Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza added another highlight to the Hoosiers’ special 2025 season when he became the program’s first Heisman Trophy winner Saturday night in New York.
Mendoza, a three-star prospect out of Miami, Fla., in the 2022 recruiting class who transferred from Cal to Indiana after the 2024 season, beat out his fellow finalists — Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love and Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin — for the prestigious honor.
With Mendoza at the helm, the Hoosiers followed up a 12-0 regular season with a 13-10 win over Ohio State last week in the Big Ten Championship game to win the program’s first Big Ten title since sharing it in 1967 and earn the No. 1 overall seed heading into the College Football Playoff.
Mendoza threw a nation-leading 33 touchdown passes this season, completing 226 of 316 passes (71.5%, sixth nationally) for 2,980 yards with just six interceptions. He also ran for 240 yards and six touchdowns.
His signature game of the season was probably his five-touchdown showing in Indiana’s 63-10 rout of then-No. 9 Illinois back on Sept. 20. He completed 21 of 23 passes (91.3%) for 267 yards.
In the Big Ten Championship game, he outdueled Sayin and beat the No. 2 Buckeyes while the other two finalists were not playing games, completing 15 of 23 passes (65.2%) for 222 yards, including a game-winning 17-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Sarratt in the third quarter, and an interception.
Mendoza also won the Maxwell (best overall player) and Davey O’Brien (best quarterback) awards Friday night, perhaps foreshadowing the honor which would be bestowed on him Saturday.
He’s the first Cuban-American Heisman winner and just the second of hispanic descent, joining Jim Plunkett.
Mendoza was just the second Heisman Award finalist in Indiana football history, which dates back to 1899. He joins running back Anthony Thompson, who was the 1989 Heisman runner-up.
