away,” Mendoza said. “I walk there, bike there, play basketball, games in the off-season there. It means a lot to me.”
Mendoza has been a key factor in Indiana’s run to the title game. The top-ranked Hoosiers advanced with a 56–22 win over Oregon in Friday night’s Peach Bowl, where Mendoza threw five touchdown passes.
Across two playoff games, Mendoza has totaled eight touchdown passes while completing all but five of his throws.
Looking ahead to the championship matchup, Mendoza said the focus will be on staying true to what has worked all season.
“Even though it’s the national championship, we don’t have to do anything out of character,” he said. “We just have to play our brand of football. That’s what has led us to this point and 15 wins this season.”
Indiana will try to make history next Monday night in Miami, aiming to become the first team in the modern era to finish a season 16–0.
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