UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Fernando Mendoza embodies every cliché about a football player remaining calm and composed under pressure.
The redshirt junior threw a pick six in the fourth quarter of Indiana’s huge game at Oregon, and responded with a clinical touchdown drive. Mendoza locked in when the Hoosiers needed him most at Iowa at the end of the game and led them to the winning touchdown. He withstood hit after hit from Penn State on Saturday and never gave in. The growing spotlight and hype surrounding his Heisman Trophy candidacy has yet to shake his focus and his attitude — he remains as humble and teammate-driven as he was in August.
Indiana’s quarterback is as unflappable as they come. Both physically and mentally, Mendoza built for big games and taking control of them. He’s a skilled player, with the work ethic to maximize his talent, and he matches all that with intelligence and mental fortitude.
The Cal transfer is made for games like Saturday’s, a tight affair between the second-ranked Hoosiers and PSU at Beaver Stadium that went down to the wire. Fernando Mendoza is a maestro in clutch moments, and this was his symphony. He led the Hoosiers to a remarkable 27-24 victory, taking them from the brink of their first loss of the season to a second consecutive 10-0 start.
“He wants to be great. He wants to be the best at his position across the country. He puts in the hours and work that nobody’s really matching that across the country,” IU linebacker Aiden Fisher said after the game. “Anybody looking for a Heisman moment, there it is. That dude’s earned it. He’s the best player in the country, and he showed that today.”
Mendoza’s statistics from the game don’t jump off the page. 19 for 30, 218 passing yards, one touchdown, and one interception; six rushing attempts, 20 yards, one touchdown.
But sometimes, sports is more than just numbers. Mendoza displayed his shiftiness by evading multiple defenders on his 15-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. The Miami native made several good throws that resulted in drops or pass breakups that cost him even more yardage. He didn’t have his No. 1 receiver, Elijah Sarratt, whose absence was noticeable.
And Mendoza took hit after hit from the Nittany Lions, who sent constant blitzes all game, and he always got back up.
“To see what the defense, special teams, and offense, especially the offensive line, what they’re going through, battling every play, I can’t stay on the ground — no matter how hard the hit is, no matter how much it hurts,” Mendoza said. “I will never sub myself out in that instance, and I would die on that field for my brothers.”
Indiana’s offense struggled throughout the second half on Saturday, as Penn State’s stifling blitz packages put Mendoza in a straitjacket. The Hoosiers got the ball back with one last chance to win the game and keep their undefeated dream alive, and the redshirt junior orchestrated a drive that will go down as one of the greatest moments in program history.
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He marched IU down the field, with less than two minutes remaining and no timeouts, and with Nittany Lions still constantly in his face. And he connected with Omar Cooper Jr. for the winning touchdown, on a spectacular toe-drag catch that may be the play of the year across college football.
Mendoza has stepped up in big games and big moments all year. His teammates never doubted his ability to do it again.
“Just knowing what we’ve been through since the spring and in fall camp, seeing how much better Fernando’s gotten, seeing just how he goes each and every day in practice, and how hard he works, just allowed me to know that I can trust him no matter what the score is, no matter what’s going on,” Cooper said. “And how great of a quarterback he is — and also, just an even better guy. So that allowed me to have that confidence in him and know that he can go out there and try to make plays for us and help us get to where we want to go.”
Mendoza never shies away from celebrating after his team reaches the end zone, particularly if it’s a touchdown catch by one of his receivers. He joined his teammates in mobbing Cooper and sharing the moment.
But, true to form, he went right back to work. The Nittany Lions still had 35 seconds to respond, and if they sent the game to overtime with a field goal, his job would not yet have been finished. So after the call was upheld, Mendoza retreated to the bench with the rest of IU’s quarterbacks. He sat down, talked with his teammates and coaches, watched back some plays on a tablet, and prepared as if he’d be needed again.
When the game ended as Amare Ferrell batted away PSU quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer’s heave on the last play, the Hoosiers spilled out on the field. Some ran over to Ferrell, some celebrated amongst themselves, and some consoled and congratulated Penn State after a hard-fought game.
Mendoza joined the latter group. He didn’t burst into a wild celebration or any exuberant reaction. He got off the bench, exchanged some high fives and fist bumps with the other IU quarterbacks, walked out to greet some Nittany Lion players and coaches, and got ready for postgame interviews. He’d celebrate with his team in the locker room, behind closed doors, and then handle other postgame media responsibilities after cleaning up.
The redshirt junior would enjoy the victory for a little while, but his focus had already shifted to Indiana’s next game against Wisconsin. It’s how Mendoza is wired: he’s centered around the work he puts in to succeed.
No showboating, no theatrics, no drawing attention to himself. He doesn’t need to. Fernando Mendoza lets his play do the talking every week, and his performance is speaking volumes.
“Fernando is probably the best quarterback in college football,” wide receiver Charlie Becker said. “I think that all the hard work that we put in in the offseason led to this exact moment. And all the extra work that we put in.”
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