It has been quite a season for Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza.
Winning the Heisman Trophy as the quarterback at Indiana is one thing. It’s something we’ve never seen before, and it previously seemed like a long shot. Leading Indiana to a perfect season while beating the storied Miami Hurricanes in the College Football Playoff championship, though?
Not only did that seem like a long shot at the beginning of this college football season, but there’s almost no world in which anyone could have predicted it. In fact, ESPN just ranked Mendoza as the top player in college football from this past season. In the preseason rankings of the top 100 players in college football, he didn’t even make this list. That’s how epic his rise to the top was.
“Indiana’s first Heisman Trophy winner propelled the Hoosiers to their first outright Big Ten title since 1945, first wins in the Rose and Peach bowls and a once-unthinkable national title. A transfer from Cal, Mendoza had several near-perfect performances, not only during the regular season against Indiana State (19-of-20 passing, five touchdowns) and Illinois (21-of-23 passing, five touchdowns), but also in the Rose (14-of-16 passing, three touchdowns) and Peach (17-of-20, five touchdowns). His 41 passing touchdowns marked an Indiana single-season record,” ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg wrote.
Fernando Mendoza and Hoosiers had a remarkable rise to the top
It’s just remarkable how Mendoza seemingly came out of nowhere and took the college football world by storm. Going from a projected top-10 player in the country to the No. 1-ranked player is feasible. Heck, being outside the top 25 in the preseason and making that kind of rise is absolutely within reason as well.
But from unranked by the experts to No. 1? A player ranked ahead of superstars like Miami’s Rueben Bain Jr., Texas A&M’s David Bailey, Ohio State’s Caleb Downs and Jeremiah Smith and Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love? That’s mind-boggling.
Indiana’s rise to the top centers around head coach Curt Cignetti, but he’s arguably just a good coach with a ton of hype around him if it weren’t for his eye for talent. Mendoza was his crown jewel, but cornerback D’Angelo Ponds and offensive tackle Carter Smith also made ESPN’s postseason top 25 players list.
