Twelve months ago, Fernando Mendoza was weighing a transfer decision that could have changed the entire look of the CFP national championship game. Instead, the former Cal quarterback stayed committed to Indiana through a late Miami push, won the Heisman Trophy in his first season in Bloomington, and now gets a shot at his hometown team.
NEW: Miami worked to flip Fernando Mendoza from Indiana out of the transfer portal last year, @PeteNakos reports.
— On3 (@On3) January 17, 2026
Alberto Mendoza: “They came in late, they pushed hard for sure, and ultimately Indiana won.”
Story: https://t.co/HctfMIHJ3D pic.twitter.com/75m7YmjBP8
No. 1 Hoosiers face the No. 10 Hurricanes in CFP title game
According to Pete Nakos, Mendoza verbally committed to Indiana on Christmas Eve 2024, but his paperwork took nearly a week to get processed. That delay opened the door for Miami coach Mario Cristobal and the Hurricanes to make a "major push" to flip him, with repeated calls from Cristobal as Miami hunted for its next quarterback.
"They came in late, they pushed hard for sure, and ultimately Indiana won because they were consistent throughout the process," Mendoza's younger brother, Alberto, told On3. "We thought the best thing for him was Indiana."
The title game matchup is very personal for Mendoza. He grew up in Miami and attended Christopher Columbus High School. Mendoza's mother played tennis at Miami and his father was a high school teammate of Cristobal.
Mendoza is Indiana's first Heisman Trophy winner after finishing the regular season completing 71.5% of his passes for 2,980 yards with 33 touchdown passes and six interceptions. He also added six rushing touchdowns as Indiana went unbeaten through the Big Ten and entered the CFP as the top seed.
Indiana has looked like the No. 1 seed in the playoff. The Hoosiers blasted Alabama 38-3 in the Rose Bowl quarterfinal behind 192 passing yards and three touchdowns from Mendoza. They followed that with a 56-22 win over Oregon in the Peach Bowl semifinal, with Mendoza going 17-of-20 passing for 177 yards and five touchdown passes.