Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza led the program in the College Football Playoff National Championship game against the Miami Hurricanes. The game has been tight thus far, and it involved a moment in the first quarter where the referees might have missed a targeting call on the Hoosiers quarterback.
The moment happened with 4:04 remaining in the first quarter. As Mendoza snapped, he handed the ball to his running back before going on to scramble to sort of create an illusion. Hurricanes defensive back Jakobe Thomas came up to Mendoza and made a head-on hit before joining the scramble. Despite the tackle that left Mendoza bloodied looking fit for a targeting call, the referees turned a blind eye towards the play, leaving fans unhappy about it.
“Yeah #8 needs to get thrown out of this game dude has 2 late hits on Mendoza and the second was blatant, unflagged, targeting,” one fan wrote.
“Can these referees see anything? can’t flag late hits, can’t whistle and down returner. come on now,” another added.
“No surprise here considering it’s a home game,” one fan added.
“Another missed call….not surprised,” one fan noted.
“This s*it and the fanbase is why the rest of the country has shunned Miami for decades,” one fan wrote.
“Missed 2 personal fouls committed against Mendoza already,” one fan commented.
Fernando Mendoza Wins the 2025 Heisman Trophy
Before leading Indiana deep into the College Football Playoff, Fernando Mendoza led the program to an unbeaten regular season record and also won the Big Ten Championship game against the Ohio State Buckeyes. Mendoza had excellent credentials to be deserving of the Heisman Trophy, given to the best player in all of college football in a season.
He threw for 2,980 yards and a nation-leading 33 touchdown passes, also rushing for six more scores.
Mendoza was announced as the Heisman Trophy winner on Dec. 13, becoming the 91st recipient of the award in New York City. He also made history as the first player from Indiana University to win the award.
In the Heisman voting, Mendoza finished with 2,362 points and 643 first-place votes, over other finalists, including Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia and Ohio State’s Julian Sayin. Mendoza was also named AP College Football Player of the Year, clinched the Maxwell, Walter Camp, Davey O’Brien, and Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year honors, and was a first-team All-Big Ten selection.
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