December 13, 2025 / AP
Fernando Mendoza, the mercurial quarterback for No. 1 Indiana, captured the Heisman Trophy Saturday night, becoming the first player from the Hoosiers to win college football’s most prestigious individual honor since the award began in 1935.
Mendoza received 2,362 first-place votes, topping Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia (1,435), Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love (719) and Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin (432).
The redshirt junior has guided Indiana to its first No. 1 ranking and the top seed in the 12-team College Football bracket. Mendoza finished the regular season with 2,980 passing yards and a nation-high 33 touchdown passes, and he added six rushing touchdowns. Indiana, the last unbeaten team among major programs, will play a College Football Playoff quarterfinal in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.
A first-year starter after transferring from California, Mendoza has been the catalyst for an offense that broke the program records for touchdowns and points set during last season’s surprise run to the CFP. The once lightly recruited Miami native is only the second Heisman finalist in Indiana history, joining 1989 runner-up Anthony Thompson.
Mendoza is the seventh Indiana player to finish in the Heisman top 10. His victory continues a recent string of quarterbacks winning the award—four of the last five years—after two-way player Travis Hunter of Colorado interrupted that run last season. The win also follows another strong Indiana showing from last year, when Hoosiers quarterback Kurtis Rourke finished ninth.
Mendoza’s rise from a transfer and lightly scouted high school prospect to the sport’s top individual honor caps a breakthrough season for Indiana football and adds a historic chapter to the program’s long history.