Indiana caps perfect season with stunning national title win over Miami
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (KYMA, KECY) - Fernando Mendoza dove headfirst into college football history Monday night, lifting Indiana to its first national championship with a 27–21 win over Miami in the College Football Playoff title game.
The Heisman Trophy winner didn’t light up the stat sheet through the air, finishing with 186 passing yards, but his defining moment came on the ground a fearless 12-yard quarterback draw on fourth-and-4 with just over nine minutes left. Mendoza broke tackles, went airborne at the goal line and delivered the play that sealed an undefeated season for the Hoosiers.
Indiana took a 24–14 lead on the score and never trailed again, holding off a late Miami push fueled by running back Mark Fletcher, who rushed for 112 yards and two touchdowns. The Hurricanes pulled within three in the fourth quarter but never reclaimed the lead.
Under second-year head coach Curt Cignetti, Indiana finished 16-0, becoming college football’s most unlikely champion. The title caps a rapid turnaround for a program that spent decades near the bottom of the sport before Cignetti’s arrival.
The Hoosiers forced a key momentum shift earlier in the game when defensive lineman Mikail Kamara blocked a Miami punt deep in Hurricanes territory, setting up a short touchdown and a 17–7 lead.
Miami had one last chance late, driving into Indiana territory before quarterback Carson Beck’s desperation throw was intercepted by Jamari Sharpe, a Miami native, to end it.
The College Football Playoff trophy now heads to Bloomington, closing a storybook season for a program few believed could ever reach the sport’s summit.
